Legal Updates

The House of Lords held by a majority of three to two that a local social services authority was not under a duty to provide residential accommodation for families so that children could be housed with their parents in circumstances which met the children’s needs.

The House of Lords ruled on 23 October 2003 in R(G) v Barnet London Borough Council, R v (W) and R(A) v Lambeth Council.

The claimants had argued that local authorities owed a duty under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 to each individual child in need to provide that child with residential accommodation to enable the child to live with the parent, if an assessment of the child’s needs showed that was required to meet the needs.

The lords held that the section provided for a general duty and the provision of accommodation was only one of the services which might be provided in the performance of that duty. But that was not the primary purpose of the legislation. It was the responsibility of the housing authority. To read the section differently could have the effect of turning the social services department into another kind of housing department.

The conclusion is that, although the authority may provide residential accommodation for children in need to live with their parents, it has no duty to do so, and neither the child nor the parents can claim this as a right.

Richard White

White and Sherwin Solicitors