A Scottish Guardianship Order (SGO) was made in breach of natural justice and should not be recognised and enforced in England and Wales, the Court of Protection has found.

Durham Council has agreed to identify the action it will take to ensure officers understand the local authority’s duties under the Care Act 2014, following a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation into the council’s failure to meet the needs of a woman with care and support needs who lives in a remote area.

The High Court has allowed a woman's appeal against a circuit judge's decision at a case management hearing that she lacked capacity to make decisions about her residence and the care she should receive.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found fault with St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council’s “flawed reasoning” in not including a man’s deputy fees as a personal expense in a financial assessment.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has launched a “myth-busting campaign” to demonstrate how data protection law can help social services providers to share personal information when required to safeguard children and young people.

A Deputy High Court judge has held that the London Borough of Croydon and not the Home Office should have provided suitable accommodation for an asylum seeker with severe health needs.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England have issued guidance setting out how health and care systems in England should support the discharge of people from mental health inpatient settings.

Local Government Minister Simon Hoare has written to the leaders of unitary and upper tier authorities in England calling on them to adopt as best practice enhanced criminal record checks provided by the Disclosure and Barring Service for all councillors being considered for appointment to any committee which discharges education or social services functions.

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against an interim order under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 declaring that it was not in the best interests of a young man to travel to Afghanistan with his family for a holiday.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found Bristol City Council at fault for a delay in finalising a care assessment, delay in responding to a shared lives carer’s complaint and delay in completing a review.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found fault in the way that Essex County Council carried out a financial assessment and a deferred payment process for an elderly man with dementia.

A Court of Protection judge has directed Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council to commission and instruct a registered medical doctor, either a psychiatrist or a registered GP, to review a woman’s case and provide a report dealing with her diagnosis, in order for the court to authorise a package of care which deprives her of her liberty.

There were 1,655 applications relating to deprivation of liberty under the Mental Capacity Act made in the most recent quarter (July to September 2023), an increase of less than 1% on the number made in the same quarter in 2022, government data has revealed.

A Civil Justice Council (CJC) working group has launched a consultation on the procedure for determining mental capacity in civil proceedings.

CIPFA has proposed five principles for a “sustainable and equitable” social care system, after finding several problems with the current charging system.

The Care Quality Commission will begin an assessment regime which will see councils handed an overall rating of either ‘inadequate’, ‘requires improvement’, ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ as part of a new assurance process for council adult social care services.

The Upper Tribunal has allowed an appeal on all three grounds against a decision by the First Tier Tribunal to refuse an application for an adjournment to obtain evidence regarding aftercare.

An investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found that North Yorkshire County Council “repeatedly” missed opportunities to assess a woman’s mental capacity regarding her ability to manage her finances when this was in doubt.

The Local Government Association (LGA) and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) have warned ahead of next week's Autumn Statement that councils face “tough decisions” around maintaining care and support services due to financial pressures.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has warned that with the funding they receive, 73% of charities can’t meet current demand for the public services they deliver.

More than a billion pounds of the £1.7 billion committed to reforming the adult social care system in December 2021 has been “diverted to other care priorities”, a new National Audit Office (NAO) report has revealed.

The Law Society, the Approved Mental Health Professionals Leads Network and charities have criticised the absence of a Mental Health Bill in this week’s King’s Speech.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has told North Yorkshire Council to re-calculate how much a woman should pay for her care after finding faults with a predecessor authority’s financial assessment.

The High Court has approved a settlement for a learning disabled and autistic man whose human rights were breached when he lived at Veilstone care home in Devon.

Councils have urged the Government not to make major changes to Section 75 arrangements, under which budgets are pooled to operate the Better Care Fund.

The High Court has quashed a decision by the London Borough of Newham that a man with care needs and his carer mother were ineligible for accommodation because they could seek housing provided for asylum applicants under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued guidance for local authorities on the Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF), which will provide a total of £42.6m in grant funding over 2023 to 2024 (£20m) and 2024 to 2025 (£22.6m), to support innovation in adult social care.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has warned of “ongoing problems” with the current Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards system, and has said that problems with people’s access to care in England is an “enduring issue” in its latest State of Care report.