Mr Justice King has granted two local authorities permission to apply for a judicial review of the government’s inadequate funding of the Care Act 2014. He has also granted the Local Government Association permission to intervene in support.
The New Burdens Doctrine requires the Coalition Government to fund the net cost of new burdens on local authorities in order to reduce pressure on the Council Tax.
In this judicial review, the central contention is that the government has under-estimated the net cost of the new National Eligibility Criteria by at least £150M.
If the claim is ultimately successful, local authority adult care services departments will have increased budgets for front-line adult care services.
Media reports can be found via LocalGov, Community Care, the Local Government Chronicle and the Local Government Lawyer.
Stephen Knafler QC represents the local authority claimants, instructed by David Hollings of West Berkshire DC legal department. James Goudie QC represents the LGA.
