Our education law specialists recently represented a first year student who was expelled from a nationally renowned university following what were considered to be initiation acts within a university sports team. The university learned of the acts...
According to recent figures published by the Department for Education , and reported in The Times educational supplement; the number of pupils with special educational needs who have education, health and care plans (EHCPs) has increased by 10...
Local authorities in England are reported to be facing a funding shortfall of more than half a billion pounds for educating children with special needs. Concerns have been raised that this is likely to result in spending cuts and service reviews,...
Monday 01 March 2021 is this year’s national offer day for secondary school admission applications when parents and pupils receive the decision on whether they have been successful in their choice of preferred secondary school. Natalie Tolley in our...
The deadline for primary school admissions for the school year commencing in September 2021 will expire on the 15th January. It is still possible to apply for a primary school place after this time but the application will be dealt with as a late...
The government announce changes to the law in relation to the filtering of criminal offences on standard and enhanced criminal record certificates provided by the disclosure and barring service. These will come into force on 28 November...
If your child turns 11 between 1st September 2020 and 31st August 2021, then they will transfer to secondary school at the start of the new school year in September 2021. The admissions applications window for secondary schools opened on 1 st August...
Mike Pemberton, partner and head of the civil liberties & public law team at Stephensons Solicitors LLP, specialises in education law and has provided assistance and representation to parents and children who have been unsuccessful in the past. He...
Monday 2 March 2020 is this year’s national offer day for secondary school admission applications when parents and pupils receive the decision on whether they have been successful in their choice of preferred secondary school. It will be a day of...
Our data protection and privacy team are representing a number of claimants in claims for compensation against various NHS Trusts following their breaches of data protection legislation . What happened? In the last month or so, we have received a...
Its that frantic time of year again when parents and children are considering their preference for secondary schools as the admissions window opened in early September 2019 for pupils going to secondary schools in September 2020. Education lawyer Mike...
Our actions against police team are representing a number of claimants in claims for compensation against Randox Testing laboratory following unsafe forensic test results being used in their samples. What happened? In short, forensic samples were...
In the recent Court of Protection case of Re: A [2019] 3WLR 59, Cobb J outlines the relevant and irrelevant information for the purposes of deciding whether a person has capacity to make decisions about internet and social media use. The...
In the recent Court of Protection case of Royal Borough of Greenwich v CDM [2019] EWCOP 32, the court had to decide whether the assessment of capacity to make decisions about diabetic management should be one global macro-decision, embodying all of the...
A remarkable case heard by Lord Justice Hayden sitting at the Court of Protection in London has highlighted the importance of going the extra mile to establish a person’s wishes and feelings, even in circumstances where a person may not be able to...
Our actions against public bodies team recently managed to secure a substantial sum from a local authority for payments owed to a special guardian. The special guardian was owed payments dating back a number of years. Under Special Guardianship Order...
Our actions against police team has successfully secured payments for clients who have been arrested shortly before attending a voluntary interview with the police. Such arrests can be unlawful on the basis that it is not necessary to arrest somebody...
Tuesday 16th April is this year’s national offer day for primary school admission applications when parents and pupils receive the decision on whether they have been successful in their choice of preferred infant school. It may be a day of...
Friday 1st March is this year’s national offer day for secondary school admission applications when parents and pupils receive the decision on whether they have been successful in their choice of preferred secondary school. It may bring...
The case of University Hospitals Birmingham NHSFT v HB [2018] EWCOP 39 concerns an application made by the trust to rule out further treatment if a patient’s condition were to deteriorate. The protected party in this case is “P”, a...
The Court of Protection is able to make decisions on behalf of a person who lacks capacity and so, one of the first things the court must consider in proceedings is whether or not the person in question has capacity or not. At the point of the case...
In the recently reported case of A Local Authority v BF [2018] EWCA Civ 2962, the court ruled that in an emergency situation, someone may be deprived of their liberty in the absence of evidence of mental disorder without infringing their human rights. ...
In the recently reported case of University College London Hospitals v KG [2018] EWCOP 29, the court ruled that it was in the best interests of a person lacking capacity to receive a medical treatment that has never been tested on or administered to any...
The recent reported case of London Borough of Lambeth v MCS & Anor [2018] EWCOP 14 and [2018] EWCOP 20 highlights the tragic handling of a vulnerable adult’s repatriation to Colombia. The 55-year old Colombian woman, referred to as...
In the recent reported case of Z [2018] EWHC 1488 (Ch) the protected party is Z, a successful businessman who carried out business ventures with his brothers. The applicant is the son of one of Z’s brothers who is now deceased. In this procedural...
The Supreme Court are due to hear the case of P and Others v Secretary of State for Justice following an appeal by the Secretary of State. The case involves a number of individuals who have been subject to criminal record disclosure and are left in a...
