Luke Clements is the Emeritus Professor of Law and Social Justice at Leeds University.
The guest post you are about to read from a good colleague details an incredibly troubling account of the health system’s approach to the care of a very distressed and…
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The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has published its report Readying the NHS and social care for the COVID-19 peak The Committee's findings include the following comments concerning adult…
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More than a quarter of English children’s services councils are acting unlawfully by discriminating against children with autism. Research undertaken by the School of Law at the University of Leeds,…
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Mike Jones is a retired Finance Director from the private sector and is the Appointee for his sister, Julie (not her real name), who lives in shared accommodation with three…
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The disregard of the law concerning NHS Continuing Healthcare responsibilities by Health Bodies in England and Wales is hardly news. However, where one is confronted by a disabled child with…
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In the last few years the Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem Solving (LEaP) Project has had to deal with many cases of delay by councils in England and Wales in…
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The Department of Health and Social Care has changed its mind concerning the determination of a person’s ordinary residence for the purposes of section 117 Mental Health Act 1983 –…
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Danny Dooney, Legal Rights Officer at the RNIB has provided the following note concerning a recent Ombudsman decision.[1] It found Hammersmith and Fulham LBC was at fault for failing to…
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Interesting update guidance from the Department of Health and Social Care concerning the ‘Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: people receiving direct payments’. My good colleague Steve Brett has flagged up this…
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R (Ali Raja and Ali Hussain) v. Redbridge LBC [2020] EWHC 1456 (Admin). An important case concerning the power in the Care Act 2014 s19(3) that enables a council, in…
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The severe impact of local authority home care charges is an overlooked injustice faced by large numbers of disabled people in England. The hardship caused by these charges has been…
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For an excellent paper by Alison Tarrant and Lydia Hayes concerning the suspension of routine inspections which they argue renders care homes invisible to scrutiny and costs lives – click…
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Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine may have its critics – but it is difficult not to think about it, at times like this. Her central argument is that governments use national…
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Major changes to the law concerning the protection of looked after children (among other things) have been brought into effect via the Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020. Article…
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What do you do if a local authority or NHS body decides to stop processing all complaints – even complaints which relate to matters of life and death or another…
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Some welcome guidance from the Department of Health and Social Care concerning local authority and NHS decisions about permissible use of Direct Payment and Personal Health Budgets during the emergency.…
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More Chinese whispers and some guidance concerning disabled children and their families. Chinese whispers first. In a recent post I referred to emails from Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) saying that…
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It seems that people who have outstanding NHS complaints are getting letters from Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) stating – for example: Due to the ongoing COVID19 pandemic NHS England and…
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A Position Statement from the Disability Law Service & Professor Luke Clements. Disabled children, disabled adults & carers need special protection in a time of crisis. The last decade of…
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Updated 1 July 2020. This briefing considers: 1. The main provisions of the Act – this section briefly describes these as they apply to social care in England and Wales…
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My good colleague Steve Brett has drawn to my attention the Impact Assessment for the Coronavirus Bill produced by the Department of Health and Social Care. It is an important…
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When trying to make sense of the Coronavirus Bill – we should keep in mind the dissenting opinion of Lord Atkin in Liversidge v Anderson [1942] AC 206. It was…
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The Government has published the Coronavirus Bill. It is the most draconian legislation enacted since the Second World War and suspends a whole raft of legislative duties – not…
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During the current emergency we must not allow disabled young people and their carers to be pushed to the back of the health and social care queue. A campaign has…
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“Mrs X is a disabled pensioner who lives alone in rented accommodation. She was born with cerebral palsy, has no sight in one eye and has had two strokes. She…
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All too often disabled people and families are told that a local authority can’t meet a particular support need because (for example) it can’t find anyone (or any organisation) willing…
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Social care reform “My ministers will seek cross-party consensus on proposals for long term reform of social care. They will ensure that the social care system provides everyone with the…
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NHS England has issued new guidance to coincide with the extension[1] of the right to a Personal Health Budget (PHB) to cover people eligible for section 117 Mental Health Act…
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The latest NHS CHC statistics for England show a small increase in overall numbers of people eligible for funding – up from 55,872 at the end of June to 57,016…
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Complaints procedures for disabled children and their families The Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem-Solving (LEaP) Research Project at Leeds University has published a report concerning serious (and systemic) failings in…
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Two quotes: one published a year ago and the other 175 years ago. 14 million people, a fifth of the population, live in poverty. Four million of these are more…
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R (CP) v. NE Lincolnshire Council[1] is an important Court of Appeal decision. On one level the judgment demonstrates the complexity of the care / education arrangements for young…
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An excellent report[1] from the ombudsman concerning the legal obligations on a council to provide transport for a disabled child below statutory school age. The report provides a helpful statement…
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The House of Commons Education Committee published its report on 'Special educational needs and disabilities' on 23rd October 2019. It doesn’t pull its punches and we must all hope that…
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A further ombudsman's report concerning the duty to provide free travel assistance to school / colleges etc has just been published.[1] A March 2019 ombudsman's report[2] concerning the same Council…
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You are a health / social care professional. You have read up on the lawfulness of funding panels – but you now find yourself required to attend a panel to…
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A survey of 52 social services authorities found that rates of pay for Personal Assistants (PAs) were very low, typically at minimum wage rates. The report concludes that in many…
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It is not every day that an ombudsman’s report refers to an investigator’s note saying the above. Not every day that the ombudsman: asks a council to reflect on its…
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Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) has published guidance concerning the use by local authorities of pre-payment cards for direct payments / personal budgets. TLAP describes itself as a ‘national partnership’…
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For many disabled people the cut backs in social care support have been accompanied by steep increases in local authority charges[1] exacerbated by the freezing of threshold allowances for the…
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Legal research by the International Disability Law Clinic at the School of Law, Leeds University concludes that the Government’s policy of not installing audio recording equipment for all Personal Independence…
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An important ombudsman report[1] has just been published that reaffirms that: social services authorities have duties under the Care Act 2014 to ensure that necessary home adaptations are provided and…
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Extra care housing is a good idea. In practice however it looks to be failing all but the wealthy. This ‘post’ describes the idea behind extra care housing schemes and…
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In a recent and important report,[1] the ombudsman has held that the transport needs of an adult in education are relevant considerations when assessing his (and his carer’s) social care…
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Young people who are receiving NHS Continuing Care (and their families) are inevitably anxious to know what their care and support arrangements will be once they become 18. Not infrequently…
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The number of people eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding (CHC) in England has fallen – again. The most recent figures[1] have just been published and show that in the…
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What can be done when a resident, who has self funded their care home runs out of money: having spent their savings on paying for their care home? Although councils…
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It’s a simple question – yes or no? If you are a parent of a disabled child – it is a question, when asked by a social worker, that you…
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It is reported that Elaine McDonald has died. She was by all accounts an extraordinary person and I hope she is remembered for this and her brilliance as a ballerina. …
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The law is clear: a disabled or older person’s eligible needs must be met, either by the council arranging the services or by providing a direct payment sufficient to enable…
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