Children public law case update: May 2023 – Local Government Lawyer

‘Jennifer Frost rounds up the latest public law children cases of interest to practitioners.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 26th May 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Squaring the circle – Local Government Lawyer

Posted May 19th, 2023 in care homes, children, detention, local government, news, social services by tracey

‘What steps can a local authority take to ensure a lawful deprivation of liberty in an unregistered children’s home in England for children under 16? Hannah Taylor and Ruth Atkinson-Wilks explain.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 19th May 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

High Court dismisses legal challenge over government failure to implement Care Act system for appeals against care and support decisions – Local Government Lawyer

Posted April 28th, 2023 in appeals, duty of care, judicial review, local government, news, social services by tracey

‘A High Court judge has rejected a judicial review challenge to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s decision not to make regulations for appeals against local authority decisions under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 27th April 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Lola James: NSPCC demands systemic change after girl’s murder – BBC News

‘The murder of a two-year-old who was killed by her mum’s boyfriend shows child protection must be a national priority, NSPCC Cymru has said.’

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BBC News, 26th April 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Hundreds of UK asylum seeker children wrongly treated as adults, report shows – The Guardian

Posted April 25th, 2023 in asylum, children, local government, news, reports, social services by sally

‘Hundreds of asylum seeker children are wrongly being treated as adults by the Home Office, according to data from dozens of local authorities.’

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The Guardian, 24th April 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Law Commission invited to review legislation on social care for disabled children – Law Commission

‘The Law Commission of England and Wales has been asked by the Department for Education to review the legal framework governing the social care of disabled children to ensure that the law is fair, modern and accessible, allowing children with disabilities to access the support they need.’

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Law Commission, 20th April 2023

Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk

Child sex abuse: Failure to report crimes to be made illegal – BBC News

‘People who work with children in England will be legally required to report child sexual abuse or face prosecution under government plans.’

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BBC News, 3rd April 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Jimmy Prout death: Chances missed to save him – report – BBC News

‘Multiple opportunities to save a man who was tortured and murdered by people he considered friends were missed, a review has found.’

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BBC News, 31st March 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Social workers should not assess asylum seeker ages for Home Office, professional body says – The Guardian

‘The professional body for social workers has urged its members not to work with the Home Office to assess the ages of asylum seekers, saying that political pressures could undermine their professional judgment.
The Home Office is recruiting social workers to join the National Age Assessment Board (NAAB), which was set up under the Nationality and Borders Act to take responsibility for determining the age of asylum seekers away from local authorities.’

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The Guardian, 15th March 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Is Sharing Caring? Disclosures from the Family Courts to Professional Regulators – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The Guardian newspaper reported the decision in Re X (Disclosure to Social Work England: Findings of Domestic Abuse) [2023] EWHC 447 (Fam) with the headline, “social worker who abused ex-partner loses fight to keep details from regulator”. Reading that one might instinctively think, “well, of course he lost”. For my part, when I read beyond the Guardian’s journalism and into Knowles J’s 67 paragraph judgment in this matter, I may also have thought “well, of course he lost”.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 14th March 2023

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Council judicial review application over asylum seeker hotels refused – Local Government Lawyer

‘The High Court has refused a judicial review application from Torbay Council that argued the placement of asylum seekers in local hotels would have a significant impact on Children’s Services.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 9th March 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Mother wins appeal over sending of domestic abuse findings made against social worker father to regulator – Local Government Lawyer

‘A High Court judge has allowed an appeal brought by a mother over whether a judgment in long-running private law proceedings that made findings of domestic abuse against the father, who works as a social worker, should be sent to his regulator, Social Work England (SWE).’

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Local Government Lawyer, 10th March 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Equalities watchdog criticises councils for leaving adults receiving social care “in the dark” about how to challenge decisions – Local Government Lawyer

‘Adults receiving social care in England and Wales are being failed if they try to challenge decisions made by local authorities, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has claimed.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 2nd March 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

New expert panel to support victims after major disasters – Ministry of Justice

Posted March 2nd, 2023 in advocacy, bereavement, emergency services, inquiries, news, social services, victims by tracey

‘Survivors and the bereaved families of major disasters like Hillsborough, the Manchester Arena bombing and the Grenfell Tower fire will receive new dedicated support in the future under plans unveiled by the government today (1 March).’

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Ministry of Justice, 1st March 2023

Source: www.gov.uk

Appeal rights exhausted care leavers and human rights assessments – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 13th, 2023 in appeals, asylum, children, human rights, immigration, local government, news, social services by tracey

‘A local authority recently conceded that Children Act 1989 duties take precedence over residual and discretionary Immigration Act 1999 powers. Amanda Weston KC and Maria Moodie explain why.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 10th February 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Case Comment: McCue (as guardian for Andrew McCue) v Glasgow City Council [2023] UKSC 1 – UKSC Blog

Posted February 2nd, 2023 in community care, disabled persons, news, Scotland, social services, Supreme Court by sally

‘In this post, Erin Crawley, a trainee solicitor in the Infrastructure, Construction and Energy Disputes team at CMS, comments on the case of McCue (as guardian for Andrew McCue) v Glasgow City Council [2023] UKSC 1.’

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UKSC Blog, 2nd February 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

Vulnerable woman lay dead in Surrey flat for more than three years – The Guardian

‘A severely mentally ill woman whose dead body lay in her home unnoticed for more than three years was effectively “abandoned and left to die” by NHS and social services who missed repeated chances to save her, her family has alleged.’

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The Guardian, 26th January 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Paedophile given custody of girl he then abused and got pregnant – BBC News

‘A young girl who became pregnant after abuse by a convicted paedophile had been placed in his care despite authorities knowing his past, a report has revealed.’

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BBC News, 26th January 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

New Judgment: McCue (as guardian for Andrew McCue)(AP) v Glasgow City Council (Scotland) [2023] UKSC 1 – UKSC Blog

Posted January 12th, 2023 in community care, disabled persons, news, Scotland, social services, Supreme Court by sally

‘This appeal is concerned with the provision of community care services to disabled persons pursuant to the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 (the “1968 Act”) and the charges made for such provision.’

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UKSC Blog, 11th January 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

Logan Mwangi – the Child Practice Review and the family courts – Transparency Project

‘This blog post will not go into detail about the distressing history of five year old Logan Mwangi, with which we are all too familiar through media coverage of the trial of the three people who were responsible for his death. An impression had been given at that time that possibly Logan had been let down by the family courts. It is now possible to learn a little about the court involvement – or lack of involvement.’

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Transparency Project, 27th November 2022

Source: transparencyproject.org.uk