Daily roundup 28 June: Homelessness, disability, and adoption

Homelessness charity Crisis has launched a consultation to find out what's needed to end the worst forms of homelessness. Running for six months across England, Scotland and Wales, the consultation invites public sector professionals to share their expertise and help shape a national plan for action. Have Your Say on a Plan to End Homelessness will help shape a plan to be published in April 2018.


Research from the Disabled Children's Partnership has found that 80 per cent of parents of a disabled children face problems accessing the services they need. More than nine out of 10 parents believe the specialist care needs of their disabled child wouldn't be met if they could no longer care for them.


A council that denied a Sikh couple the chance to adopt a child over their "cultural heritage" is refusing to back down. British-born Sandeep and Reena Mander said they had wanted the chance to adopt a child of any ethnic background, but were refused the chance to apply by Windsor and Maidenhead Council's agency, Adopt Berkshire, as only white children were in need. The council has declined to discuss the case, reports the Guardian.


The private details of some childminders, including home addresses, were mistakenly published on the government's Childcare Service website, it has emerged. The details have subsequently been removed from the website by HM Revenue and Customs. However, the Pre-school Learning Alliance has expressed concern that childminders' details were published when they had not given permission.


Doctors have backed decriminalising abortion, reports the BBC. Clinicians at the British Medical Association's annual conference voted to scrap a rule that requires women in England and Wales to prove to a doctor that carrying on with the pregnancy is detrimental to health or wellbeing. Under the 1967 Abortion Act, failure to gain a doctor's approval is a criminal offence.