Select committee: Human Rights (Joint Committee)
Conclusion 6
2nd Report - Human Rights of Children in the Social Care System in England
Published 27 Aug 2026
Addressed to Ministry of Justice
Human Rights (Joint Committee) Human Rights of Children in the Social Care System in England All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We agree with the Law Commission: the definition of disability in the Children Act 1989 is outdated. It contains stigmatising language and it does not match modern definitions of disability used in other areas of law. The definition should be modernised and made more inclusive by using the language of the Equality Act 2010, in line with the proposals of the Law Commission. (Recommendation, Paragraph 52)
From: Human Rights (Joint Committee), 2nd Report - Human Rights of Children in the Social Care System in England (HC 161), 27 August 2026
Government response
No government response linked yet: deadline 27 October 2026, 5 days ago.