Administrative Justice Council makes recommendations on improving local authority SEND decisions – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Administrative Justice Council (AJC) has set out recommendations to improve the quality of local authority decision-making for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).’

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Local Government Lawyer, 21st August 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

High Court rejects challenge over SEND, transgender needs and Public Sector Equality Duty – Local Government Lawyer

‘The High Court has rejected a claim brought by a transgender young person that the defendant council failed to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty regarding his needs as a transgender person with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).’

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Local Government Lawyer, 21st August 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Campaigner given green light to appeal High Court ruling over Department for Transport guidance on tactile paving and kerb heights – Local Government Lawyer

Posted August 17th, 2023 in appeals, consultations, disabled persons, dogs, footpaths, news, roads by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has granted a disability rights campaigner permission to appeal in her ongoing legal challenge against the Secretary of State for Transport regarding guidance on the use of tactile paving.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 15th August 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Council to pay nearly £13k after delayed disability adaptations forced resident to install his own – Local Government Lawyer

Posted August 10th, 2023 in compensation, delay, disabled persons, local government, news, ombudsmen by tracey

‘Waverley Borough Council has been told to pay nearly £13,000 after a Housing Ombudsman investigation found the council’s “unreasonable delays” in providing disability adaptations forced a resident to install his own.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 10th August 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

High Court upholds order for possession leaving disabled 62-year-old woman homeless – Local Government Lawyer

Posted August 3rd, 2023 in disabled persons, equality, housing, local government, news, repossession by sally

‘Reading Borough Council has defeated an appeal against eviction by a disabled resident with a long history of anti-social behaviour.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 3rd August 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

The Supreme Court provides authoritative guidance on the application of Article 2 to Coronial investigations and inquests – QMLR

‘The advent of the Human Rights Act 1998, and the incorporation into domestic law of the Article 2 right to life, has transformed coronial investigations and inquests over the last two decades. Lord Bingham’s magisterial creation of the ‘enhanced’ investigation and conclusion in R (Middleton) v West Somerset Coroner [2004] UKHL 10, [2004] 2 AC 182 (later adopted by Parliament) gave coroners greater responsibility to hold the state to account for deaths. That, in turn, has significantly improved the ways in which all inquests are conducted, not just those where Article 2 is found to be engaged. Inquests are no longer haphazard affairs. They are (ordinarily) carefully planned and structured processes; and their participants, the ‘interested persons’, are far more involved in assisting coroners with the task of identifying the proper scope of their investigations and the lawful ambit of their conclusions.’

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QMLR, 18th July 2023

Source: 1corqmlr.com

The Reliability and Relevance of Historical Occupational Audiograms: Testing Times – Ropewalk Chambers

Posted August 1st, 2023 in chambers articles, disabled persons, industrial injuries, news, noise by sally

‘Audiometric testing of employees has played a central role in the management of risk of exposure of workers to excessive levels of noise in industry for many decades. Audiometry can detect early damage to hearing. Typically where used by prudent employers, the testing would have comprised self-recorded automated audiometry (such as Bekesy audiograms). The reliability and relevance of such historical occupational testing remains open to challenge by some medico-legal experts. This article examines the pros and cons of such historical testing in the context of assessing the merits of deafness claims where the results of such testing are at odds with more recent “diagnostic” audiograms.’

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Ropewalk Chambers, 19th July 2023

Source: ropewalk.co.uk

Suitability appeal – don’t ignore evidence of need – Nearly Legal

‘Our grateful thanks to Daniel Grütters of One Pump Court for the following note and copy of the judgment in a section 204 appeal on the suitability of temporary accommodation.’

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Nearly Legal, 28th July 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

R (on the application of Maguire) v HM Senior Coroner for Blackpool & Fylde and another – Inquests and Inquiries Law Blog

‘In this post, Alex Carington considers the Supreme Court’s decision in an appeal by the family of the Deceased who sought to challenge the Coroner’s decision that Art. 2 of the Human Rights Act 1998 did not require an expanded conclusion having heard all of the evidence at the inquest such that the jury were requested to return a short form conclusion only. The appeal also raised issues about the boundary of the systems duty and operational duty (and the content of both) as well as the boundary between the enhanced procedural obligation on one hand and basic procedural obligation together with the redress procedural obligation on the other.’

