The judge found that there is no legal obligation for the
council to financially support UK passport holders when they arrive
at Gatwick airport unless an assessment finds they are unable to
work.
He threw out the Diego Garcians’s case and their application
for judicial review finding that the council had acted correctly in
dealing with the islanders on an individual basis and by not
providing support to them as a group.
The 45 Diego Garcians arrived earlier this month. A further 45 are expected to arrive next week and a further 3,000 are waiting in the wings to come over.
The High Court had previously ordered the council to provide support and accommodation to about 100 people from the Indian Ocean island who had already come to the UK. The council was forced to spend £500,000 of its social services budget doing so.
The islanders hold British passports, which they were given in the 1970s after their island was taken over for military use and the inhabitants moved to Mauritius, but can only claim state benefits once they have been in the UK for six months meaning the local authority had to take responsibility for their care.
A council spokesperson said that this group was now eligible for benefits so the judgment would not affect them but that the council would continue to try to get reimbursed for their care by the government.
Background information
Special report:-
News articles
Darling to make child poverty his priority
12 March 2008
News round up: Darling to make child poverty his priority
12 March 2008
John Hutton announces bill to scrap Child Support Agency
06 June 2007
Cornwall agrees pioneering county-wide legal aid network
13 March 2007
Youth Justice and the Youth Justice Board
26 August 2008
Substance misuse
15 August 2008
Details of government consultations
21 August 2008
Private Member Bills
25 July 2008
Government Legislation
25 July 2008
