S (A Child) (Permission to oppose adoption) (Judgment No 1), Re

Facts

S, a boy born in May 2022, was made the subject of care and placement orders on 30 October 2023, aged 18 months, following a detailed judgment of HHJ McKinnell, who found that neither parent could safely care for him and that his maternal grandmother, MGM, who had sought to become his special guardian, could not meet his needs. MGM's application for permission to appeal that judgment was refused by Peter Jackson LJ on 12 May 2025. S had lived with the same foster carer from October 2022 until 27 January 2025, when he moved to prospective adopters, with whom he had by the date of this hearing lived for 16 months; direct family contact ended in late 2024. The adoption application was issued on 8 April 2025. At a hearing on 17 October 2025 before DJ Doman the mother, father and MGM, then unrepresented, were deemed to have applied for permission to oppose the making of an adoption order under section 47(5) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. M and F did not seek to care for S themselves but supported MGM, who wished to care for him. The court directed an independent social work assessment, and the applications came before HHJ Lazarus for determination, with a further assessment of MGM foreshadowed under Part 25.