![]() |
[Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Multidatabase Search] [Help] [Feedback] [DONATE] | |||||||||
England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) Decisions |
||||||||||
PLEASE SUPPORT BAILII & FREE ACCESS TO LAW
To maintain its current level of service, BAILII urgently needs the support of its users.
Since you use the site, please consider making a donation to celebrate BAILII's 25 years of providing free access to law. No contribution is too small. If every visitor this month gives just £5, it will have a significant impact on BAILII's ability to continue providing this vital service.
Thank you for your support! | ||||||||||
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) Decisions >> OA & Ors, R (On the Application Of) v London Borough of Bexley [2020] EWHC 1107 (Admin) (07 May 2020) URL: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2020/1107.html Cite as: [2020] WLR(D) 294, [2020] PTSR 1654, [2020] EWHC 1107 (Admin) |
[New search] [Printable PDF version] [Buy ICLR report: [2020] PTSR 1654] [View ICLR summary: [2020] WLR(D) 294] [Help]
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
B e f o r e :
BETWEEN :
____________________
THE QUEEN On the application of (1) OA (2) OPL (by his mother and litigation friend OA) (3) OLL |
Claimants |
|
- and – |
||
LONDON BOROUGH OF BEXLEY |
Defendant |
____________________
SIÂN DAVIES (instructed by London Borough of Bexley Legal Services) for the Defendant
Hearing date: 28 April 2020
____________________
Crown Copyright ©
MR SAM GRODZINSKI QC:
Introduction
i) Ground 1 was that the Defendant had not undertaken proper inquiries into the suffiency of the food which could be purchased on the monthly allowance, to enable it to arrive at a rational conclusion that additional financial support was unnecessary. In particular, detailed criticisms were made about the thoroughness of the Defendant social workers' investigations into whether C2 was having to skip meals, eat small portions and/or otherwise regularly go hungry, in particular towards the end of each month when most of the allowance had been spent by C1.
ii) Ground 2 was that the Defendant had misdirected itself as to the proper interpretation of s.17 of the 1989 Act, in concluding that its duties under that provision did not extend to providing support which could take into account the position of C3.
iii) Ground 3 was that there had been an unlawful failure to consider whether providing additional support to C3 would safeguard or promote the welfare of C2; and avoid a breach of Convention (i.e. ECHR) rights. It particular, it was alleged that the Defendant had failed to undertake adequate inquiries as to the role that C3 played in relation to his brother.
Factual and procedural background
"[C2] said he does not have breakfast generally but if he does he would have bread and jam and a cup of tea. He is able to have this before school if he wants. This will be part of the weekly shopping items.
Lunch -he said he likes to eat a wrap for lunch. The social worker informed that she will ask the school if they can provide free lunches".
"[C3] appears to be a positive influence on him; [C2] shared that he helps him with his school work.
[C1] is [C2's] main (single) carer and there are no safeguarding concerns identified in the course of this and previous assessment…
There is no indication of [C3] having any caring responsibilities towards [C2]. There has not been an opportunity to closely observe the siblings relationship; [C2] commented (as reported in the first assessment) that [C3] helps him with his homework. Apart from the first visit to the family on 23rd August when [C3] was spoken to, he has subsequently not being seen during the other home visits completed by the Social worker. Understandably, this may be because he attends college in Richmond and possibly returns home late. It is therefore unlikely that [C3] has caring responsibilities for [C2], whilst bearing in mind that [C1] is a full time mother who is unable to work as a result of her immigration restrictions.
…
Following [C1's] insistence that the subsistence amount paid to her family was not sufficient to meet their needs, a decision was taken by the local authority to complete a financial assessment with [C1] in order to assess her use of the monthly amount paid to her. The plan was for the social worker to complete a brief assessment to consider a breakdown of the family's spending whilst a comprehensive assessment would be completed by the Citizen's Advice Bureau. For this purpose, an appointment was arranged for [C1] for 5th December. However [C1] missed this appointment when she arrived later than the time slot given to her. A replacement appointment has been offered her at 9.30am on the 14th January 2020.
