Report into Rochdale grooming a ‘damning indictment’ of council – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 24th, 2013 in children, local government, news, reports, sexual grooming, social services by tracey

“A new report into the child sex grooming scandal in Rochdale is a ‘damning indictment’ of the local council, the town’s MP said.”

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Daily Telegraph, 24th May 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Regina (Trail Riders Fellowship and another) v Dorset County Council – WLR Daily

Posted May 23rd, 2013 in appeals, documents, law reports, local government, rights of way by sally

Regina (Trail Riders Fellowship and another) v Dorset County Council [2013] EWCA Civ 553; [2013] WLR (D) 186

“A map produced to a scale of 1:25,000, even if digitally derived from an original map of a different scale, satisfied the requirements for a map accompanying an application to modify a right of way that were set out in paragraph 1(a) of Schedule 14 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.”

WLR Daily, 20th May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Birmingham City Council v James (Secretary of State for the Home Department intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted May 23rd, 2013 in appeals, ASBOs, gangs, injunctions, law reports, local government, violence by sally

Birmingham City Council v James (Secretary of State for the Home Department intervening) [2013] EWCA Civ 552; [2013] WLR (D) 185

“If the conditions in section 34 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 were met then an injunction to prevent gang-related violence was appropriate. The court would not be required to ask itself whether an anti-social behaviour order under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 would have provided an adequate remedy.”

WLR Daily, 17th May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

The meaning of care and attention – NearlyLegal

“SL v Westminster [2013] UKSC 27 is a very important case concerning the meaning of ‘care and attention’ in the context of s.21, National Assitance Act 1948.”

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NearlyLegal, 20th May 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

What Place does Wardship have in Modern Family Proceedings? – Family Law Week

Posted May 20th, 2013 in care orders, children, jurisdiction, local government, news, wardship by sally

“Leanne Buckley-Thomson, barrister at 12 College Place, provides an overview of wardship and considers its usefulness in modern family proceedings.”

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Family Law Week, 18th May 2013

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Hotak v Southwark London Borough Council – WLR Daily

Posted May 20th, 2013 in appeals, homelessness, housing, law reports, local government by sally

Hotak v Southwark London Borough Council [2013] EWCA Civ 515; [2013] WLR (D) 180

“When assessing an applicant’s priority need for accommodation under section 189(1)(c) of the Housing Act 1996 the local housing authority was entitled to consider evidence of personal support and assistance provided by a family member which would continue should the applicant become street homeless. The weight to be given to the evidence was a separate and important consideration. The reviewing officer was required to assess the vulnerability of the applicant as it would be when he was made homeless.”

WLR Daily, 15th May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Night Shelters, dwellings and housing benefit – NearlyLegal

Posted May 20th, 2013 in benefits, homelessness, hotels, housing, local government, news, tribunals by sally

“This a late note on OR -v- Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Isle of Anglesey CC [2013] UKUT 065 (AAC) because, bluntly, I had read it quickly at the time and overlooked its broader significance.”

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NearlyLegal, 19th May 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Council wrongly classed asylum seeker children as adults – The Guardian

Posted May 17th, 2013 in asylum, children, costs, immigration, local government, London, news by sally

“A London council has had to pay out more than £1m in costs for wrongly assessing asylum seeker children as adults. These wrong decisions have condemned some children to homelessness, prevented them from going to school and led to some being unlawfully held in adult detention centres.”

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The Guardian, 17th May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina (A) v Lowestoft Magistrates’ Court – WLR Daily

Posted May 16th, 2013 in children, law reports, local government, reporting restrictions by sally

Regina (A) v Lowestoft Magistrates’ Court [2013] EWHC 659 (Admin); [2013] WLR (D) 177

“The child specifically referred to in any charge under section 2(1) of the Licensing Act 1902 was a subject of criminal proceedings which were taken ‘in respect of’, and thus “concerned”, that child for the purposes of the court’s power to impose reporting restrictions under section 39 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.”

WLR Daily, 26th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

PC ( by her litigation friend the Official Solicitor) and another v City of York Council – WLR Daily

PC (by her litigation friend the Official Solicitor) and another v City of York Council [2013] EWCA Civ 478; [2013] WLR (D) 176

“The test for whether a person had capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to decide was specific to the decision in question in its particular factual matrix and context.”

