[2024] UKUT 128 (AAC)

S.24 of the 2014 Act (“the local authority area issue”)

The central issue in the remainder of the grounds of appeal was whether the children of servicemen remained “in the local authority’s area” for the purposes of s.24while they were temporarily absent accompanying their parents on deployment abroad.

The Council sought to vitiate the conclusion of the Tribunal that it was not entitled to cease maintain T’s EHCP. The Council’s in essence was that T was not “in the local authority’s area” as required by s.24because he was abroad in Dubai. T’s parents submitted that the challenge on that ground was wrong, principally for two reasons:

first, a child might be deemed to be in a local authority’s area, notwithstanding a temporary absence, because the local authority was the place of his ordinary residence.

second, military personnel were deployed abroad temporarily to fulfil their duties to the country. The deployment was compulsory and their children might accompany them. In respect only to this narrow category of children, the time-limited, temporary absence abroad for reasons of deployment ordered by the State should be construed as a temporary absence which did not displace the fact of a child’s ordinary residence in a local authority area.