1. This is the fourth judgement I have delivered in this matter. At the beginning of my first judgment (see Lancashire CC v G (Unavailability of Secure Accommodation) [2020] EWHC 2828 (Fam)) I recalled the maxim that the measure of a society can be obtained from how that society treats its most vulnerable members, citing the formulation adopted by Nelson Mandela on 8 May 1995 that there can be no keener revelation of a society s soul than the way in which it treats its children .
2. Approaching
six months on from the commencement of these proceedings under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court on 28 August 2020, it is possible to apply this illuminating metric to our society by reference to the extent to which G s acute and complex emotional and behavioural needs have been met. The scales tip very heavily against us.