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Community Care law update

06 March 2008 / Ed Mitchell
Issue: 7311 / Categories: Features , Public , Human rights , Community care
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Community care

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

More and more social services authorities are tightening their eligibility criteria for community care services. In December 2007, the High Court in R (on the application of Chavda and others) v Harrow London Borough Council [2007] EWHC 3064 (Admin), [2007] All ER (D) 337 (Dec), considered whether or not it was lawful for an authority to restrict eligibility to persons with a “critical” need for services under the Department of Health’s Fair Access to Care Services (FACS) guidance.

The court held that, in principle, it was lawful for an authority to restrict eligibility to those with critical needs. However, it also held that ’s decision to restrict eligibility was unlawful because it had failed, in taking that decision, to discharge its obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995). Section 49A of DDA 1995 required “in carrying out its functions to have regard to the need to…promote equality of opportunity between disabled persons and other persons”. The court held that had failed

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
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