Social care, for both children and adults, is a large and dynamic sector involving public, private and charitable organisations. Changes in statutory frameworks and associated new duties, complex procurement and commissioning practices for local authorities and an active, funded and competitive private sector, all mean that providers face a breadth of legal challenges. Our multi-disciplinary team understands your environment and the law. Our goal is to ensure we meet the differing objectives of all providers.
Guiding a local authority on their transition to being part of an ICS, including reviews of structures and governance.
Supporting a local authority in a complex supplier dispute and successful transition to a new provider. Dispute included commercial disputes, overpayment issues, and threatened JR of service user care plans and of MO decisions.
At the forefront of legal a developments in social care liability, including acting for the Defendant in Armes on the scope of vicarious liability for foster carers, and currently in cases on duty of care of local authorities and the role of the Human Rights Act in liability claims arising from safeguarding interventions.
Successfully defending a foster care claim on the basis it was statute barred, although the judge in this case concluded that a non-delegable duty could be owed.
Across the UK, homelessness is an urgent crisis, and one that is set to grow amid the rising cost of living. Local authorities are at the forefront of responding to this crisis, but with a lack of properties that are suitable for social housing across the UK, vulnerable individuals and families are often housed in temporary accommodation.
The Chancellor’s recent mini-budget provided a significant announcement for business as it was confirmed that the off-payroll working rules (known as “IR35”) put in place for public and private sector businesses from 2017 and 2021 will be scrapped from April 2023.
On 31 August 2022, the Court of Appeal handed down the Judgment in respect of the appeal case of HXA v Surrey County Council and YXA v Wolverhampton City Council [2022].
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards was due to transition to Liberty Protection Safeguards in October 2020 but delayed due to the pandemic. While the public consultation has now closed and we’re still unclear of what the final legislation and code will look like, it’s worth noting and keeping a watching brief.
The use of social media platforms and applications can have overwhelmingly positive benefits for public bodies. However, regulatory action recently taken by the Information Commissioner, has highlighted various pitfalls that public bodies should seek to avoid if allowing staff to use social media as a communication tool.
Our immediate future shows a renewed focus on foster care. We’re going to see a new nationwide-drive to recruit foster carers and the implementation of a more robust, and potentially financially-generous system for encouraging friends and family to care for their relatives (both when extended families cannot cope or provide care for any reason).
In this month’s decision of CJ & Ors v Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police the court was given the task of considering whether a sexual abuse action, brought under the Human Rights Act 1998 should be allowed to proceed to trial where the claim had been brought outside the one-year period prescribed by the Act.
This summer saw the publication of a report describing itself as a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to reset children social care. Based on the current trajectory, the report concluded that 100,000 children would be held in care in the next decade.
As has been widely reported this week, some 3,000 UK workers are taking part in a six month trial to assess the viability of a four-day working week without any reduction in their normal pay.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists has produced updated guidance to help frontline staff and clinicians identify and treat patients with eating disorders before the illness becomes a medical emergency.
The independent review of children’s social care published its report yesterday. The report recognises that a conventional response of ‘top down’ rules is not likely to be fruitful, but it also identifies that many local systems do not have the robustness or resource to take on the full burden of reform.
Residents of care homes are particularly vulnerable members of our society, with higher risks of incidents and fatal injuries, which unfortunately can be as a result of suffering ill-treatment. Courts can be faced with the difficult task of determining whether the treatment amounts to a breach of the individual’s rights.
Whilst Schools and Academies exist to educate and inspire young people, their primary obligation is their protection. Keeping Children Safe in Education (“KCSIE”) is at the heart of everything that educational institutions do and impacts on every decision, however big or small.
From 6 April 2022, right to work checks on all migrant or settled prospective employees must be online and checks on British or Irish nationals will be manual (free) or digital (charged for).
This webinar looks at the three key themes in the decision, and is aimed at sports & social clubs (including safeguarding officers).
The long-awaited draft Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice, including the Liberty Protection Safeguards (“LPS”), has landed.
Since 11 November 2021, workers in regulated care homes in England have been required to be vaccinated against Covid-19, unless they are exempt in accordance with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Browne Jacobson has strengthened its independent health & social care team with the addition of corporate finance lawyer Vicky Tomlinson.
Our speakers looked at Child Safeguarding in childcare proceedings.
The Supreme Court has granted permission to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of Jacqueline Maguire v HM Senior Coroner for Blackpool and Fylde in which the Coroner ruled that Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to life) was not engaged.
The already delayed Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) implementation date was recently moved from April 2022 to an “unspecified date” in the future.
Watch now on-demand our Child Abuse & Social Care Forum.
There are various minor updates to the 2021 Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) guidance and three main changes that you need to be aware of.
The Government’s White Paper Joining up care for people, places and population is its second within (just) under a year about health and care integration following its first one Integration and Innovation: working together to improve health and social care for all.
2021 saw the combination of two challenges. The first was a general under-supply of workers in the health and care sector. The second involved greatly increased and often unpredictable levels of staff absence, through illness or ‘close contact’ isolation.
In the last nine months of 2021 we saw a huge amount of activity across all sub-sectors of health and social care.
The Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) will be used to authorise the proportionate and necessary deprivation of liberty for people aged 16 and above who lack the mental capacity to consent to their care arrangements.
The Tribunal considered whether a care home worker was unfairly dismissed following her refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19. It is important to note the Claimant’s dismissal pre-dated the compulsory vaccination regulations in force from November 2021.
The High Court has considered the application of the Human Right Act to local authorities in cases where they are carrying out their statutory child protection functions after dismissing the latest ‘failure to remove’ claim against two local authorities.
Following the Supreme Court decision in CN & GN -v- Poole Borough Council [2019] and other subsequent cases, it is now established law that the mere fact that various steps are taken by local authorities in the discharge of its child protection functions is not enough to give rise to an assumption of responsibility.
We were delighted to be joined by Dr Nigel Sturrock, Regional Medical Director for the Midlands at NHS England and NHS Improvement. He gave an overview of the pressures placed on the NHS by the pandemic, including the impact on urgent and emergency care, elective procedures and staffing.
In this session, we look at how to manage and respond to current challenges, including interventions, service failures and serious incidents, and consider future models for long term transformation of services.
It is an unfortunate reality that many local authorities face historical abuse claims, and often held vicariously liable for abuse by their former employees. We set out an overview of recoveries law and insight into successes we have had in recouping money for local authorities.
A recent judgment (8 November) has confirmed that the provision of s20 accommodation under the Children Act 1989, does not automatically fix a local authority with a general duty of care.
