9.78R v Lambeth LBC ex p A1 and A2 (1997–8) 1 CCLR 336, CA
Where physical resources are not available to discharge a duty to meet needs, the local authorities may have to make a sincere and determined effort to secure them
Facts: Lambeth had undertaken a number of assessments under various enactments; they were all flawed to a greater or lesser extent but the fact remained that Lambeth was aware and accepted that this family were in dire need of urgent rehousing because of adult care and children’s welfare issues.
Judgment: The Court of Appeal (Hirst and Robert Walker LJJ, Harman) held that Owen J had been right to refuse relief, notwithstanding legal flaws in the assessments, because the heart of the matter was not Lambeth’s failure to assess the problem but its failure to solve it:
As I have said, what this court has to do is determine the appeal from Owen J. There are nine grounds of appeal in the notice of appeal against the rejection of Mrs A’s application. The first is that the judge was wrong to defer questions under the Children Act, the 1970 Act and the 1995 Act until the issue of rehousing is resolved. Miss Maxwell has urged on us that comprehensive assessments were needed. She has said that only comprehensive assessments can meet the answer. I have to say that I do not accept that at all. There have been numerous assessments in this case, to some but not all of which I have referred. It may be that some are better than others. It may be that some do not explicitly state under what statute or statutes they have been made, but judicial review is a discretionary remedy. The judge exercised his discretion properly and, if I may say so, with eminent good sense, when he said that ‘What this lad needs and what his parents need is a new home.’ Everyone knows the problem. What is needed is a sincere and determined resumption of the search for a solution.
The second ground of appeal is connected with the first. It seems to me that any correction of a lack of formal assessment in the past would simply be a bit of tidy minded putting the files in order and would not assist the resolution of the real problem.
Comment: notwithstanding the more pragmatically focussed language, this decision appears consistent with Rixon: when a need is identified, but physical resources are not immediately available to meet it, the local authority must make ‘a sincere and determined’ effort to find a solution.