Is Britain Fairer? No.
Disabled people … are finding themselves increasingly excluded from mainstream society, starting in education and continuing later in life. …. . Disabled people are more likely to be in poverty,…
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Is Wales Fairer?
“Unless these inequalities are addressed now, the disadvantage that too many people in Wales face could become entrenched for generations to come.” To access the Equality and Human Rights Report…
Read moreWelsh Government ‘independent living’ consultation
The Welsh Government has launched its Consultation on its new ‘Framework and Action Plan’ for advancing the right of disabled people to ‘independent living’. The consultation document can be accessed…
Read moreUN Progress Report on Disability Rights
The ‘UK Independent Mechanism Report update report to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ (produced by the Equality and Human Rights Commissions representing the UK’s four…
Read moreUN Progress Report on Disability Rights
Nathan Lee Davies has produced an excellent Wales focused note about the ‘UK Independent Mechanism Report’ - only just off the publishing press. Click here for to access Nathan’s commentary.
Read moreADSS Cymru & Welsh LGA
Publish a ‘Position Statement’ calling for preventative services funding – click here for their report.
Read moreHousing Adaptations Consultation
The Welsh Government is consulting on ‘Housing Adaptations Service Standards’ which will include timescales for works and payments. Click here to access the consultation.
Read moreAutumn 2018 Newsletter
A draft of Luke Clements’ Autumn 2018 Newsletter can be accessed by clicking here.
Read moreAutumn 2018 Newsletter
A draft of the Autumn 2018 Newsletter can be accessed by clicking here.
Read moreEnd of Life care & Continuing NHS Healthcare
We have posted on the main ‘What’s new’ section of this website a talk by Luke Clements concerning the current English NHS CHC guidance and statistics as they relate to…
Read moreRightfullives Exhibition
If you get the chance - have a look at the wonderful Rightfullives online Exhibition by clicking here
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Continuing Health Care Funding and End of Life Care
Opening address to the Association of Palliative Care Social Workers Tackling Poverty in Palliative Care Conference York University 13th September 2018. One of our greatest achievements as a nation…
Read moreLaw & Social Care Lecturer Vacancy Leeds
For details of a new Law & Social Care lecturer post at the School of Law, Leeds University - click here.
Read moreNeglect is Self-Neglect too?
In a new ‘Views from Practice’ paper in the Rhydian on-line journal, Carys Phillips critically analyses the treatment of ‘self-neglect’ by the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act 2014 and…
Read moreHow effective is the Equality Act 2010?
An Inquiry by the Women and Equalities Committee is trying to answer this question. The Disability Law Service believes there are problems. If you have a disability or care for…
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Families with severely disabled children should not have to live like this.
A report by the ombudsman[i] contains the above quote (said by the disabled child’s mother). The report relates to a council’s failure (for over 3 years) to provide essential home…
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Well-being means more than merely ‘coping’
A recent important report by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales[1] concerned a complaint made by the mother of young man with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), mental health problems…
Read moreNew NHS CHC Stats
The NHS Continuing Healthcare statistics for the first quarter of 2018-19 have been released. These suggest that the dramatic decline in the numbers of people eligible for CHC funding has…
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Improving Flexible Working Rights for Carers
A ‘What’s New’ post contributed by David Laurence and Samson Dawodu of the Disability Law Service. Those who care for disabled people should be entitled to reasonable adjustments in…
Read moreRecent developments in children’s social care law and policy relating to Wales
Dr. Julie Doughty is the Deputy Director of Cardiff Law School’s Centre for Health and Social Care Research. Julie has developed the Children’s Social Care Law in Wales website and…
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Disabled Facilities Grants and young people in England
Local authorities have statutory obligations to pay grants to facilitate access to homes by disabled occupants as well as to make them safe for the disabled person and those they…
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The Misuse by local authorities of their ‘protection’ powers
Some disabled people and their families have had negative experiences of the way their local authority or local NHS body behave. In some cases this behaviour feels oppressive and sometimes…
Read moreDirect Payments: Policy, Practice and Innovation Conference
A [pdf] copy of the PowerPoint Luke used at the Disability Wales Conference concerning Direct Payments: Policy, Practice and Innovation held at Cefn Lea, Newtown on the 20th July can…
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Pet care costs and social care charges
For those of us concerned about the high level of local authority charges as well as those sceptical of about the ‘personal budgets’ agenda this is an interesting piece of…
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The accessibility of Disabled Facilities Grant application forms
What can a cash strapped local authority do if the law requires that a grant be paid within 12 months of an application? It appears that about half have decided…
Read moreSave Hereford’s Young Carers Services
Hereford – where I live – having made serious cuts to its carers’ services is now cutting its Young Carers support – see article here. Charlotte has created an e-petition…
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Closure of the Welsh Independent Living Grant: In the cause of equality of provision for disabled people?
