Teenager fights to save care home

A 17-year-old boy is challenging Essex County Council's decision to close a children's home in the High Court
12 April 2012

A teenager who has had 15 different foster parents since being taken into care at the age of five is battling in the High Court to halt the closure of a children's home.

A judge was told that 17-year-old "B", who cannot be named for legal reasons, has written to the Prime Minister in his attempt to stop Essex County Council shutting the home where he has made good progress over the past four years.

Asking the court to quash the closure decision, Ian Wise QC described the anger and distress felt by B, who has emotional and learning difficulties and was removed from his alcoholic father and a mother unable to care for him.

The teenager said in a written statement to the court: "There is nowhere else that I want to go as moving... would be losing my whole life and my family".

The case of B, brought through the National Youth Advocacy Service, is being regarded as a test of the legality of the council's decision to close a total of seven children's care homes. When the decision was made in June, 29 children were in the homes.

The court was told several children were already being moved, but others, like B, had launched applications for judicial review.

The Conservative-led council denies acting unlawfully and says its aim is to improve services to children as well as save money.

At the time the closure decisions were made, Sarah Candy, cabinet member for Essex children's services, said finances were not the driving factor for the move and it had been a "child-led" decision.

It was about "improving the purchasing of residential care placements to best meet the individual needs of children and young people in Essex and ensure they have the best possible future outcomes". The closures are expected to save the council more than £1m per year.

Mr Wise argued the council, as local social services authority, had failed in its legal obligation to consult B properly about his future, and the closure decision infringed his right to protection for his private and family life under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in