Legal Updates

Child Care Law - A Summary of the Law in England and Wales (5th edition)
Deborah Cullen and Mary Lane, British Association for Adoption and Fostering
ISBN: 1903699738,
£9.95

STAR RATING: 3/5

This book remains a useful quick reference guide to child law in England and Wales, with particular emphasis on children with whom councils or adoption agencies are involved. It has been updated to deal with, among other things, the new adoption legislation and the Children Act 2004, writes Ed Mitchell.

It is laid out in a user-friendly format clearly designed to assist the busy reader in finding the answer to a legal problem in the shortest possible time. It is also compact enough to be tucked away and taken out into the field.

However, the book has a tendency to assume that the situation in Wales replicates that in England. For example, it does not point out that in Wales approval to use secure accommodation (for a child under 13) must be sought from the national assembly and not the secretary of state; and it also does not mention the children's commissioner for Wales (only the English commissioner).

Ed Mitchell is a solicitor, editor of Social Care Law Today