A recent landmark court of appeal ruling against Sutton Council, which involved a girl respresented by the Howard League for Penal Reform, will mean it is more difficult for councils to designate 16 and 17 year old young offenders leaving custody as homeless rather than treating them as looked after children and subsequently care leavers. Some social workers I have met say this potentially has large implications for councils as care leavers receive a much higher level of service which comes at a much higher cost and that many local authorities are rattled. Has anyone else heard of councils being concerned by the case?

 If it means potentially spending more money, I can imagine that local authorities are very concerned

They are. Some are also choosing to settle out of court on similar cases due to the potential legal costs.

 Good - they should scrimp and save on other areas which have an impact on the majority of people, such as roads and rubbish, and then people might start to complain about the level of local government funding

Agreed. It is easy to forget that only a very low per centage of the population actually use social services and therefore cuts to its funding carry attract low levels of attention.