Holidays and Poor Law Commissioners
R (RG) v Suffolk County Council[1]. On one level this case concerns the extent to which a council’s ability to promote an individual’s well-being (under section 1 Care Act 2014)…
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Author: admin
Pre-payment cards
the Payment Systems Regulator has fined 5 companies for cartel behaviour in the prepaid cards market - click here for the story.
Read moreDisability Evidence portal
For a valuable new resource from the LSHTM concerning poverty and disability in low- and middle-income countries click here.
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It is time to recognise the unpaid carer as a worker
The guest post you are about to read from a good colleague considers one of the greatest issues confronting the care system in the UK – namely the need for…
Read moreSENDIST data
Councils allocating £60m pa defending SEN appeals with a success rate of 3.6%. For an excellent / depressing post in Special Needs Jungle click here.
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What a mess – s117 ordinary residence (again)
In a nutshell – and congratulations if you understand this: The Court of Appeal has reversed a High Court decision that reversed a decision of the Department of Health and…
Read moreThe State of Caring 2021: Wales Briefing
A briefing by Carers Wales on the annual 'State of Caring report' and can be accessed by clicking here.
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Blamed and criticised for her parenting
Seven years after he was adopted (as an infant) a child was diagnosed as having an alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder, autism and ADHD. His adoptive mother made multiple requests to the…
Read moreADSS Cymru Report
ADSS Cymru has published the findings of its assessment of the impact of the pandemic on short breaks, respite services and day services – which can be accessed by clicking…
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Parent Carer Blame webinar materials
On the 8th December 2021 Cerebra hosted a webinar that provided an overview of the 2021 Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem-Solving (LEaP) research report. The report describes how local authority…
Read moreParent carer assessment failure in Wales
A BBC news story cites a Care Inspectorate Wales report that has found that almost two-thirds of people who care for disabled children have not been offered an assessment of…
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Disabled Children and their Families – a damning ITV Wales news story
Earlier this year, the Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem-solving (LEaP) Project at the University of Leeds published a major report concerning English social care policies and practices that had the…
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Webinar: Wednesday December 8th: 10am
Parent Carer Blame: bringing about meaningful change. A 90 minute, free webinar that provides: (1) an overview of 2021 Research report that describes how local authority policies create a culture…
Read moreParent too scared to ask for help
For a troubling ‘Parent Carer Blame’ article in the Birmingham Mail click here.
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A High Octane Conflict
A very welcome judgment of the High Court concerning a ‘high octane conflict’ between the parents of a profoundly disabled 12 year old boy and the professionals involved in his…
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‘Autism Plus’ policies
In 2020 the Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem-solving (LEaP) programme together with the Disability Law Service published research ( generally referred to as the 'Autism Plus Report') which highlighted the…
Read moreIs there a Welsh Health Law?
John Harrington, Erin Thomas and Barbara Hughes-Moore of the Cardiff School of Law & Politics have written two papers on this topic, one for the UK Constitutional Law Association click…
Read moreAdult Social Care Reform in Wales
“The current legislative framework [in Wales] constructs social care as a ‘last resort’. Rather than maintaining this view of social care as an unwelcome necessity for some, reform should be…
Read moreOskar Nash Inquest
Oskar Nash Inquest gross failures; neglect and missed opportunities - if CAMHS had carried out a proper review his death probably prevented. For further details click here.
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Parent carer blame with added stereotyping
On the 2nd September BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour[1] featured the recent Cerebra research report ‘Institutionalising Parent Carer Blame’.[2] The programme included compelling accounts from parents of disabled children who…
Read moreExtra demands to be placed on unpaid carers in Wales
For a troubling article from Carers Wales concerning profound policy changes – click here.
Read moreNew NHS Continuing Healthcare guidance
Guidance has been issued to explain the resumed process by which NHS CHC assessments & hospital discharge care costs will be undertaken. Click here for the guidance and click here…
Read moreNew NHS Continuing Healthcare Guidance
Revised NHS CHC guidance (and DST) has been published. We will provide a short overview in due course. For the Guidance / DST click here and for the Ministerial statement…
Read moreNew Autism Guidance
The Welsh Government has issued a Code of Practice on the Delivery of Autism Services and accompanying Practice Guidance. For the Code click here and for the guidance click here.…
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Is there ‘Parent Carer Blame’ in Wales?