In the case of Buckinghamshire County Council and RT (by their guardian KT ) [2018] EWCOP 12, the Court of Protection has ruled that a 17 year old boy be deprived of his liberty at a specialist unit in order to protect him from his own ...
The Court of Appeal have upheld a ruling made by the Court of Protection refusing to allow journalists to identify a protected party at the centre of proceedings. The case concerned RW, a 77 year old man with a diagnosis of end stage dementia. RW is...
At Stephensons, we pursue civil claims for compensation for unlawful arrest. It is probably the most common type of action that our actions against public bodies department pursue. The most common question we receive is, was my arrest unlawful? ...
The Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) has today announced that the Metropolitan Police will be subject to an urgent review, following the alleged mishandling of 33 cases by the laboratory department. A statement from the Met said: "An...
The Manchester Evening News has recently reported details of a case in which an ex-teacher has been acquitted of allegations of a sexual nature. For many, acquittal at a criminal trial is seen as the end of a stressful ordeal and an opportunity to move...
It is said that the Court of Protection creates a level playing field between the powerful and the powerless. The majority of the cases decided by the Court of Protection relate to people whom are never identified beyond a set of initials to ensure...
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (Appellant) v DSD and another (Respondents) [2018] UKSC 11 On appeal from [2015] EWCA Civ 646 Justices : Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Kerr, Lord Hughes The Supreme Court has today given...
The deadline for primary school admissions for the school year commencing in September 2018 expired on the 15th January 2018. It is still possible to apply for a primary school place after this time but the application will be dealt with as a late...
As of 8th January 2018, the former Independent Police Complaints Commission changed to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The change was agreed through the Police and Crime Act 2017. It is certainly not the first time there has been a proposed...
Beginning in 2018, the DBS will offer a service for a basic DBS check. This is in addition to the standard and enhanced level checks already provided as well as the information relating to the protection of vulnerable groups (barring register). The basic...
The department of education has recently updated guidance on how schools should deal with bullying, in July 2017. Bullying, is described by the guidance, as ‘behaviour by an individual or a group, repeated over time, which intentionally hurts...
On Wednesday 7th June 2017, a day before the election, Theresa May announced her intention to “rip up human rights laws”. It was largely announced in line with the fight against terrorism, although repealing the Human Rights Act 1998 has long...
Basildon Council has recently been fined £150,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) following a breach of data protection which led to the online publication of a family’s sensitive personal data. ...
On 12 th March 2015, Theresa May announced proposed radical changes to the policing system, through the introduction of The Police (Conduct) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (2015 amendments). The focus of the proposals suggested that more transparency and...
I have recently acted for a number of adoptive parents who, whilst in the process of adopting children, have been victims of data protection breaches by either the local authority or the courts. In all of these cases, sensitive personal information...
Police officers are now able to interview suspects on the street using their body cameras for low level offences such as shoplifting and minor criminal damage offences. It has been widely reported that the police is having to deal with budget cuts. Andy...
The High Court has today (January 22nd) handed down its judgment in a challenge to the disclosure of more than one minor offence under the Police Act 1997 and Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions) Order 1974. Both claimants in the case have two...
Our Community Care and Court of Protection team deals with complex cases relating to the withdrawal of medical treatment. This is a case study providing a summary of one of our recent cases, highlighting the very difficult and sensitive nature of these...
According to the recent data by the Ministry of Justice there are 85,977 male and 3,935 female prisoners in the UK. Currently, transgender prisoners are not recognised but it is estimated that there are around 80 transgender people incarcerated across...
The issue to be decided by the Court of Protection in this case (W City Council v Mrs L [2015] EWCOP 20) was whether Mrs L, a 93 year old lady with a diagnosis of severe dementia, was being deprived of her liberty in her own home. Her care and safety...
R (on the application of Nicklinson and another) (Apellants) v Ministry of Justice (Respondent); R (on the application of AM) (AP) (Respondent) v The Director of Public Prosecutions (Appellant) [2014] UKSC 38 The Supreme Court has given judgment in the...
The BBC has reported that Merseyside Police has made a payment of £40,000 to a man for wrongful arrest in an out of court settlement. John Spencer said he was beaten and sprayed with CS spray in the incident in 2010 when an allegation of making...
Figures collated through Freedom of Information requests for Channel 4's Dispatches programme have revealed that out of 7963 complaints by the public of racism by forces over 8 years, only 77 were upheld. The figures related to 2005-2012 and...
The Court of Appeal have held that the rights of a woman who died following a DNR notice being put in her medical records without her being consulted were breached. The case highlights the legal duty that hospitals have to consult patients before making DNR...
