Queen’s Bench Division
Published February 29, 2008
Welsh Ministers v Care Standards Tribunal and Another

Although an individual’s registration as manager of a care home had to be related to a specific establishment or agency, it was not necessarily the case that appeals to the Care Standards Tribunal, where the premises had ceased to be available, should be struck out.

Mr Justice Davis so held in the Queen’s Bench Division on January 24, 2008, when dismissing an appeal by the Welsh Ministers against the refusal by the Deputy President of the tribunal on October 1, 2007, to strike out an appeal brought by the second respondent, H.

MR JUSTICE DAVIS said that registration of an individual as manager under Part II of the Care Standards Act 2000 had to be related to a specific establishment or agency. The individual had to be a person who was fit to manage a care home, and in addition had to be fit to manage the care home in question.

It was not necessarily the case, however, that appeals concerning applications for registration where the premises had ceased to be available to the applicant, such should be struck out as being misconceived or having no reasonable prospect of success.

Such a fixed approach would not sit well with the discretionary power to strike out an appeal expressly conferred by regulation 4A of the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults and Care Standards Tribunal Regulations (SI 2002 No 816).

To strike out a claim summarily was a strong thing to do and such power had to be exercised with appropriate caution, particularly where the ability to secure employment was affected by the decision challenged.

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