Council and care home operators both claim High Court victory in fees battle

Devon County Council carried out a flawed consultation when setting fees for independent care homes for 2011/12, the High Court has found.

The claimants – a group of care home operators – said their decision to pursue a judicial review had been vindicated by Mr Justice Singh’s ruling.

Devon nevertheless claimed that the High Court judge had ruled in its favour, pointing to Mr Justice Singh's conclusion that the council had paid due regard to the cost of care when setting its fees and had considered the quality of care provided by the homes.

The council also stressed that the court had not asked it to conduct the consultation again.

Mr Justice Singh has ordered Devon to pay half of the care home operators’ legal costs.

Jennie Stephens, the Director responsible for social care at Devon County Council, welcomed the decision.

“This means that the fees we paid in 2011/12 were appropriate, that they took into account the quality of care that would be provided, and that we will not be required to revisit that decision,” she said.

Stephens said that prior to the hearing, Devon had already incorporated changes to its 2012/13 consultation process.

“It was because of this third issue that we are only required to meet 50% of the claimants’ costs,” she added.

“I hope that we and our partners in the independent sector can now move on, working together to bring about the best outcomes for people in Devon.”

The council said it had announced a 6.6% rise in fees for the independent care sector from April this year. It has also created a further £800,000 capital fund for operators to bid from as they seek to develop their businesses to provide more specialist care.

Cllr Stuart Barker, Cabinet Member responsible for adult social care in Devon, said: “Home owners, like everyone else are feeling the economic pinch. Over the last few years they have been asked to become more efficient and cut their costs as the public purse is squeezed.

“However, having consulted widely with home owners, we fully understand the pressures on the market and that is why we decided to substantially increase our fees for residential care over the coming year.”

The claimants were South West Care Homes, Southern Healtchare (Wessex), South West Residential Homes, Forde Park Care and Palm Court Nursing Home.

Alan Beale, spokesman for the group and managing director of South West Care Homes, said: "This is a formal and public vindication of our claim and it has helped to clarify the issues involved in this case."

Beale said the operators had to manage rising costs and the fact that Devon was seeing an ever-growing population of older people, many of whom had increasingly complex needs.

“Given that DCC froze the fees it paid for residents it placed in our care for two years in a row, it has been more and more difficult to maintain a high quality of care," he said.

The Devon case is the latest in a series of cases where care home operators have launched judicial review proceedings over the setting of care home fees.

In February this year Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council successfully defended a claim brought over its rates for 2011/12.

However, Pembrokeshire County Council, Sefton Council and Leicestershire County Council have all lost high-profile cases.