The social worker completed the assessment with [C1] on 20th November during which she carefully went through the itemised list provided by [C1]. The decision following the assessment, which was communicated to [C1] by mail on the 26th November, was that the monthly subsistence amount payable to the family remains unchanged. However, the decision was taken to provide her with additional £80 to purchase a winter coat, hat, gloves and school bag for [C2]. The amount, which was agreed on a discretionary basis has already been credited to [C1's] account. [C1] was further informed in the mail that the monthly subsistence of £307.56 is the amount awarded for the family's essential living costs, whilst an additional monthly amount of £80.00 was agreed to cover their Gas & Utility costs. [C1] was also advised that if she required any advice on budgeting (how to reduce her current monthly costs), she should let the department know so that further support can be obtained for her within Bexley's Family Support services. As at date, she has not indicated a wish to take up the offer."
"5….I have made checks and am satisfied that each time that I have visited the family home there has been sufficient food in the fridge, freezer and/or the cupboards. I have also visited the home at different times in the month, so it is not the case that I only see what food the family have available at the beginning of the month.
6. I have discussed this with [C2] and he has repeatedly said to me that he does not generally have breakfast before going to school. I did not understand him to be saying that he does not eat because there is nothing for him to eat, but that he just does not eat breakfast. However, his statements and those of the other Claimants assert that it is because they do not have any food, so I have made further inquiry, and when the freezer and cupboards have been checked there has been food available.
7. During my visits there is almost always a big pot of African stew on the hob or in containers in the fridge, which would last several days for three people. Sometimes this is eaten on its own or with rice or yams or other vegetables. This is a very healthy meal.
8. I have observed lots of frozen food and meals in the freezer each time I visit: see, for example, file notes dated 7 January 2020 and 18 February 2020. I am aware that [C2] has said that he will eat the stew at around 4pm and then if he is hungry he will get a steak bake or something similar from the freezer to eat.
9. I have offered [C1] support with balancing her budget to meet the needs of the family throughout the month, by referral to CAB. A further offer of support was made on 18 February 2020 but [C1] refused this.
10. In addition to the support that Bexley provides for the family, we arranged for [C2] to receive free school meals when he is at school. I am of the view that his needs, in terms of adequate nutrition, are being met. I realise that the food he has may not be exactly what he would want, and that the family has a limited food budget, but I am satisfied that there is sufficient food in the home. I have asked [C2] about food at regular intervals as well as checking the kitchen.
…
15. Bexley is aware that the amount that it provides as subsistence to the family is intended to be sufficient for two people. However, it is provided to support [C2] and his mother and I have not seen evidence to suggest that [C2] is going hungry or does not have enough food or that his welfare is being undermined in any way. His welfare if anything has improved since Bexley began supporting, as he is settled at school (having switched some of his courses) and the file records indicate that he has made friends since September (he initially did not go out after school but more recently reported that he was meeting friends in Woolwich).
…
17. I have spoken to both [C2] and [C3] during my various visits to the family home to establish the role that [C3] plays within the family. My understanding is that there is a good sibling relationship which in my experience is typical of the relationship between a child and adult sibling. My opinion is that [C3] is not acting in any safeguarding role and does not in any way other than the normal incidents of family life promote [C2's] welfare. He is not essential to meeting [C2's] welfare. [C2's]s care needs are met by his primary care giver who is his mother. I have considered the witness statement filed in these proceedings and I note that there is no father within the home. I note that it is said that [C3] assumes this role. I note also that mother does not work and does not have any health issues that would impact on her ability to safeguard [C2] or to promote his welfare. She is a full time carer for her child, who is himself a healthy neuro-typical 16 year old. I take into account that [C2] has now made friends at school and is likely to derive some emotional support from his friends.
18. I have taken into account the practical and emotional support that is provided to [C2] by his brother. He is said to assist with homework. During my involvement with the family I have made inquiries of [C2's] school and they confirm that [sic] is achieving at expected levels and has no need for additional support. Some household support is to be expected of any family member - I do not see that this promotes [C2's] welfare as other household members are capable of performing cooking and cleaning tasks. In my professional experience a healthy 16 year old should be capable of such tasks himself. I take into account the emotional support [C2] receives from his brother. Clearly sibling support is beneficial, however I have no concerns as to mother's ability to meet her son's emotional needs. I am aware that the family has been known to other statutory bodies prior to their move to Bexley and none have expressed concerns about mother's ability to meet [C2's] emotional needs. When I have been in contact with his school they have confirmed that he is not identified by them as having needs in this area."
