Coronavirus Act 2020 and social care

March 27th, 2020 by Jonathan Auburn

The Coronavirus Bill is now through Parliament and becomes the Coronavirus Act 2020. The main provisions affecting adult social care are found in Schedule 12. One headline point is Read more »

 

The effect of the Coronavirus Bill on social care – serious concerns

March 20th, 2020 by Jonathan Auburn

There are serious concerns as to the effect of the new Coronavirus Bill on vulnerable, elderly and disabled adults needing social care. A group of barristers from different chambers practising in this field has put together a short note to highlight key concerns, and to suggest improvements to the Bill. It is available at this link.

 

COVID-19: new Coronavirus Bill 2020 suspends most Care Act obligations

March 19th, 2020 by Jonathan Auburn

The new Coronavirus Bill 2020 effectively suspends most local authority social care obligations. The key points as regards adult social care are as follows. Read more »

 

COVID-19: Court of Protection issues guidance on visiting P and hearings

March 19th, 2020 by Jonathan Auburn

The Court of Protection has issued two important pieces of guidance in the last two days.

On Tuesday 17 March 2020 Mr Justice Hayden Read more »

 

Denial of social care support to persons subject to immigration control, and human rights

October 23rd, 2019 by Jonathan Auburn

The Administrative Court has revisited the issue of the denial of social care support to persons subject to immigration control, and the line between local authority social care support under the Care Act 2014, and accommodation and support provided by the Home Office. R (Shehab Aburas) v London Borough of Southwark [2019] EWHC 2754 (Admin) concerned an apparently stateless 58 year old Palestinian who Read more »

 

Minister’s update on the introduction of Liberty Protection Safeguards

June 14th, 2019 by Jonathan Auburn

In a letter to Parliament, the Minister of State for Care Caroline Dinenage has given the following update on the forthcoming introduction of Liberty Protection Safeguards: Read more »

 

Tort duties for discharge of social care responsibilities

June 10th, 2019 by James Goudie KC

The appeal to the Supreme Court in Poole Borough Council v GN (2019) UKSC 25, in which Judgment was given on 6 June 2019, was concerned with whether a local authority was liable for what was alleged to have been its negligent failure to exercise its social services functions so as to protect children from harm caused by third parties.  The principal question of law raised was whether a local authority, or its employees, may owe a common law duty of care to children affected by the manner in which the authority exercises, or fails to exercise those functions, and, if so, in what circumstances.

The Claimants sought damages for personal injuries suffered while they were children living in the area of the Council. They maintain that the injuries were suffered as a result of the Council’s negligent failure to exercise its powers under the Children Act 1989 (“the 1989 Act”) so as to protect them from harm at the hands of third parties. Read more »

 

Government scraps plans for cap on care costs

May 17th, 2019 by Hannah Slarks

In response to a Parliamentary question from Caroline Lucas, the Government has confirmed that it has abandoned plans to introduce a cap on the costs of care. The costs cap was the most radical of the reforms introduced with the Care Act 2014. After several years in the long grass, the plan is now in the bin. Instead, we are promised that the social care Green Paper will cover “an element of risk pooling in the system, which will help to protect people from the highest costs”.

Hannah Slarks

 

New deprivation of liberty legislation – 11 things you need to know

May 17th, 2019 by Hannah Slarks

Yesterday (16 May 2019) royal assent was given to the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019. This amends the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (“MCA”). The amendments introduce the new Liberty Protection Safeguards. The Act is designed to reduce the strain on the deprivation of liberty safeguards system since Cheshire West.

This blog does not cover the Court of Protection in detail. However, the new regime will loom large for all practitioners in community care.  Always eager to help, the team at 11KBW offers you 11 key things that you need to know about it: Read more »

 

Sharing information about vulnerable people

May 13th, 2019 by Hannah Slarks

M, R (on the application of) v The Chief Constable of Sussex Police & Anor [2019] EWHC 975

In the community care context, services providers and public authorities constantly handle information concerning their vulnerable clients. This case – concerning a police force’s sharing of information – is a cautionary tale. Read more »