A Local Authority may recover its costs of of providing social care as damages even though had made no charge at time.
Times 18-Mar-1996
Health and Social Services Adjudication Act 1983
England and Wales
Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.78031
When a tenant sought an order enforcing his right to buy his house, the judge had no discretion to refuse the order on the grounds of hardship. Once the conditions were satisfied, the tenant’s rights were absolute.
Ind Summary 01-Mar-1993
England and Wales
Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.89748
A sum recovered by the Secretary of State was not expenditure for the purposes of revenue support grant.
Ind Summary 28-Mar-1994
England and Wales
Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.87686
Sumsheld with regard to residual housing debt are not included in the calculations of the central government subsidy.
Times 17-Aug-1993
Local Government Housing Act 1989 74 & 79
England and Wales
Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.87694
Recoupment of school grant from support grant is expenditure by council.
Times 16-Mar-1994
Local Government Finance Act 1992 43-2
England and Wales
Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.87978
The Secretary of State for Environment can remove a Local Authority’s powers if a tender competition is restricted.
Times 02-Mar-1994
England and Wales
Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.87696
A Local Authority may admit a minor in care to a mental hospital for assessment or treatment. Section 131 merely preserves or confirms the common law and previous law. Consent requires proof of conduct and a reasoning capacity.
Lloyd LJ
Ind Summary 12-Apr-1993, [1993] FLR 187
England and Wales
Cited – L v Bournewood Community and Mental Health NHS Trust Admn 9-Oct-1997
L was adult autistic. He had been admitted to mental hospital for fear of his self-harming behaviours, and detained informally. He complained that that detention was unlawful.
Held: The continued detention of a mental health patient who is . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.87087
Tendering procedures adopted by a Local Authority must not be framed to prefer their own company.
Times 20-Jan-1994
England and Wales
Appeal from – Regina v Avon County Council, Ex Parte Terry Adams Ltd QBD 7-Jul-1993
A council has no duty to consider the interests of waste disposal contractors. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.86071
A local authority was not liable in damages for breach of a statutory duty in Social Services. The policy which has first claim on the loyalty of the law is that wrongs should be remedied. The court would not go so far as to hold that the education authorities owed the plaintiffs a duty of care, it was equally not willing to say that the claims were ‘unarguable or almost incontestably bad’ and ‘If a plaintiff can show (1) that the adverse consequences of his congenital defect could have been mitigated by early diagnosis of the defect and appropriate treatment or educational provision; (2) that the adverse consequences of his congenital defect were not mitigated because early diagnosis was not made, or appropriate treatment not given or provision not made, with resulting detriment to his level of educational attainment and employability; and (3) that this damage is not too remote, I do not regard the claim for damage to be necessarily bad.’
Sir Thomas Bingham MR (dissenting): ‘It would require very potent considerations of public policy which do not in my view exist here, to override the rule of public policy which has first claim on the loyalty of the law: that wrongs should be remedied.’
Sir Thomas Bingham MR, Evans LJ
Independent 24-Feb-1994, Times 03-Mar-1994, [1995] 2 AC 633
England and Wales
Appeal from – X (Minors) v Bedfordshire County Council QBD 24-Nov-1993
A local authority has no duty of care in negligence as to the education of children beyond its statutory obligations to children in its care. . .
Appeal from – X (Minors) v Bedfordshire County Council; M (A Minor) and Another v Newham London Borough Council; Etc HL 29-Jun-1995
Liability in Damages on Statute Breach to be Clear
Damages were to be awarded against a Local Authority for breach of statutory duty in a care case only if the statute was clear that damages were capable of being awarded. in the ordinary case a breach of statutory duty does not, by itself, give rise . .
Cited – Adams v Bracknell Forest Borough Council HL 17-Jun-2004
A attended the defendant’s schools between 1977 and 1988. He had always experienced difficulties with reading and writing and as an adult found those difficulties to be an impediment in his employment. He believed them to be the cause of the . .
