The Mental Capacity Act 2005 ensures that people who lack the mental capacity to make specific important decisions must have a party to do so on their behalf. This could be a Relevant Persons Representative (RPR), or an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) Read more...
The Ministry of Justice has announced a new formula for the calculation of compensation payments for individuals who suffer long-term injuries as the result of an accident Read more...
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced further steps in the government’s plans to reform the youth justice system, which will help drive forward improved outcomes for young offenders both in custody and in the community Read more...
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned of the negative effects of a “hard” Brexit on recruiting skilled migrant workers, after new figures show that nearly 100,000 of London’s construction workers originate from the EU Read more...
Spelthorne Borough Council in Surrey has announced a new rent guarantee scheme for private landlords in and around the borough Read more...
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has warned that a move by the Lord Chancellor to change the Discount Rate applied when calculating compensation payments for personal injury (PI) claims could lead to an increase in insurance premiums for millions of people Read more...
A new report from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has found that only 7% of women with mental health problems during or after pregnancy are referred to specialist care Read more...
A polythene film manufacturer has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), after a worker trapped his hand in machinery and fractured the little finger on one hand Read more...
A polythene film manufacturer has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), after a worker trapped his hand in machinery and fractured the little finger on one hand Read more...
Latest feedback from Ofsted has shown that Somerset County Council’s services for vulnerable children and young people are improving Read more...
A Swinton transport company and its director have been prosecuted after an HGV company owner was killed at the company’s Sandywood Industrial Estate Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a firm of estate agents, after a member of the public being shown round a property fell 30ft down a well during an open house viewing Read more...
Leeds City Council’s children’s services has been selected to be a national “Partner in Practice” to share its expertise with other local authorities Read more...
The British Medical Association (BMA) has said that a ten-year fall in the number of overnight hospital beds available has created a “mismatch” in supply and demand in the NHS Read more...
Cornwall Council has announced that Homes for Cornwall is celebrating the success of a brand new development of 100% affordable homes in Blackwater Read more...
Newcastle City Council has been awarded £660,000 for domestic violence services, after a successful bid for funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government Read more...
The influx of £5.3 million to the NHS in the form of a Better Care Fund has done little to ease the pressure, or save money, on the overrun Healthcare system according to the National Audit Office. Read more...
New figures from the Home Office UK Visas and Immigration department show that more than 5,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in the UK under the government’s vulnerable persons resettlement (VPR) scheme since October 2015 Read more...
Welsh Assembly Health Secretary, Vaughan Gething, has announced a £95 million package to support a range of education and training programmes for healthcare professionals in Wales Read more...
Kingston Crown Court has sentenced a 45-year-old man to five years in prison, after he pleaded guilty to a series of terrorism and hate crimes Read more...
A person is in state detention if he or she is compulsorily detained by a public authority. The Queen, on the Application of Ferreira [2015] EWHC 2990 considered deprivation of liberty as a result of medical treatment. Section 5 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 enables a hospital to give treatment to a person’s lacking capacity to consent to it where the treatment is in the patient’s best interests Read more...
Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss has unveiled the Prisons and Courts Bill, which the government says paves the way for the biggest overhaul of prisons in a generation and the delivery of a world-class court system Read more...
Mental health charity Mind has responded to a consultation by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and NHS Improvement on their proposals to change how they rate a trust based on the use of financial resources Read more...
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has called Ian Stewart’s attempts to disguise the murder of his partner, author Helen Bailey, “cynical and deceitful” Read more...
The Department for Transport (DfT) has said that existing child booster seats and cushions for cars are not affected by new rules, which came into force 9 February 2017 Read more...
An investigation by the Insolvency Service has led to four directors of the carbon credit investment company World Future Limited being disqualified for a total of 42-and-a-half years for misselling Read more...
New research by the Social Mobility Commission has found that public policy can have an impact on parenting behaviour and achieve positive outcomes for children – but there is currently a lack of evidence regarding the measures that work Read more...
Mental health charity Mind has responded to a government report recognising the negative impact that benefit sanctions have on people suffering from mental illness Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a London bus company, after a worker suffered fatal head injuries after falling from a ladder Read more...
A pilot scheme took place between June and October 2016 in selected courts across the UK, introducing the concept of ‘settlement conferences’ in both public and private law child matters and testing their use and effectiveness over these 5 months. Read more...
An Insolvency Service investigation has resulted in three directors of international film company Handmade Films being disqualified for a total of 22-and-a-half years, after a judge found that investors had been misled Read more...
A day service for mental health patients in Reading has been saved after the council and its partner Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) met to discuss options for the continuation of the service Read more...
A 17-year-old convicted of making explosives contrary to Section 4 (1) of the Explosive Substances Act 1883 at Leeds Crown Court in January has been sentenced to a Youth Rehabilitation Order Read more...
