CROA News

CROA is winding down...

Mon, 28 May 2012 09:21:30 GMT

It is with great regret that I have to inform you that the management committee have taken the decision to wind CROA down. After looking at the projected budget for this year it became clear to board members that a decision had to be made as to whether the company was viable. In the current financial situation getting new members and selling training has become increasingly difficult.

The board realise that CROA is very much a member’s organisation and regrets not having to time to consult with you about this. However the financial situation meant a decision had to be made quickly if we were to be able to meet our obligations to the staff and other creditors.

After a consultation with the staff the board decided that their posts have become redundant and that CROA will be wound down.

We realise that you have paid to be members so we will offer money back to those members who want this. It will be done on a pro rata basis depending on how long your membership has been running. This seems to the board to be the fairest way forward. If you would like a refund please contact Cheryl at the office cheryl@croa.org.uk by June 21^st 2012.

We are hoping to continue running CROA members online for the foreseeable future. Mark Bailey will take on administrative responsibilities.

We would like to thank Cheryl,

Deeand Jane for all their hard work over the years and for the way they have conducted themselves during this difficult time. We would also like to thank our training team for their hard work.

We would also like to thank the Department for Education and the Children’s Society for their support over the last year.

We would like to thank you as members for your support as well.

If you have any questions please contact either Cheryl in the office or Mark Bailey (Acting Chair) on mark.bailey@trafford.gov.uk

Mark Bailey on behalf of the CROA management committee

Mark Bailey

Advocacy and Engagement Officer

3rd Floor, Nurses Home, Trafford General Hospital, Moorside Rd, Davyhulme, Manchester M41 5SL

t: 0161 912 5094

m: 07739 856 683

mark.bailey@trafford.gov.uk

Legal Aid: Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act

Tue, 22 May 2012 09:41:21 GMT

The Bill received Royal Assent on 1 May and thus became law. The changes contained in the Act will not affect legal aid for asylum cases or detention cases, but the Act will remove legal aid for immigration cases, inlcuding children's immigration cases. Important changes to the original bill were made during it's passage through Parliament, including keeping legal aid for victims of trafficking and retaining the ability to bring areas of law back into the scope of leagl aid without the need for further primary legislation. A Lords amendment to retain legal aid in all children's cases was reversed when it returned to the House of Commons on 17 April 2012

Due to come into effect in April 2013, the changes to legal aid funding for immigration cases will, for example, affect children who have claims to stay in the UK based on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (private and family life) and those with refugee family reunion claims.The Refugee Children's Consortium and others have rejected the idea, suggested by the government, that social workers could be enabled to provide immigration advice to children and young people in their care. It is possible that the changes to legal aid funding will entail cost-shifting to local authorities if they are required to procure private immigration advice for these children and young people.

As well as impacting on children and young people with immigration claims, the wider changes the government has implemented to legal aid funding for social welfare law through this Act are likely to change the landscape of legal aid provision more generally, at a time when legal advice services are already struggling and many people are in need of advice.

CRAE Launches Equality Resources for children

Tue, 01 May 2012 10:46:50 GMT

The Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) has launched a new microsite on children’s equality. Equality matters for children is the first resource of its kind dedicated to raising awareness of the discrimination faced by children and young people and the importance of equality. The microsite provides a wealth of information and resources for children on equality rights, including:

Information about equality rights under national and international law
Real life stories about children who have taken action for equality
A guide to the Equality Act for children and young people
A measure of respect for how society should respect children and young people (created by children and young people)
A take action section with things you can do to promote and protect equality
Sources of help

Over 130 children and young people from a variety of backgrounds participated in the development of a children's measurement of respect, a tool that can be used at local and national level to stimulate public debate and policy action. The microsite also has lots of ideas for how children and young people can take action on equality issues in schools, when using a public service, when paying for something, in the workplace, and in politics and campaigning.
Find out more about Equality Matters for Children.

Riot Report calls for Advocacy for Children

Tue, 01 May 2012 10:41:20 GMT

The independent panel set up to examine and understand why the August 2011 riots took place has urged local authorities to ensure that children have access to advocates to help represent their best interests. The recommendation was issued in the report After the Riots: The final report of the Riots Communities and Victims Panel. The panel invited submissions from members of the public, visited 24 areas and spoke with thousands of people who were affected by the riots as well as some who were not.The report identifies that these neighbourhoods face significant issues such as high crime and youth unemployment and that many individuals feel their quality of life is poor.

