Direct Payments legal review
For an overview and recent updates newsletter concerning the right to a Direct Payment in England and in Wales - click here. The overview considers the need for revisions to…
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Author: admin
PFAN Event 26 August
For details of a webinar on the 'Working Together' consultation - click here.
Read moreDirect Payments Newsletter
For my update Newsletter concerning Direct Payments - click here.
Read moreImportant ‘Welfare Deputy Judgment’
To access the Court of Appeal judgment in Re HB click here (para 63 of particular relevance).
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‘Optimising’ and NHS Continuing Health Care (CHC)
A recent ombudsman report concerns a shocking (but not untypical) example of how NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are developing local policies that frustrate the principles and practices detailed in…
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High Court Social Care judgment: duty to provide support and direct payments
An interesting High Court judgment[1] that concerns local authorities’ duties under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 – including the duty to meet need and to ensure that…
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Parent Blame and Youth Crime
The youth ‘justice’ system is in urgent need of radical reform and there is a great deal in the Ministry of Justice’s new White Paper on ‘Youth Crime’[1] that is…
Read moreCost shunting
For a challenging ‘Politics Home’ paper on this issue by Chaminda Jayanetti click here.
Read moreSEND Briefing & Event Liverpool
For details of a Liverpool Law Clinic SEND briefing click here – it includes (at the end) details of a ‘Save SEND Legal Rights’ Demonstration on 9th May 2026.
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Troubling draft guidance ~ School Medical & Nursing Services
The English Government is currently consulting on draft updated statutory guidance on Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions in Schools. It is a daunting (122 page) draft; it is troubling and sadly…
Read moreSEND Event Leeds
For details of a ‘Save SEND Legal Rights’ Demonstration on 9th May 2026 click here.
Read moreSEND event Birmingham
For details of a ‘Save SEND Legal Rights’ Demonstration on 9th May 2026 click here.
Read moreDfE response to Law Commission Report
For the Department for Education’s initial response to the Law Commission Report on the Law relating to Disabled Children and Social care – click here.
Read moreWales Ombudsman Carers Report
The ombudsman’s 2026 report ‘Are we caring for our carers? Revisited’ can be accessed by clicking here
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FII and Parental Alienation Syndrome
No one familiar with the miscarriages of justice resulting from allegations that parents (overwhelmingly mothers) are harming their children by fabricating or inducing their illness (FII) will be able to…
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Parent Carers experiences across Wales
A powerful and measured report has been published concerning the experiences of Parent Carers in dealing with the statutory agencies responsible for providing health and social care support for their…
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‘My daughter had been kidnapped’
This is the heading of profoundly disturbing and important story aired by the excellent ‘ITV News’ investigation team.[1] The story recounts how many parents are facing severe restrictions on visiting…
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ARFID: two recent publications
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is a serious eating disorder characterised by extreme food avoidance, sensory based restriction, or fear-based refusal. [1] . …
Read moreCarers allowance petition
For details of a petition to end the ‘hospital’ rule stopping carers payments - click here.
Read moreAutistic Mothers & Children’s Social Work research
PhD research at Swansea University seeks confidential interviews with Autistic Mothers - for details, click here.
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An ‘Empathy in Public Services Bill’?
Our research strongly suggests that the most oppressive traumas[1] experienced by the majority of families with disabled children – result from the behaviour of public services: traumas caused by the…
Read moreOlder People’s Commissioner Survey
The Commissioner wants to hear from older people in Wales about their experiences of receiving care and support. To access the questionnaire click here.
Read moreMental Health Act 2025
For an excellent overview by Tim Spencer-Lane, of the new Act's provisions, click here.
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Some dates for the 2026 diary
In March 2026 the English Government is due to give its interim response to the Law Commission’s proposals (published in September 2025[1]) for the reform of the law relating to…
Read moreCare Charges Judicial Review (JR)
Kent County Council has settled a JR claim that its policies concerning disability related expenditure (DRE) were unlawful. For a note by the solicitors Gold Jennings of the settlement click…
Read moreYoung Vic Theatre, 66 The Cut, Waterloo SE1 8LZ
An acclaimed 30 minute mixed-reality production concerning the impact of austerity: of people denied welfare benefits and who died. Click here for the Guardian review and click here for booking…
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It’s not just ‘Hywel Dda’ BUT …: secret court hearings.
