Social Welfare Updates

Our social welfare pages provide bite-sized updates on recent case-law and policy, written by Garden Court barristers specialising in adult social care, children’s services, Court of Protection (health and welfare), housing and homelessness, and welfare benefits.

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Garden Court Chambers | Thursday 1 January 2015

2014 12 Housing

Lambeth LBC v Harry Loveridge [2014] UKSC 65 (Lord Neuberger, Lord Wilson, Lord Sumption, Lord Carnwath and Lord Toulson): an unlawful eviction case. On the true construction of s28 Housing Act 1988, where a Local Authority has unlawfully evicted a secure tenant from residential accommodation, in assessing the damages payable under s27 of the Act, […]

Garden Court Chambers | Thursday 1 January 2015

2014 12 Adult Care

Aster Healthcare Ltd v Estate of Mr Mohammed Shafi [2014] EWCA Civ 1350 (MR, Beatson and Briggs LJJ): on a proper construction of the placement agreement, it was arguable that the contract was between the care home and the LA, and that it was the LA, not the resident or his wife, who was responsible […]

Garden Court Chambers | Thursday 1 January 2015

2014 12 Incapacity

The Public Guardian v CT (1) and EY (2) [2014] EWCOP 51 (Senior Judge Lush): The court declined to order that the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) should pay the costs of an application brought by it under its safeguarding functions. CT suffered a stroke, following which the execution by him of a power […]

Garden Court Chambers | Monday 1 December 2014

2014 11 Children

R (GE) (Eritrea) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and Bedford Borough Council [2014] EWCA Civ 1490 (Davis, Clarke and Rix LLJs): The Court of Appeal overturned a decision of the lower court (Mr. Ockelton) that where an age disputed child had never been in the care of the local authority, there was […]

Garden Court Chambers | Monday 1 December 2014

2014 11 Education

R (ER) v Commissioner for Local Administration (Local Government Ombudsman) and London Borough of Hillingdon [2014] EWCA Civ 1407 (LLJ Moore-Bick, Aikens, Bean): The Local Government Ombudsman had no jurisdiction to investigate the consequences of a local authority's decision if the investigation itself was excluded by the Local Goverment Act 1974 section 26(6). The judicial […]

Garden Court Chambers | Monday 1 December 2014

2014 11 Mental Health

R (on the application of MD) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWHC 2249 (Admin) (Rhodri Price Lewis QC): On allowing the claim the court held that the detention by the Home Secretary of State of a foreign national suffering from a mental illness, was unlawful both at common law and under […]

Garden Court Chambers | Monday 1 December 2014

2014 11 Welfare Benefits

News Poverty and Social Exclusion report On 24 November 2014 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published the annual Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion report(click here), written by the New Policy Institute. The report tells how the UK’s economic recovery is affecting people in poverty. Key points from the report include: Household incomes fell in real terms […]

Garden Court Chambers | Monday 1 December 2014

2014 11 Housing

R (Jakimaviciute) v Hammersmith & Fulham LBC [2014] EWCA Civ 1438 (Richards, Tomlinson and Bean LJJ): whether power to exclude classes from an allocation scheme subject to the duty to give reasonable preference. Pursuant to the changes to the Housing Act 1996, Part 6, made by the Localism Act 2011, Hammersmith and Fulham LBC adopted […]

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