Cwmbran fire trial: Serious case review is called – BBC News
“A serious case review will be launched after three generations of the same family were murdered in a house fire.”
BBC News, 19th July 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: social services
Inquiry launched after man is jailed for triple murder in house fire – The Guardian
“An inquiry has been launched into the contact the authorities had with a vulnerable family after a violent alcoholic man was jailed for at least 30 years for murdering his baby daughter, his girlfriend and her mother.”
The Guardian, 18th July 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Michael Gove strips council of child protection powers – The Guardian
“A council has been stripped of its powers to provide child protection by the education secretary, Michael Gove, after the latest in a series of damning reports found its services could not overcome a persistent culture of ‘failure and disillusion’.”
The Guardian, 16th July 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Fédération des maisons de repos privées de Belgique (Femarbel) ASBL v Commission communautaire commune de Bruxelles-Capitale – WLR Daily
“On the proper interpretation of article 2(2)(f) of Parliament and Council Directive 2006/123/EC of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market, the exclusion of healthcare services from the scope of the Directive covered any activity intended to assess, maintain or restore the state of health of patients, where that activity was carried out by healthcare professionals recognised as such by the member state concerned, regardless of the ways in which the facilities in which that care was provided were organised and financed or whether they were public or private. On the proper interpretation of article 2(2)(j) the exclusion of social services from the scope of that Directive included any activity relating, inter alia, to the care and assistance of elderly persons, where that activity was carried out by a private service provider which has been mandated by the state by means of an act conferring, in a clear and transparent manner, a genuine obligation to provide such services under specific conditions.”
WLR Daily, 11th July 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Tia Sharp murder: Agencies cleared of any blame – BBC News
“An inquiry into the welfare of murdered London schoolgirl Tia Sharp, who was killed by her grandmother’s partner, Stuart Hazell, has cleared the agencies involved of any blame.”
BBC News, 15th July 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
How do we tackle institutional abuse of minors? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
“In this piece I examine a difficult question. Is there now a need for a duty to have due regard to the need to eliminate abuse of minors over and above the welfare duty in s 11 of the Children Act 2004? (The question can be put in a number of different ways covering exploitation, abuse, and I have not tried to define precisely the social evil to be minimised).”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 3rd July 2013
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
Oxford sex grooming gang jailed for life – Daily Telegraph
“Members of an Oxford gang who groomed vulnerable young girls for sex, repeatedly raping them and threatening to kill them if they told anyone, have been jailed for life.”
Daily Telegraph, 27th June 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
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Judges to explain benefit assessment decisions – BBC News
“Judges in England and Scotland are being asked to explain why they believe someone is unfit to work, in a move ministers hope will improve the decision-making process on benefits.”
BBC News, 21st June 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
CQC: too big a remit, too little funding? – Daily Telegraph
“With a smaller budget than the watchdogs it replaced, the Care Quality Commission has had a struggle on its hands.”
Daily Telegraph, 19th June 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
The Revised Public Law Outline …. and this time they mean it – Family Law Week
“Andrew Pack, care lawyer with Brighton & Hove City Council, explains and comments on the changes made by the recently published Revised Public Law Outline.”
Family Law Week, 4th June 2013
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Insemination case: Chances missed to check on adopted daughter – BBC News
“A review into how a mother was able to force her adopted child to impregnate herself has found agencies missed opportunities to intervene.”
BBC News, 5th June 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Rochdale Council leaders ‘let down’ groomed girls – BBC News
“Former senior managers at Rochdale Borough Council did not do enough to stop the grooming and sexual abuse of children, a report has found.”
BBC News, 24th May 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Report into Rochdale grooming a ‘damning indictment’ of council – Daily Telegraph
“A new report into the child sex grooming scandal in Rochdale is a ‘damning indictment’ of the local council, the town’s MP said.”
Daily Telegraph, 24th May 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Closing the loophole: Care services and human rights protection – UK Human Rights Blog
“Much of the House of Lords debate surrounding yesterday’s Second Reading of the Care and Support Bill focused on seeking solutions to complex issues around the future provision of care. Additionally, as several peers flagged, the Bill also provides a timely opportunity to clarify which bodies have legal obligations to uphold protections under the Human Rights Act. Baroness Campbell noted ‘those who receive their care not from a public authority but from a private body lack the full protection of the Human Rights Act…[This] is a loophole that must be closed.'”
UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd May 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Eoin Carolan: An oligarchy of the self-interest or enthusiastic?: Open Public Services in the Big Society – UK Constitutional Law Group
“The coalition government’s programme of public service reform continues apace. The coming into effect of parts of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 on April 1st was the latest in a series of changes to the structure and delivery of public services through measures like the Localism Act 2011 or the Free Schools programme. As the White Paper on Open Public Services indicates, these individual changes form part of a broader plan to fundamental re-model how Britain’s government operates. The White Paper is clear that this reform programme is wide-ranging and ambitious. What is less clear from government pronouncements, however, is whether or how it is intended to ensure the democratic legitimacy and character of the proposed reforms.”
UK Constitutional Law Group, 29th April 2013
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
Caldicott review: unlawful personal data processing and sharing should be reported as ‘data breach’ – OUT-LAW.com
“Health and social care bodies should be required to publish details of cases where they have processed or shared patients’ personal data without having a legal basis to do so, Dame Fiona Caldicott has recommended.”
OUT-LAW.com, 29th April 2013
Source: www.out-law.com
Girl, 14, forced to become pregnant with donor sperm bought by mother – The Guardian
“A mother forced her 14-year-old adopted daughter to inseminate herself with donor sperm to provide a baby for her after she was prevented from adopting any more children, it can be revealed. The daughter, a virgin, is believed to have miscarried at 14, but went on to have a baby at 16 after regularly inseminating herself with sperm bought over the internet by her ‘domineering’ mother because she was too scared to refuse. Details of the shocking case have emerged in a previously secret court judgment, which can be reported today for the first time and which raises serious questions over loopholes in international adoptions and the regulation of the global traffic in gametes.”
The Guardian, 28th April 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Collette Elliot wins pay-out from Birmingham council – BBC News
“A woman is to receive compensation from a council after social services failed
to take her into care while she was being abused as a child.”
BBC News, 28th April 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Judge: parents were too besotted to hurt children – Daily Telegraph
“A judge has refused to allow social workers to take three children with serious
and apparently unexplained injuries into care after seeing that their parents
were ‘simply dotty about them’.”
Daily Telegraph, 27th April 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Human rights have disappeared from ‘Working Together’ – UK Human Rights Blog
“‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ is the lead piece of statutory guidance on… well, working together to safeguard children. Originally published in 1999, a new edition was published in 2006 following the changes brought about following the death of Victoria Climbié. And the next edition in 2010 incorporated recommendations of the second Laming Report which followed the death of Baby P. It had grown longer over time, as we all learned lessons from Haringey; but its growing length was causing concern.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 9th April 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
