14.26R (Davis) v West Sussex CC [2012] EWHC 2152 (Admin)
A complaint about the way a local authority investigated abuse allegations involved contractual provisions but was sufficiently public to permit judicial review, in that the allegations would have been investigated irrespective of the existence of the contract
Facts: West Sussex investigated abuse allegations at Mr and Mrs Davis’ care home and subsequently terminated their contract with Mr and Mrs Davis on the basis of their findings. However, West Sussex only gave Mr and Mrs Davis a copy of its 22-page investigation report two days before the case conference and then held a second case conference, in the absence of Mr and Mrs Davis, to consider shortcomings in the first case conference.
Judgment: Deputy High Court Judge Mackie held that the issues in the case were not fundamentally contractual, in that West Sussex would have investigated the abuse allegations under its statutory powers even if it had not contracted with Mr and Mrs Davis, that judicial review was appropriate and that Mr and Mrs Davis’ rights to procedural fairness had been violated.