The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal brought on behalf of two children against an order granting an application by the BBC for access to documents in care proceedings, and the partial variation of reporting restrictions on the basis that the open justice principle applied.

The parents of children who were potentially abused by a Walsall paedophile are set to take legal action against Solihull Council and charity Social Life Opportunities (Solo), which provides organised activities for children with special educational needs.

A report commissioned by London Councils and the Association of London Directors of Children’s Services has called for “system-wide reform” and a “child-centred approach” to improve protection for children and young people seeking asylum in London.

The Law Commission has published terms of reference for a review into the legal statuses and orders affecting children living in kinship care and kinship carers.

The Government is to exempt young care leavers and victims of domestic abuse from local connection requirements in a bid to improve their access to social housing.

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal by a local authority over the refusal of a Family Court judge to make a care order in respect of a girl, who is rising 2.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has recommended that Stoke-on-Trent City Council pay nearly £5,000 to a resident who complained that the local authority did not deal with child protection issues properly.

Public and private family law barrister Bibi Badejo, who is also a leading advocacy trainer, has joined 4PB.

A Family Court judge has said he was "inexorably led" to the finding that North Yorkshire Council should be the designated local authority for a one-year-old child who is subject to a care order, despite the council insisting that Birmingham City Council should remain the designated authority.

The Government has accepted all 12 of the recommendations in Baroness Louise Casey's national audit on group-based child sexual exploitation, including her calls for a national inquiry, unique reference numbers for children and an immediate end to 'out of area taxis'.

An investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found a failure by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council to follow proper procedure when it placed a child in the care of his grandparents, alongside a failure to provide clear information, explanations and financial support.

The High Court has ordered Dorset Council to undertake a re-assessment of an asylum seeker’s age, which takes account of new evidence in the form of an Afghan national identity card and three reports relating to it.

Dorset Council has announced it is to be the first unitary authority to become a 'Rights Respecting Authority' for young people – making a public commitment to “child centred decision making”.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has called on the Government to ensure all councils receive sufficient funding to invest long-term into family help, child protection, child in care and care leaver services, after a study found that a failure to support children with complex needs is driving high care costs.

The High Court has refused to make an order permitting a local authority to continue depriving a 15-year-old girl of her liberty, finding that depriving a child of their liberty for “pure welfare reasons” or to prevent a child absconding does not come within article 5(1) of the Convention (right to liberty and security).

There are now just 11 local authorities with so-called ‘twin hat’ directors, who hold both statutory roles of Director of Children’s Services and Director of Adult Social Services, it has emerged.

The Family Court has rejected a challenge by an unregulated sperm donor said to have fathered more than 180 around the world over proposals made by local authorities in two sets of care proceedings.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has reprimanded the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham after the council left exposed the personal information of 6,528 people, a third of them children, for almost two years.

Complex accountability arrangements and limited information on the biggest causes of delays in care proceedings make it difficult to target improvements to where they will have best effect, the National Audit Office has warned.

The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has expressed frustration that there is a Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) in only 20% of areas, saying it remains his goal that there is one in every area.

The Family Justice Council (FJC) has published guidance for professionals and litigants who represent themselves on the use of covert recordings in family law proceedings.

The Family Court has ruled that a couple are not the parents of a baby who arrived in the UK from Nigeria and that the woman concerned cannot - as she claimed - have been pregnant for 55 weeks.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has concluded that Lincolnshire County Council consulted medical professionals and considered a father’s concerns in line with relevant policies “without fault”, after he complained the council failed to consider his concerns that his child is a victim of Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) by Proxy.

The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO) has published a report highlighting evidence on the number of mothers and fathers who experience recurrent care proceedings in England and Wales, their circumstances and the impact of having children removed in this way.

The Court of Appeal has issued a written ruling outlining its reasons for allowing an appeal against a decision by Mrs Justice Lieven that a local authority could authorise the deprivation of liberty of a 14-year-old boy in exercise of its parental responsibility under a care order.

The High Court has rejected a council’s claim for judicial review in relation to a decision by the local Integrated Care Board (ICB) to decline to make a financial contribution towards the costs of funding a young person’s placement at a specialist children's home.

The Family Court has dismissed a man’s application for a declaration of non-parentage of a young boy, on whose birth certificate he appears as the father, finding it would not be in the child’s best interests for the application to proceed.

The Court of Appeal has set aside a judge’s direction for a local authority to investigate the circumstances of three children who were not the subject of proceedings, and to make the children subject to interim supervision orders, finding he was not entitled to do so.