Decisions made by council education officers could be the subject of more legal challenges after a Court of Appeal ruling, say experts.
The judgment in Carty versus Croydon Council, published last week, confirmed for the first time that education officers are professionals who owe a common law duty of care to children for whom they have assumed a responsibility.
A distinction was made between policy and operational decisions; officials making policy decisions will not be held accountable. But Amelia Wallington, a solicitor at Browne Jacobson in Nottingham, which specialises in education work, said it was not always clear whether day-to-day decisions were policy or operational ones.
