Children’s rights legal digest – April 2024

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Family court judge criticises local authority for “casual and cavalier approach” to risk assessment and care planning for a vulnerable 13 year-old girl The judgment summarised below concerns a 13 year-old girl referred to by the family court as X. In late January 2024, X was made the subject of an interim care order. The … Read more

Children’s rights legal digest – March 2024

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Councils should not operate blanket policies of deducting child benefit from those receiving means-tested special guardianship allowance, says Ombudsman Background This complaint relates to the experience of Miss B, a special guardian for her grandchild who is referred to as C in the Ombudsman’s decision. Initially, C lived with their grandmother under a child arrangements … Read more

Inspectors find child abuse and neglect in child prison

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The prisons inspectorate has today (5 March 2024) published a report which describes a catalogue of mistreatment of highly vulnerable children in a prison in Wetherby, Yorkshire.  When inspectors visited in November and December last year, there were 165 children and young people detained, half of whom (49%) were looked after children and another third … Read more

Children’s rights legal digest – February 2024

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Local authority unlawfully failed to treat a 17 year-old homeless young person as a looked after child Background This judgment concerns a young person referred to by the High Court as BC. When BC was 9 years old, he suffered from a benign brain tumour which, after being removed, “allegedly left him with long-standing health … Read more