PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION IN CHILDREN MATTERS – CHILDREN SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES ACT 2010
The Children Schools and Families Act 2010 made its way through ‘wash up’ and received Royal Assent on 8 April 2010. Amongst other things (not dealt with here) it makes substantial and controversial changes to the law concerning the publication of material relating to family proceedings, which are summarised below. There will be repeals and [...]
F4J Relaunch
Pootling around on the internet in the light of this weeks horse painting shennanigans I came across Matt O’Connor’s new blog Father4Justice, the new F4J website (be warned, it looks nice but plays annoying music which won’t turn off) and facebook group for the recently relaunched Fathers 4 Justice. Matt O’Connor’s first substantive blog post explaining [...]
Contact Activities – the big giveaway!
Contact Activity Directions – remember them? Yes, the little used Contact Activity provisions have received a bit of a boost as of 1 April: they are now provided free of charge to any parent ordered to attend such an activity. . Previously, you will recall (or perhaps not): parents who were eligible for public funding [...]
ISWs throw in the towel
Community Care reports on the prospect of Independent Social Workers quitting over the fees cap to be introduced by the LSC in October. What the article fails to disentangle (in fact it rather adds to the confusion) is the distinction between ISWs contracted by CAFCASS on a self employed basis to carry out Guardian or [...]
Shock News – Family Justice System Stretched to Breaking Point
Thanks to Family Law Week for alerting me to this judgment of Thorpe LJ in which the court considered the proper husbanding of limited resources in determining the way forward in a contact case. It was in the course of that judgment last year that Thorpe LJ remarked that the family justice system was ‘stretched [...]
Heads and Eyes Rolling
Is there any part of the family justice system not being adversely affected by a lack of resources? . A quite astonishing experience recently in a Family Proceedings Court: already delayed care proceedings were being re-listed for final hearing and all advocates and all parties were united in their view that the case required a [...]
Washed up and hung out to air in public
Further to my previous post on the passing of the Children Schools & Families Act 2010, The Times has published an article about the new provisions which is spot on: it identifies – importantly – that the new law, when it is brought into force, will in fact be more restrictive than the existing privacy rules covering [...]
Permission Plus
Family Lore has alerted me to this curious decision of Lord Justice Wall on permission (RW v SW [2010] EWCA Civ 457 (29 April 2010)). Wall LJ adjourned off a father’s application for permission to appeal to a two judge court notwithstanding the fact that his own view was that the appeal had no reasonable [...]
Well – DUUR!!
News just in from the FLBA: The Report from Francis Plowden – the Review of Court Fees in Child Care Proceedings – was published yesterday. Francis Plowden recommends (unsurprisingly?) abolition of fees for Local Authorities bringing child care proceedings. The Government has accepted this recommendation, and will implement it in April 2011 alongside the next three-year funding settlement [...]
Reformed Meat
So the Government has published its Families & Relationships Green Paper in which it proposes a fundamental review of the Family Justice System and a number of other reforms. Like John Bolch at Family Lore I’m not sure what this really adds up to. There are a number of press releases from the relevant departments: [...]
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