A 25-YEAR-OLD man with autism won his legal case relating to disability related expenditure (DRE) after a council error.

The 25-year-old, who wishes to remain anonymous, will receive a pay out after Royal Borough Windsor and Maidenhead Council "refused" to cover the costs of "fundamental" social activities that are part of his care plan.

The claimant, who was represented in his legal case by Leigh Day, is a vulnerable adult who has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

He has difficulties communicating, which “makes it difficult to have and maintain friendships and means he can be vulnerable to exploitation."

A fundamental part of his care plan is attending the activities organised by his social and life skills group which the man usually attends three times a week.

He won his legal case which argued that the cost of activities related to attending a daily social and life skills group should be deemed disability related expenditure and cannot be ignored when calculating how much he should pay towards the cost of care.

According to lawyers at Leigh Day, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council “refused to allow the cost of the activities as DRE, the man’s care charges were so high that he could not afford the essential costs of living.”

The judge criticised the defendant’s decision to disallow the claimant’s activity costs, stating that the decision “suffered from the legal fallacy that the activities were not related to the claimant’s disability and were unnecessary and unreasonable”.

The claimant, said: “I am very glad to have won this case and it will help me to continue attending my group without all the financial worry.”

The ruling in the High Court means the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council must now deduct the cost of these activities from his income when calculating how much money he has available to contribute towards the costs of his care.

A council spokesperson said: “We take seriously the findings of this judgement. We will review this case in light of the decision, making any necessary changes to the council’s processes.”

The ruling means local authorities must not assume that activities which may appear social in nature cannot be claimed as disability related expenditure if they are related to a person’s disability.

Lucy Cadd, solicitor at Leigh Day, added: “The decision to allow the cost of the claimant’s social and life skills activities as disability related expenditure will have a significant and positive impact on his life.

"This is a very sensible and robust judgment that will have important implications for the way claims for disability related expenditure should be considered by local authorities.

"It confirms that the individual must be placed front and centre in the decision-making process and that their wishes and feelings be taken seriously."