Fiona Scolding KC

Public and Administrative

Fiona’s practice involves public and administrative law, social welfare law and human rights in a variety of contexts. Her specific expertise within this field are listed to the right. Fiona is recommended as a leading barrister in the legal directories for her work in the following public law areas: education, court of protection, community care, administrative law and human rights, education and local government (including rating law).

Other public law work:

Fiona has undertaken a variety of public law work for the Government and for individuals, charities and NGOs including cases on behalf of the DWP, the Department of Health, the Department of Education and immigration cases, to quasi commercial cases about funding. Fiona is recommended both in administrative law and in human rights in the Legal 500 for her work in this area.

Other civil claims:

Fiona has undertaken civil work concerning unlawful detention, Equality Act claims concerning goods and public services misfeasance in public office. She has also undertaken breach of contract and professional negligence claims concerning schools, local authorities and universities, and restitutionary claims against local authorities/public bodies. Fiona also has conduct of claims under the Equality Act 2010 concerning race and disability discrimination and religious and age discrimination.

Court of Protection

Fiona undertakes all aspects of health and welfare work, including medical treatment cases, and cases under the inherent jurisdiction. She represent local authorities, but also the Official Solicitor, NHS Trusts/CCGs and sometimes family members. She is listed in Chambers and Partners for her expertise in this area.

Notable instructions have included several cases of intractable familial disputes:

• Whether or not life support should be withdrawn from someone in a PVS state
• The medical care and treatment of disabled children when their parents were opposed to aspects of their care
• Allegations of factitious illness; several cases concerning the appropriate setting for those with challenging behaviour and autism
• Cases concerning the withdrawal of a passport where there was a risk of someone going to Syria to fight against Daesh.

Fiona has particular experience with young adults with learning disabilities.

Education

Fiona has 20 years worth of experience in cases concerning education law. She has a broad compass of work from the FTT to the Court of Appeal on these issues, including Equality Act claims. She undertakes work across the whole spectrum of education law, including, contract and tort matters, governance, funding, vires and structure, exclusions, admissions, funding of schools, school transport, work for universities and colleges, and further education.

Fiona is particularly noted for her work on behalf of disabled children and young adults. She works both for individuals and for local authorities, schools (both state and independent) universities, further education colleges, charities and other training providers.

Fiona has been noted as a leader in education law since 2002 in both the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners. She is often called upon to advise on points of principle concerning changes to the education regime. Her work on IICSA means that she has an in-depth understanding of safeguarding policies, practices and procedures.

She is qualified for Direct Access and accepts instructions in this area.

Immigration

Fiona has undertaken work for the government concerning a variety of immigration matters, including Article 8 challenges, EEA nationals, asylum claims, deportation cases, cases concerning children and their welfare, unlawful detention, and torture. She has represented the government at the Court of Appeal and the Upper Tribunal in this area.

NHS, Health and Community Care

Fiona undertakes advisory work on all aspects of public law litigation and litigation concerning the healthcare sector, for both CCGs, NHS Foundation Trusts and individuals. This has included advisory work as to the legality of individual decisions in respect of continuing healthcare; the legality of policies in respect of children with long term health conditions; the relationship between health, education and social care for children and young people; and ‘rationing’ of treatment.

Fiona has also been involved with disputes with NHS England about funding specialist treatment packages and as to their approach to care planning, particularly in the context of children and young adults.

Fiona's community care work often involves children and adults with disabilities and/or the elderly.

Fiona undertakes a broad spectrum of cases from multi-million pound restitutionary claim between the NHS and local authorities concerning continuing health and social care, through to claims about Continuing NHS Care Funding, arrangements of health and social care packages, breach of the Equality Act 2010 and the Autism Act 2009 concerning local authorities policies and procedures, failure to consult on closures of social care institutions to claims for recoupment of monies by local authorities where LAs claim there has been deliberate evasion of fees by deprivation of capital.

Fiona has a sub-speciality in representing kinship carers and children who are in care, mainly to ensure that they have access to appropriate services.

Notable instructions have included:

• Advising on recoupment of sums on behalf of a number of grandparent foster carers.
• Bringing judicial review proceedings against a local authority concerning wholesale cuts to adult social care.
• Bringing judicial review proceedings concerning placement and care packages for adults with disabilities.
• Advising on the legality of local authority policies in respect of various aspects of social care and advising on ordinary residence disputes.

Procurement and Subsidy Control

Fiona has undertaken a significant amount of work in the area of public procurement since 2010. These cases concern a multitude of issues about procurement including delay; choice of remedy; meaning of equality of treatment under the PCR 2006; nature of mistakes within tenders; what is an effective remedy; and declarations of ineffectiveness.

She was junior counsel in 2015/16 defending the government’s implementation of a new contract for criminal solicitors, which concerned over 115 claims run on a group litigation basis.

Fiona is particularly interested in the impact of Brexit upon procurement.

Public Inquiries and Inquests

Fiona's work in the field of Public Inquiries includes:

• Fiona was senior counsel to three separate investigations in IICSA. She was responsible for managing a team of counsel and paralegals, scoping and setting the terms of investigations and working with policy and research teams on a wide range of issues. Her work involved questioning of high profile governmental witnesses and major public figures (including all three living Archbishop’s of Canterbury).
• Fiona represented 297 individuals and the Hepatitis C Trust in the Public Inquiry concerning infected blood, which involved understanding and advocating on a wide range of technical, expert, governmental, public policy, public health and social care issues and having to understand the inner workings of the NHS.
• Fiona has undertaken advisory work in respect of individuals, organisations and public sector bodies in relation to a number of other public inquiries.

Social Security

Over the past five years, Fiona has developed expertise in the area of social security law, appearing in a number of the leading cases about personal independence payments, but also all aspects of social security benefits, including cases with a human rights or EU element. These include child support legislation, universal credit, pensions credits, employment support allowance and other means tested and non means tested benefits. Fiona is currently involved in two cases concerning social security before the Court of Appeal – one concerning PIP and one concerning payments of carers allowance to an EU national.

Cross-practice

Landmark's barristers often work at the intersection of our core practice areas; bringing a wide range of skills, knowledge and experience to bear on a particular dispute or issue facing a client.

Our focus is always on achieving the best possible outcome for our client. By viewing the client's objectives in a holistic way - and not purely through the lens of one rigidly-defined legal area - we deliver the best possible advice and representation in complex matters that engage multiple specialist areas of law. 

Whether it's providing support as an individual cross-practice barrister or a cross-disciplinary team of Landmark counsel, we are able to draw on an outstanding array of complementary skillsets and knowledge bases. This often achieves a better result than instructing multiple barristers from different specialist sets. This also improves the quality of client care through increased levels of communication, quicker response times, and a coordinated approach to clerking and fees, made possible by our team-based cross-practice approach.

Please contact our practice management team for more information.

ADR

Fiona is a qualified mediator (ADR Chambers) and receives regular instructions as a mediator in her areas of expertise. She enjoys seeking to build consensus and resolve often entrenched problems.

Fiona was instructed in 2014/15 in a multi-million pound construction arbitration concerning the refurbishment of a nuclear submarine base, which involved leading a team of juniors.

EU Law post-Brexit

Local Government

Public Interest Litigation