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15 December 2023 / Nicholas Dobson
Issue: 8053 / Categories: Features , Local government
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Mental health aftercare—which authority pays?

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Nicholas Dobson expertly dissects the allocation of financial responsibility for aftercare in a recent case
  • Covers R (Worcestershire County Council) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
  • The duty under s 117(2) of the Mental Health Act to provide aftercare services automatically ceases if and when the person concerned is detained under s 3 (or another provision specified in s 117(1)).
  • The words ‘ordinarily resident in’ in s 117(3)(a) must be given their usual meaning.

Back in the 1950s two strange little fellows with bizarre voices were all the rage on children’s TV. For Bill and Ben were the Flower Pot Men, who not only lived in two adjacent flower pots (with a friendly weed in the middle) but were also made of flower pots. One of the chaps would frequently cause a mishap, prompting a soprano narrator to sing: ‘Was it Bill or was it Ben; which of those two Flower Pot Men?’

This ditty recently came to mind in the much more serious context of

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Switalskis—Sally Ann Masih, Suzy Overton & Jane Beaumont

Switalskis—Sally Ann Masih, Suzy Overton & Jane Beaumont

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Ward Hadaway—Steven Hayward

Birmingham law firm appoints construction partner

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Flint Bishop accelerates Northern growth through strategic senior appointments

NEWS
A High Court decision has clarified that a home may be unfit for human habitation not only where conditions endanger health or safety, but also where they seriously undermine comfort and convenience

A longer time limit for employment tribunal claims, new charity law thresholds, property tribunal recruitment and appellate guidance on small-claims costs feature in the latest Civil Way round-up

A recent High Court ruling could make issue estoppel considerably more complex in cross-border litigation, requiring parties to consider the foreign law governing the underlying claim
The Supreme Court has overturned Cheshire West’s bright-line test for deprivation of liberty, replacing it with a broader, more contextual assessment that gives greater weight to an individual’s wishes, feelings and apparent consent
Jonathan Fisher KC’s wide-ranging fraud report contains worthwhile proposals, but turning them into workable reform will require money, capacity and political will
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