R (on the application of S) v Halton Borough Council and another

Case date: 21 July 2008

An application for judicial review of a decision by a parole board not to order the release of a young offender, the claimant contending that the local authority had had failed fully to consider the issue of a foster placement and that the parole board ought to have adjourned the matter again to ensure that it had sufficient information in its possession to come to a proper decision.

The 17-year-old claimant was serving a custodial sentence for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He had a history of being violent towards his mother.

When he became eligible for early release, the second defendant parole board considered his case. It adjourned an oral hearing for the first defendant local authority to investigate the possibility of releasing him, initially, into the care of foster parents. The authority was of the opinion that a foster placement was not appropriate for a number of reasons, and stated that as there was a shortage of foster parents in its area such that each was required to look after more than one child, it had to ensure younger children and the foster carers were not put at risk.