Freely Available British and Irish Public Legal Information
[Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Multidatabase Search] [Help] [Feedback]
England and Wales Court of Protection Decisions
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Protection Decisions >> CCC v KS [2013] EWCOP B42 (24 January 2013)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCOP/2013/B42.html
Cite as: [2013] EWCOP B42
[New search] [Printable RTF version] [Help]
IN THE COURT OF PROTECTION
Case No: 11798115
Thursday, 24th January 2013
Before:
THE HONOURABLE MRS JUSTICE HOGG DBE
B E T W E E N:
CCC
and
KS
Transcript from a recording by Ubiqus
61 Southwark Street, London SE1 0HL
Tel: 020 7269 0370
MR B MCGUIRE QC and MRS ARMSTRONG appeared on behalf of the Applicants
MR CHISHOLM appeared on behalf of KS through the Official Solicitor
MISS HOWELL appeared on behalf of K’s father
K’s stepmother appeared in person
JUDGMENT
(Approved)
MRS JUSTICE HOGG:
1. I have before me two matters which I have to consider in relation to a young man, I shall call him by his first name, K, who was born on 3 August 1992, and he is now 20½. He is a vulnerable young man and has in effect always been vulnerable because he it is thought had a traumatic head injury, the reality is he suffers from severe learning disabilities.
2. The matter concerning K has been before this court on a number of occasions and the court first was involved in January 2010. In August 2010, he moved to his current accommodation at BS. Since then he has a commenced a three-year course at the CCollege to enable him to acquire life skills and to maximise his potential in that respect.
3. The issue I now have to decide is whether, during the next 18 months, he should remain at the residential establishment in BS where he is settled and happy or whether he should be moved on to another unit, a tenancy supported unit at FC as recommended by the local authority, for the next 18 months. I say for the next 18 months because it is very much anticipated that he will be offered the third year of this course in September of this year, which will bring him up to July 2012 when he would be leaving college. I say that it is anticipated that he will opt for the third year of the course because he is doing well and developing well at the college and all parties before me are keen that he should be enabled to attend the college for one more academic year as he is doing well.
4. At that point, it is accepted that it is the optimum time, if he were to leave BS, in order to move closer to his family who live in the county of P in a town called N. It also is anticipated that he would have to move from BS at that time. It is desirable, in my view, that he should be moved if at all possible closer to his family.
5. I have heard evidence that contact takes place now weekly, fortnightly in the area of CCC, fortnightly in P and it is something that is of great benefit to K. The independent social worker, Mr R said greater contact and ease of contact and more natural meetings with his family would enrich his life. I have no difficulty in accepting that evidence. Currently the family lives between two and two and a half hours away from K, so when there is prospect of him being able to move nearer to the family that prospect should be put into being and I am very keen that it should happen.
6. I also have to decide whether he should remain in BS for the next 18 months or move to FC. The Official Solicitor acting on behalf of K is of the view that K should be allowed to remain in BS. The family, his father and stepmother who acts in person, both support the proposition that he should remain in BS for the next 18 months while he concludes his education.
7. The local authority, P, is neutral on that subject. CCC, who currently are responsible for K would like him to move to FC and maintain that he is now ready to move, that it would be beneficial to him. It is said he would have his own front door, there may well be more money available for him to be able to use, and that it would give him greater choices and independence.
8. FC is a unit which has been developed for vulnerable young adults, up to the age of 25, so it is somewhere that he would fit in age-wise. It would not be a permanent long-term solution for him in any event because he would have to move on when was about 25. It is urged that he would have greater independence and choices available to him. It is a unit for six vulnerable adults; there would be considerable support from the staff. He would be offered a larger bedroom than he has now, a bedroom where he could retreat to if he wished to withdraw from the communal parts.
9. He would not have his own bathroom nor his own cooking facilities. It is a bedroom, or potentially a bedsit, into which a television of his own and other possessions could be put. I am told by Mr R that he is a sociable young man and enjoys meeting other young adults; he enjoys being out and about. At present he has his own bedroom where he can retreat if he wishes to withdraw. He may be able to be provided with a television, it matters not, but he has his freedom to withdraw into his bedroom as of now.
