*R (on the application of O) v Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough

The claimant was 13 years old. He suffered from, amongst other things, severe autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The claimant's conditions made his behaviour very hard for his family to manage and his parents recognised that they were no longer able to meet his needs at home. The defendant local authority accepted that the claimant's parents were prevented from providing him with suitable accommodation or care, with the result that it had a duty to provide him with accommodation pursuant to section 20 of the Children Act 1989 (the 1989 Act).

The parents wanted the claimant to be placed in a residential school which they had identified as being a suitable establishment (the residential school). The authority carried out a core assessment which set out three options for consideration, none of which were the residential school.