Cited – Holland v Lampen-Wolfe HL 20-Jul-2000
The US established a base at Menwith Hill in Yorkshire, and provided educational services through its staff to staff families. The claimant a teacher employed at the base alleged that a report on her was defamatory. The defendant relied on state . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.83253
Three local authorities disputed whether a contract had been made between them, and if so its terms, as to the financial support of a leisure centre.
Held: Later legislation need not frustrate agreement between the parties.
Hirts LJ said: ‘the agreement was in my judgment frustrated by supervening illegality . . the parties having covenanted to do something lawful, and section 42(a) having come in and hindered them from doing it, the covenant was repealed, leaving the Joint Committee powerless to fulfil their central function of management of the Leisure Centre.’
Glidewell, Hirst, Roch LJJ
Times 28-Jun-1993, 158 LG Rev 501, [1993] EWCA Civ 28
Local Government Act 1972 101(1), Education Act (No 2) 1986 42
England and Wales
Cited – Baily v De Crespigny QBD 1869
A lessor had covenanted that neither he nor his assigns would build on a piece of land adjoining the demised premises. A railway company, under powers derived from a subsequent private Act, compulsorily acquired the land and erected a station on it. . .
Cited – Brewster v Kitchell 1795
‘Where H covenants not do to an act or thing which was lawful to do, and an Act of Parliament comes after and compels him to do it, the statute repeals the covenant. So if H covenants to do a thing which is lawful, and an Act of Parliament comes in . .
Cited – Llanelly Railway and Dock Company v London and North Western Railway Company CA 1872
James LJ said: ‘I start with this proposition that prima facia every contract is permanent and irrevocable and it lies upon a person who say that it is revocable or determinable to show either something special in the contract itself, or something . .
Cited – In Re Spenborough Urban District Council’s agreement; Spenborough Corporation v Cooke Sons and Company Ltd ChD 1968
A contract regulating the flow of industrial effluents into a public sewer contained no power of termination notwithstanding that the agreement it replaced did.
Held: There is no presumption in law that a joint venture is not terminable.
Cited – Staffordshire Area Health Authority v South Staffordshire Waterworks Company CA 1978
There was no provision in the agreement, made in 1929, to supply water at all times hereafter, between the parties for a variation of the charges payable under the agreement, which had between 1929 and 1978 become derisory, being 1/20 of the current . .
Cited – Metropolitan Water Board v Dick Kerr and Co Ltd HL 26-Nov-1917
In July 1914 the appellants contracted with the respondents, a firm of contractors, for the construction of a reservoir which was to take six years to build. The work was started, but in February 1916 the Minister of Munitions ordered it to cease . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.82435
A Local Authority was liable for its negligent reference of a homeless person to unsafe premises.
Gazette 10-Mar-1993
England and Wales
Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.80352
The right to buy a council house is dependant on the existence of a secure tenancy to which it is incidental, and that right disappears on the death of the tenant because there was no secure tenancy left upon which to base the right: ‘It is a creature of statute and is sui generis; if it is helpful to equate it to some more general right recognised by the courts I would prefer to describe it as analogous to a personal equity.’
Balcombe LJ
Independent 21-Apr-1993, [1994] 1 WLR 52, (1993) 25 HLR 534
England and Wales
Cited – Zionmor v Mayor and Burgesses of London Borough of Islington CA 10-Oct-1997
The council appealed a finding that the claimant, a secure tenant, had not surrendered his tenancy. He had sought to exercise his right to buy the property, but was said to have left the premises before the lease was completed. The property was . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.79145
Mrs Justice Jefford DBE
[2019] EWHC 3529 (Admin)
England and Wales
Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.648106
Application made in care proceedings instituted by a local authority in relation to a number of children, the eldest of whom is 16 – the local authority seeks directions from the court about the extent to which it may disclose to the other parties to the proceedings (and in particular to the mother) a sensitive piece of confidential information which it has received from the police, and which the police do not want disclosed any further. The information in question has been shared with the children’s guardian, but with nobody else. In particular, the mother has not been served with the application, and does not know of its existence.
