Facts: MM was a 15-year-old boy who had autism and who lived with his mother in a two-bedroom maisonette on the upper floor of a block of flats. He sought a judicial review of Hounslow’s assessment that he and his mother continued to require 12.5 hours of support a week.

Judgment: Deputy High Court Judge Sir Brian Keith held that (1) the assessment was rational in all the circumstances, including that the social worker had agreed with SENDIST that MM should attend a special school during the day, had reasonable grounds for concluding that MM’s mother had somewhat exaggerated his behavioural difficulties, had arranged some provision of specialised short breaks and had made a referral to a challenging behaviour team; (2) it had also been rational not to assess MM as needing alternative accommodation, given that MM only used a wheelchair occasionally and that the flat had been made safe for his occupation and, in any event, it would not have been unlawful to decline to meet such an assessed need on the basis of R (G) v Barnet LBC;1[2003] UKHL 57, (2003) 6 CCLR 500.(3) Hounslow’s eligibility criteria were rational; (4) given that MM had mounted a challenge to the assessment, it had been reasonable for Hounslow to defer completion of a care plan until conclusion of the proceedings.