12th August brought a judgement in the judicial review of the lawfulness of Worcester Council’s consultation on its Maximum Expenditure Policy: the judicial review failed.
The full text of Mr Justice Hickinbottom’s jusdgement is available here . It will no doubt provoke comment from many observers and interested parties in coming weeks.
Two commentators were quick to publish their observations:
Lucy Series at The Small Places : “Those of you worrying about Worcestershire County Council’s Maximum Expenditure Policy, which sought to cap the value that would be spent on a package of care at the cost of a residential care placement, will be disappointed to learn that a judicial review of the lawfulness of the consultation process for adopting this policy, has failed. This is disappointing for the claimant, who was motivated by concern that her son (who she said needed 24 hour support) would be left with residential care as the only viable support option, for others in Worcesteshire with similar concerns, and for those concerned that other local authorities may now be motivated to adopt a similar policy. I have a thousand things to do this week so I can’t spend as much time blogging about this as I would like to, but I just wanted to observe a couple of things about the judgment…”
Mithran Samuel in Community Care online : “A council is set to introduce a policy that critics warn will force disabled adults into residential care, after a legal challenge against it failed. Following a judicial review, the High Court rejected the challenge to Worcestershire Council’s “maximum expenditure policy”, which would set a limit on the amount the council will spend on supporting a disabled adult in the community equivalent to the cost of meeting their eligible needs in a care home. The case was brought on behalf of D, a 17-year-old man with a moderate learning disability and epilepsy, whose mother feared that he would be forced into residential care as a result of the policy.” Samuel reported the reaction of D’s legal representatives, Irwin Mitchell LLP: “It is now over to the council to prove that this policy will not in practice have the impact that we fear it will have. We will be watching carefully over the coming months as to how the Council is implementing this policy to ensure that their assurances given during the course of this case are adhered to.”