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15 December 2023 / Nicholas Dobson
Issue: 8053 / Categories: Features , Local government
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Mental health aftercare—which authority pays?

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Nicholas Dobson expertly dissects the allocation of financial responsibility for aftercare in a recent case
  • Covers R (Worcestershire County Council) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
  • The duty under s 117(2) of the Mental Health Act to provide aftercare services automatically ceases if and when the person concerned is detained under s 3 (or another provision specified in s 117(1)).
  • The words ‘ordinarily resident in’ in s 117(3)(a) must be given their usual meaning.

Back in the 1950s two strange little fellows with bizarre voices were all the rage on children’s TV. For Bill and Ben were the Flower Pot Men, who not only lived in two adjacent flower pots (with a friendly weed in the middle) but were also made of flower pots. One of the chaps would frequently cause a mishap, prompting a soprano narrator to sing: ‘Was it Bill or was it Ben; which of those two Flower Pot Men?’

This ditty recently came to mind in the much more serious context of

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

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NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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