There appears to be little research concerning the prevalence and impact of ex parte (ie secret) hearings in the Family Law courts and in the Court of Protection: hearings that…
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Transport Costs & NHS Continuing Healthcare
The NHS has a duty to provide support for adults who are eligible for continuing healthcare funding and who have been assessed as needing transport for social care activities: the…
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Breath-taking budget driven inhumanity: NHS Continuing Healthcare decision making & profoundly disabled children
The treatment of families with profoundly disabled children by increasing numbers of NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in England and NHS Health Boards in Wales is truly shocking. Children on…
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Disabled children 3 times more likely to be the subject of safeguarding
A report based on major research by Professor Andy Bilson finds (among much else) that children with a disability or mental health concern are more than three times as likely…
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Ombudsman 2025 Report
A troubling report by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales[1] concerning a council’s refusal to escalate a social care complaint to Stage 2 of its complaints process, in line with…
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Two major reports highlighting parental blame and Systems Generated Trauma
Following last week’s launch of Cerebra’s major research tackling the phenomenon of Systems Generated Trauma, this week has seen two important reports concerning directly relevant issues. Adoption breakdowns On…
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‘Systems Generated Trauma’ Report 2025
A major research report ‘Systems Generated Trauma’ has been published by the disabled children's charity Cerebra at a launch event in Westminster. It draws on over 10 years of research…
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FII, GOSH & the Royal College
The Sunday Times and its Special Correspondent Emily Dugan, have to their great credit, persevered with the investigation into wrongful allegations of Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII). The article was…
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Additional Learning Needs (ALN) judgment
An interesting Judicial Review judgment[1] concerning an ALN assessment of a young adult who attended a specialist school in Cardiff. The assessment (under section 140 of the Learning Skills Act…
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Welsh language judgment
What appears to be a ‘first’ - a Court of Protection decision has been published in Welsh on the official by Court judgment website ‘Bailii’ (British and Irish Legal Information…
Read moreEnd home care charges
For a powerful film by the Hammersmith & Fulham Coalition Against Cuts click one of the following links: with BSL and subtitles only, or with audio descriptions as well https://vimeo.com/1124827034.
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Criticism of the draft Disabled People’s Rights Plan
There is no reason to doubt the noble intentions of the Welsh Government in seeking to improve the rights of Disabled People. There is no reason to question the aspirational…
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A ‘sitting duck’ for allegations of fabricated or induced illness (FII)
The Sunday Times in its investigation into wrongful allegations of FII, carried a further harrowing story on 10 August 2025. It concerns Maeve Boothby O’Neill who died in 2021 (aged…
Read moreConference: September 15th ~ Leeds
Parent Blame: Where are we now? (Cerebra LEaP Project, Leeds University). For details click here.
Read moreConference: October 25th ~ Hereford
Tackling the Crisis In Children's Social Care Conference (The Families’ Alliance for Change): October 25th 2025. For details click here.
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A ‘sitting duck’ for allegations of fabricated or induced illness (FII)
The Sunday Times in its investigation into wrongful allegations of FII, carried a further harrowing story on 10 August 2025. It concerns Maeve Boothby O’Neill who died in 2021 (aged…
Read moreParental Alienation Syndrome (PAS)
For a fascinating paper in the Sheffield Tribune concerning PAS (that has strong FII echoes) click here.
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s117 MHA 1983 and ‘entrenched indifference’
A good colleague has summarised three ombudsman reports concerning the alarming failures by the key health and social care bodies in Peterborough with responsibility for providing support for a disabled…
Read moreGood Morning Britain & FII
For an extended ITV interview with a parent wrongly accused of FII, (broadcast on 21 July 2025) click here.
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Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII): further investigations
The Sunday Times has published a further article concerning its investigation into the false allegations that are being made against parents that they are fabricating or inducing their child’s illness. …
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Sunday Times FII investigation
A major article appeared in the Sunday Times on 20 July 2025 concerning its investigation into the impact that unsubstantiated Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) allegations are having on countless…
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A disregard for the humanity of those involved
Increasingly I am confronted by cases involving profoundly disabled children where the behaviour of the NHS takes my breath away. Of course, the NHS is generally spectacular when called upon…
Read moreHerefordshire Council (again)
The failings of Herefordshire Children’s Services have figured in a number of posts in these webpages and these accounts continue – for a recent and troubling Observer Newspaper story concerning…
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