Local authorities

Parliament could not have intended to create an obligation of assessment in relation to a very wide class of cases of future provision of services, since doing so would create a serious risk of scarce resources available to local authorities for community care being wasted through assessments being carried out for no ultimate good purpose.

In interpreting the intended ambit of the class of cases of future provision covered by s 47(1) of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990, it was necessary to bear in mind that the relevant condition set out in the opening part of the provision was expressed in the present tense, so it was reasonable to suppose that Parliament intended the relevant extension to cover future cases on pragmatic grounds to be narrow. The future cases intended to be covered were those which were closely analogous to those where there was a (possible) present need for provision of community