When drawing up eligibility criteria for adult social care, councils must have regard to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Human Rights Act 1998, and the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.
In July 2007 Harrow decided to restrict adult care services to people with critical needs only. The High Court has ruled that this decision was unlawful in that it was taken without the decision-makers having had sufficiently drawn to their attention the seriousness and extent of their duties under the Disability Discrimination Act 2005.