And we’re off! Access Social Care wins legal case.

We have won our landmark legal case demanding Government Transparency on adult social care funding!

This is an excerpt from our 15th October Press Release ‘Government ordered to reveal social care data’ which you can read in full here. 

Government ordered to reveal social care data in “landmark court case”  

• On 15th October 2024, the Information Tribunal ordered HM Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (“MHCLG”, formerly known as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) to reveal important information requested by Access Social Care around the decision-making processes which determine funding for adult social care. 

• The government was challenging a ruling by the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) that it must disclose details around the social care budget decision making process. Access Social Care welcomes this decision and looks forward to receiving the information from both government departments.  

• Legal rights charity Access Social Care has said this is “a landmark court case for government transparency and accountability in social care, as well as for the many families across the country who rely on adult social care.” 

• The departments have been told to disclose the information within 35 days. They have 28 days within which to apply for permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal. 

On 15th October 2024, UK - Two Government departments have been ordered to reveal critical information around government funding for adult social care. HM Treasury and MHCLG were seeking to dismiss demands from the ICO to reveal this data.  

The litigation derived from Freedom of Information requests made by specialist legal rights charity, Access Social Care (ASC) to reveal data available to and used by policymakers in relation to decision making on social care funding. HM Treasury and MHCLG denied the requests. Their decisions were overturned by the Information Commissioner in July 2023, who ruled that disclosure was in the public interest. The Government appealed the decision in the Information Tribunal, and have now been ordered to disclose the information requested by Access Social Care.  

The ICO was represented in the case by John Fitzsimons of Cornerstone Barristers, while Access Social Care was represented by Niamh Grahame of Public Law Project and Stephen Cragg KC of Doughty Street Chambers. HM Treasury and MHCLG were represented by Laura Shepherd of 30 Park Place. 

Access Social Care’s CEO, Kari Gerstheimer, said: 

“The social care sector, including local authorities and care providers is broadly aligned that social care is critically underfunded – by £8.4bn to meet future demand, improve access to care and cover the full cost of care by 2024/25.  This means that older people and disabled people are not getting the vital social care they need and to which they are legally entitled.  
 
With such a gap between what Government and the social care sector say is needed to fund social care, there has been a critical need for transparency and accountability. For 2 years, 2 government departments refused to share this information. Today, we are delighted to announce that the Information Tribunal has supported the Information Commissioner ‘s view that sharing this information IS in the public interest. 

We welcome this finding and call on the new Administration to work with Access Social Care and the wider sector to ensure that funding decisions are based on the right evidence.  

Access Social Care is a data led legal rights organisation that exists to make sure people can access the social care they have a right to. Through our casework and our data, we see that everyday older and disabled people are denied the social care they need and have a right to. This case strikes to the heart of the need for government transparency to enable good quality public decision making.  

In fighting for this information, ASC is trying to reveal and understand the decision-making that guides social care, and how it can be improved. Having information about social care funding allocations would shed light on whether the government is meeting it’s key legal obligation to consider all relevant factors, and critically would provide civil society organisations a much-needed opportunity to play a meaningful part in driving improvement of central government decision making.  

We are a small organisation challenging government departments on behalf of disabled people , older people and carers to make sure that central government acts transparently and adequately funds adult social care so that we all get the social care we need and have a right to.”  

Help us with the next stage of our campaign.

The next stage of our campaign is already underway. In this ongoing case we are asking the Government to disclose information around the sufficiency test they use to decide whether adult social care is adequately funded.

ASC needs extra funding to continue to pursue the goal of transparency through the courts so we are  currently running a litigation funding appeal via Help us fight for change to Government transparency for adult social care funding! - JustGiving  to ensure we can continue to seek transparency and accountability in this case. Find all the information about this campaign, including how you can share our message and contribute to the fund here: https://www.accesscharity.org.uk/govttransparency   

For further information, or to speak to ASC, please contact enquiries@accesscharity.org.uk