Right to be Accompanied

[Thanks to James Medhurst of Employment Law Advocates for preparing this case summary]

The EAT (Slade J) has handed down its decision in Bullock v Norfolk County Council, which is authority for the proposition that a foster carer is not a worker within the meaning of the Employment Rights Act 1996 or Employment Relations Act 1999. Therefore, there was no right for the claimant to be accompanied to the meeting of a panel which was to consider withdrawing her approval as a foster parent.

The relationship between a foster carer and a local authority is not contractual and it is a prerequisite of the definition of a worker that there must be a contract in place.