The panel’s recommendations seek to tackle these issues, ‘ensuring public services work together and accept accountability for turning around the lives of individuals, families, and in turn, communities’.

The report emphasises the importance of building on people’s strengths and of giving children every chance to succeed. The panel recommends that every child should have an advocate to support them at key points in their lives. The report states that where parents are unable to fulfil this role, ‘an individual who is acceptable to the child within the wider family, community or among public services (such as the lead professional for the family, or a YOT worker)’ should be nominated to act as an advocate to challenge and hold public services to account on behalf of the child.
Find out more about the report

Further update on the Legal Aid Bill

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 08:26:42 GMT

Dear all,

As you may have seen, a fresh amendment led by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson aimed at keeping children’s cases in the scope of legal aid was defeated late last night. It was scheduled for the very end of the debate in the House of Lords, making a favourable vote highly unlikely.

Unfortunately, this means that the issue is now lost. This is obviously very disappointing news to all of us who have been campaigning hard on the LASPO Bill over many months and it’s a disaster for the 75,000 children and young people who will lose access to legal aid each year that we weren’t ultimately successful in securing amendments to the Bill. However, many small victories have been achieved along the way – we will try to summarise what we think these have been once we’ve had time to reflect on recent events.

We should stress that this is not the end of the JustRights campaign, which was established well before the Legal Aid Bill came along and will continue to lobby for improvements in children and young people’s access to legal advice and representation. We have already started the process of considering the campaign’s next steps and will be in touch again soon to seek your ideas and interest in remaining involved.

Thanks again for all your support!

James, Mandy and Kate

Update on the Legal Aid Bill

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:33:07 GMT

Hansard Ping-Pong debate in HoC 17.04.12.doc

JustRights - LASPO Ping-Pong briefing on Children for Lords April 2012.doc

The amendment we won in the Lords protecting all civil legal aid cases for children under the age of 18 was unfortunately overturned by the Government in the Commons on Tuesday, without even a hint from Ministers of any new concessions. This is obviously extremely disappointing. Only two Lib Dem MPs voted against the Government – John Leech and Mike Hancock – even though it is the party’s current youth policy to improve young people’s access to legal advice.

As part of the ‘Ping Pong’ process, the Bill now returns to the House of Lords on Monday. Ministers have controversially invoked ‘financial privilege’ to try to prevent Lords from reinstating the amendment. However, we understand that the Peers who tabled the previous amendment in the Lords are nevertheless preparing to table a similar amendment for Monday. We have also heard that Ken Clarke has invited some of the peers for a meeting on Monday. This means there are still hopes of squeezing further concessions out of the Government, although they have not been terribly generous hitherto.

After Monday, if we have managed to win a new vote in the Lords, the Bill will return to the Commons on Thursday and may Ping Pong more than once that day between the two Houses of Parliament. Indeed, we understand that the Government is hoping to complete the passage of the Bill on Thursday. If we are still 'in the game’ by then, the Government will be under some pressure to make concessions to ensure the Bill gets through.

We drew some consolation this week from some excellent contributions in the Commons debate from MPs – the opposition front-bench relied almost entirely on our briefings and referred to our amendment as “the most open-and-shut case of all”, whilst other MPs also referred to our evidence and briefings. Please find attached key extracts from Hansard.

We also gained a lot of media coverage for our campaign in the last week, being featured in the following, amongst others:

lots of education and parenting websites around the world

and even in the Iranian state press !!!

Assuming a new amendment is tabled by Peers for debate on Monday, we will once again need any help you can give to persuade Peers to turn up and vote for it. Please find attached our latest briefing for Peers.

Best wishes,

James, Mandy & Kate

James Kenrick

Co-Chair of JustRights

Email: james@youthaccess.org.uk

Tel: 020 8772 9900

Mandy Wilkins

Co-Chair of JustRights

Email: mandy@lawcentres.org.uk

Tel: 020 7842 0725

Kate Bell

JustRights’ Parliamentary Adviser

Email: kategobell@gmail.com

Tel: 07823 770 425

Victory on children's legal aid!

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:18:04 GMT

Lords 3rd Reading debate on C_YP 27.03.12.docx

As you may have seen by now, peers voted yesterday in favour of our amendment led by Tanni Grey-Thompson on Children under 18, but against Baroness Howe of Idlicote’s amendment on Vulnerable Young People aged 18-24.