A self-employed businessman has been prosecuted, after his employee fell from the flat roof of a building and died from his injuries Read more...
Tenants who are claiming housing benefits are finding it difficult to find rented accommodation as landlords are increasingly operating a no DSS claimant (housing benefit) policy Read more...
A former financial adviser has been handed a 15-year bankruptcy restriction order – the maximum limit – for trading while an undischarged bankrupt Read more...
The City of Wolverhampton Council is reminding the public that people who are caring for someone else's child – or know someone who is – must tell the council about the arrangement Read more...
Kent County Council (KCC) has launched a six-week consultation to hear the public’s views on the proposed Mental Health Promoting Independence Service Read more...
Herefordshire Council’s environmental health and trading standards service has prosecuted a local rogue trader who offered fake 50% discounts in local publications and falsely claimed to hold a Trustmark accreditation Read more...
Stockton Council on Teesside has said that Durham University’s decision to open a new International Study Centre (ISC) in Stockton-on-Tees is a “great boost” for the borough Read more...
Spelthorne Council in Surrey has prosecuted a taxi driver who overcharged six vulnerable adults and invalidated his insurance by accepting six passengers, when his vehicle was only licensed to take five Read more...
Islington Council in north London has announced that it is scrapping council tax for care leavers so that they will not fall into debt Read more...
Cardiff Council is considering an application by the Welsh Assembly to suspend Right to Buy Read more...
Newcastle City Council’s Trading Standards Department and Northumbria Police have executed warrants at two home addresses in a crackdown on loan sharks Read more...
Hillingdon Council has been praised by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for its work with children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Read more...
Hounslow Council has said it supports other London councils’ responses to the government’s decision to suspend the Dubs Amendment under which unaccompanied refugee children were allowed into Britain Read more...
Merseyside Council has said that its latest road safety enforcement operations and engagement events have resulted in 320 road traffic offences being enforced Read more...
New figures from the Mankind Initiative – a charity for men escaping domestic violence – show that the difference in numbers between incidents of domestic abuse for men and women is at its lowest since March 2005 Read more...
Tini Owens recently made headlines in the UK press following her Valentine’s Day hearing in the Court of Appeal fighting against an Oxford judge’s refusal to grant her divorce. Mrs Owens’ case is one of few divorces which was defended in recent years Read more...
A Bedford man has been prosecuted for giving illegal immigration advice after his regulation by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) expired Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted an unregistered gas worker who carried out work on a number of boilers Read more...
The directors of a restaurant in Kingston, Surrey, have been disqualified from running a company for six years, after they were found to be employing illegal workers Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a recycling firm, after a worker suffered crush injuries from a roller shutter door. Read more...
A young boy has died following an incident in Topshop at the Oracle Shopping Centre in Reading. 10 year old Kaden Reddick was shopping with his Aunt when he suffered serious head injuries from a falling display near the tills in the store. The accident was caused by heavy white barriers where customers queue for the till, these tend to contain various accessories and sweets Read more...
The director of an Indian restaurant in Hampshire has been disqualified for seven years for employing illegal workers Read more...
A driver convicted of causing death by dangerous driving has been jailed for three years and eight months, after he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing the death of 24-year-old Ian Wemyss by dangerous driving along the A49 in Herefordshire on 6 November 2015 Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a Manchester building contractor following the death of a casual labourer who fell nearly seven metres through a fragile roof Read more...
Islington Council in north London says that identifying violent behaviour in schoolchildren may help stop the cycle of domestic violence Read more...
Welsh Assembly Communities and Children Secretary Carl Sargeant has announced a new programme to deliver innovative models of housing to help increase the number of homes built in Wales Read more...
A Warwickshire man has had his bankruptcy extended for eight years, after he was found to have made a false insurance claim Read more...
Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss has set out her views on sentencing and the size of the prison population Read more...
Southwark Crown Court has handed down a suspended sentence to a nurse who caused the death of a 76-year-old patient by giving him the wrong blood group during a blood transfusion Read more...
Mental health charity Mind says that the government should postpone cutting disability benefits, after publication of a report by the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee recommending the postponement. Read more...
At the moment in the UK women are offered a ‘combined test’ which includes an ultrasound and a blood test to assess the risk of their baby having Down’s Syndrome. Read more...
Bristol City Council has launched a city-wide consultation on the future of youth services in Bristol. Read more...
Members of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have met with Croydon Council’s Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) project team to learn from their work on protecting girls at risk of FGM, as well as improving the psychological and physical health outcomes for those who have been affected. Read more...
An Evesham food processing company has been fined nearly £60,000, after allowing the pollution of a local brook. Read more...
Bristol City Council is to look at new ways of helping young people remain living with their families and resolve housing problems before they reach crisis point. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted the director of a South Wales construction company, after he failed to take appropriate action which resulted in a young worker receiving serious burns. Read more...
Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss has announced that a new frontline service focused on reforming offenders and cutting crime will be launched in April 2017. Read more...
The Environment Agency has prosecuted a dairy farmer for polluting a protected watercourse. Read more...
The London Assembly (LA) has unanimously agreed a motion on flexi-working for those with caring commitments – and is calling on London Mayor Sadiq Khan to share the good practice of the GLA and the benefits that flexible working bring to London’s businesses by ensuring a diverse, skilled workforce. Read more...
Welsh Assembly Health Secretary Vaughan Gething has confirmed his commitment to publishing an Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Plan for NHS Wales. Read more...
The Prime Minister has told a summit of the European Council in Malta that a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach is needed to the issue of migrants trying to reach Europe to escape civil war in their own countries. Read more...
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says that new figures show that thousands of children are benefiting from their separated parents working together on child maintenance arrangements, with the parents of more than 15,900 children having set up family-based arrangements for paying child maintenance after receiving information and support from Child Maintenance Options. Read more...
Nottingham Crown Court has handed down a suspended jail sentence to a rogue handyman who defrauded a bedridden pensioner out of thousands of pounds for work he said he had carried out when he had not. Read more...
It is apparent that the issue of poor mental health staffing levels in prisons across the UK has become a regular feature in the news of recent weeks. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a ground engineering company, after a worker contracted severe hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). Read more...
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced that he is to put tackling female offending at the heart of his policing strategy and will invest £500,000 in improved services to support women at risk of re-offending Read more...
The UK Government and Department for International Development are stepping up their work to protect women and girls from trafficking and provide winter care for vulnerable refugees Read more...
Newcastle City Council’s Trading Standards Team have raided a shop in Byker, after receiving a tip-off from a member of the public that illegal cigarettes were being sold from the premises Read more...
Public Health England (PHE) has launched its Act FAST stroke awareness campaign, to remind people of the main symptoms of stroke and the importance of calling 999 immediately Read more...
The Environment Agency has announced that Tata Steel UK Ltd has agreed to pay £73,000 towards improving the Bottesford Beck, following a pollution incident near Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire. Read more...
Inspectors have praised the efforts of Hampshire County Council and its partners in Hampshire for the “robust” way they are keeping children across the county protected from abuse and neglect at home. Read more...
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has announced that it is committed to protecting and investing in services for residents with drug and alcohol problems. Read more...
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called on employers across the capital to help make childcare more accessible for working families, as figures show parents are being “locked out of the workplace” by rising costs and expensive upfront deposits for nursery places. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted an engineering firm for safety breaches, after a worker suffered life changing injuries. Read more...
Occupational asthma could be caused by inhaling certain substances in the course of your work. Read more...
The operator of a Kent recycling site – which recycles mattresses and beds – has been found guilty for failing to comply with relevant waste exemptions. Read more...
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced that the Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach have reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to tackle regional security threats alongside Egypt. Read more...
The government has announced that existing child car booster seats will not be affected by new rules coming into force on 1 March. Read more...
Hartlepool Council Trading Standards Officers are warning the public about the dangers of unsolicited phone calls, after one local resident lost several thousands of pounds to a telephone fraudster. Read more...
Employment status is central to the exercise of employment rights. How an individual is categorised affects the rights that an individual can assert and the remedies that can be sought. The different types of status that exist – “employee”, “worker” and “self-employed” – creates confusion and uncertainty on both sides of the relationship. The lack of clear statutory definition for each category only reinforces this ambiguity. The status of “employee” provides the greatest statutory rights. Read more...
The London Assembly Transport Committee is to debate the safety of buses on Thursday (02/01/17), after new figures show that the safety of buses has deteriorated over the last year. Read more...
The number of nurses coming into Britain has nearly tripled since 2011, however due to an EU directive to support freedom of movement only nurses coming to the UK from outside the EU are required to complete competency-based tests. Currently, nurses and midwives from Europe are being automatically registered as safe to work without any checks, even in cases where they have not practised in years. Clare Marx, president of the Royal College of Surgeons stated that “EU rules forced the health service to accept lower standards”. Ministers are being urged by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to use the Brexit process to readdress the safety risks and propose ways of testing nurses’ skills, regardless of where they are coming from. This comes ahead of a Parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday during which Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will be questioned about the impact of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. Read more...
The Home Office has announced that the Policing and Crime Bill received Royal Assent on 31st January 2017. The government says the Policing and Crime Act 2017 will enhance the democratic accountability of police and fire and rescue services. Additionally it will improve the effectiveness of emergency services through closer collaboration and building public confidence in policing Read more...
A former district judge and his assistant who defrauded nearly £1 million from clients at their law firm have been jailed at Southwark Crown Court Read more...
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced that more than £84 million in compensation has been awarded as part of the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme (DMPS) Read more...