The Law Society Gazette has reported that Judge Sir James Munby, president of the family division of the High Court has warned the the Court of Protection is likely to see a ten - fold increase in it's work load in relation to...
Details of a case heard in April by the Court of Protection relating to the removal of an elderly woman from her house into a care home have recently been reported. District Judge Mort described the handling of the matter by the local authority in question...
Our specialist Court of Protection team recently obtained final Order in a Court of Protection dispute relating to welfare. The application was by a Local Authority (LA), for a declaration that it would be in P’s best interests to move out of his...
Resource website Community Care has published an analysis of 55 local authorities adult social care budgets for 2014-2015 . Given ongoing cuts to public funding , local authorities are under pressure to continue to cut their budgets. In the Community Care...
The BBC is currently showing a documentary series about the complex and often harrowing decisions that need to be made in relation to the care of older people within the community. The latest episode, shown last week, highlighted the...
The Children and Families Act 2014 became law on the 22nd April 2014 and has been hailed as the greatest shake up to the Special Educational Needs system in 30 years. A further Code of Practice for Special Education Needs was published on the 16th April...
A man with schizophrenia, known as MS, who believes he is a prophet ‘one level down from the holy trinity’ has been deemed to have the capacity to donate 10% of a recent inheritance totalling almost £70,000 as a tithe to the Church of...
Newly released Home Office figures have revealed that Taser use by the Police in the south of England doubled between 2012 and 2013. The devices were drawn 998 times as opposed to 433 times in 2012 and were actually discharged 192 times in 2013 compared...
The Law Society has proposed that human rights and business training should form part of legal training requirements in line with the UN guiding principles on the same. The proposal appears in a set of recommendations published in March by the Society's...
2nd April 2014 is National Autism Awareness Day. Autism is a condition that affects one in a hundred people in the UK and is recognised as a developmental disability. It affects the way a person communicates and how they experience the world around them. ...
Research by the Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation highlights 'increased rationing of social care in response to deep cuts from central government, despite the growing numbers of older people in the population'. Key findings of the report...
ITV has broadcast footage of staff at a care home slapping and abusing a patient in their care. The two care staff at The Priory Highbank Centre in Bury have now pleaded guilty to abusing a brain-damaged patient at the private care home which charges around...
The deadline to make an appeal against school admission decisions relating to secondary education is fast approaching. National Offer Day on the 3rd March 2014 provided parents and pupils with a determination on whether they had been successful in their...
Those were the words of Lady Hale at The Supreme Court which today heard an important set of cases (P (by his litigation friend the Official Solicitor ) v Cheshire West and Chester Council and P and Q (by their litigation friend the Official Solicitor) v...
The Birmingham Mail has recently reported (17th March 2014) that families from a school in Rednal have been affected by a data protection breach involving a council contractor. Personal details of 11-year-old school pupils were sent to...
A recent Wales ITV investigation which was aired during Wales This Week on the 17th March 2014 reflected concerns of parents that the provision of Special Educational Needs to children was no better than it had been back in the 1980s. ITV made a Freedom of...
In the words of Lord Hardie, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 was supposed to be a ''turning point in the rights of vulnerable people; those with learning difficulties, dementia, brain injuries or temporary impairment". The Act marked a change...
Anyone who watched the latest episode of Silk last Monday will have heard Billy the clerk at fictional chambers Shoe Lane make that statement in a storyline which revolved around the harrowing case of a mother who is put on...
The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has released a report 'SEN: Preparing for the future' in which it has warned local authorities regarding the fair treatment of children with statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN). The...
An inquest jury has found that a breakdown in communication between three prisons contributed to the death of a vulnerable young man at HMP Stafford in January 2012. Kieron Dowdall (24) had been transferred to HMP North Sea camp, an open...
The Telegraph has recently reported that there has been an increase in the number of children missing out on the first choice secondary school within the current applications round. The 3rd March 2014 was National Offer Day for secondary education and a...
In the recent case of Westminster City Council v Sykes [2014] EWHC B9 (24/02/2014) the Court of Protection has ordered that an 89-year-old dementia sufferer who spent her life campaigning for political causes and the rights of others can to return to...
‘The right to decide whether or not to consent to medical treatment is one of the most important rights guaranteed by law. Few decisions are as significant as the decision about whether to have major surgery. For the doctors, it can be difficult to...
We are fast approaching the somewhat anxious time of year when the allocation of secondary school places will be announced. This will take place on 3rd March 2014 and is known as National Offer Day. (Reception places are expected to be announced on 16th...
Today, the BBC reports that the UK Homecare Association (UKHCA), which represents care providers, care agencies and care workers want their members and companies to be paid a minimum of £15.19 an hour to cover wages, training and travel. The care they...
S1 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 states that a person lacks mental capacity if ‘he is unable to make a specific decision for himself in relation to the matter because of an impairment of, or a disturbance in the functioning of, the mind or...
