The Court of Appeal this week will hear an appeal by Surrey County Council over a High Court judge’s decision to allow a judicial review claim against the local authority’s refusal to comply with duties said to be owed to the claimant under the Children Act 1989 when he was 17 years old.

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against a placement order made in respect of an 18-month-old boy, finding that the aspiration to place him with extended family in Pakistan was “not achievable” within the timescales, and that the child’s best interests could only be served by the making of a placement order with a view to him being adopted in the UK.

Become, a charity for children in care and young care leavers, has welcomed the Government’s proposed amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to expand corporate parenting responsibilities to a wider set of organisations, while noting it could go further to improve the “scaffolding of support” around care-experienced young people.

BASW has this month repeated its call for the abolition of the National Age Assessment Board (NAAB), which is part of the Home Office and undertakes age assessments on its behalf.

A judge has ruled that the operation of immigration and asylum law no longer prevents the High Court from implementing a decision to return a child to another State before their asylum claim here has been determined by the Home Secretary, provided that the “general principle of non-refoulement” is upheld.

A High Court judge has rejected an application brought by a 14-year-old boy to make himself a ward of the High Court and for an order that he be returned to the jurisdiction of England and Wales from the Republic of Ghana, where he has been living as a boarding school pupil and with extended family.

The Court of Appeal has allowed a mother’s appeal against a judge’s decision to approve a care plan to remove her child to be placed with her paternal grandparents, finding that the Family Court judge failed to undertake a “necessary holistic review” when conducting her final analysis and reaching her conclusions.

Ofsted has set out a series of steps for local authorities to take to improve their support for homeless 16- and 17-year-olds, after fewer than one in ten said they had been offered access to an independent advocate to help them understand their rights.

The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has issued guidance for family judges on when, how and why to write to children in family court proceedings.

The Government is to include a ban on ‘cuckooing’ and a standalone offence of child criminal exploitation (CCE) in its Crime and Policing Bill, which is to be introduced in Parliament in the next week.

The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has put would-be parents of any age who are contemplating entering into a commercial foreign surrogacy arrangement on notice that the courts in England and Wales may refuse to grant an adoption order, with the result that the child that they have caused to be born may be permanently State-less and legally parent-less.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has today (20 February) published a focus report on councils’ fostering services in England, which demonstrates what can and has gone wrong in the cases it has investigated.

The Court of Appeal has rejected an appeal by a Sudanese national that the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) failed to give adequate reasons for accepting an age assessment made by West Berkshire Council.

Provisions that would see unaccompanied asylum seekers treated as adults if they refused a scientific age assessment without “reasonable grounds” are set to be scrapped by Government.

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal over whether a local authority can authorise the deprivation of liberty of a 14-year-old boy in exercise of its parental responsibility under a care order.

The three-year time limit for victims of child sexual abuse on turning 18 to bring personal injury claims is to be removed, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal against a Family Court order concerning where two young children should live.

A judge has refused an application by a local authority for a declaration from the High Court that it is lawful and in the best interests of a 15-year-old boy with "profound enduring disabilities", who is the subject of a care order, to be deprived of his liberty.

The Court of Appeal will next week hear an appeal over a High Court ruling that a local authority, which holds ‘corporate’ parental responsibility for a child under the age of 16, has the power to consent to a deprivation of his liberty.

A High Court judge has made a care order in relation to a four-year-old girl (F), finding that her best interests will be met by an adoptive placement outside her family, while criticising the “unconscionable delay” in the case, which took almost 30 months to reach a conclusion.

The Family Justice Council has today (30 January) published guidance for practitioners on neurodiversity in the family justice system.

The Supreme Court has rejected a father’s application for a writ of habeas corpus in respect of his children, who are being raised in a local authority’s care.

The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO) has highlighted the “important” role of advocates and intermediaries in enabling parents with learning disabilities to engage fully in court proceedings, after warning that family justice and social care systems are paying “insufficient attention” to ensuring that their rights under disability, equality and human rights legislation are upheld.

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal brought by two journalists against a judge’s decision to order the anonymisation of the names of the circuit judges that had decided historic care proceedings relating to Sara Sharif, who was murdered by her father and step-mother in 2023.

The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has described the extension of open reporting provisions to all family courts in England and Wales as a “watershed moment for family justice”.

The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has issued practice guidance on the use of intermediaries, lay advocates and cognitive assessments in the Family Court.

The Supreme Court will next week (29 January) hand down its judgment on a father’s application for a writ of habeas corpus in respect of his children, who are being raised in a local authority’s care.