R (LH and MH) v London Borough of Lambeth - the provision of services for disabled children [2007] CFLQ 496

This case involved a parent who looked to the social services arm of her local authority to fund a place at a residential school for her severely disabled son, having failed to persuade the authority.s education department to do so. Social services refused to fund the place and the parent successfully claimed judicial review in the High Court of that decision. However, although the funding refusal was quashed because of flaws in the decision making process, the High Court stressed that it was not for it to decide whether or not the placement should be funded. The decision illustrates how the applicable legal framework renders the provision of services for disabled children particularly vulnerable to local funding shortages; especially in the case of residential care services.