Legal Framework
"(1) It shall be the general duty of every local authority (in addition to the other duties imposed on them by this Part)—
(a) to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need; and
(b) so far as is consistent with that duty, to promote the upbringing of such children by their families, by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children's needs.
(2) For the purpose principally of facilitating the discharge of their general duty under this section, every local authority shall have the specific duties and powers set out in Part 1 of Schedule 2.
(3) Any service provided by an authority in the exercise of functions conferred on them by this section may be provided for the family of a particular child in need or for any member of his family, if it is provided with a view to safeguarding or promoting the child's welfare.
(4) …
(6) The services provided by a local authority in the exercise of functions conferred on them by this section may include providing accommodation and giving assistance in kind or in cash.
(7) Assistance may be unconditional or subject to conditions as to the repayment of the assistance or of its value (in whole or in part).
(8) Before giving any assistance or imposing any conditions, a local authority shall have regard to the means of the child concerned and of each of his parents.
(9) No person shall be liable to make any repayment of assistance or of its value at any time when he is in receipt [ of universal credit (except in such circumstances as may be prescribed), of income support under Part VII of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, of any element of child tax credit other than the family element, of working tax credit, of an income-based jobseeker's allowance or of an income-related employment and support allowance.
(10) For the purposes of this Part a child shall be taken to be in need if—
(a) he is unlikely to achieve or maintain, or to have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision for him of services by a local authority under this Part;
(b) his health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision for him of such services; or
(c) he is disabled…"
"Every local authority shall take such steps as are reasonably practicable, where any child within their area who is in need and whom they are not looking after is living apart from his family—
(a) to enable him to live with his family; or
(b) to promote contact between him and his family,
if, in their opinion, it is necessary to do so in order to safeguard or promote his welfare"
"91 I think that the correct analysis of section 17(1) is that it sets out duties of a general character which are intended to be for the benefit of children in need in the local social services authority's area in general. The other duties and the specific duties which then follow must be performed in each individual case by reference to the general duties which section 17(1) sets out. What the subsection does is to set out the duties owed to a section of the public in general by which the authority must be guided in the performance of those other duties: see R v Barnet London Borough Council, Ex p B [1994] ELR 357."
"18. The inter-relationship between these provisions and s 17 of the Children Act 1989 is not straightforward. As a matter of construction, however, and as analysed in R (M) v Islington LBC [2004] EWCA Civ 235, [2004] 4 All ER 709, [2005] 1 WLR 884, the effect of Sch 3 of the 2002 Act as it applies in the present case appears to me to be as follows:
(1) The Claimants and their parents are all in the United Kingdom in breach of immigration laws (and are not asylum-seekers). Paragraph 1 of Sch 3 therefore applies so as to make them all prima facie ineligible for support or assistance under s 17 (see para 7).
(2) However, as the Claimants are children, para 1 does not prevent the provision of support or assistance to them (see para 2(1)(b)).
(3) Nevertheless, para 1 does indirectly have this effect so long as the Claimants are living with their parents, because it prevents powers under s 17 from being exercised so as to provide support or assistance to the Claimants' parents (see para 1(2) and R(M) v Islington LBC at paras 17 – 19).
(4) All this is subject to para 3, which allows a power under s 17 to be exercised if and to the extent that its exercise is necessary for the purpose of avoiding a breach of the Convention rights of any member of the Claimants' family.
19. The upshot is that, even if the Claimants are children "in need" for the purpose of s 17 of the 1989 Act, Hackney may only provide accommodation or other support to them and their parents as a family in the exercise of its powers under s 17 if and to the extent that to do so is necessary for the purpose of avoiding a breach of Convention rights."
"68. In my judgment, section 17(3) was not intended by Parliament to allow a local authority's children's services department to bypass a clear statutory scheme intended to exclude a Claimant such as this from a whole range of benefits including accommodation and cash support.
69. Section 17 (1) gives a clear indication of the purposes for which the powers in that part of the Children Act should be exercised. To utilise the section 17 (3) power either to house the claimant separately or even to accommodate her by granting her a licence to live at the flat in which her aunt and her cousins are housed would, in my judgment, be using the power for a collateral and improper purpose. I agree that to use the section in this way would be ultra vires the authority.