There has been mass media recently over the Court of Protection judgment in the case of Re: P (A Child), heard by HHJ Newton. The facts of the case are that the mother, an Italian national, has a history of mental health problems, and during her pregnancy...
An article published in The Guardian recently tells of a recent judgment delivered in the Court of Protection regarding a ‘right-to-life’ case. The NHS Trust applied to the Court of Protection for a declaration that it would lawful for the man...
BBC News recently reported the findings of a local government watchdog, which has revealed that many foster carers are ‘losing out’ by being refused the necessary financial support to provide children with proper care. Often children whose...
BBC News has this week reported of the widespread use of 15-minute care visits to the elderly and disabled. The Leonard Cheshire Disability charity says that these visits are not long enough to provide adequate care and “can force disabled people to...
The Court of Protection makes decisions on behalf of people that lack the capacity to do so themselves. The recent reporting of a case involving Wanda Maddocks has attracted a lot of publicity and alleged that the Court is far too secretive. The Court had...
An article in the Liverpool Echo this week tells of a further incident relating to the use of police taser guns. A Liverpool man is reported to have suffered a heart attack after being tasered by police. He was shot twice with a taser in September 2012...
The Court of Protection heard the recent case of An NHS Foundation Trust v M & K [2013] EWHC 2402, in which declarations were sought by the NHS Trust that the man (known throughout as M) should not be given Intensive Care treatment or CPR should there be...
The Court of Protection has last week heard a case in which an NHS Trust applied for a declaration that it would be in a woman’s best interests for her to undergo a formal diagnostic examination for cancer, ‘despite her long-standing fear of...
Last week another difficult and controversial case came before the Court of Protection, reported in the Telegraph. The case involved a woman who was the subject of an arranged marriage to a man with severe mental disabilities. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough...
The BBC has recently reported of numerous breaches in data protection by Local Authorities in Wales during 2012. The information was obtained following a Freedom of Information Act request. The breaches included several cases of posting personal data to...
A recent article on the Telegraph website told of a couple who are planning to sue the police following an armed raid by officers at their home in the search for a gun which, in fact, turned out to be a TV remote control. The residents were apparently...
An important Ombudsman’s report has been published this week following an investigation into Liverpool City Council and its Social Services department. The Ombudsman found that in 340 cases which it had been made aware of, the Council had not paid...
Significant changes in the Coronial system came into force on 25 July 2013. The new system will apply to all existing inquests not completed by 25 July 2013. Many core aspects of inquests remain the same, but there are several key areas of change. With...
According to Mail Online, a House of Lords peer has apparently admitted during a House of Lords debate that he uses “friends” in the DVLA to track down drivers he spots littering. According to the article, it would appear that this involves...
Today, plans meant to help people better prepare for the cost of their future care needs have been published by the government alongside details of how the new fairer funding system will protect people’s homes and savings. Care and Support Minister...
The Government has announced that it is to investigate two of the private security companies it uses to electronically tag and monitor offenders, for over-charging. According to the BBC News website, the Ministry of Justice is also to be...
Recent local news in Sussex tells of a man who was controversially Tasered by police officers. According to The Argus website, footage taken by a member of the public appears to show a Taser gun being used on the suspect before he was then...
On Wednesday 10th July 2013, a man was shot by a police Taser in Manchester, and subsequently died. According to reports by BBC News, the police responded to a 999 call of a reported disturbance in Gorton of a man with a knife, and the Taser was immediately...
There has been increasing concern and much controversy regarding the use of Taser guns by police due to the weapon’s potentially deadly effects. A recent article in the St Helens Reporter shows that Taser guns have been fired 27 times in the last 3...
In a recent Court of Protection case, Re Buckley, restrictions were imposed on an attorney’s ability to invest a donor’s funds. The case involved a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) which was granted by Miss Buckley, 81, to her niece to be her...
There have been many concerns reported recently in the media regarding the use of Taser guns by the police. These weapons release a paralysing electric shock in to the body temporarily interrupting a person’s control of their own muscles. An article...
With the recent discovery that more than 57,000 people are on police bail, Richard Atkinson, chairman of the Law Society's criminal law committee, is calling for a review of police bail practices and suggesting bail should be to be limited to a maximum...
An article posted recently on the BBC News website highlights the importance of the need for the police to comply with data protection laws. The article entitled, ‘Guernsey Police breached data protections laws’ refers to a case on the island of...
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2013 (forgive me whilst I catch my breath) SI 2013/1198 which came into force yesterday following the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the...
An article published on The Independent website yesterday told of an emotive case that has this week been heard in the Court of Protection. The 37 year old woman, known as ‘SB’, is said to be suffering from severe mental health problems...