Council's social care cuts unlawful, judge rules.

[LeftishBrit]

Disability charities have warned local authorities against excessive cuts to care services after a high court judge ruled that one council had acted unlawfully in restricting eligibility criteria.

Mrs Justice Lang said on Friday that plans by Isle of Wight council to cut its adult social care budget – so that assistance would go only to people deemed at critical risk – should be quashed. The council said it would abide by the decision and would not appeal.

Previously, the council had allocated care assistance to adults assessed to be at critical or substantial risk, the top two levels of a four-tier system. But in February the authority, facing a £33m funding gap after central government cuts, voted to restrict this to those at critical risk. The council argued that the high percentage of retired people on the Isle of Wight made it particularly vulnerable to social care costs. It had hoped to save a combined £2.5m by changing the eligibility criteria and increasing the fees paid by some recipients.

However, the change was challenged by lawyers representing two severely disabled men, named as JM and NT, both of whom have autism and various degrees of learning disabilities and require care...

More at link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/nov/11/social-care-cuts-unlawful