legal
capacity to make an application
R
-v- Oldham MBC ex parte Garlick [1993] AC 509; (1993) 25 HLR 319, HL
Applications were
made on behalf of four year old children for accommodation, after the
adults had been found intentionally homeless. The House of Lords held
that a child dependent
on an adult cannot make an application for
accommodation under the homelessness part of the Housing Act (in
England, Housing Act 1996 - in Scotland, Part II of the Housing
(Scotland) Act 1987). Parliament had intended dependent children to
be the subject of applications by their carer. (GLC
note:
Of course, the entitlement of a non-dependent child - someone aged
16 or over - to apply is not in doubt; see also the Children
(Scotland) Act 1995).
R
-v- Tower Hamlets LBC ex parte Begum [1993] AC 509; (1993) 25 HLR
319; [1993] All ER 65, HL
An adult with a
learning disability (aged 24) sought to make an application for
accommodation as a homeless applicant, after other adult members of
the family had been deemed intentionally homeless. This was rejected
by the council upon the basis the applicant could not understand what
an application for housing was. The House of Lords held that a
council owed no duties to an adult lacking mental capacity.
(GLC
note
- it may be that the introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 from 2
October 2000 will result in a challenge here - for example, is this
decision discriminatory in terms of the ECHR? If so, can it be justified?).