‘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
‘Parents of children sexually exploited by criminal gangs can be blamed for not preventing abuse, report finds.’
The Guardian, 29th January 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
A recent podcast on BBC sounds by ‘File on 4’ focused on separated siblings in the care system.
One of the stories is from a woman who explains that she was split from her sister and wasn’t allowed to see her despite her living just five minutes away. She recalls that between their respective foster families’ homes there was a park where she would see her younger sister playing with her foster sister. Breaking down into tears, she explains that she felt hurt, angry, annoyed, sad and “thought it was really, really cruel”.
5 SAH, 20th January 2020
Source: www.5sah.co.uk
‘A survivor of sexual abuse in Rotherham has told the BBC she feels “vindicated” by a watchdog’s investigation that found South Yorkshire Police did not do enough to protect her.’
BBC News, 18th January 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A council significantly delayed completing an assessment of a complainant’s social care needs, failed to complete a support plan before reducing his personal budget and failed to properly involve him in the assessment and support planning process, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.’
Local Government Lawyer, 16th January 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Police and social workers investigating child sex exploitation in Manchester knew children were suffering “the most profound abuse… but did not protect them”, a report has found.’
BBC News, 14th January 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Up to 52 children may have been victims of a sex abuse scandal in Greater Manchester, with most offenders getting away with their crimes because of errors by police and children’s services, the Guardian has learned.’
The Guardian, 14th January 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘McKenzie Friends are giving “biased and misleading” advice to vulnerable family litigants, an academic study of online posts has found.’
Legal Futures, 11th December 2019
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The children’s commissioner has been called on to intervene in the case of a vulnerable teenager alleged to have been the victim of a catalogue of failures at the hands of social workers, medical authorities and police.’
The Guardian, 8th December 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘His Honour Judge Dancey has published a judgment in which he explains why he has decided that social services have failed to prove that either parent caused a skull fracture sustained by their baby, with the result that the baby is going home. The judge decided that the evidence did not prove that the fracture had been inflicted as opposed to caused accidentally, and the injury just remained unexplained. The baby has made a full recovery, by the way.’
Transparency Project, 7th December 2019
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
‘A Family Division judge has handed down his judgment in what is said to have been one of the largest public law children’s cases ever litigated.’
Local Government Lawyer, 31st October 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Administrative Court has revisited the issue of the denial of social care support to persons subject to immigration control, and the line between local authority social care support under the Care Act 2014, and accommodation and support provided by the Home Office. R (Shehab Aburas) v London Borough of Southwark [2019] EWHC 2754 (Admin) concerned an apparently stateless 58 year old Palestinian who came to the United Kingdom from Kuwait, arriving in 1996. Mt Aburas had mental health issues and had been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and depression. He was a failed asylum-seeker without regular immigration status. Southwark determined that he was in the category ‘no recourse to public funds’ as a ‘person subject to immigration control’ for the purposes of section 21 of the Care Act 2014. He was present in the United Kingdom as a ‘person in breach of immigration control’ for the purposes of Schedule 3 paragraphs 1 and 7(1)(a) to the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. He faced barriers to a proposed removal to Kuwait.’
Community Care Blog, 23rd October 2019
Source: communitycare11kbw.com
© Inner Temple Library 2020