Good practice guidance relating to complaints made against Children Services. In a recent training session, I was requested to clarify what happens if someone wants to complain against a decision made by children social care services. So this legal blog is about the complaints process. This legal blog is intended… Continue reading
Helpful tips on how to achieve the PLO statutory timeframe. The Public Law Outline (PLO) The PLO will be very familiar to those practitioners involved in Public Law Children Act Care Proceedings. For those unfamiliar or new to this area, the PLO provides a template for case management of care… Continue reading
April 2023 The government has established the National Age Assessment Board to strengthen age assessments of small boat arrivals and make decisions more consistent and robust. Age Assessments Age Assessments are presently undertaken by local authority social workers. They are required if there is a dispute as to whether the… Continue reading
April 2023 The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) form part of the Mental Capacity Act, introduced in 2009 to protect the rights of people who lack capacity to consent to their arrangements which could amount to a deprivation of their liberty. Why the change from DoLS to Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS)… Continue reading
The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 received royal assent in April 2022 and came into force on 27 February 2023 This Act increases another needed step towards child protection. It also has the benefits of working towards the world’s target to eliminate child marriages by 2030. Further information on the world’s target can… Continue reading
Molly Russell and the impact of social media The inquest into the death of Molly Russell, 14 year old school concluded on 30th September 2022. The Senior Coroner sitting at North London Coroner’s court found that Molly died from an act of self harm whilst suffering from depression and the… Continue reading
Those of you who have attended our effective court report writing training you will be familiar with the need to use clear understandable language in court documents and when communicating with parents, prospective carers, or service users. This is vital as parents/carers/service users being assessed need to understand: -the evidence… Continue reading
Once an individual has exhausted the statutory complaints process within the Local Authority and is not satisfied with the outcome, the individual complainant can then apply to the LGO for a further independent investigation of their complaint. The LGO shares their decisions on their website; the reason for this is… Continue reading
You can read the related Part 1 on SGO support plans by clicking here part-1-special-guardian-order In part 1 a number of cases before the LGO highlighted the need to provide the right support and guidance to carers and children subject to Special Guardianship Orders (SGO). The LGO in it’s report,… Continue reading
This month we wanted to share some useful resources with you. Guidance on Hospital discharge and community support guidance This guidance applies in relation to adults being discharged from acute hospitals and community rehabilitation units in England, excluding maternity patients.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hospital-discharge-and-community-support-guidance/hospital-discharge-and-community-support-guidance Forced marriage How to protect, advise and support victims of… Continue reading