70. Alternatively, if the section 17 (3) power may be exercised in this way, the defendant's decision not to accommodate the claimant because that accommodation is not necessary to promote or safeguard the welfare of the two cousins is, I judge, a reasonable one having regard to the wide discretion the authority has under section 17 (1) to provide a range and level of services appropriate to those children's needs.
71. Mr Rutledge is quite right, in my judgment when he submits, looking not only at the most recent review by Ms Briggs, but at the 2 earlier core assessments, that Basit and Abdulkhalid have been found by the Defendant to be "children in need" simply because of their lack of accommodation, their other needs being wholly adequately met by their mother Mrs. Akinwunmi. Having assessed that it was not necessary to continue to accommodate the Claimant with Mrs Akinwunmi and the 2 boys in order to promote or safeguard the children's welfare, it is entirely rational for the Defendant to determine not to accommodate the Claimant under its section 17 (3) power. As Lady Hale said in R(A) v London Borough of Croydon [2009] 1 WLR 2557 at paragraph 26:
"... where the issue is not, what order should the court make, but what service should the local authority provided, it is entirely reasonable to assume that Parliament intended such evaluative questions to be determined by the public authority, subject to the control of the courts on the ordinary principles of judicial review. Within the limits of fair process and "Wednesbury reasonableness" there are no clear-cut right or wrong answers."
72. I have earlier in my judgment analysed Ms Briggs' review. I do not accept the criticisms made of it and it seems to me impossible to say that its conclusions are Wednesbury unreasonable. In any substantive sense the beneficiary of the use of the section 17(3) power would be the Claimant and not the children."
"6. That duty [under s.17(1)] does not impose an obligation upon a local authority to provide anything particular for any child. However, by virtue of section 17(3) Children Act 1989, a local authority has a wide discretion to provide a service for a particular child in need or any member of his family "if it is provided with a view to safeguarding or promoting the child's welfare". Such services may include accommodation or the giving of assistance in kind or in cash: section 17(6) Children Act 1989.
7. A child whose parents are homeless and/or unable to support her is a child in need for the purposes of section 17 Children Act 1989, as explained by the court in R(Giwa) v London Borough of Lewisham [2015] EWHC 1934 (Admin) para [11].
8. Many applications for support under section 17 Children Act 1989 arise in cases where the reason a child's parent is homeless or unable to support her child because she herself is a person with no recourse to public funds (known as "NRPF") as a result of her immigration status.
9. That situation arises because schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 provides that persons specified in paragraph 7 of that Schedule are not eligible for a range of benefits, including support or assistance under section 17 Children Act 1989 (Schedule 3 para 1(1)).
10. In this case, the Claimant's mother PO is a person specified in paragraph 7 of the Schedule because she is here in breach of the immigration laws and is not an asylum seeker.
11. That is not the end of the matter though, because paragraph 2(1)(b) of the Schedule to the NIAA 2002 provides that the exclusion in paragraph 1 does not prevent the provision of support or assistance to a child. Further, paragraph 3 of the Schedule provides that the paragraph 1 exclusion does not prevent the exercise of a power or performance of a duty if and to the extent that its purpose or performance is necessary for the purpose of avoiding a breach of the person's Convention rights.
12. In short, a local authority has power to provide services under section 17 to a child even if the child lacks immigration status; but it can only provide services to the child and her parent together (i.e. as a family) if and to the extent that failure to do so would breach the Convention rights of either the child or her mother: see R(MN) v London Borough of Hackney [2013] EWHC 1205 (Admin) at [19].
13. If a child, especially a young child, is here with a parent, and the family unit cannot be sent anywhere else, it will often constitute a breach of the child's rights to respect for her private and family life not to accommodate her with her family. If the local authority must assume that the family cannot be removed from the jurisdiction consistently with its human rights (as to which see paragraph 39 below), then the effect of section 17 Children Act 1989 and duties not to breach Convention rights by reference to section 6 Human Rights Act 1998, read together with paragraphs 2 and 3 of schedule 3 of the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, is consequently often to render the section 17 power to accommodate – in effect – a duty imposed on the local authority to act as provider of last resort in cases where a child and his or her family would otherwise be homeless or destitute.
