This book examines the duties and responsibilities of local UK authorities in the provision of community care services, covering mental health services, residential accommodation and domiciliary care, as well as related issues such as capacity, charges and payment, and remedies. The book brings together all the disparate statutory materials that comprise the legal framework, together with related materials, such as UK Local Authority Circulars and extracts from leading judgments. The materials are complemented by the authors' expert commentary explaining how the various statutes interrelate and how they have been interpreted by the courts. The result is a handbook that provides the practitioner with the tools required to deal with this important area of law. This second edition now includes new chapters on social housing and asylum support, and it has been updated to include major changes to the chapter on mental health which now deals with the UK's new Code of Practice, and the chapter on capacity which examines deprivation of liberty. The book also includes coverage on: assessment of community care needs for adults * provision of accommodation * provisions for older children (leaving care) and disabled children * finance and charging * health care and social care.