2011 02 Adult Care

R (Hertfordshire CC) v Hammersmith & Fulham LBC [2011] EWCA Civ 77 (Carnwath, Rimer, Sullivan LJJ): the authorities responsible for providing after-care services under section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983 were the authorities for the area where the patient had been resident before his detention. Actual residence was what counted. The deeming provisions in section 24 of the National Assistance Act 1948, whereby the patient was deemed not to reside in the area of his placement, for the purposes of the 1948 Act, were irrelevant. Thus a patient accommodated in the area of local authority A, under section 21 of the 1948 Act, by local authority B, remained the responsibility of local authority A for 1948 Act purposes, but became the responsibility of local authority B, should he or she require after-care services under section 117 of the 1983 Act. Click here for the transcript.