14. That means that the threshold duty of enquiring whether the child of the family is a child 'in need' acquires a particular significance. The determination that the child is in need triggers powers which will come close to duties to make basic provision in cases where no other state support is available, and where therefore, in the absence of any private support, the consequence is destitution.
15. The duty of a local authority pursuant to paragraph 1 of schedule 2 to the Children Act 1989 is to take 'reasonable steps to identify' whether a child is in need. What those steps are is a matter for the local authority, subject to complying with public law requirements. Statutory guidance as to child in need assessments is set out in "Working Together to Safeguard Children", dated March 2015 [now dated July 2018], and departure from that guidance as to assessment without reasonable explanation would be a public law failing. However, that is not the suggestion in this case.
16. The duty to make reasonable enquiry is a duty to make those enquires which are either suggested by the applicant or which no reasonable authority could fail to undertake in the circumstances.
17. Whether or not a child is 'in need' for these purposes is a question for the judgement and discretion of the local authority, and appropriate respect should be given to the judgements of social workers, who have a difficult job. In the current climate, they are making difficult decisions in financially straitened circumstances, against a background of ever greater competing demands on their ever diminishing financial resources. So where reports set out social workers' conclusions on questions of judgement of this kind, they should be construed in a practical way, with the aim of seeking to discover their true meaning (see per Lord Dyson in McDonald v Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea [2011] UKSC 33 at [53]). The way they articulate those judgements should be judged as those of social care experts, and not of lawyers. Nonetheless, the decisions social workers make in such cases are of huge importance to the lives of the vulnerable children with whose interests they are concerned. So it behoves courts to satisfy themselves that there has been sufficiently diligent enquiry before those conclusions are reached, and that if they are based on rejection of the credibility of an applicant, some basis other than 'feel' has been articulated for why that is so.
…
39. At the time when PO first presented to Lambeth seeking support under the Children Act 1989, she said she had a pending application for leave to remain in the UK. The significance of that was that, in keeping with the decision of the Court of Appeal in Clue v Birmingham CC [2010] EWCA Civ 460, save in obviously hopeless or abusive cases, the local authority was not permitted to prejudge the outcome of that application. The first NRPF assessment was therefore limited to assessing the question of whether the family needed support to remain in the UK. That was also the case for the second NRPF assessment, at which Lambeth had no up to date information about the content of the immigration application. It was only once the local authority knew that there were no live immigration claims, which it established from information obtained from the Home Office after this application for judicial review was lodged, that the local authority was also permitted to consider whether the child's needs could be met and any breach of human rights avoided by assisting the family to return to its country of origin: see R(Kimani) v London Borough of Lambeth [2003] EWCA Civ 1150, [2004] 1 WLR 272."
"12. It is settled law that the section 17 scheme does not create a specific or mandatory duty owed to an individual child. It is a target duty which creates a discretion in a local authority to make a decision to meet an individual child's assessed need. The decision may be influenced by factors other than the individual child's welfare and may include the resources of the local authority, other provision that has been made for the child and the needs of other children (see, for example R (G) v Barnet London Borough Council [2003] UKHL 57, [2004] 2 AC 208 at [113] and [118]). Accordingly, although the adequacy of an assessment or the lawfulness of a decision may be the subject of a challenge to the exercise of a local authority's functions under section 17, it is not for the court to substitute its judgment for that of the local authority on the questions whether a child is in need and, if so, what that child's needs are, nor can the court dictate how the assessment is to be undertaken. Instead, the court should focus on the question whether the information gathered by a local authority is adequate for the purpose of performing the statutory duty i.e. whether the local authority can demonstrate that due regard has been had to the dimensions of a child's best interests for the purposes of section 17 CA 1989 in the context of the duty in section 11 Children Act 2004 to have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. It is perhaps helpful to examine that question in a little more detail.
13. Where a person has no right of recourse to public funds (i.e. the person is ineligible as a matter of law to have recourse to public funds or to the payment of sums under the Immigration and Act 1999 ['IAA 1999'] see, for example section 54 and schedule 3 to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 ['NIAA 2002'] and paragraph 6 of the Immigration Rules), that person remains eligible to receive support from a local authority in the exercise of its powers under section 17 CA 1989. That is because, by paragraphs 2 and 3 of Schedule 3 NIAA 2002, there is an exception to the ineligibility of persons who are prohibited from being provided with mainstream housing and welfare benefits where the ineligible person is a child or the provision of section 17 support is necessary for the purpose of avoiding a breach of a person's Convention rights (see, for example: R (M) v Islington London Borough Council [2004] EWCA Civ 235, [2005] 1 WLR 884 at [18] to [19] per Buxton LJ). The local authority is, however, prohibited from providing accommodation or assistance for such a family pursuant to the Housing Act 1996 ['HA 1996'].