The vote on children represents a major victory for our JustRights campaign. The amendment brings back into scope of the legal aid scheme all civil legal aid cases where a child under the age of 18 needs advice, assistance or representation in their own right, independently from parents/carers. However, we will now have to work hard to prevent the amendment being reversed when the Bill returns to the House of Commons on 17^th April. If you have ideas on tactics, please get in touch. There remains a danger that the Government will invoke ‘financial privilege’ to over-turn all of the 11 defeats they have suffered in the Lords on the Legal Aid Bill. The Lib Dems are apparently in utter turmoil over this and we’ve been told that some very senior members of the party were secretly quite pleased with yesterday’s vote on children. Only one Lib Dem peer (Baroness Benjamin) actually voted for our amendment, whilst we picked up support from three Conservative peers, but the crucial factor was the overwhelming support we received from cross-benchers.

We are extremely disappointed to have lost the vote on vulnerable young people, which would have retained legal aid for care leavers and young people with disabilities. Peers effectively decided that a 17 year old is vulnerable enough to deserve legal aid, but an 18 year old (even one with a learning disability or mental health problem) should be able to navigate the system without specialist help . We’ve come a long way in recent years, but we clearly need to keep educating everybody (including politicians and the legal advice sector) about the needs and vulnerability of this age group. However, we certainly don’t think our attempts to protect legal aid for vulnerable young people have been in vain. As well as helping to win a concession on victims of trafficking, which the minister said yesterday would be extended to cover immigration cases, we have certainly raised awareness of the issues and it seems our arguments may have been picked up by the Cabinet Office team undertaking the ongoing review of advice services. There may also be scope for us to push the MOJ on the rules for "exceptional cases" to cover vulnerable young people, either through their current consultation on this or, if necessary, through an early judicial review.

Please find attached yesterday’s full debate as reported in Hansard – it’s well worth reading the many powerful speeches in favour of our amendments.

Many thanks to all of you who have supported our campaign and helped secure yesterday’s important win on children.

Best wishes,

James, Mandy & Kate

James Kenrick

Co-Chair of JustRights

Email: james@youthaccess.org.uk

Tel: 020 8772 9900

Mandy Wilkins

Co-Chair of JustRights

Email: mandy@lawcentres.org.uk

Tel: 020 7842 0725

Kate Bell

JustRights’ Parliamentary Adviser

Email: kategobell@gmail.com

Tel: 07823 770 425

Legal Aid Bill - Reply from Sarah Teather

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:53:05 GMT

In January JustRights wrote to Sarah Teather MP, Minster of State for Children and Families to raise concerns about the impact of the Legal Aid Bill on children and young people and how the legal aid cuts threaten to break a commitment she gave that the Government will give due consideration to the UNCRC when making new policy and legislation.

JustRights have now received a reply and here it is:

Letter to Sarah Teather MP.docx

Response from Sarah Teather.pdf

Local authorities to have scorecards for adoption

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:27:48 GMT

Local authorities are to be issued sscorecards to measure how quickly they place for children for adoption. Under a new government action plan for adoption in England, potential adopters will have to be assessed within 6 months, and cureaucracy cut.

Martin Narey, governments advisor on adoption said, "This is an important plan which when implemented - and I expect that to be swift - will effect a radical reform of adoption in England". Read more here

After Care - Young People's Views on Leaving Care

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:02:55 GMT

Reported by the Children's Rights Director for England, Dr Rogoer Morgan - report attached here: After Care CRD Mar 2012.pdf

OCC Briefing on Legal Aid Bill

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:59:49 GMT

Attached is a briefing from the Children's Commissioner for England on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill (Legal Aid provisions) for House of Lords report stage:LASPO Bill Report Stage FINAL.pdf

Children's Care Monitor Report 2011

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:51:01 GMT

The Children's Care Monitor is the major national assessment of care and welfare by children, and is used by government and local authorities to inform policy. The 2011 Monitor involved 1,895 children and young people, of whom, 1,333 were in care or looked after by local authorities.

