The geographical limits of local authority duties

Table of contents

• Original news
• What was the background to this case?
• What were the two issues for the court to consider?
• What did the court decide?
• What did the court conclude in relation to Kent's attempt to rely on their own failures to accommodate JG, leaving the parents to take their own action to protect their other children, in defending the decision not to provide education for him?
• This case involved multidisciplinary issues within the council, what went wrong and what lessons can be taken from this case?

Article summary

Local Government analysis: The case of JG and another v Kent County Council demonstrates the problems that can arise with multi-disciplinary cases. Chris Buttler and Sarah Hannett, barristers at Matrix Chambers, who represented the parents and the child respectively in this case, consider the decision and the local authority’s argument that their duties to a child fell away when he moved outside their area.