§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice he intends to give to local authorities following the recent Court of Appeal decision that housing authorities are obliged to offer homeless families with children accommodation under the Children and Young Persons Act 1963, even if such families are intentionally homeless.
§ Sir George YoungThe ruling of the Court of Appeal in the case of Tilley v. Wandsworth London Borough Council does not oblige local authorities to offer accommodation to intentionally homeless families. It upholds an earlier ruling by the Chancery Division that a local authority may not resolve that no such families will be accommodated under section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1963, but that each case must continue to be considered according to individual circumstances. I do not consider any advice to authorities is necessary.