CASE SUMMARIES: 7 July 1997

The following notes of judgments were prepared by the reporters of the All England Law Reports.

Children

R v London Borough of Lambeth, ex p Cadell; QBD Crown Office List (Connell J) 9 June 1997.

The words of s 24 of the Children Act 1989 were clear in that a person who qualified for advice and assistance meant a person "within the area of the authority", and that that phrase was not to be read as referring back to the period when the qualifying person was still a child. Accordingly a local authority which had sent a child to a foster home in the area of another authority was not responsible for giving advice and assistance when the child reached the age of 18.

Stephen Cobb (Harman & Harman, Canterbury) for the applicant; Anthony Cottle (Sternberg Reed Taylor & Gill) for Lambeth.

Road traffic

DPP v Guy; QBD Div Ct (Simon Brown LJ, Garland J) 17 June 1997.

For the purposes of Art 15(2) of the Community Recording Equipment Regulations EC 3821/85, a driver's working period ended, at the earliest, when he ceased to drive the tachographed vehicle. It was necessary, therefore, for him to use record sheets even if using the vehicle, for his own personal use, to return home at the end of the day.

John McGuinness (CPS) for the appellant; Hugo Keith (Treasury Solicitor) as amicus curiae.

Tax

Wild v Cannavan (Inspector of Taxes); CA (Beldam LJ, Millett LJ, Otton LJ) 13 June 1997.

An individual taxpayer is disqualified from entitlement to business expansion relief under s 291(1)(c) of the Taxes Act 1988 if he is connected with the company in question "at any time in the relevant period". That meant that he had to be unconnected with the company for the whole of the relevant period of five years from incorporation of the company.

The taxpayer in person; Timothy Brennan (Inland Revenue Solicitor) for the Crown.