South West council to appeal High Court care home fees ruling

A South West council is to appeal part of a High Court ruling that quashed its proposed fees for providing care services.

In December 2014 His Honour Judge Lambert upheld a challenge by an association of independent care home operators.

The claimants sought a judicial review of Torbay Council’s decision on 5 February 2014 setting a ‘usual cost’ figure in respect of the costs of care.

The High Court judge agreed with the claimants that the local authority’s economic modelling had been flawed, with the presence of an inexplicable weighting.

HHJ Lambert also found that the council had failed to provide any justification for departing from the plain wording of government guidance.

In a statement, a Torbay Council spokesman said: “We have carefully considered the judgment into care home fees and submitted an application to appeal an element of the decision.

“We recognise that this on-going process means that there is continuing uncertainty for the market and we have asked the court to bring this to as swift a conclusion as possible.”

Which part of the judge’s ruling is being appealed has not been confirmed.