A family residential assessment was considered. A residential hospital assessment was recommended, but the authority proposed a less expensive local assessment. The parents sought an order under section 38(6) for the recommended assessment. The judge thought the recommended option preferable, but ordered the local assessment out of considerations of cost.
Held: The parents’ appeal was allowed. Cost was only one factor, though an important one. A local authority making a proposal based on cost must provide cogent evidence, and might include consideration of the alternatives, including shared funding. The family’s human rights had been engaged, and the judge had been wrong to go ahead on untested written evidence.
Citations:
[2002] 1 FLR 545
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Children, Human Rights
Updated: 06 June 2022; Ref: scu.228158