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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Latest Updates

Garden Court Chambers | Sunday 17 February 2013

Update on Care Home Fees

Introduction Notwithstanding the well-known budgetary pressures affecting most adult care authorities, care home owners have enjoyed a run of successful judicial reviews of care home fee-setting decisions. This talk provides an overview of that success (and schedules the relevant cases below), questions how long it is likely to continue and considers how local authorities can […]

Garden Court Chambers | Friday 1 February 2013

2013 01 Migrants

R(Daha Essa) v Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber and anr[2012] EWCA Civ 1547 (Maurice Kay, V-P, Touslon LJ, Aikens LJ): E was an EU citizen who the Secretary of State had decided to deport following his conviction for criminal offences. The First-tier Tribunal dismissed his appeal and permission to appeal was refused by that […]

Garden Court Chambers | Friday 1 February 2013

2013 01 Housing

Ibrahim v Wandsworth LBC [2013] EWCA Civ 20 (Mummery LJ, Etherton LJ, Sir Stephen Sedley): this case dealt with the approach which the courts should adopt to “a plainly deficient homelessness decision” in circumstances where the deficiency has had no adverse consequences for the applicant. Ms Ibrahim was evicted from her privately rented accommodation at […]

Garden Court Chambers | Friday 1 February 2013

2013 01 Welfare Benefits

Legal Aid and First-tier Tribunals On 8 January 2013, responding to a question in the House of Lords, the government confirmed that it will not provide legal aid for welfare benefit cases in First-tier Tribunals. Responding to a question in the House of Lords yesterday about what plans the government has following the House of […]

Garden Court Chambers | Friday 1 February 2013

2013 01 Mental Health

AC v Partnerships in Care Ltd [2012] UKUT 450 (AAC) (Judge Jacobs): The Appellant appealed against a FTT's rejection of his application for a notification under section 74 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (“MHA”) that, if he was subject to a section 37/41 MHA hospital order and restriction rather than a section 47/49 transfer […]

Garden Court Chambers | Friday 1 February 2013

2013 01 Incapacity

R (Cornwell Council) v Secretary of State for Health and Wiltshire Council, South Gloucestershire Council and Somerset County Council [2012] EWHC 3739 (Admin), Beatson J: PH was a young man with significant learning and physical disabilities. He did not have the capacity to decide for himself where his “ordinary residence” was. The local authorities had […]

Garden Court Chambers | Friday 1 February 2013

2013 01 Children

R (KA) v Essex CC [2013] EWHC 43 Admin (Mr Robin Purchas QC): the local authority was required to continue to support a destitute Nigerian family, under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, because although their applications for LTR in the UK had been refused (without there being a right of appeal), they had […]

Garden Court Chambers | Friday 1 February 2013

2013 01 Education

In the matter of an Application by A (a minor) by His Mother and Next Friend for Judicial Review [2012] NIQB 106 (Treacy J): This case raises the issue of whether a young person who is difficult to engage in education can be placed on a reduced timetable and left the choice of whether or […]

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