Child arrangements programme meaning

In this issue: Emergency procedures Private children Public children Financial provision International Medical treatment Daily and weekly news alerts Updated content Useful information Emergency procedures Fact-finding and domestic abuse (ER v NT) In ER v NT [2025] EWHC 2146 (Fam), the High Court allowed an appeal from a ruling of HHJ Godwin declining to list a fact‑finding hearing in private law proceedings about child arrangements for a child born in 2023. The father’s application under Part II of the Children Act 1989 sought contact with the child. The mother resisted contact, alleging a sustained course of domestic abuse, comprising coercive and controlling behaviour, physical violence and emotional harm. The court below decided a fact‑finding was unnecessary, placing weight on the father’s limited admissions, his completion of an anger management programme, and worries about delay. On appeal, the High Court held the judge had not properly identified the relevant welfare questions, nor evaluated the nature...

In this issue: Local government reorganisation Education Children's social care Adult social care Social housing Planning Judicial review Public procurement Local government finance Licensing Pensions Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Local government reorganisation IPPR report recommends democratic reforms for English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill IPPR North released analysis exploring the democratic effects of the government’s push to create unitary councils under the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. The study reviews plans to scrap the remaining two-tier county and district councils—covering roughly 29% of England—and replace them with larger unitary bodies. Ministers contend that unitarisation will streamline administration, raise efficiency and support mayoral devolution, yet it flags democratic downsides: fewer councillors, less frequent elections, and a wider gap between communities and decision-makers. Evidence is cited that bigger councils can erode trust, suppress participation and blunt citizens’ sense of political efficacy, but it also argues that...

In this issue: Local government finance Governance Social housing Education Children's social care Adult social care Public procurement Planning Healthcare Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Local government finance MHCLG confirms £78bn final local government finance settlement with fairer funding reforms The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has announced a £78bn Final Local Government Finance Settlement, alongside a £440m Recovery Grant boost to support the councils facing the greatest pressures, addressing deprivation and enhancing local services. The package offers multi-year certainty and features measures including writing off 90% of historic SEND deficits, a £272m increase for homelessness services, and £39.6m in mayoral capacity funding to protect people at risk of homelessness and improve local outcomes. Using an evidence-led approach, drawing on the latest indices of multiple deprivation, MHCLG says the reforms will direct a fair share to communities most affected by past reductions. See: LNB News 10/02/2026...

This Practice Note summarises the principal legal updates relevant to personal injury and clinical negligence practitioners as at 2 March 2026, aimed at assisting current practice. For earlier developments, see PI and Clinical Negligence horizon scanning and key cases—overview. Key PI & clinical negligence developments Eighteenth edition of the Judicial College Guidelines due The 18th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) will be released on 9 April 2026. The Lexis+® UK PI & Clinical Negligence team will refresh the JCG link within our Key Resources on the Lexis+® UK PI & Clinical Negligence homepage, together with all connected materials. Law Society publishes practice note on conduct of litigation following Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys Following the High Court’s decision in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] EWHC 2341 (KB), the Law Society has issued guidance for solicitors, law firms and legal businesses to ensure that only individuals authorised under the Legal Services Act 2007 undertake the conduct of litigation...

Stop Press: On 31 March 2026, Sir Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division, published consolidated guidance on allocation and gatekeeping in children proceedings before the Family Court, to take effect on 5 May 2026. This supplants the 2014 public and private law guidance, creating a single scheme for allocation across all children cases. It codifies the function of gatekeeping teams, maps allocation choices to contemporary procedural routes (including Child Focused Courts), and reaffirms the fundamentals of judicial continuity, proportionality, and the efficient deployment of judicial resources; see News Analysis: Consolidated allocation and gatekeeping guidance for children proceedings issued. This Practice Note is being revised to incorporate the President’s guidance. It sets out how to seek an order under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989)—namely a child arrangements order (CAO), a specific issue order, or a prohibited steps order—and provides direction on the requirement to attend a mediation information and assessment meeting (MIAM)...