R (on the application of Cornwall Council) v Secretary of State for Health and others [2014] EWCA Civ 12 (Elias, Lewison, Floyd LJJ): for the purposes of the duty to provide residential accommodation under section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948, a severely handicapped person was ‘ordinarily resident’ in the place which could properly be described as the centre or focus of their social and family environment, which would not necessarily be the place where their parents lived. Click here for the judgment.
R (Walford) v Worcestershire CC [2014] EWHC 234 Admin (Supperstone J): the word ‘home’ in paragraph 2(1)(b) of Schedule 4 to the National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1992 had to be read as ‘only or main home’ and ‘home’ was a place to which a person had a degree of physical and emotional attachment. However, the local authority had to re-assess whether a relevant person occupied premises owned by the resident, for the purposes of the means-testing disregard, if such a person went into occupation after the resident into residential accommodation (it is understood that the local authority is applying to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal this aspect of the decision). Click here for the judgment.
