admin – Luke Clements

Autism and Parent Blame

An Association of Directors of Social Services (ADASS) report ‘Blamed Instead of Helped’ makes many important points, not least at page 12 - that autistic parents are three times more…

Medically complex children, Children’s Continuing Care, and Children’s Social Care: dispatches from no-man’s land

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…

Inherent jurisdiction detaining a minor

For a curious case involving Conwy Council and the Betsi Cadwaladr UHB click here and for a legal commentary on the judgment click here.

Mental Health Bill ~ urgent amendment

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…

High Court damages award for wrongful care proceedings

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…

Accountability: what accountability?

In an earlier posting we referred to a judgment of the Newport Family Court that concerned dreadful behaviour by a Welsh council and a Welsh police force. We expressed concern…

NHS Children and Young Peoples Continuing care and EHC Plans

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…

A powerful short video

Grow Family Services – for an incredibly powerful video ‘A Parent’s Fight’ in which families describe the trauma of dealing with the SEND system – click here.

Law Commission Paper

The Law Commission has published its Consultation Paper on the reform of Disabled Children's Social Care Law. On first reading it looks pretty positive. The consultation closes on the 22…

Mumfighter – Swansea Grand Theatre

An important ‘must see’ play concerning a mother fighting for support and services in a world full of prejudice – it runs from October 15 – October 25 - click…

A lack of rigour and candour

A damning report by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales[1] (PSOW) into ‘a serious service failure’ by the Wrexham Maelor Hospital compounded by the lack of both rigour and candour…

A Newport Family Court judgment

An important (albeit partially redacted) judgment in the case of Re C (A Child) (Care Proceedings Withdrawal) [2024] EWFC 227 (B) has been published. The Transparency Project has released an…

‘Complex’ BBC Sounds

A powerful series concerning the challenges faced by families with disabled children. Episode 1 (concerning Disabled Facilities Grants) accessed by clicking here.

Making ‘Carers’ a protected category

For a Carers UK report on making unpaid carers the 10th protected category in the Equality Act 2010 click here.

Call to withdraw FII guidance

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…

Systems Generated Trauma ~ survey

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…

Abolishing home care charges

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…

Systems Generated Trauma Conference

For a brief note on the above (including a link to recordings of its first two sessions) click here.

Herefordshire children’s services – a public inquiry: if not here, then where?

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’ ……

Systems Generated Trauma

‘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…

Election Hustings Hereford

For a chance to hear Herefordshire Parliamentary Candidates answer questions concerning 'the crisis in children's services' at a meeting on the 18th June - click here.

Criticism of the Ombudsman

For a news item in Nation.Cymru concerning the actions of a Welsh Council and the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, click here.

Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill

The Health and Social Care Committee has launched a consultation to inform its scrutiny of the recently introduced Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill. The consultation closes on the 28th…

Innovative short breaks scheme for parent carers

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…

National Office for Care and Support (NOCS)

The Welsh Government has launched the NOCS – the first rung in the ladder to the National Care and Support Service. For details click here.

Revised school transport guidance (England)

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…

FII on-line discussion: 29 April

An expert panel discussion concerning Fabricated & Induced Illness (FII) organised by Autistic Parents UK - for details click here.

On-Line Seminar 10 April a 1pm

Donald Forrester of CASCADE will discuss his recently published book on social work and human rights. To register for the seminar click here.

Social care charging consultation

The Welsh Government is proposing to raising the current charging cap for non-residential care from £100 to £120 per week. The announcement can accessed by clicking here and a commentary…

FII questions in the Welsh Parliament

For a details of questions raised by Senedd Member Mark Isherwood concerning the prevalence of Fabricated or Induced Illness allegations in Wales - click here.

Senedd Member’s concern about the prevalence and impact of allegations of Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) in Wales

North Wales Member of the Senedd and Chair its Cross-Party Autism Group, Mark Isherwood, has raised concerns with the Minister for Health and Social Services that parents of neurodiverse children…

Decision making quality and the Local Government Ombudsman

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…

CASCAIDr crowdfunding

CASCAIDr, the social care advice charity is crowdfunding to obtain barristers' views on undecided points of law – for details click here.