10. Mr R did see that there would be any particular benefit in that respect if he went to FC. Mr R did not know what extra money would be available to him if he went to FC, as the financial situation had not been disclosed to him. In any event, there would have to be somebody acting on his behalf in a financial sense, because K cannot manage his own finances.
11. His rent would be paid by somebody, his bills would be paid by somebody and there is considerable communal living in FC. He would not have his own cooking facilities and the food would be provided for him by the institution. There would be considerable support provided by the staff, he is not somebody who could easily go out shopping or walking the streets of the town, he needs a lot of support which he receives currently from BS and which he would need in FC.
12. Currently he has an active life. He goes to his college three days a week where he is doing well and that would continue if he were at FC. He enjoys football, he rides horses, and there are other activities which, if planned, will continue in FC, but they say he would have more choices.
13. However, this is a young man who has severe learning disabilities and, to a very great extent, lacks understanding. He may be troubled, bewildered is the word used by the Official Solicitor, at being moved. He would not understand the difference of him living in a residential unit and in a tenancy-based unit; he would not be involved with the finances because he cannot understand.
14. Against FC is the proposition he should continue to live at BS, he has been there now for two and a half years, he is settled there. It is an institution for young vulnerable adults, between the ages of about 20 or 22. He himself is 20, he would be allowed to remain there until July 2014 when he would be approaching 22. He is settled there, he is content there, he knows the staff, he knows the routines. He knows the environment and it is fair to say that the other residents, some of whom will move on in the next 18 months, one of whom may well go to FC himself, but K is settled and above all the staff know him. They know him well and they are helping him to develop his life skills which everyone wants him to maximise, and they are able to work with what he is learning at the college.
15. Mr R did not see any particular benefits in him moving to FC. There is a risk that FC, if he were to move there, would become a regressive step. K finds change difficult, he would have to acclimatise to the new environment, the new staff and it may not be a success. Whatever is planned for the immediate 18 months, there is a plan to move him in July 2014. If he moved to FC that would include a second move in a relatively short time for a young man who does find change difficult.
16. The family would like him to stay at BS and his stepmother, very eloquently, said, ‘It works. Contact works. He is happy and settled there. We want K to be happy’. Mr R says that the staff there are able to help him, that he is doing well and there is a doubt in the minds of Mr R and his family that he is not ready to move on. The risk being that if he is not ready to move on, the move to FC would in fact be detrimental to him and that in itself with a planned move in July 2014, may make life more difficult for him.
17. I have to ask myself, what is in his best interests? I also have to consider whether the move to FC would be more or less restrictive and balance the two. I am not convinced that FC is the right move at this stage. I am not convinced that it is actually less restrictive. This is a young man who needs a lot of support which he is getting and which is enabling him to develop. I think his best interests are very clear, that he should for the time being until he concludes his education at the city college, remain at BS. From there, there will need to be a planned move to the next establishment.
18. I use the word establishment quite deliberately. There is the possibility in the future that he could move to a tenancy-based supporting housing option or to some form of residential accommodation. He cannot live wholly independently; he will never be in that position. He will always need considerable support. The move that needs to be planned, in my view, is a move closer to his family. Currently they are living in P and his stepmother has assured me that that is their intention to remain there for all sorts of very good domestic reasons. On that basis one will be looking for a move into P but not perhaps to southern P but to an area within P near N. I am not familiar with the transport facilities in P or indeed with its geography.
19. I am certain that contact should be facilitated between the family and K, and that two to two and a half hours’ travel each way should be reduced. It is proposed that there should be some statement or declaration by the court that I should say that it is in his best interests that he should move to live as close as possible to the family in July 2014. I have no difficulty in stating that.
20. In January 2011, there was a declaration by myself, a fourth declaration:
‘Upon the basis that his father remains in N in the county of P, and subject to all appropriate assessments being carried out, it is in K’s best interests to move to a permanent tenancy-based supported housing option in P.’
Has anything changed? No, is the answer, he should move as close as is possible to the family in P. It may be, and I have heard from the service manager at P, that currently, everyone accepts there is no suitable accommodation in P for K. However, careful planning could ensure that there was suitable accommodation, either in P or in a neighbouring county, which may have to be brought in by July 2014. There have been difficulties between CCC and P as to planning in the past; I do not wish to go into that.
