DHSC, 'Statutory guidance: DHSC's position on the determination of ordinary residence disputes pending the outcome of the Worcestershire case' (updated 21/4/21)

Ordinary residence and s117 The Secretary of State has lodged an application for leave to appeal the R (Worcestershire County Council v SSHSC [2021] EWHC 682 (Admin) decision, and will continue not to decide disputes on matters which raise similar issues until the courts have made their final decision. His position is set out in the summary of the earlier DHSC, 'Statutory guidance: DHSC's position on the determination of ordinary residence disputes pending the outcome of the Worcestershire case' (24/6/20). Superseded by DHSC, 'Statutory guidance: DHSC's position on the determination of ordinary residence disputes pending the outcome of the Worcestershire case' (updated 27/8/21).

Amendments

Two paragraphs in the old document have been changed. First of all, the first paragraph:

Pending the outcome in the case of R (Worcestershire County Council) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Swindon Borough Council (‘the Worcestershire case’), this note sets out the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC’s) position in regard to the determination of questions of ordinary residence for the purposes of section 117(3) of the Mental Health Act 1983 that have been referred to the Secretary of State under section 40 of the Care Act 2014.
+
On 22 March 2021, judgment was handed down in favour of Worcestershire County Council in the case of R (Worcestershire County Council) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Swindon Borough Council (‘the Worcestershire case’). The Secretary of State has lodged an application for leave to appeal in the Court of Appeal, and we are waiting to hear whether this has been granted.

Ordinary residence disputes raising similar issues to those in the Worcestershire case will be stayed until we have final clarification as to the correct approach to ordinary residence for the purposes of section 117(3) of the Mental Health Act 1983.

This note sets out the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC’s) position in regard to the determination of questions of ordinary residence for the purposes of section 117(3) of the Mental Health Act 1983 that have been referred to the Secretary of State under section 40 of the Care Act 2014.


And, similarly, a paragraph in the middle:

Pending the outcome of the Worcestershire case, DHSC proposes to stay the determination of new ordinary residence disputes which concern section 117(3) of the Mental Health Act 1983 and raise issues similar to those which are to be considered by the court in the Worcestershire case.
+
DHSC therefore considers it to be in the interests of good administration, certainty and consistency to decide disputes on matters which raise similar issues to the Worcestershire case once it has final clarification as to the correct approach to ordinary residence for the purposes of section 117(3) of the Mental Health Act 1983.