“Local authorities vicariously liable for foster parents' abuse of children in their care.”
Children who had been sexually abused by foster parents sued Nottinghamshire County Council, claiming the authority should be vicariously liable. The abuse occurred while the children were in foster care arranged by the local authority.
Whether a local authority can be vicariously liable for wrongful acts committed by foster parents against children placed in their care under statutory duties.
The Supreme Court held that the local authority was vicariously liable for the foster parents' abuse of the children in their care.
This case significantly extends vicarious liability to statutory relationships, ensuring that vulnerable children have effective remedies against institutional failures. It represents a major development in public authority liability and child protection law.
You're reading the free summary of Armes v Nottinghamshire CC. Create a free account to unlock the full reasoning, the cited authorities and the verbatim judgment — plus structured briefs for 412,000+ UK judgments.
No card required. Free forever.
OSCOLA Citation
Armes v Nottinghamshire County Council [2017] UKSC 60
Multiple official and mirror sources — pick whichever loads cleanly on your network.
Falls back to Google for old citations BAILII catalogues separately
Common Room
0 comments · About the Common Room →
No comments yet — start the discussion.
Voted-best comments help future students and feed Caselaw's AI study tools.