WLR Daily, 1st May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Loveridge v Lambeth London Borough Council – WLR Daily

Loveridge v Lambeth London Borough Council [2013] EWCA Civ 494; [2013] WLR (D) 173

“The valuation required by section 28(1) of the Housing Act 1988, in respect of damages for unlawful eviction under section 27, required that the propensity for the rights of a tenant of a local authority to change from those of a secure tenant to those of an assured tenant on a sale of the reversion to a private landlord was to be factored into the hypothetical valuation of the landlord’s interest subject to the tenant’s rights.”

WLR Daily, 10th May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Priority need – NearlyLegal

“Hotak v Southwark LBC [2013] EWCA Civ 515 concerned a short point on whether an authority was entitled to have regard to the assistance that a homeless person would receive, in the event he became homeless, when determining whether he was vulnerable or not.”

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NearlyLegal, 15th May 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Taking responsibility – New Law Journal

Posted May 14th, 2013 in families, guardianship, local government, news, supervision orders by sally

“Special guardianship orders have become an increasingly popular means of resolving family proceedings. They have found favour with local authorities as a means of securing kinship care placements and have been described as a half-way house between a residence order and an adoption order.”

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New Law Journal, 10th May 2013

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

NHS ‘cover-up culture’ to be tackled with fines – The Guardian

“Hospitals that give false information about death rates will face unlimited fines under new powers aimed at preventing another Mid-Staffordshire-style health scandal.”

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The Guardian, 10th May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

SL (FC) (Respondent) v Westminster City Council (Appellant) – Supreme Court

Posted May 10th, 2013 in housing, immigration, local government, mental health, news, Supreme Court by sally

SL (FC) (Respondent) v Westminster City Council (Appellant) [2013] UKSC 27 | UKSC 2011/0229 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 9th May 2013

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Taking responsibility – New Law Journal

Posted May 10th, 2013 in families, guardianship, local government, news, supervision orders by sally

“Special guardianship orders have become an increasingly popular means of resolving family proceedings. They have found favour with local authorities as a means of securing kinship care placements and have been described as a half-way house between a residence order and an adoption order.”

Full story

New Law Journal, 10th May 2013

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

“To Decide or not to Decide, that is the Question…” – the impact of R (H) v Kingston upon Hull City Council – Family Law Week

“Dave Phillips and Naomi Madderson, members of the child care team at 37 Park Square Chambers, consider the impact of a case in which a local authority which removed two children subject to an interim care order was judicially reviewed and in which the authors acted.”

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Family Law Week, 6th May 2013

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Eoin Carolan: An oligarchy of the self-interest or enthusiastic?: Open Public Services in the Big Society – UK Constitutional Law Group

“The coalition government’s programme of public service reform continues apace. The coming into effect of parts of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 on April 1st was the latest in a series of changes to the structure and delivery of public services through measures like the Localism Act 2011 or the Free Schools programme. As the White Paper on Open Public Services indicates, these individual changes form part of a broader plan to fundamental re-model how Britain’s government operates. The White Paper is clear that this reform programme is wide-ranging and ambitious. What is less clear from government pronouncements, however, is whether or how it is intended to ensure the democratic legitimacy and character of the proposed reforms.”

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UK Constitutional Law Group, 29th April 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Tenants! Be the best that you can be! – NearlyLegal

Posted April 30th, 2013 in agreements, housing, landlord & tenant, local government, news by sally

“At the very beginning of social housing, with the Peabody Estates in the 1860s, prospective tenants faced imposed requirements that we would now consider to be extraneous to the tenancy: Mandatory smallpox vaccinations; curfews; and cleaning rotas before 10 am for communal areas, sinks and WCs. But even the Victorian paternalists didn’t lower themselves to the patronising, small minded and teeth-grindingly passive-aggressive approach apparently in vogue for 21st century social landlords.”

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NearlyLegal, 29th April 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

High court rejects legal challenge to Barnet’s ‘easyCouncil’ plans – The Guardian

“Campaigners against Barnet council’s radical plan to outsource hundreds of millions of pounds worth of services, dubbed easyCouncil, are to take their case to the appeal court after a judge ruled their objection to a £320m contract had come too late.”

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The Guardian, 29th April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk