Key Areas of Expertise and Who We Represent

At Watkins Solicitors, our Public Law and Human Rights team advises on a wide range of matters where decisions made by public bodies have a direct impact on individuals, families, organisations and businesses. These situations are often stressful, time-sensitive and difficult to navigate alone.

Our role is to help you understand what has happened, what can be done, and to support you in taking the next steps with clarity and confidence.

Our Key Areas of Expertise

We act across a broad range of public law and human rights matters, including:

Housing and Homelessness
We support individuals and families where decisions about housing and homelessness have not been made properly or fairly. These cases often involve urgent situations where people are left without safe or suitable accommodation.

Examples include:

• Challenges to homelessness decisions and duties
• Housing allocation and priority banding disputes
• Refusals to provide accommodation or assistance
• Failures to provide suitable or appropriate housing
• Delays in decision-making leaving individuals without support

Community Care and Support
We advise where care and support needs are not being properly assessed or met, particularly for vulnerable individuals and families.

Examples include:

• Failures to carry out care assessments
• Unlawful reductions or withdrawal of support
• Refusals to provide accommodation or assistance
• Delays leaving individuals without essential services
• Challenges involving children’s services
• Welfare support and subsistence decisions, including failures to provide financial assistance

These situations can have a significant impact on daily life, and early advice can help prevent matters from escalating further.

Education and Children’s Services
We support children, young people and families where decisions about education or support have not been made properly.

Examples include:

• Failure to deliver provision set out in an EHCP
• Children being left without suitable education
• Delays in assessments or placement decisions
• Failures by local authorities to meet legal duties
• Issues involving safeguarding or children’s services

Where necessary, this may involve judicial review to ensure that appropriate support is put in place.

Immigration, Asylum and Detention
We act in public law challenges involving immigration and asylum decisions, particularly where the process has been unfair or unlawful.

Examples include:

• Refusal of asylum or immigration applications without proper consideration
• Failure to consider relevant evidence or new information
• Lack of accommodation or support
• Challenges involving detention or conditions of detention
• Cases involving vulnerable individuals or families

These matters are often complex and time-sensitive, and careful handling is essential.

Health and Social Care Decisions
We advise on decisions affecting access to healthcare and support, where those decisions have not been made properly or fairly.

Examples include:

• Refusal of healthcare or treatment
• Disputes about care provision or funding
• Failures in mental health support
• Unlawful discharge decisions
• Access to NHS services

These cases often affect wellbeing and quality of life, and require a clear and practical approach.

Planning, Housing Sites and Traveller Matters
We advise on planning and accommodation-related public law challenges, including cases affecting Gypsy and Traveller communities.

Examples include:

• Planning refusals and enforcement action
• Challenges affecting Gypsy and Traveller sites
• Evictions and accommodation disputes
• Failures by local authorities to plan for site provision

These cases often involve a person’s home, stability and way of life, and require a careful and considered approach.

Professional Regulation and DBS Matters
We support professionals and individuals where decisions affect their career, reputation or ability to work.

Examples include:

• Fitness to practise proceedings
• Regulatory investigations and decisions
• DBS disclosure challenges
• Police information disclosures
• Unfair or disproportionate regulatory action

We provide clear advice so you understand your position and what can be done to challenge the decision.

Public Procurement and Commercial Public Law
We act for businesses and organisations in disputes involving public bodies, particularly in commercial and regulatory contexts.

Examples include:

• Challenges to public procurement processes
• Tender evaluation and contract award decisions
• Regulatory decisions affecting business operations
• Financial services and compliance issues
• Public law challenges involving commercial interests

These matters often require a strategic and commercially focused approach.

Human Rights and Wider Public Law Issues
Many cases involve wider human rights concerns or issues that affect more than one individual.

Examples include:

• Interference with family or private life
• Discrimination and equality issues
• Failures to protect vulnerable individuals
• Decisions affecting housing, education or wellbeing
• Disproportionate decisions impacting livelihood or dignity

Human rights often form part of a wider public law challenge, particularly where decisions have a serious impact on daily life.

Detention, Prison and Liberty Cases
We advise on decisions affecting liberty and detention, including cases involving prisons, immigration detention and other forms of state control.

Examples include:

• Decisions affecting detention or release
• Prison and probation decisions
• Cases involving unsafe conditions or treatment
• Failures to protect individuals in state care

These cases are often urgent and require prompt legal action.

Strategic and Systemic Public Law Challenges
Public law is not only about individual decisions. In some cases, it is possible to challenge wider policies or repeated failures by public bodies.

Examples include:

• Challenges to unlawful policies or practices
• Repeated failures to follow legal duties
• Systemic issues affecting groups or communities
• Cases brought with charities, NGOs or advice organisations

These cases can lead to wider change, improving outcomes not just for one person, but for others affected by the same issue.

Who We Represent

We act for a wide range of clients across England, reflecting the breadth of our work.

This includes:

• Individuals and families affected by decisions about housing, education, care or immigration
• Children and vulnerable individuals, often through parents, carers or representatives
• Individuals in urgent or crisis situations, including those without housing, support or access to services
• Charities and community organisations supporting those affected
• Advice agencies and NGOs identifying unlawful practices
• Professionals facing regulatory or disciplinary action
• Businesses involved in procurement or regulatory disputes
• Clients who may be eligible for legal aid funding

Whatever your situation, our focus is on understanding the impact the decision has had on you and what can be done to resolve it.

A Joined-Up Approach

Public law issues rarely sit in isolation. A housing issue may involve social care. An education issue may involve wider family or human rights concerns. In many cases, different areas of law overlap, and focusing on one issue alone does not always resolve the underlying problem.

Our strength is in taking a joined-up approach, drawing on our expertise across Public Law, Education, Family and Human Rights to understand the full context of your situation. This means we look not only at the immediate decision, but at the wider impact on you or your family and whether other legal duties or protections apply.

By taking this broader view, we are able to identify the most effective way forward, whether that involves judicial review or another legal route. We will explain your options clearly and help you understand how each part of your situation fits together.

This allows us to provide advice that is not only legally accurate, but also practical, realistic and tailored to your circumstances, so you can move forward with greater clarity and confidence.

Understanding Your Situation

Every case is different. What matters most is understanding how the decision has affected you and what outcome you need.

We will:

• Take the time to understand your situation fully
• Explain whether the decision may be challenged
• Advise on the most appropriate legal route
• Help you take clear, practical next steps

We focus on providing advice that is realistic, clear and centred around achieving the best possible outcome for you.

We Are Here to Help

At Watkins Solicitors, our Public Law and Human Rights team supports individuals, families and professionals across England in challenging decisions made by public bodies. We are widely recognised for our specialist expertise and for acting in complex and often urgent cases where early action is critical.

We understand that situations leading to judicial review are often stressful and time-sensitive. Our approach is to provide clear, practical advice from the outset, helping you understand your position, your options and the steps needed to move forward with confidence. You will have a team that is approachable, responsive and focused on achieving the best possible outcome for you.

We guide clients through every stage of the process, from early advice and pre-action steps through to court proceedings where necessary. Wherever possible, we focus on resolving issues efficiently and effectively, including exploring opportunities to achieve a positive outcome without the need for a full hearing.

We also hold a Public Law Legal Aid contract and can advise you on whether funding may be available, ensuring that access to justice is considered from the very beginning.

If you are considering a judicial review or are unsure about costs or funding, our team offers an initial conversation to help you understand your options and what action may be needed.

You can contact us by emailing info@watkinssolicitors.co.uk or calling 0117 939 0350 to speak to a member of the team.