Today, disabled adults Michael Robson and Jennifer Barrett lost their appeal against a High Court decision last October allowing Salford Council to axe its specialist Passenger Transport Unit (PTU).
Salford Council proposed to close the Unit to save £600,000 but back in October there was legal challenge by lawyers from Irwin Mitchell Law Firm and barristers acting on behalf of Michael and Jennifer and their parents Mary and Elaine. They asserted that Salford Council's actions in axing the transport for severely disabled adults was `absurd', `unfair', `unlawful' and `cavalier' (see here).
Despite Judge Stephen Davies agreeing in the High Court that there would be "damaging outcomes" if the Unit was shut, he found in favour of the Council (see here). In December an appeal was launched at the Royal Courts of Justice in London but today the verdict handed down by three judges, led by Lord Justice Richards, agreed with the original decision.
Like the first hearing everything rested on technicalities. Ian Wise, QC for Michael and Jennifer, had again raised the point, agreed by the judge in the first case, that it was possible that some of those for whom alternative arrangements were in place "have reluctantly accepted what they may regard, or what may be, an unsuitable or unsafe transport service". The appeal judge responded "that the present proceedings relate to the decision of 30 June 2014, not to the arrangements made in individual cases".
On the validity of the assessments that Salford Council had carried out, the appeal judge stated; "Whilst the claimants have produced some evidence from which there might be some basis to criticise the individual assessments and/or the individual conclusions as to suitable alternative travel arrangements, and whilst the claimants may be able to point to some areas of concern in relation to the implementation of the new arrangements, that is very far indeed in my judgment from what they need to establish to make their challenge to the high level decision"
On the legality of the consultations the appeal judge explained, "I have not found it easy to reach a decision on this issue. The lack of clarity in the Council's internal seems to have been carried over into the documentation prepared for the consultation. The consultation material presented an incomplete picture by concentrating on the proposed assessment of users of the PTU services to see if alternative transport options could be used, without a clear statement that it was proposed to close the PTU itself.
"In consequence, Mr Wise's submission that the Council failed to consult on the closure proposal and/or that the consultation material was misleading has considerable attraction to it" he added "In the end, however, I have reached the conclusion that that is too formalistic an analysis and that the judge was right to concentrate on the proposed change of approach to transport arrangements for existing users and to find that the consultation process as a whole was not unfair."
On the inadequacy of the Council's Community Impact Assessment the appeal judge stated; "It may be that the imperfections of that document went even further than was acknowledged by the judge, but in my view he was entitled to find on the basis of the document taken as a whole that the Council had proper regard to the section 149 matters."
So, despite "damaging outcomes", an "unsuitable transport service", "areas of concern" with the new transport arrangements and "imperfections" in the Council's Community Impact Assessment, Lord Justice Richards, backed by Lord Justice Treacy and Mr Justice Newey, dismissed the appeal.
Speaking after the verdict was announced today, Mathieu Culverhouse, the legal specialist from Irwin Mitchell's Public Law team in Manchester who represented Michael Robson and Jennifer Barrett, said: "We are very disappointed with the outcome of this appeal and the massive consequences this will have on so many vulnerable members of the community in Salford.
"The decision has placed many families in a difficult situation as to how they will ensure that their loved ones will be able to access the vital day centre services they are entitled to" he added "We remain determined to ensure that the voices of our clients will be heard and they able to access the support they require. We are considering an appeal of today's decision."
And Michael's mother, Mary Robson, said: "It all seemed to be about the consultation, they're not looking at it from a person point of view. I'm just disgusted. But we've not finished yet..."
* Nowhere Bus graphic by Jamie Reid
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