The right to have some community care services provided to you or the person you look after may depend on whether you're regarded as 'ordinarily resident' in an area. This does not apply to all services.
You will be ordinarily resident in an area if you are settled there despite temporary absences, but you can be considered settled after a short period of time. It depends on your individual circumstances.
The following are some of the situations where the question of ordinary residence, and which local authority is responsible, may be relevant
Carer’s assessments
If you live in a different local authority area from the person you look after, you may not know which local authority should carry out your carer’s assessment. The guidance which local authorities have to follow about assessments states that it should be the authority in which the disabled person lives that carries out the assessment and is responsible for the provision of any services for you as a carer.
Residential care
The question of ordinary residence is important when a person goes into residential care. If funding for the placement is provided by the local authority, the person who is in care is regarded as continuing to be ordinarily resident in the area in which they lived before they moved to residential care.
Example
Martha lived in East Sussex. When she needed residential care she received help with the fees from her local authority, which found a suitable home for her in Kent. Despite the move, she continued to be considered 'ordinarily resident' in East Sussex and the responsibility of that local authority.
This principle also applies to 'self-funders' (people who pay for their own care) if their local authority helped to arrange the placement.
If a local authority is not involved in the placement, the person going into residential care would become ordinarily resident in the area where the care home is located.
When a person goes into residential care outside the area they're ordinarily resident in but then leaves residential care to live more independently in the new area, there can be confusion about which local authority should take responsibility for any services they need.
Ordinary residence and children
The normal rule is that children are presumed to be ordinarily resident wherever their parents are. However, local authorities have a legal obligation to children in need 'within their area'. In some cases this may mean that a child is considered ordinarily resident in one local authority’s area but lives in another local authority’s area. Local authorities should liaise with each other to resolve any problems this may cause.
Emergencies or urgent needs
Local authorities have some responsibilities to people who are in urgent need in their area even if they're not ordinarily resident there. This could be relevant, for example if the person you're looking after comes to stay with you on a temporary basis and has an urgent need for services. It may be possible to argue that your own local authority could assist them even if they're not ordinarily resident in that area.
Disputes between local authorities
If local authorities disagree about which one should take responsibility, there is a procedure which allows central government to resolve the dispute. This mainly relates to disputes about residential placements. If you disagree with a decision made by a local authority, or there is a dispute between local authorities which affects you, you may need to use the statutory complaints system or get legal advice.