Government to progress stayed ordinary residence disputes after Supreme Court judgment

The Department of the Health and Social Care (DHSC) has set out its position on the determination of ordinary residence disputes in light of the outcome of a recent landmark Supreme Court ruling.

In August the Supreme Court allowed an appeal brought by Worcestershire County Council over findings by the Court of Appeal that the local authority, rather than Swindon Borough Council, had a duty to provide after-care services to a service-user who had been detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.

The Supreme Court concluded that following the service user’s second discharge, Swindon, and not Worcestershire, had a duty to provide her after-care services.

The case of R (on the application of Worcestershire County Council) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2023] UKSC 31 turned on the issue of where the service-user, ‘JG’, had been "ordinarily resident…immediately before being detained" for the purposes of s.117(3)(a) of the 1983 Act.

In its updated position statement, the DSHC said: “In light of the judgment, ordinary residence disputes that raise similar issues to those in the Worcestershire case, and that had previously been stayed, will now be progressed.

“As we have several stayed cases to work through, we ask for your patience as we make determinations on these in a reasonable time considering all the relevant circumstances. We will be working through previously stayed cases in the order in which they were stayed.

“If in light of the judgment in the Worcestershire case, you feel that a determination on a stayed case is no longer needed, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as soon as possible.

“We will continue to accept new referrals in line with the Care and Support (Disputes between Local Authorities) Regulations 2014/2829 while we work through previously stayed cases.”