Archive for the 'Community care' Category

When Age is Not Just a Number Part II

By SJM on 25/12/2011. 0 Comments

Hot on the heels of the KN v Barnet report is the Court of Appeal judgement in R (CJ) v Cardiff CC [2011] EWCA Civ 1590 (judgement handed down on 20/12/2011). The High Court proceedings were reported here.

The important aspect of this appeal is the way the Court deals with the difficult issue of burden of proof. The approach approved at first instance and in KN was that the burden fell on the Claimant to prove his age, if the Court was unable to make an assessment. The Court of Appeal has now established that there is no burden and it reached this conclusion (para 23):

“In the … Read the full post

Posted in Community care.

When Age is Not Just a Number

By SJM on 24/12/2011. 0 Comments

Regular readers may have noted that these pages have been quiet on the subject of age assessments and the entitlement to services under the Children Act 1989. The fact-finding hearing in The Queen (KN) v LB Barnet [2011] EWHC 2019 (Admin) was heard as long ago as July 2011 but it is worth underlining here as an example of the way the Administrative Court deals with age assessments in the light of the guidance given by the Supreme Court in A v Croydon.

KN was the victim of sexual abuse in her home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo and she was later smuggled to the UK, where the abuse … Read the full post

Posted in Community care and Uncategorized.

Mental Capacity Act and Tenancy: An open question

By NL on 06/10/2011. 12 Comments

I have had a question from the editor of the Small Places blog, which is a very fine blog on human rights and community care, with attention to Court of Protection matters. I think it is a question which might benefit from the assembled housing law mavens who read NL from time to time.

The question concerns the position of someone lacking capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 1985 when an independent tenancy is sought. There is conflicting guidance and threatening case law to deal with.

The starting point is that someone lacking capacity cannot enter into a binding contractual agreement, including a tenancy.

The frequent advice of local authorities … Read the full post

Posted in Assured Shorthold tenancy, Community care, FLW article and Housing law - All.

‘Not otherwise available’

By NL on 14/08/2011. 3 Comments

SL v Westminster City Council & Ors [2011] EWCA Civ 954

This is a significant judgment by the Court of Appeal on the ambit of s.21(1)(a) National Assistance Act 1948. It addresses the interrelation of ‘care and attention’ and the provision of accommodation. While the decision does not follow the Local Authorities’ demand that ‘care and attention’ must be such that it cannot be provided otherwise than by provision of accommodation, it does moderate, or limit, the division of asylum seekers (and failed asylum seekers) into the able bodied, for whom any assistance was only by NASS (now UKBA), and the infirm, who fell under s.21(1)(a).

The High Court judgment … Read the full post

Posted in Community care, FLW case note and Housing law - All. Tags: , .

Someone to watch over me

By NL on 12/05/2011. 1 Comment

R (Nassery) v London Borough of Brent [2011] EWCA Civ 539

This was the appeal of a judicial review of Brent’s decision on provision of care and accommodation under section 21 National Assistance Act 1948.

Mr N was an Iranian asylum seeker (granted indefinite leave to remain during the course of the case). He suffered from mental illness. In late 2008 he had applied for assistance under s.21. Although he had subsequently become eligible for housing assistance under Part 7 Housing Act 1996, he did not consider that the provision of accommodation alone under HA 1996 would be suitable, so no homeless application had been made and no decision as … Read the full post

Posted in Community care, FLW case note, Homeless and Housing law - All. Tags: , .

Only Connect

By NL on 08/05/2011. 14 Comments

TG, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Lambeth (Shelter Intervening) [2011] EWCA Civ 526

The disconnection between Local Authority Social Services and housing departments has been a frequent topic here and in the courts, not least in the House of Lords decisions in R (G) v Southwark LBC [2009] UKHL 26 and R (M) v Hammersmith and Fulham LBC [2008] UKHL 14. There has also been plenty of Government guidance on the issue, both statutory and non-statutory: the 1999 “Working Together to Safeguard Children”; the 2000 “Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families”; the Homeless Code of Guidance in various versions; the 2008 … Read the full post

Posted in Community care, FLW case note, Homeless and Housing law - All. Tags: , , .

My place, not yours

By NL on 02/05/2011. 0 Comments

R (MK & Anor) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2011) CA (Civ Div) 14/4/2011 [Not on bailii, only a case note on lawtel].

Sorry to be late getting to this one, I was hoping that a full transcript would become available. It hasn’t so I’m relying on a Lawtel note of the judgment.

Briefly, this was an appeal from a judicial review of the Home Secretary’s decision to refuse to provide support such as food vouchers to MK under s.4 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 powers. MK was a failed asylum seeker. He had begun living with a British national with whom he had a relationship. On … Read the full post

Posted in Community care, FLW case note and Housing law - All. Tags: , .
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