Judgment was handed down on 15th December 2015 in R ota National Association of Foster Providers v Bristol CC, Suffolk CC and Leeds CC (Local Government Association as interested party). Peter Oldham KC appeared for the successful Defendants and James Goudie KC for the LGA which supported the Defendants’ position. Section 22C of the Children Act 1989 says that local authorities, when choosing a foster placement for a child, have to find “the most appropriate placement”. NAFP contended that this meant that local authorities had to canvass all “potentially available” placements, whether in-house or independent, every time a placement was required. The authorities, supported by the LGA, argued that they were entitled to use their market knowledge in determining which providers to approach, and the uncontested evidence was that all or nearly all authorities acted in this way, rather than seeking tenders from the entire market as the NAFP suggested should happen. The authorities and LGA said that section 22C imposed no procedural requirement of the type contended for by the NAFP. The judge agreed and dismissed the claim, refusing permission to appeal.
Read the judgment here.
