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Councils taking Government
to High Court over funding of assessments for vulnerable adults
LIVERPOOL City Council, Nottinghamshire
County Council, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and Shropshire
Council are taking the Government to the High Court in a bid to secure
additional funding for the cost of carrying out social care assessments for
vulnerable adults.
The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) assessment ensures that decisions
made on behalf of people who lack mental capacity are being made in their best
interests and do not inappropriately restrict their freedom.
The safeguards apply to people living in Residential Care or Nursing Care Homes,
and to those who are in Hospital. Local Authorities have to decide whether any
requests for changes to care are appropriate, and review the DoLS authorisation
at least once a year.
A Supreme Court judgement in 2014; known as the Cheshire West judgement; has
led to many more people needing to be assessed as it widened the definition of
the term to a larger group of adults.
It also highlighted that people who lack capacity regarding their care, but are
deprived of their liberty, even if they do not resist it, have to have lawful
authority from the DoLS scheme or from the Court of Protection.
A recent Law Commission impact assessment estimated that nationally around £400
million is needed to fund DoLS properly, but the Government has, to date, only
provided a grant of £35 million shared amongst all local authorities.
Now the 4 local authorities have launched a Judicial Review calling for the
judgement to be treated as a:- 'new burden' and fully funded by the
Government.
Speaking on behalf of Liverpool City Council, Councillor Paul Brant, Cabinet
member for adult social care and health, said:- "Ensuring that the care
provided is safe, unrestrictive and provided with dignity is absolutely critical
to the health and wellbeing of people with a complex range of needs, their
families and carers.
Councils need to have the capacity, time and money to ensure the rights and
needs of people are protected and this additional financial burden has to be
seen in the context of a 58% cut in Liverpool's budget since 2010. This
action is very much as last resort which we have been forced to take because
Government has failed to heed our pleas for additional resources."
Samih Kalakeche, Liverpool City Council's Director of Adult Social Care and
Health, added:- "We fear that, without sufficient funding, we will be
failing some of the most vulnerable members of our communities."
Lee Chapman, Shropshire Council's Cabinet member for adults, added:- "In
the 2 years since the Supreme Court decision in Cheshire West, we have seen
the number of requests for applications for Deprivation of Liberty
Authorisations increase from approximately 160 to 1,400. That, allied to other
significant consequences of the Judgement, and the failure of the Government to
provide adequate funding, has left Shropshire Council and other Councils with
Adult Social Care responsibilities in an impossible position, such that we have
been left with no alternative but to commence these proceedings."
The claim for judicial review has been issued by the High Court and was served
on the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, and also the Secretary of
State for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clarke, on Monday, 6 June 2016. The
Government's response to the claim is currently awaited. |
