Children

In the period between age assessment and the determination by the Upper Tribunal of a challenge to the correctness of that assessment, it should be the original assessing authority against whom interim relief was granted. Parliament could not have intended a simple geographical test to be applied. It would mean that an applicant dissatisfied with his age assessment by the original authority (or with the standard of accommodation and support supplied by them under s 20 of the Children Act 1989) could simply travel to another authority and demand to be reassessed, or provided with better accommodation. It would also encourage “dumping” of applicants by one authority on another.