A report by the Public Law Working Group (PLWG) has highlighted the need for “wholesale reform” to the adoption process, including a change in face to face contact between adopted children and birth families, and the development of a national strategy for adoption by consent.

The Court of Appeal has allowed a local authority’s appeal against a judge’s refusal to make placement orders in respect of two young children.

The family court reporting pilot will extend to include public and private law cases before magistrates in all 19 current pilot areas from 4 November.

While professionals are working to improve data and its supporting infrastructure, the family justice system “lags far behind” other public services in terms of data availability and quality, a report by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO) has claimed.

The Government has announced its plans to commit £1.4 billion to ensure the delivery of the existing School Rebuilding Programme, alongside funding for children’s social care, breakfast clubs and early years childcare.

The High Court has granted interim relief requiring Kent County Council to treat an asylum seeker in accordance with his claimed age under the Children Act 1989, pending determination of his age or further order.

The Court of Appeal has rejected a mother’s appeal against a judge’s decision to place her in the “pool of perpetrators” of injuries inflicted on her youngest child, after the judge was unable to make a finding on the balance of probabilities whether the injuries were inflicted by her or her partner.

The High Court has allowed a judicial review claim regarding Monmouthshire County Council’s failure to make arrangements to provide the claimant with supported suitable living accommodation from the end of that month when he celebrated his 18th birthday, before which he was in the care of the council as a looked-after child.

Jennifer Grehan, a specialist in Children’s Law, the Court of Protection, and International Family Law, has joined Unit Chambers.

A BBC investigation has found a reduction in spend on legal services by councils, including on counsel for children's social care cases, alongside cuts to social workers and safeguarding teams.

The Department for Education has published statutory guidance for local authorities and their staff, setting out how councils should support children in kinship care and kinship carers.

Family Court Advisors and Children’s Guardians will no longer use language such as ‘claims’ or ‘alleges’ in reports to court, using instead the words of children and adults who are victims of domestic abuse, in line with a new Domestic Abuse Practice Policy published by Cafcass.

The National Children’s Bureau (NCB) and research agencies Verian and Alma Economics are to carry out a “robust evaluation” of three Department for Education-funded pilots aimed at reducing unnecessary family court delays in England.

New figures published by the Department for Education show there were a record 225,400 child protection investigations in the year to 31 March 2023 in England – the equivalent of 617 a day - prompting the Local Government Association to call on the Chancellor to use the Budget to ensure councils are “fully funded and resourced to tackle the rising demand for support from vulnerable children”.

The Law Commission has today (8 October) published a consultation paper on disabled children’s social care law, as part of a review to ensure it is fairer, simpler and more up to date.

Derbyshire County Council is considering charging parents of children taken into local authority care a contribution towards the cost of looking after their children, with a decision to be made later this month.

The Supreme Court will next week consider a case over whether an appellant father’s application for a writ of habeas corpus in respect of his children, who are being raised in a local authority's care, should have been granted.

The average time for public law care or supervision cases to reach first disposal was 41 weeks in April to June 2024, down 3 weeks from the same quarter in 2023, according to the latest data published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

Care leavers under 25, domestic abuse survivors and all UK Armed Forces veterans are to be exempt from rules which require a connection to a local area before accessing social housing, the Government has announced.

The Court of Appeal has allowed a guardian’s appeal against a judge’s failure to identify a perpetrator or a “pool” of perpetrators in relation to serious injuries sustained by a nine-month-old child, having concluded that the injuries were inflicted.

The High Court has rejected a father’s application for his 16-month-old boy to be circumcised, finding that it is in the child’s interests to defer the decision until he has the “maturity and insight” to appreciate the consequences and longer-term implications of the decision.

Ella Davis analyses the outcome of recent attempts to strike out 'failure to remove' claims.

The Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) has welcomed the Government’s new statutory guidance for local authorities on the use of agency child and family social workers, observing that children and families benefit from having a “consistent” worker who builds a meaningful relationship with them.

A woman has been paid an out-of-court settlement from South Lanarkshire Council after her adoption of a two-year-old boy broke down.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has found that Telford & Wrekin Council showed poor communication and complaint handling when dealing with concerns that a child had been radicalised online.

The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) has called for anyone with knowledge or first-hand experience of an age assessment conducted by the Home Office to submit evidence as part of an inspection.

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal over the refusal of a local authority’s application for a placement order in respect of a four-year-old girl (M), finding that the judge based his decision primarily upon an “erroneous belief” that the current foster carer was going to continue to provide long-term foster care.

Law firm Leigh Day has been instructed to bring a claim against Swindon Borough Council, after a teenager alleged the council failed to protect him from sexual abuse.