High Court hears challenge to local authority adult care cuts

The High Court in Manchester is this week hearing a legal challenge brought by two elderly women against Lancashire County Council over planned cuts to its social care budget.

The claimants, represented by law firm Irwin Mitchell and supported by Disability Equality North West, argue that the local authority’s proposals are unlawful.

They believe that Lancashire’s decision-making process at the start of the year breached the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 because the council failed to taken into account what the impact on those affected would be.

The council, which needs to make £179m in savings over the next three years, is defending the claims.

The claimants are MB, a 73-year-old who sustained injuries after contracting polio when she was just 18 months old, and JG, a 65-year-old who suffers from ME. Both receive help with getting out of bed, having a bath or shower, going to the shops and other daily tasks.

In a statement issued prior to this week’s hearing, Irwin Mitchell lawyer Mathieu Culverhouse said: “These two claimants rely heavily on this care. Although it is accepted that councils are required to make significant cost savings, they should not be doing it in a way which ignores the legal rights of some of society’s most vulnerable individuals.

“In this judicial review our vulnerable clients seek a declaration that the council’s decision-making process in this area was unlawful. Although it will remain under pressure to cut costs, we want to force it back to the drawing board and ensure it looks at alternatives which do not impact so heavily on vulnerable groups.”