Derby City Council v SM

Facts

SM is an adult woman born in 1997 with diagnoses of severe learning disability, catatonia, major depression and autism. She lives in a supported living placement — a single occupancy bungalow — with a care package commissioned by Derby City Council, the applicant local authority. She was represented by her Accredited Legal Representative, Ashley Bradley. The proceedings concerned her personal welfare under Section 16 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the court having made declarations as to her capacity under Section 15 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in 2022 on a range of issues. Her mother had been unable to manage her care and earlier living arrangements had not proved suitable or sustainable. SM has consistently expressed a wish to move elsewhere, and the court heard evidence of successive attempts to identify alternative accommodation: a proposed move in 2023 to associated accommodation foundered when the landlord would not accept the risks; a property SM visited fell away after the existing occupier did not leave as planned and improvements and assessments were needed; a meeting in summer 2025 concluded that a hostile environment and limited size at the proposed accommodation would not suit her; and by January 2026 four offers of accommodation were deemed unsuitable. With no alternative identified, the parties agreed there was no best interests decision left to make and that the proceedings should conclude. The remaining issue, on which the local authority and the ALR disagreed, was whether SM was deprived of her liberty within the meaning of Article 5 ECHR.