Report attached here:REPORT Childrens Care Monitor 2011.pdf

OCC (Office of the Children's Commissioner) Statement on possible review: care of rescued trafficked children

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:53:22 GMT

Maggie Atkinson, Childrens Commissioner for England said, " the Office of the Children's Commissioner (OCC) noted with interest the House of Lords debate on the care of rescued trafficked children. Home Office Minister, Lord Henley suggested the Department for Education (DfE)may ask OCC to review this case. Read more here

Young People Speak to the World

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:49:32 GMT

The ‘Speak to the World’ project, coordinated and led by the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), investigated children’s views on engaging in European and international decision-making. The project was grant funded by the European Commission under the specific Fundamental Rights and Citizenship programme (2007 – 2013). The programme supports the development of a European society based on respect for fundamental rights, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Click here to download overview and country reports

Tell Tim your views about the care system

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:40:19 GMT

If you talk about children’s rights issues raised at your children in care council or any other meeting, then Tell Tim Loughton, the Minister for looked after children and care leavers. Click here to Tell Tim what you think

PRESS RELEASE: Maggie Atkinson, Children's Commissioner for England, statement on the Government's response to the Family Justice Review

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:39:21 GMT

“We welcome the government’s commitment to ensuring the family justice system places the best interests of the child at the heart of decisions in both public and private law court cases. We concur with the government that this interest must be paramount in all proceedings. Read more here

Government backs 'shared parenting' legislation after separation

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:37:37 GMT

Fathers and mothers should be entitled to a legally binding ‘presumption of shared parenting’ after separation, the government has announced, rejecting advice by an independent review on family justice. While the interests of the child are paramount, a ministerial group will report back in two months on what form of words will be inserted into legislation ensuring that children maintain a ‘meaningful relationship’ with their parents. Read more here

JustRights Update on Legal Aid Bill

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:50:40 GMT

Outcome of House of Lords debate

A key debate on amendments relating to legal aid for children and young people took place in Parliament earlier this week as part of the House of Lords Committee Stage of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. There was powerful support for protecting the rights of children and vulnerable young people from Peers of all parties, including Baroness Benjamin (Floella, TV presenter, LD), Baroness Eaton (recently retired Chair of the LGA, Con), Baroness Butler-Sloss (ex-High Court judge, Cross-bencher) and Lord Ramsbotham (ex-Chief Inspector of Prisons, Cross-bencher). We are particularly grateful to Baroness Massey (Lab) and Baroness Howe (Cross-bencher), who tabled and spoke to our amendments protecting young people up to the age of 24. Many Peers quoted (sometimes extensively) from JustRights briefings and reports.

No peers spoke against the amendments and the Minister, Lord McNally, cut a lonely figure as he made his fairly feeble response, in which he offered no concessions, but he did promise to give full consideration to the points made. All the amendments were withdrawn without a vote, but there was clearly sufficient support for us to feel confident that many of the issues will come back before the House at Report Stage.

We attach edited extracts of the debate from Hansard.

Or you can view the full two hour debate on the BBC website here.

What happens next with the Bill?

The Committee Stage in the House of Lords will continue over the next couple of weeks. Most of the debates on legal aid have already taken place and attention will now turn to other aspects of the Bill, including sentencing reforms.

The Report Stage of the Bill is expected to start in 5-6 weeks’ time. This is where absolutely crucial votes on amendments will be taken, as has happened recently with the Welfare Reform Bill. There are some signs already that there could be significant Tory and Lib Dem rebellions over the legal aid changes if the Government fails to offer significant concessions.

JustRights will now have to think about which amendments we want to be discussed again at the Report Stage of the Bill, and which we might be able to encourage Peers to press to a vote. If you want to be part of our deliberations on this, don’t hesitate to contact one of us.

There’s still a lot of work to be done if we’re going to be ultimately successful with our campaign, but we remain optimistic – and this is where it gets exciting, so if you want to work more closely with us in the final stages, just let us know.

Letter to Sarah Teather

I attach a letter JustRights intends to send next week to Sarah Teather MP, Minister of State for Children and Families. The letter raises our concerns about the impact of the Legal Aid Bill on children and young people and how the legal aid cuts threaten to break a commitment she gave that the Government will give due consideration to the UNCRC when making new policy and legislation.

Lords Bill Cttee 16.01.12.docx

Sarah Teather MP.docx

James Kenrick

Co-Chair of JustRights

Email: james@youthaccess.org.uk

Tel: 020 8772 9900

Ofsted announces scrapping of 'satisfactory' judgement in move designed to help improve education for millions of children

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:40:08 GMT

Ahead of a government summit on ‘coasting school’s to be held at Downing Street later today (16 Jan) Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has confirmed his intention to scrap the ‘satisfactory’ judgement for school inspections. Read more here

Office of the Children's Commissioner's Landing in Dover Report

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:35:57 GMT

The Landing in Dover report issued today (17^th Jan) by Maggie Atkinson, Children’s Commissioner for England uncovered the 'Gentlemen's Agreement' between the UK and

France

which conflicted with the UK Border Agency’s (UKBA) duty to safeguard children and promote their welfare. Read report here