Oxfordshire boy groomed by gangs ‘failed’ by authorities – BBC News

Posted January 21st, 2021 in children, drug trafficking, education, gangs, news, police, reports, social services, suicide by sally

‘A boy found dead in his bedroom was groomed into a world of drug trafficking and “failed” by the authorities, a serious case review said.’

Full Story

BBC News, 20th January 2021

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Lucy McHugh: Social workers caseload ‘too high’ before girl’s murder – BBC News

Posted December 7th, 2020 in local government, murder, news, rape, sexual grooming, sexual offences, social services by sally

‘Social workers’ caseloads were “too high” in the months before a 13-year-old girl was murdered by a man lodging in her home, a council boss has said.’

Full Story

BBC News, 6th December 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘Bad parent’: children’s watchdog to accuse state of care failings in England – The Guardian

Posted November 24th, 2020 in care orders, children, news, social services, speeches by sally

‘The children’s commissioner for England will deliver a damning indictment of children’s social care in a speech on Tuesday and accuse the state of too often being a “bad parent”.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 24th November 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Authorities failed to protect Hampshire girl killed by abuser, review finds – The Guardian

Posted November 5th, 2020 in child abuse, murder, news, police, social services by tracey

‘Police and social workers missed chances to protect a 13-year-old girl who was stabbed to death by a man after she threatened to reveal he had been sexually abusing her for more than a year, an independent review has found.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 4th November 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Alfie Gildea: ‘Danger signs missed’ before baby’s death – BBC News

Posted October 27th, 2020 in child abuse, domestic violence, inquests, news, police, social services by sally

‘Mistakes made by police and other agencies “probably” contributed to the death of a baby boy who was killed by his violent father, an inquest ruled.’

Full Story

BBC News, 23rd October 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

High Court allows appeal by claimant after council bids to withdraw admissions of liability in failure to remove case – Local Government Lawyer

‘An unnamed South Wales local authority has been stopped by the High Court from withdrawing three admissions of lability made in a lengthy dispute over the care while a child of J, who is now aged 20 and seeks damages.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 17th September 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Autism in children: ‘Many families face council discrimination’ – BBC News

‘More than a quarter of English councils are acting unlawfully by discriminating against children with autism, according to a report by disability law experts.’

Full Story

BBC News, 4th August 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Shirley Oaks: Care home survivors call for mandatory reporting of abuse – BBC News

‘Survivors of prolonged abuse while in the care of Lambeth Council have called for the failure to report abuse in children’s homes to be made a crime.’

Full Story

BBC News, 31st July 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Government consults on extending the Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 – Family Law

‘Government consults on extending the Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.’

Full Story

Family Law, 28th July 2020

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Over £46m paid to survivors of abuse at Lambeth children’s homes – The Guardian

‘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.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 25th June 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Charity launches High Court challenge over dilution of children’s social care duties during COVID-19 – Local Government Lawyer

‘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.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 8th June 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Judge names council after deciding knowledge of its social services failures in care case outweighed risk of jigsaw identification of children – Local Government Lawyer

‘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.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 21st May 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Charity sends letter before action over regulations relaxing social care protections – Local Government Lawyer

‘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.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 12th May 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Children’s Commissioner for England calls for revocation of “unnecessary” regulations relaxing children’s social care protections – Local Government Lawyer

‘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.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 1st May 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

The Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, and a little bit of history. – Transparency Project

‘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.’

Full Story

Transparency Project, 3rd May 2020

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

Government legal move risks councils ‘downing tools’ on support for disabled children – Law Society’s Gazette

‘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.’

Full Story

Law Society's Gazette, 1st May 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

ADCS President warns of potential spike in demand and backlog of care applications following COVID-19 outbreak – Local Government Lawyer

‘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.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 23rd April 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

The Coronavirus Act 2020 – Adult social care and assessing needs – Landmark Chambers

‘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).’

Full Story

Landmark Chambers, 16th April 2020

Source: www.landmarkchambers.co.uk

The Coronavirus Act 2020 and Adult Social Care – 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square

‘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.’

Full Story

4-5 Gray's Inn Square, 7th April 2020

Source: www.4-5.co.uk

Covid-19: Offering blood, toil, tears and sweat: Emergency Volunteers and the Law – Cloisters

‘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.’

Full Story

Cloisters, 3rd April 2020

Source: www.cloisters.com