15. Accordingly, although in this case the local authority provided accommodation and financial support, it did so under section 17 CA 1989 and not as a consequence of any other statutory scheme. In so doing, the local authority was not required to have regard to guidance issued under another statutory scheme, for example the Homelessness Code of Guidance issued under section 182 HA 1996. That said, the overarching obligation imposed on local authorities in England (and their specified partner agencies) by section 11 CA 2004 is to "make arrangements for ensuring that – (a) their functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children; and (b) any services provided by another person pursuant to arrangements made by the person or body in the discharge of their functions are provided having regard to that need." That overarching obligation casts the evidential net rather wide so that a decision based on an assessment undertaken for the purposes of section 17 CA 1989 should identify how the local authority has had regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children both individually (i.e. the subject children as regards the claim) and collectively: see, for example Nzolameso v Westminster City Council [2015] UKSC 22, [2015] PTSR 549 at [24] to [27] per Baroness Hale of Richmond DPSC.
16. The Secretary of State has issued guidance to local authorities in accordance with section 7 of the Local Authority and Social Services Act 1970 about assessments of need for the purposes of section 17 CA 1989. That guidance is to be followed save in exceptional circumstances (following the principle explained by Sedley J in R v Islington London Borough Council ex p Rixon [1996] EWHC 399 (Admin), [1997] 1 CCLR 119 at 123J-K that a local authority has liberty to deviate from the Secretary of State's guidance only on admissible grounds for good reason but without the freedom to take a substantially different course). The relevant guidance was originally to be found in Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families, TSO, 2000, and from 15 April 2013 is to be found in Working Together to Safeguard Children, DfE, March 2015. In simple terms, an assessment of the needs of a relevant child is to be undertaken so as to satisfy the three domains and 20 dimensions which the common assessment framework is designed to address. There is no longer a prescribed form of assessment but it remains the case that for an assessment to be lawful, it must be compliant with the guidance having regard to the Rixon principle: R (AB and SB) v Nottingham City Council (2001) 4 CCLR 295 per Richards J at [41] and [43]. For example, in accordance with the guidance, local authorities are required to publish a local protocol for their assessments and a threshold document which describes the criteria for referral for assessment."
"52. Research has shown that taking a systematic approach to enquiries using a conceptual model is the best way to deliver a comprehensive assessment for all children. An example of such a model is set out in the diagram on the next page. It investigates three domains:
• the child's developmental needs, including whether they are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm
• the capacity of parents or carers (resident and non-resident) and any other adults living in the household to respond to those needs
• the impact and influence of wider family and any other adults living in the household as well as community and environmental circumstances"
Discussion
Relevant principles concerning s.17 of the 1989 Act
Application in this case
"17. Whether or not a child is 'in need' for these purposes is a question for the judgement and discretion of the local authority, and appropriate respect should be given to the judgements of social workers, who have a difficult job. In the current climate, they are making difficult decisions in financially straitened circumstances, against a background of ever greater competing demands on their ever diminishing financial resources. So where reports set out social workers' conclusions on questions of judgement of this kind, they should be construed in a practical way, with the aim of seeking to discover their true meaning (see per Lord Dyson in McDonald v Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea [2011] UKSC 33 at [53]). The way they articulate those judgements should be judged as those of social care experts, and not of lawyers. Nonetheless, the decisions social workers make in such cases are of huge importance to the lives of the vulnerable children with whose interests they are concerned. So it behoves courts to satisfy themselves that there has been sufficiently diligent enquiry before those conclusions are reached, and that if they are based on rejection of the credibility of an applicant, some basis other than 'feel' has been articulated for why that is so"
"I accept Mr Suterwalla's submission that the decision under review in this case is such as to require close scrutiny. However, such close scrutiny should not focus on particular words used by a social worker in conducting his or her analysis but on the substance of the assessment and the reasons given."
Conclusion