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Birmingham City Council care funding cuts unlawful | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
High Court judges have said Birmingham City Council acted unlawfully over a decision to reduce its care funding for disabled people. | |
The judgement has implications for all local authorities in England and Wales. | |
Thursday's ruling said local councils must abide by existing disability laws to eliminate discrimination. | |
It said councils must take account of people's disabilities, even where that involves treating disabled persons more favourably than others. | |
'Climate of cuts' | |
The judges acknowledged that placed "significant and onerous" obligations on local authorities, but said all public bodies had a duty to follow the disability discrimination law. | |
The families of four severely disabled people fought Birmingham council's spending cuts decision and took legal action against the authority, resulting in this ruling. | |
The judgement is still being made in London's High Court. | |
Birmingham City Council said it welcomed the greater clarity of its duties with regard to the Disability Discrimination Act. | |
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat run authority had proposed the cuts as part of a plan to save £212m. | |
In April the court made an interim judgement that the council had acted unlawfully and this latest ruling is the full judgement. | |
Deafblind charity Sense said the ruling should be a warning to all authorities. | Deafblind charity Sense said the ruling should be a warning to all authorities. |
Its head of legal services Kari Gerstheimer said other councils in England and Wales may be considering making similar cuts to social care. | Its head of legal services Kari Gerstheimer said other councils in England and Wales may be considering making similar cuts to social care. |
"We hope that this judgement sends a very strong message to those councils, that we are in a climate of cuts. | "We hope that this judgement sends a very strong message to those councils, that we are in a climate of cuts. |
"But even in a climate of cuts there are choices to be made and a civilised society does not choose to cut services to people with the greatest need - that's disabled people," he added. | "But even in a climate of cuts there are choices to be made and a civilised society does not choose to cut services to people with the greatest need - that's disabled people," he added. |
Unlawful plan | Unlawful plan |
The council said it had identified £118m worth of cuts by 2014-15 from its adult and communities directorate and needed to save £308m in total in the next four years due to the central government cuts outlined in the Spending Review. | |
It said only people whose needs were judged to be "critical" would qualify for council-funded care. | It said only people whose needs were judged to be "critical" would qualify for council-funded care. |
The judges said the plan was unlawful as it failed to comply with Section 49a of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (c. 13) which relates to a public authority's duties towards disabled people. | The judges said the plan was unlawful as it failed to comply with Section 49a of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (c. 13) which relates to a public authority's duties towards disabled people. |
The full ruling will be explained by the High Court judges later. | The full ruling will be explained by the High Court judges later. |
Do you currently receive social care? Are you likely to be affected by the High Court ruling due later? You can send us your experiences using the form below. | Do you currently receive social care? Are you likely to be affected by the High Court ruling due later? You can send us your experiences using the form below. |