A recent report entitled ‘Institutionalising Parent Carer Blame’ has been published by the Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem-solving research team at the University of Leeds. It considers the policies and…
Read moreWebinar
For details of a Parent and Carer Alliance webinar on the ‘Institutionalising Parent-Carer Blame’ Report click here.
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Institutionalising Parent-carer Blame
Disabled children and their families are one of the most severely disadvantaged groups in the UK. A major research report published today (21 July 2021) finds that most English Children’s…
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An expression of righteous anger might sometimes not be amiss?
In 2019 the ombudsman published a report[1] which criticised a council for its decision to (among other things) reduce a disabled person’s care and support plan without a proper assessment…
Read moreThe impact of Covid on disabled people
The Welsh Government has published an independent report ‘Locked out: liberating disabled people’s lives and rights in Wales beyond COVID-19’ and also published a statement in response to this report. …
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Carers in Wales: new reports.
Two new reports concerning carers in Wales have been published. The first is a Public Health Wales funded publication by researchers at Cardiff University entitled Voices of Carers during the…
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Parent Carer’s Needs Assessments
Some local authorities appear to think that they have no duty to provide support for a family as a result of a Parent Carer’s Needs Assessments (PCNA) – with statements…
Read moreReforming Social Care in Wales
For an excellent paper by Dr Alison Tarrant in the IWA publication 'The Welsh Agenda' click here.
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The enigma of section 16
Dr Alison Tarrant of the School of Law and Politics Cardiff University discusses a unique provision in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. . When the (then) National…
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An unpaid carer’s life: a cri de cœur
The guest post you are about to read from a good colleague builds on an earlier posting which also concerns an incredibly troubling account of the health system’s approach to…
Read morePodcast ~ Clustered Injustice
For a podcast of Luke Clements, housing law specialist Spike Mullings, Sue James & Esther Pilger (both of the Legal Action Group) discussing the new book 'Clustered injustice and the…
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The Health & Social Care Integration White Paper and Carers
John Bangs OBE and Luke Clements[1] . The Health and Care Bill, announced in the Queen’s Speech is intended to provide the basis for closer health and social care integration…
Read moreCare Act charging
For an interesting analysis of the Norfolk judgment in the ‘Local Government Lawyer’ click here
Read moreCarers Survey
The Who Cares Campaign has a survey it would like young carers and young adult carers (and service providers that engage with younger carers) to complete – click here for…
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Carers and the Health and Care Bill
Reaction to the White Paper on NHS reform has been lukewarm with many key players pointing out that restructuring an endlessly restructured NHS will not in itself address its critical…
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NHS Ombudsman news and a Fast-track decision
The reports of the English Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman are now being published – click here to access the relevant page. This is good news. The Local Government and…
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NHS Continuing Health Care and Direct Payments in Wales
Disabled People in Wales of all ages who are eligible for NHS Continuing Health Care and who want to remain living in the community – have been left without a…
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NHS Ombudsman news and a Fast-track decision
The reports of the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman are now being published – click here to access the relevant page. This is good news. The Local Government and Social…
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Housing adaptations and disabled young people
Foundations – the National Body for Home Improvement Agencies in England has published an excellent Guide to Adaptations for Children and Young People with Behaviours that Challenge. The 45-page guide…
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The impact of the pandemic on disabled people: so much more than COVID-19
Between 30 March and 1 April 2021 Cardiff University Law School hosted the International Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) Conference which, for the first time in its history, was delivered as…
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Section 117 & Ordinary Residence ~ All change yet again
R (Worcestershire CC) v Department of Health and Social Care and Swindon Borough Council [2021] EWHC 682 (Admin). Put simply – put very simply – the High Court has decided…
Read moreCoronavirus Act 2020 ~ suspension
The Welsh Government has announced that it will - on the 22 March 2021 - suspend the social care provisions of the Coronavirus Act 2020: provisions that no local authority…
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Charging, strategic litigation and the Norfolk judgment
The Local Government Association (LGA) has published a copy of a letter sent by the Centre for Adult Social Care Advice, Information and Dispute Resolution (CASCAIDr) to all English…
Read more2021 Newsletter
For a copy of the 2021 Social Care law Newsletter - with updates for England and Wales click here.
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Welsh Government social care announcements
The Welsh Government has published a White Paper ‘Rebalancing care and support’ which makes proposals to introduce new legislation to improve social care arrangements and strengthen partnership working in…
Read moreHuman Rights Act Review – call for evidence
For details of the review click here and for how to submit evidence (by the 3 March 20201 deadline) click here.
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