‘A survivors’ group has secured a total of more than £46m compensation for 1,340 people who suffered “horrific” abuse in children’s care homes that were infiltrated by paedophiles over several decades.’
The Guardian, 25th June 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A children’s rights charity is to ask the High Court to quash a statutory instrument that introduced significant changes to children’s social care law during the coronavirus pandemic.’
Local Government Lawyer, 8th June 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A judge has severely criticised the London Borough of Haringey’s child social services department, after deciding to name the council following an appeal by the Press Association over an earlier anonymity order.’
Local Government Lawyer, 21st May 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Children’s rights charity Article 39 has threatened the Department for Education with legal action if it does not withdraw regulations aimed at assisting the children’s care sector during the COVID-19 crisis.’
Local Government Lawyer, 12th May 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, has sharply criticised the government’s relaxation of regulations relating to children’s social care, saying she does not believe that they are necessary except in one limited case.’
Local Government Lawyer, 1st May 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The regulations make changes to the duties that local authorities have with regards to safeguarding children. These are temporary changes and the regulations give a date in September 2020 for them to lapse. This date can be extended, reviewed or simply removed. They were simply made by virtue of the Coronavirus Act 2020. Parliament did not need to approve them first.’
Transparency Project, 3rd May 2020
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
‘The Department for Education has taken two key steps to relieve councils of duties related to children with special educational needs (SEN) during the Covid-19 crisis.’
Law Society's Gazette, 1st May 2020
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘It is possible that there will be “huge spikes in demand across the children’s social care spectrum”, a backlog of new care applications and more children needing to come into care as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, the President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services for 2020/21 has warned.’
Local Government Lawyer, 23rd April 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The social care provisions are at section 15 and Schedule 12 to the Coronavirus Act 2020 (“the Act”). They came into force in England on the 31March 2020 (on the 1st April, in Wales).’
Landmark Chambers, 16th April 2020
Source: www.landmarkchambers.co.uk
‘This note is intended to assist local authorities when considering their Care Act 2014 duties following the Coronavirus Act 2020 (“The Act”) coming into force on 3 March 2020[1]. The Secretary of state issued Guidance on 01 April 2020. The Act contains provision for “easements” of Care Act 2014 duties during the emergency.’
4-5 Gray's Inn Square, 7th April 2020
Source: www.4-5.co.uk
‘Over 750,000 volunteers have signed up to the government’s scheme to assist the NHS and social services during the coronavirus outbreak. For those coming from another job, what employment protection do these volunteers have? The Minister introduced this aspect of the emergency legislation, the Coronavirus Act 2020, by saying “The Bill protects the income and the employment status of those who volunteer in the health and social care system. Volunteers will play a critical role in relieving the pressure on frontline clinicians and social care staff”. Sections 8, Schedule 7 and section 9 provide for ‘emergency volunteer leave’ (EVL). In this blog, the seventh in a Covid-19 series, Declan O’Dempsey and Tom Gillie answer the following pressing questions: What is EVL? Who may take it, and what should employers do if staff request to do so? The provisions of the Act are not in force at the time of writing. The situation is however a very fast moving one.’
Cloisters, 3rd April 2020
Source: www.cloisters.com
‘The Department of Health & Social Care has published guidance setting out local authorities can use the new ‘easements’ under the Coronavirus Act 2020 that mean they no longer need to meet certain duties under the Care Act.’
Local Government Lawyer, 1st April 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Arianna Kelly looks at the newly-published guidance on social care during the Emergency Period.’
Coronavirus: Guidance for Business and Lawyers, 31st March 2020
‘The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has suspended all casework activity that demands information from, or action by, local authorities and care providers, in light of the current coronavirus outbreak.’
Local Government Lawyer, 26th March 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The former Coronavirus Bill is now the Coronavirus Act 2020. The bill was not significantly amended in relation to the proposed changes to the Care Act – however, per s.87(2) of the Coronavirus Act, the changes relating to the Care Act will not come into force until further regulations are made to that effect. Arianna Kelly outlines the key points.’
Coronavirus: Guidance for Lawyers and Businesses, 26th March 2020
‘The UK government’s Emergency Coronavirus Bill paves the way for widespread changes to legislation that could potentially have an alarming impact on our human rights, especially in the area of mental health.’
Each Other, 24th March 2020
Source: eachother.org.uk
‘Emergency legislation giving sweeping powers to ban gatherings and forcibly quarantine suspected coronavirus patients was passed by MPs on Monday night, despite continued worries about civil liberties and the potential effect on vulnerable people.’
The Guardian, 23rd March 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Claimant law firm Simpson Millar has sent a letter before action on behalf of the mother of a child with a number of complex health and learning disabilities calling on the UK government to confirm its strategy for “meeting the needs of younger disabled people (children and working age adults) in the context of the current pandemic”.’
Local Government Lawyer, 18th March 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘In this unusual case, Re W (A child: leave to oppose adoption) [2020] EWCA (Civ) 16, the Court of Appeal has given birth parents leave to oppose an adoption order being made. The child is nearly three years old and has been living with his prospective adopters since he was aged 17 months, in November 2018, after care and placement orders had been made in March of that year. He has never lived with his parents and has not had any contact with them since October 2018.’
Transparency Project, 23rd February 2020
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
‘Authorities “missed opportunities” to share information about a woman’s abusive partner before he murdered her, a review has found.’
BBC News, 11th February 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2020