A family living with autism is fighting a council’s decision to strip back social care under the UK government’s emergency coronavirus law.
Law firm Rook Irwin Sweeney is acting for an autistic adult and the person’s family.
Lawyer Alex Rook has urged Derbyshire County Council to reconsider its decision to cut care under the Coronavirus Act
They are fighting a Derbyshire County Council decision to cut care.
‘Easements’ allow social care cuts
Under the Emergency Coronavirus Act, councils have to provide care to stop the breaching of people’s human rights.
But the councils are able to step back from their usual duties by using Coronavirus Act “easements”.
However, lawyer Alex Rook said government guidance says councils can only use the easements under certain circumstances.
One of these conditions is if the workforce is “significantly depleted”. Another condition is if social care demand has increased to the point where “it is no longer reasonably practicable” for a council to comply with its duties.
A further condition is if attempting to comply would be “likely to result in urgent or acute needs not being met, potentially risking life”.
Threshold is ‘very high’
Rook added the threshold was “very high”. It was “entirely unclear”, he said, why Derbyshire believed it had met the threshold.
The lawyer believes the council has failed to follow guidance that it must keep a record of its decision and the evidence used to reach it.
He has urged Derbyshire to reconsider and confirm within a week that it will not operate under the easements.
Barrister Steve Broach is advising the law firm. He tweeted that the action was the first challenge to a council’s decision to trigger the easements.
Arrangements ‘agreed with everyone affected’
Autism Eye spoke to Derbyshire County Council. It said it had suspended, reduced or changed “some non-essential homecare services” for those “people who have support of family and friends”.
The spokesperson said the arrangements had been“agreed with everyone affected”. Furthermore, they would be “reviewed regularly”.
Related:
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- Families fight virus clampdown
- We can’t get food we need, say parents
- Councils ‘free to abandon disabled’
- Coronavirus may decimate services
Published: 6 May 2020