Reforming health and care services in Wales

The Bevan Commission’s report ‘The Foundations for the Future Model of Health and Care in Wales’ can be accessed by clicking here.

A Vision for Social Care in Wales

ADSS Cymru, Solace Wales, CLILC WLGA and Social Care Wales have jointly published a report with this title – which can be accessed by clicking here.

Jam tomorrow – maybe: the revised Working Together guidance.

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…

Carers survey

An NHS England survey to better understand carers experiences of care plans can be accessed by clicking here. Unreasonably short timeline (it closes 2nd January) but an important issue nevertheless.

Disability Activist Nathan Davies’ Petition

For Nathan Davies' Petition to the Senedd regarding Direct Payments in Wales click here.

Special Guardianship allowance ~ Ombudsman report

A recent report by the Public Services Ombudsman Wales (PSOW)[1] arose out of a complaint that a local authority had failed to implement the recommendations of a Stage 2 Independent…

Webinar 7.30pm 23 November 2023

Homelessness: The Ethics of Gatekeeping convened by The Homelessness Best Practice CIC for details click here.

NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC)

The Department of Health and Social Care has mistakenly tweaked the Framework Guidance in an way that fails reflect changes made by the Care Act 2014. For a posting by…

Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) research report

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’.…

Senedd Research update

For an update on adult social care policy in Wales click here.

Independent living when a care home might be ‘cheaper’

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…

A care home as the cheaper option.

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…

Cerebra Trustee and staff vacancies

For details of Trustee and Staff opportunities with Cerebra, the Disabled Children's Charity - click here.

Section 117 Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983 and Ordinary Residence: the Supreme Court decides

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…

Direct payments and disabled children

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…

Fit-for-Purpose Guidance for the Assessment of Disabled Children & their Families.

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…

NHS Continuing Healthcare & Direct Payments

The Welsh Government will be introducing legislation to enable direct payments to be paid to people receiving for NHS continuing health care funding. Click here for the announcement and for…

Archives

Autism and Parent Blame

Medically complex children, Children’s Continuing Care, and Children’s Social Care: dispatches from no-man’s land

Inherent jurisdiction detaining a minor

Mental Health Bill ~ urgent amendment

High Court damages award for wrongful care proceedings

Accountability: what accountability?

NHS Children and Young Peoples Continuing care and EHC Plans

A powerful short video

Law Commission Paper

Mumfighter – Swansea Grand Theatre

A lack of rigour and candour

A Newport Family Court judgment

‘Complex’ BBC Sounds

Making ‘Carers’ a protected category

Call to withdraw FII guidance

Systems Generated Trauma ~ survey

Abolishing home care charges

Systems Generated Trauma Conference

Herefordshire children’s services – a public inquiry: if not here, then where?

Systems Generated Trauma

Election Hustings Hereford

Criticism of the Ombudsman

Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill

Innovative short breaks scheme for parent carers

National Office for Care and Support (NOCS)

Revised school transport guidance (England)

FII on-line discussion: 29 April

On-Line Seminar 10 April a 1pm

Social care charging consultation

FII questions in the Welsh Parliament

Senedd Member’s concern about the prevalence and impact of allegations of Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) in Wales

Decision making quality and the Local Government Ombudsman

CASCAIDr crowdfunding

Reforming health and care services in Wales

A Vision for Social Care in Wales

Jam tomorrow – maybe: the revised Working Together guidance.

Carers survey

Disability Activist Nathan Davies’ Petition

Special Guardianship allowance ~ Ombudsman report

Webinar 7.30pm 23 November 2023

NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC)

Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) research report

Senedd Research update

Independent living when a care home might be ‘cheaper’

A care home as the cheaper option.

Cerebra Trustee and staff vacancies

Section 117 Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983 and Ordinary Residence: the Supreme Court decides

Direct payments and disabled children

Fit-for-Purpose Guidance for the Assessment of Disabled Children & their Families.

NHS Continuing Healthcare & Direct Payments