Christine Cooper
Christine is an experienced barrister (17 years’ call) whose practice covers the full range of social and welfare issues. She regularly appears in judicial review and Court of Protection proceedings involving the elderly, vulnerable adults and people lacking capacity.
Her clients include local authorities, the Official Solicitor and family members.
She is an expert on local authority charges for residential and community care and acts for and against local authorities and care providers. She is also often instructed in disputes between local authorities and NHS bodies about funding for care.
Christine has written for LexisNexis’ Finance and Law for the Older Client since 2015.
From January 2017 - December 2018, Christine was Crown Counsel Community Care on the British Overseas Territory of St. Helena. There she was the government’s specialist lawyer on all health and welfare matters.
Christine sits part-time as a deputy district judge.
Practice Area
Panels
- Consulting Editorial Board
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 2006
Education
- LLB Law (First Class Honours)
- LLM Corporate & Commercial Law (London School of Economics)
- Winner of the Blackstone Chambers Prize for Commercial Law 2006
3 Contributions by Christine Cooper
PRACTICE NOTES
Deferred Payment Agreements for Care Home Costs under the Care Act 2014 (England): Mandatory Criteria, Execution and Security over Registered Land
This Practice Note explores when an individual living in a care home may postpone paying their fees by entering a deferred payment agreement (DPA), and outlines the measures a local authority should adopt to make sure the DPA offers sound security for the monies advanced. A DPA is a mechanism through which the local authority covers the expense of a person’s care home placement where, absent the arrangement, that person would be liable for those costs. Sums disbursed by the authority build up as a debt, secured against an appropriate asset—most commonly the person’s former home. That liability becomes payable after the person’s death or, if earlier, on the sale of the property or other collateral.
Deferred payment agreements—relevant law
When assessing DPAs, the initial sources to consult are the primary legislation, regulations and guidance. These include:
sections 34 and 35 of the Care Act 2014 (CA 2014)
the Care and Support (Deferred Payment) Regulations 2014, SI 2014/2671, as amended by the Care and Support (Deferred Payment) (Amendment) Regulations 2017, SI 2017/1318
part 9 of the Care and support statutory guidance (the guidance)
Key points This Practice Note addresses the...
Local Government
PRACTICE NOTES
Local authority charging and means-testing for adult social care under the Care Act 2014 (England): eligibility, financial assessment, top-ups, deprivation of assets and deferred payment agreements
This Practice Note briefly explores how the means test operates when an English local authority (LA) is asked to provide financial help for social care services.
The Care Act 2014
Since the welfare state emerged in the 1940s, LAs have been granted powers and placed under duties as well as responsibilities to deliver care and attention to those in need.
Yet the law evolved piecemeal over time, scattered across a multitude of Acts and statutory instruments, and supplemented by numerous and extensive guidance documents.
The Care Act 2014 (CA 2014) was enacted as a single, comprehensive statute to: bring together and harmonise the existing law; reflect contemporary practice; and implement the recommendations of the Commission on the Funding of Care and Support, chaired by Andrew Dilnot in 2011.
It applies to every English LA...
Local Government
PRACTICE NOTES
Ordinary Residence under the Care Act 2014 and s117 MHA 1983: Principles, Capacity and Deeming Rules, Transitional Cases, and Inter-Authority Dispute Resolution (England and Wales)
STOP PRESS:
The Supreme Court decided in R (on the application of Worcestershire County Council) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2023] UKSC 31 that responsibility for section 117 Mental Health Act 1983 aftercare rests with the authority for the area in which the individual was ordinarily resident prior to the admission. This still holds even where accommodation had been arranged by another local authority under an earlier section 117 obligation. For commentary, see News Analysis: Ordinary Residence and Mental Health Aftercare Services (R (Worcestershire County Council) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care) and Supreme Court confirms duty to provide after-care services ends when a person is re-detained for treatment (R (on the application of Worcestershire County Council) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care), LNB News 10/08/2023 41. A local authority is also under a duty to assess whether an adult has needs for care and support where it appears to the authority that they may have such needs...
Local Government
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