CW v Hartlepool Borough Council & Anor

Facts

CW, aged 33, has a diagnosis of emotionally unstable personality disorder, cognitive deficits and epilepsy. She lived in the area of Scottish Borders Council until December 2022, latterly in supported accommodation at Z Court, until that placement could no longer meet her needs. Scottish Borders Council obtained a guardianship order from the Jedburgh Sheriff Court on 17 August 2022 for three years, and under its powers placed CW at X Home, a care home in the Hartlepool area, on 22 December 2022. The placement was then intended to be temporary. Hartlepool Borough Council gave a standard authorisation under Schedule A1 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 on 30 March 2023, renewed on several later occasions. On 6 June 2025 CW, through her litigation friend (since 17 July 2026 the Official Solicitor), applied under section 21A of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to challenge that authorisation. On 23 October 2025 HHJ Boothroyd declared, on the agreed but finely balanced position of the parties, that CW was habitually resident in Scotland. The 2022 guardianship order had expired on 17 August 2025, and Scottish Borders Council's fresh application to the Sheriff Court was dismissed on 29 May 2026 for want of jurisdiction. Scottish Borders Council then applied by COP9 on 15 June 2026 for a declaration that CW's habitual residence is in England and Wales.