21. The delay in moving him to P in fact may be beneficial to K. He is at C College, he is settled, he is developing but we need now a plan, a very clear plan, as to what the next move will be and that was the message from the Service Manager of P who said, ‘I need time, I need to plan something’. It may not be within P it may be nearby but it needs to be planned clearly and carefully and those who do the planning need to be very clear what the plan should be.
22. It has been urged on me that I should not make a declaration as to what is in his best interests until 18 months’ time. I disagree, I think those who are going to plan for K need to know what this court thinks and it needs to be put on a very simple, clear basis, and what I think is in K’s best interests. A draft has been prepared by counsel for the Official Solicitor which indicates that there should be a declaration that, ‘It is in K’s best interests to live as close as possible to the family’. I agree with that. It goes on, ‘..whether in P or in an adjacent county in July 2014, upon completion of the current college course at C College’
23. I agree that the move should take place in July 2014, when he concludes his course. I think it should be stated loud and clear that it should be in P or an adjacent county. It gives an option to both the local authorities involved to consider what is available in P or elsewhere. I think that it needs to be made very clear. I will make that declaration as drafted.
24. I refer back of course to my original declaration, my fourth declaration, of two years ago, when it was said that he needed to move to a permanent tenancy-based supported housing option. I do not resile from that but I think it is appropriate to enlarge upon that. Again, there is a draft declaration that:
‘It is in his best interests to move to a permanent tenancy-based supported housing option in P or nearby, or to move to residential accommodation in P, or nearby.’
That enlarges and gives more options to the local authorities involved. It goes on:
‘And for that accommodation, of whichever model has been provided by CCC or P, depending upon their agreement or in default of agreement the determination of the Secretary of State for Health as to his ordinary residence.’
It enables further consideration as to who is responsible because of difficulty between the local authorities. I need to make that declaration. It widens the options for type of accommodation for K and it gives a clear lead and steer to those who are to plan for him to consider what is best. I am going to make those declarations as drafted.
25. There are two other draft declarations sought which deal with the interim measures we have discussed. I have already stated he should remain at BS. I have stated he is having weekly contact with his family, whether it be in the area of CCC or elsewhere. It has been drafted that in the interim, pending his move in July 2014, it is in his best interests to remain in accommodation provided by CCC at BS and to be provided with care at BS and to attend C College. None of this is in dispute.
26. And I have decided he is to reside at BS, where he remains in the area of CCC and to attend C College until July 2014. I have no difficulty defining where he should live that he should be cared for by CCC. I am going to make that declaration as drafted.
27. The fourth declaration,
‘Pending his move to P or adjacent county it is in his best interests to have contact with his family at times arranged between the family and CCC at a frequency of weekly for a maximum duration of six hours in each contact.’
There had been previously an order relating to contact. It is going well, and everyone accepts it is going well. It is the right and proper thing that I should declare, that this is in his best interests.
28. There were a number of recitals to the draft order, none of which is in dispute except for the fourth and fifth recitals when they has been reference to, ‘no further delay,’ or, ‘any further delay.’ I am very content with those recitals but omit the word ‘further’. ‘There will be no delay in planning for K’s move,’ and, ‘The local authorities do agree to liaise in relation to his care plan so as to avoid any delay.’ I do not want the word ‘further’ in recitals.
29. Finally, the sixth recital. P has stated in court that they will ensure there will be no gap.
30. Having dealt with that, the order itself is very short, and again is not challenged as drafted. The two local authorities shall supply to K’s solicitors copies of all care plans, commissioning documents and correspondence passing through them and any other local authority which may be invited to contract for services to K created after the date of this order. I see no difficulty in making that order.
31. There is no order for costs, save for detailed public funding assessments for costs, the publicly founded parties. I make that order. Although there is no provision for further hearings, there is always a liberty to apply to any party if there is a difficulty.
32. I am hoping very much that having made these declarations and having made decisions as to where he will live, the parties can now resolve the difficulties and plan carefully for a move in July 2014 which would be acceptable to all. If there are difficulties I accept the matter will have to come back, but I am hoping very much that this matter can now be resolved finally and by close liaison with the authorities and family for the benefit of this very vulnerable young man.
----------------------------------------