On a judicial review, the judge decided that the correct approach was to identify where the children were physically present. On that basis the answer was Barking. The judge stressed two additional points: Where more than one council was involved, there should be cooperation and one authority should not try and pass on its responsibility to another; and that the children's needs came first, with any issue about resources sorted out later.
Source
Housing Today
Reference
This case illustrates the importance of section 208 Housing Act 1996 which was intended to prevent the "exporting" of homeless families out of boroughs. If disputes such as this one are to be avoided, it needs to be more vigorously observed and enforced.
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