Luke Clements is the Cerebra Professor of Law at Leeds University.
A major research report has been published concerning the degrading experiences of many disabled children who are denied adequate continence support services. The report, ‘Inaccessible, unacceptable and unaccountable: the provision…
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Pam Coughlan passed away on the 8th January 2025. Paralysed as a result of a spinal cord injury in 1971, she took on the Secretary of State for Health and…
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The deadline for commenting on the Law Commission’s Disabled Children’s Social Care Consultation Paper has been extended, and is now Friday 31 January 2025 (23:59). A copy of my response…
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Tash Ashby was 21 years old when she died. At the time of her death, she was street homeless, living in the undergrowth around Hereford bus station. Her lifeless body…
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A guest posting by Lisa Ballesteros. Background My son, T, wasn’t expected to survive the night. Born at 26 weeks gestation with an alphabet soup of medical conditions, he…
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A recent High Court judgment Sammut & Others v Next Steps Mental Healthcare Ltd & The Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust [2024] EWHC 2265 (KB) has identified a…
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An important claim concerning wrongful care proceedings has finally been settled by an English Children’s Services council. The claim was brought by the campaigner Elly Chapple – the founder of…
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An important judgment, R (A) v North Central London Integrated Care Board [2024] EWHC 2682 (Admin) that confirms the mandatory duty on ICBs to provide care plans that spell out…
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In an Open Letter to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, a number of researchers and NGOs called for the withdrawal of its guidance concerning FII (Fabricated or…
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Cerebra and the University of Leeds are collaborating on research that seeks to better understand the extent to which parents of disabled children experience trauma as a result of navigating…
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The Disability Law Service has published a report that makes the case for the abolition of home care charges for Disabled adults in England. The research that underpins the report…
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A fascinating hustings took place in Hereford prior to the election concerning the ‘Crisis in Children's Services’. Nationally, as we all know, children's services are in crisis: a ‘scandal’ ……
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‘Trauma related practice’ is a phrase increasingly used by public bodies to convey their awareness that many of those with whom they interact have experienced life changing traumas. As a…
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We all need quality ‘short breaks’ – but for many parents of disabled children they are a distant dream. Fit for purpose ‘breaks’ from heavy caring commitments depend on several…
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Cerebra, IPSEA, SOS!SEN and Contact have jointly written and article expressing concern about revised school transport guidance issued by the Department for Education and inviting families to complete a short…
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Cerebra, the disabled children’s charity has published[1] an important and troubling analysis of data concerning the performance of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO). Over a decade of…
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As expected, disabled children and their families will be disappointed by the updated 2023 Working Together guidance. Despite compelling evidence that local authority assessment and care planning protocols discriminate against…
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FII is a term adopted by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health – in essence – to replace what was previously referred to as ‘Munchausen syndrome by proxy’.…
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Can local authorities refuse to fund a home care package if it is cheaper for the person’s needs to be met in a care home? Where there is more than…
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So, what was that all about? For some strange reason in 2020 the Department of Health and Social Care changed its mind concerning the determination of a person’s ordinary residence…
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An earlier posting[1] considered an important local government ombudsman decision. The decision confirmed that: (1) parents of disabled children have a right to opt for a direct payment even if…
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Guidance developed by independent Parent Carer Groups and individual parent carers will be launched at a webinar on the 12 July 2023 10:30am – 12:30pm. The document describes what they…
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The Department for Education (DfE) has opened a consultation on its proposal to update the 2018 ‘Working Together’ guidance. It has summarised the overall aim of the update as a…
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A local authority accepted that a disabled person had eligible needs for support to develop and maintain personal relationships, and provided funding for him to attend a social and life…
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PANS and PANDAS are severe childhood impairments with symptoms of obsessive-compulsive behaviours, tics or eating restrictions that develop suddenly: conditions that can be accompanied by changes in normal behaviours, personality…
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There is an extensive body of English and Welsh law that requires local authorities to provide school / college transport for disabled young people.[1] What is often forgotten, however, is…
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Flicking though the current (March 2023) batch of Local Government Ombudsman’s Children and Education complaints decisions is like re-watching Groundhog Days. More than half of the complaints were not, for…
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Parent Blame is not simply a problem encountered by families when dealing with Children’s Services. It is, therefore, very welcome that West Midlands ADASS (the Association of Directors of Adult…
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A report published by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory highlights the ‘extreme vulnerability’ of children who are the subject of High Court applications that seek to deprive them of their…
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A provocative New Year posting from my good colleague Rachel Adam-Smith. . _______________ I love my dog. He’s non-verbal. I love…
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John Bangs OBE[1] reflects on the recent UN carers rights decision and its implications in relation to the duties of local health and social care authorities to provide a sufficiency…
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An interesting complaint concerning (among other things[1]) a prolonged and significant loss of respite care for a young person transitioning into adult services. Due to challenges resulting from his impairment,…
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The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has handed down an important decision concerning the rights of unpaid carers in the case of Maria Simona Bellini v.…
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What would ‘fit for purpose’ disabled children’s assessment guidance look like? At the School of Law, the University of Leeds, this is what we hope to be researching in the…
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The Health Service Ombudsman has published an important CHC report concerning the failure of an NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) - now known as an Integrated Care Board (ICB). The…
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The current political farce / tragedy has meant that a shaming report[1] concerning the institutional abuse of disabled young people has failed to attract the attention it deserves. The report…
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The Kirkup Report[1] – published earlier this week – identified the scandalous treatment of mothers in maternity and neonatal services in East Kent. It uses the words ‘blame’ / ‘blaming’…
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A parent refused to sign a council’s safety plan (relating to support for her disabled son) because it implied that she had on one occasion refused to allow workers…
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What can be done when a disabled person’s or a carer’s assessed social care needs are not being met – either because no care and support is available or because…
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In ‘Clustered Injustice’ I refer to one of the key insights gained from working on the Cerebra research programme with disabled children and their families. It may be obvious to…
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The disabled children’s charity Cerebra is concerned about reports from families with disabled children which suggest that a significant number have been accused by practitioners of creating or exaggerating their…
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The Department of Health and Social Care has published a revised NHS Continuing Healthcare Framework – a copy of which can be accessed by clicking here. A handout of a…
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Allegations by professionals that families are guilty of FII (Fabricated or Induced Illness) appear to be proliferating as do training programmes that seek to alert social care and health professionals…
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Councils do not have to charge for care and support services under the Care Act 2014, but if they do the Statutory Guidance states (para 8.2) that in determining…
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An earlier posting referred to Baroness Pitkeathley’s amendment to the Health and Care Bill which – although opposed by the Government – was passed in the House of Lords by…
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A parent complained that a local authority commissioned ‘Early Help’ service (for ‘short break’ sessions) was unsuitable for her son. She complained that the Council had offered no alternative and…
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The Health and Care Bill currently going through Parliament repeals the Community Care (Delayed Discharges etc.) Act 2003 and with it, the duty on NHS trusts to ensure that…
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A further report by Richard Travers, the Senior Coroner for Surrey has been published concerning the death of Oskar Miles Nash. The report focuses on action that is necessary to…
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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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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…
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