England & Wales: On the application of AR v London Borough Of Waltham Forest, CO/1324/2019, High Court of Justice (2020)

The High Court of Justice has dismissed a legal challenge to the lack of secure accommodation for children in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Just for Kids Law brought the challenge due to concerns over children being kept overnight in police cells because of the shortage of appropriate accommodation. Despite Waltham Forest local authority accepting in court that the current system is ‘unsatisfactory’, the court dismissed the claim, stating that it ‘is really a complaint about the nationwide lack of secure accommodation available to all local authorities due to the absence of funding by Central Government’. Read more on Just for Kids Law’s website here