First judicial review over 2014 Act duties to disabled children reaches court

A High Court judge will this week hear what is being billed as the first judicial review to consider local authorities’ duties to disabled children following reforms brought in under the new Children and Families Act.

The legal action is being brought by two disabled children: L, a 17 year old young man with severe learning difficulties and autism, and P, an 11-year-old girl who has been diagnosed with severe non-verbal autism and also has severe learning difficulties.

According to their law firm, Irwin Mitchell, the dispute dates back to an announcement by Warwickshire County Council in February 2013 that it planned to save £1.786m (approximately 35%) from its budget for children’s disability services.

The claimants argue that four separate consultations conducted by Warwickshire since then were unlawful.

Irwin Mitchell said they would be seeking a judicial review on the grounds that the council had “failed to properly consult over the proposed changes to disabled children’s social care because they are putting forwards plans that do not comply with the law”. 

The law firm added that a key concern of the families was that the council’s proposals would mean that disabled children would not automatically be entitled to a social care assessment of their needs to identify what services or help they require.

Instead, families would have to first prove that their child had “very complex needs” and unless they met this threshold, they would be denied access to certain types of services such as overnight respite.

Irwin Mitchell said provisions under the 2014 Act introduced on 1 September 2014 meant councils were now required to have a ‘Local Offer’ setting out in one place information on services across education, health and social care and from birth to 25; how to access specialist support; how decisions were made including eligibility criteria for accessing services where appropriate; and how to complain or appeal.

The claimants will argue that Warwickshire’s Local Offer is unlawful. Published for consultation, the document includes the council’s plans for reducing access to Short Breaks for disabled children. 

Polly Sweeney, an Associate Solicitor at Irwin Mitchell, said: “The Local Offer is an integral part of the changes introduced by the Government under the Children and Families Act in order to improve provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

“Its purpose is not only to provide clear information about the available provision and how to access it, but also to make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involving children and young people, and their parents in its development.”

She added: “It is therefore deeply concerning that not only does Warwickshire’s Local Offer consultation fail to provide essential information to families, but that it is being used to introduce cuts to disabled childrens services and restrict access to essential Short Breaks – the very opposite of its intended purpose.”

The case will be heard over two days (29-30 January) at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

The mother of P said: “We understand that councils across the country are facing financial pressures, however, Warwickshire has said that it is in a strong position to face these challenges – at the beginning of the current financial year they held reserves of £117m and have forecast an underspend in their budget this year of just over £7m.

“I therefore cannot accept that the savings that they are proposing to make to services for disabled children are ‘essential’ as we have been told and I believe that throughout this process, the council has failed to fairly consult with parents on this issue.”