Children: Public Law Update (August 2017) – Family Law Week
‘John Tughan QC of 4 Paper Buildings reviews a range of recent important public law cases.’
Family Law Week, 9th August 2017
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Category: placement orders
Fall in decisions for adoption orders halted but local variation remains: report – Local Government Lawyer
‘The fall in decisions for adoption and placement orders seems to have halted but this masks a high degree of variation in decision-making at a local and regional level, data collected by the Adoption Leadership Board has suggested.’
Local Government Lawyer, 24th April 2017
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
How is the PLO working? What is its impact on court process and outcome? – Family Law Week
‘The last five years have brought important reforms to care proceedings. The Judiciary made proposals for modernising family justice with a focus on strong judicial leadership, judicial continuity and better case management.2 The Family Justice Review3 recommended that the duration of care proceedings should be limited to 26 weeks, that fewer experts should be instructed in proceedings and there should be more limited scrutiny of the care plan, with the court considering only the plan for permanency (care by the parents(s), placement in the extended family, long-term fostering, or adoption) and not matters such as services for the child and contact arrangements. The Review’s recommendations were enacted in the Children and Families Act 2014, supplemented by new procedural rules (the PLO 2014) and implemented on April 22, 2014. This date also marked the opening of the Family Court, replacing the triple jurisdiction of the Family Proceedings Court, the County Court and the High Court. ‘
Family Law Week, 17th February 2017
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Guidance issued on s. 20 Children Act amid fears councils could misinterpret law – Local Government Lawyer
‘Cafcass, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) and ADSS Cymru have published guidance aimed at clarifying the expectations on local authorities for children looked after under s. 20 of the Children Act 1989.’
Local Government Lawyer, 4th April 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Government details law changes to address fall in adoption decisions – Local Government Lawyer
‘The Government has set out how it plans to change the law to address falls in local authority adoption decisions and the courts’ granting of placement orders.’
Local Government Lawyer, 30th March 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Council ordered to pay damages to boy over delay in revoking placement order – Local Government Lawyer
‘A Family Court judge has ordered a council to pay a 10-year-old boy £5,000 in damages after it failed for three years to seek to revoke a placement order.’
Local Government Lawyer, 15th March 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘How not to embark upon, and pursue, a care case’ – Park Square Barristers
‘In the 2014 case Re R (A Child) [2014] EWCA Civ 1625, the president considered the post-Re B & -Re B-S landscape, stressing that ‘Re B-S was not intended to change and has not changed the law’ [para. 44] on adoption. The president’s judgment clarified that, in the wake of Re B and Re B-S, it is not right to say that an application for a placement order now has to ‘surmount a much higher hurdle’ or to exclaim that ‘adoption is over’.’
Full story
Park Square Barristers, 25th February 2015
Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk
In re R (A Child) – WLR Daily
In re R (A Child) [2014] EWCA Civ 1625; [2014] WLR (D) 539
‘In re B-S (Children) (Adoption Order: Leave to Oppose) [2014] 1 WLR 563 had not been intended to change and had not changed the law; it was primarily directed to practice. Where adoption was in the child’s best interests local authorities were not to shy away from seeking, nor courts from making, care orders with a plan for adoption, placement orders and adoption orders.’
WLR Daily, 16th December 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Post-Adoption Contact: All Change or More of the Same? – Family Law Week
‘Lance Dodgson, barrister of Bank House Chambers, considers the changes concerning post-adoption contact made by the Children and Families Act 2014 and asks what effect they will have in practice.’
Family Law Week, 11th November 2014
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Children Public Law Update – Family Law Week
‘John Tughan, barrister, of 4 Paper Buildings reviews recent important judgments in public law children cases.’
Family Law Week, 5th November 2014
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
In re T (Children) (Revocation of Placement Order: Change in Circumstances) – WLR Daily
‘A “change of circumstances” for the purposes of an application for permission to apply to revoke a placement order under section 24 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 had to be a change which had occurred since the making of the placement order and whichwas relevant to the circumstances of the case. It would be unacceptable to exclude any change in circumstances to the children who were the subject of the orders.’
WLR Daily, 21st October 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Challenging adoption order using human rights – UK Human Rights Blog
“The recently released statistics from the Department for Education showing an increase of 15% in the adoption of looked after children in the last year further highlights the government’s preferred strategy for ensuring the welfare of children in care.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 2nd October 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
In re C (A Child) (Adoption: Placement order) – WLR Daily
In re C (A Child) (Adoption: Placement order): [2013] EWCA Civ 431; [2013] WLR (D) 151
“Guidance as to the steps to be followed where an application to the Court of Appeal was made for permission to appeal against the making of a placement order, or of any order consequent upon the making of a placement order, in adoption proceedings.”
WLR Daily, 25th April 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Local authority ordered to pay substantial costs in family human rights case – UK Human Rights Blog
“This was a costs application arising from an extremely important decision by Peter Jackson J in June 2012 (see Alasdair Henderson’s post here and read judgment).”
UK Human Rights Blog, 19th April 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Nottinghamshire County Council v Suffolk County Council – WLR Daily
Nottinghamshire County Council v Suffolk County Council: [2012] EWCA Civ 1640; [2012] WLR (D) 376
“The local authority responsible for providing financial and other support for a child under the Children Act 1989 was any authority which looked after the child or, if the child was not a looked after child, the local authority in whose area the child was living.”
WLR Daily, 11th December 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
In re S (A Child) – WLR Daily
In re S (A Child); [2008] WLR (D) 308
“When considering whether to revoke a placement order placing a child for adoption with prospective adopters, it was wrong to focus on whether the carers were ‘potential’ adopters.”
WLR, 8th October 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
M v Warwickshire County Council – Times Law Reports
M v Warwickshire County Council
Court of Appeal
“On an application for leave to revoke a placement order based on a change of circumstances, a discretion arose in which the welfare of the child and the prospect of success should both be weighed and the former was not necessarily paramount.”
The Times, 21st December 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
