Somerset County Council v NHS Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group & Ors [2022] EWFC 31
Nick Goodwin QC appeared on behalf of the Applicant, Somerset County Council, and Damian Garrido QC on behalf of the Clinical Commissioning Group for Somerset, in protracted High Court litigation relating to breaches of the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005 (AAR 2005) – specifically a failure by its Agency Decision Maker to adhere to the regulations relating to the provision of medical reports from the Agency Medical Adviser.
In this final judgment, it was decided by the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, that although breaches of AAR 2005, reg 15/17 had occurred, an application for a declaration as to the validity of existing placement orders or adoption orders was not required or appropriate, because (a) such orders remained valid unless and until overturned and (b) in most cases where these occurred, there would rarely be a health issue, both significant yet unknown to the ADM and/or the court, that could undermine the orders’ validity. The judgment may be read here.
