Education secretary failed to consult children’s agencies over changes, judges find
The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, acted unlawfully in removing safeguards for children in care at the start of the Covid pandemic without consulting children’s rights organisations, the court of appeal has ruled.
The children’s rights charity Article 39 launched a legal challenge after the Department for Education removed or diluted 65 separate legal protections, designed to safeguard the 78,000 children in care in England, during lockdown last April.