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Inquests and Inquiries Law Blog, 18th July 2023

Source: inquestsandinquirieslawblog.com

Neurodiverse judicial candidate fails in tribunal claim – Law Society’s Gazette

‘A candidate for the bench has lost an employment tribunal claim against the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) over reasonable adjustments.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 19th July 2023

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Supporting pupils with ADHD in school – Local Government Lawyer

‘Laura Martin and Theresa Kerr provide a legal perspective on how pupils with ADHD can be supported in school.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 18th July 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Defendant ordered to pay more than £7k in fines and costs over organisational blue badge fraud – Local Government Lawyer

Posted July 18th, 2023 in care homes, costs, disabled persons, fines, fraud, news by tracey

‘A man has been convicted of fraud after misusing a blue badge and ordered to pay more than £7,000 in fines and costs following a prosecution by Reading Borough Council.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 17th July 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Chichester: Wife and carer jailed for enslaving disabled husband – BBC News

‘The wife and carer of a disabled man who they enslaved and left in squalid conditions have been jailed.’

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BBC News, 15th July 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Ombudsman raps landlord over Equality Act failures, issuing of invalid section 21 notice – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Housing Ombudsman has sharply criticised a landlord for repeatedly failing to have sufficient regard for its obligations under the Equality Act 2010, and told it to review how it issues section 21 notices.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 12th July 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Appeal court overturns disability strategy ruling – BBC News

Posted July 12th, 2023 in appeals, consultations, disabled persons, government departments, news by sally

‘A ruling which decided a survey used to inform the government’s National Disability Strategy was “unlawful” has been overturned at the Court of Appeal.’

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BBC News, 11th July 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Children’s Commissioner for England calls for “radical rehaul” of SEND system as demand for Education, Health and Care Plans reaches new highs – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has called for a “radical rehaul of the SEND system” and “swift implementation of the SEND Improvement Plan” after recent data from the Department for Education showed that nearly 1.2 million children in England have special educational needs support without an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP), up 4.7% in 2022.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 4th July 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

The Supreme Court Provides Authoritative Guidance on the Application of Article 2 to Coronial Investigations and Inquests – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The advent of the Human Rights Act 1998, and the incorporation into domestic law of the Article 2 right to life, has transformed coronial investigations and inquests over the last two decades. Lord Bingham’s magisterial creation of the “enhanced” investigation and conclusion in R (Middleton) v West Somerset Coroner [2004] UKHL 10, [2004] 2 AC 182 (later adopted by Parliament) gave coroners greater responsibility to hold the state to account for deaths. That, in turn, has significantly improved the ways in which all inquests are conducted, not just those where Article 2 is found to be engaged. Inquests are no longer haphazard affairs. They are (ordinarily) carefully planned and structured processes; and their participants, the “interested persons”, are far more involved in assisting coroners with the task of identifying the proper scope of their investigations and the lawful ambit of their conclusions.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 28th June 2023

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Deprivation of liberty safeguards reform delayed – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Major reform of safeguards covering people detained under the Mental Capacity Act will be a matter for the next government, the current government has revealed.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 22nd June 2023

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Claimant win High Court battle over social and life skills activities and disability related expenditure – Local Government Lawyer

Posted June 22nd, 2023 in autism, budgets, disabled persons, local government, news by tracey

‘The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead has lost a High Court case over whether a 25-year-old man with autism can count his social and life skills activities as disability related expenditure (DRE).’

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Local Government Lawyer, 22nd June 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Windrush: Hundreds with chronic and mental illness sent back to Caribbean – BBC News

‘Hundreds of long-term sick and mentally ill people from the Windrush generation were sent back to the Caribbean in what has been described as a “historic injustice”, the BBC has found.’

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BBC News, 21st June 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk