R v Devon County Council, ex parte Baker
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 21 December 1993 |
| Date | 21 December 1993 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
Court of Appeal
Before Lord Justice Dillon, Lord Justice Farquharson and Lord Justice Simon Brown
Local authority - retirement homes closure - no duty to consult residents
In determining whether to close any of its residential homes for old people, a county council was not obliged to consult, through its officers, with each individual resident.
In the context of an admitted duty to act fairly in making the decision to close, the residents (i) should have known that the closure of a home was under consideration well before the actual decision to close was made, (ii) should have had a reasonable time to put forward any objections to closure, and (iii) their objections should be considered by the particular council.
The Court of Appeal so held in a reserved judgment (i) dismissing the appeal of Helen Mary Baker and Nellie Edith Johns from the dismissal by Mr Justice Popplewell (The Times October 20, 1992) of their application for judicial review of the decision of Devon County Council on October 24, 1991, to close Tory Brook and to phase out Ingleside residential homes, but (ii) allowing the appeal of Elizabeth Jane Broxson and Mabel Curtis against the judge's decision dismissing their application for judicial review against the decision of Durham County Council on January 15, 1992, to close Ridgway House residential home.
Mr Anthony Bradley and Miss Sile McGuckian for the appellants; Mr John Samuels, QC and Mr Roger McCarthy for Devon County Council; Mr Anthony Porten, QC and Mr David Blake for Durham County Council.
LORD JUSTICE DILLON said that the particular residential homes were established by the councils under section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948, but it was not in doubt that any council had power, in appropriate circumstances, to close such a home.
Mr Bradley contended in essence that each council owed a duty in law to consult the permanent residents of a home over any proposed closure of that home and not merely over what was to happen to the residents after the home was closed; in the Devon case he said that specific promises of consultation had been given by letters by the chairman of the council's social services committee.
His Lordship considered the evidence in that case and found that in respect of the Ingleside home rumours of possible closure arose as early...
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