Local authorities in Wales are rushing to meet the new September deadline, set by the Minister for Health, for the re-assessment of the 1,300 or more recipients of the Welsh…
Read moreWelsh Independent Living Grant ~ update
The Welsh Government have published an update note concerning the WILG which can be accessed by clicking here. An analysis of the situation will be posted on the 'Rhydian news'…
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Case note
Judicial Review proceedings (withdrawn as settled before final hearing) relating to the failure to assess and then meet the needs of a young person with additional needs and to take…
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Difficulties in getting parent carers needs assessments
Parent carers are reporting difficulties getting assessments of their own need for support as well as getting an assessment of the child’s needs. Reasons given by councils for refusing to…
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Another fall in NHS Continuing Care (CHC) numbers
The CHC figures for the last quarter of 2017-18 have been released.[1] They show that in April 2018 the total number of people eligible for NHS CHC in England stood…
Read moreTransparency in the Family Courts: Publicity and Privacy in Practice
For details of a new publication from Dr Julie Doughty (Cardiff Law School), Lucy Reed and Paul Magrath click here.
Read moreBASW Cymru membership survey on the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014
Following its annual conference in June 2017 – The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 – One Year On , BASW Cymru ran a survey to gather the views…
Read moreSupport needs of newly formed adoptive families
Sarah Meakins from Cardiff University and her colleagues have recently published a paper in Adoption and Fostering on findings from the Wales Adoption Study. This paper will be of particular…
Read moreSpring 2018 Newsletter
A draft of the Spring 2018 Newsletter can be accessed by clicking here (especially if you fancy giving it a final proof-read).
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Difficult questions require a ‘plan’: ‘transitions’ as an example.
Robert Graves’ in his autobiography ‘Goodbye to All That’ describes how he, his wife and their small children were in urgent need of a house to rent in Oxfordshire –…
Read moreCerebra Chair of Trustees
Cerebra is looking for a new Chair of Trustees. For details click here.
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Autistic children and care assessments
A ‘What’s New’ post contributed by Priya Bahri of the Disability Law Service. Autistic children and care assessments – the problem of local authority eligibility criteria’s. Background. The Disability Law…
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NHS Continuing Care Young People in Wales
A previous Rhydian posting flagged up profound deficiencies in the Welsh Government’s NHS Continuing Care (CHC) guidance for children and young people. This posting has now been developed into a…
Read moreWorld Parkinson’s Awareness Day
A good friend of mine has Parkinson’s and I think we all need to better understand the impact of this relentless disease – especially to ensure we do mistake the…
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Disabled Facilities Grants and Young People in Wales
The enactment of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 has raised challenging questions about the procedure by which Welsh local authorities process ‘disabled facilities grants’ (DFGs). A paper…
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Opinion Piece
The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 came into force two years ago. To mark the anniversary Keith Bowen has written an Opinion Piece for The Rhydian: On-line Journal…
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52% of carers refused flexible working
A ‘What’s New’ post contributed by David Laurence of the Disability Law Service. Disabled people are entitled to have reasonable adjustments made in their workplace conditions in order to ensure…
Read moreLeeds School of Law new course & new posts
A new LLM in Law & Social Justice LLM - click here for details. Posts being advertise in the field of family, child, labour, housing, health care law and legal…
Read moreChild protection criticism and concerns in Wales
For a case review on a key child protection judgment (in which it was stated ‘All is not well with child protection in North Wales’) and a link to a…
Read moreParliamentary Review of Health and Social Care in Wales
The final report of the Parliamentary Review of Health and Social Care in Wales has been published. Click here for further details.
Read moreNHS continuing care funding for children & young people in Wales.
In Wales (as in England) social services provide significant amounts of healthcare to disabled and ill young people, which legally should be funded by the NHS. Although (in my opinion)…
Read moreInadvertent revocation ~ Cafcass Cymru’s powers
The power of Cafcass Cymru to make applications to the court in response to a referral from a local authority independent reviewing officer in child protection cases was mistaken revoked…
Read moreAdditional Learning Needs Act gains Royal Assent
The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 gained Royal Assent on the 24 January 2018. The Act will, when it comes into force, reform Special Education Needs Law in Wales. …
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