Mr Justice Wall
[2003] EWHC 1624 (Fam), [2004] 1 All ER 787, [2004] 1 WLR 1494
England and Wales
Updated: 25 October 2022; Ref: scu.235738
The applicant sought damages from the council for misfeasance in public office. Protracted litigation had followed his dismissal after he had attempted to bring allegations of misconduct within the authority to the attention of a council committee. He appealed an order striking out his claim.
Held: The distinction between a public officer exercising his power and one abusing his position as a public officer, did not defeat the claim. It was possible that a senior officer of the council could be liable to the claimant for abuse, and also that the Authority could be vicariously liable for such acts. The issues were of fact, and inappropriate for a strike out.
Lord Justice Waller and Lord Justice Laws
Times 27-Aug-2002, [2002] EWCA Civ 1073
England and Wales
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England (No 3) HL 22-Mar-2001
Misfeasance in Public Office – Recklessness
The bank sought to strike out the claim alleging misfeasance in public office in having failed to regulate the failed bank, BCCI.
Held: Misfeasance in public office might occur not only when a company officer acted to injure a party, but also . .
Cited – Calveley v Chief Constable of the Merseyside Police HL 1989
Police officers brought an action in negligence against a Chief Constable on the ground that disciplinary proceedings against them had been negligently conducted. They claimed that the investigating officers had negligently failed to conduct the . .
Cited – Elliott v Chief Constable of Wiltshire and Others ChD 20-Nov-1996
Vice-Chancellor was asked to consider whether to strike out a statement of claim based upon alleged misfeasance by a police officer in his public office. The allegation against the police officer was that he had deliberately and falsely supplied . .
See Also – Cornelius v London Borough of Hackney EAT 12-Jan-1996
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 25 October 2022; Ref: scu.174750
The claimant asserted that the behaviour of the local authority gave rise to a legitimate expectation such as to allow them to commence works in breach of a planning condition.
Held: The circumstances under which a claimant might rely upon a legitimate expectation in a planning context will be very rare, and difficult to envisage, because of the presence of interests of third parties. The plea is founded in fairness, and the applicant here was experienced in planning matters, and knew exactly the risks it was running. Planning law is a matter of public interest; and the powers of a local planning authority cannot be fettered by private arrangements between developers and planning authorities.
Lord Justice Brooke, Lord Justice Keene, Mr Justice Bodey
Times 16-Dec-2002, Gazette 19-Dec-2002, [2002] EWCA Civ 983, [2002] 4 PLR 108, [2003] P and CR 372, [2002] All ER (D) 421
England and Wales
Cited – Rowland v The Environment Agency CA 19-Dec-2003
The claimant owned a house by the river Thames at Hedsor Water. Public rights of navigation existed over the Thames from time immemorial, and its management lay with the respondent. Landowners at Hedsor had sought to assert that that stretch was now . .
Cited – Fowles v Heathrow Airport Ltd ChD 15-Feb-2008
The landlord had opposed the tenant’s application to renew his tenancy, and the tenant also claimed title to additional land by adverse possession. The tenant asserted various business uses, some of which the landlord denied. The landlord went into . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 24 October 2022; Ref: scu.178438
The claimant had, on her mother going into long term care, sought to avoid an order for the sale of the mother’s house saying that it was also the claimant’s home. The Council now appealed against a finding that it had to take into account subsequent developments, and not just those at the date when the mother had gone into care.
Held: The Council’s appeal succeeded (McCombe dissenting). The assessment required could only sensibly be made to allow for the circumstances applicable at the time when the person went into care. It could not be left open indefinitely to allow for a relatives possible intention to return to live in the house at a future date.
McCombe J dissenting said that the strict words of the section required the assessment to be made in the way found by the judge at first instance.
Moore-Bick VP CA, McCombe, Underhill LJJ
[2015] EWCA Civ 22, [2015] WLR(D) 28, [2016] 1 All ER 801, [2015] PTSR 880, [2015] BLGR 133
England and Wales
Appeal from – Walford, Regina (on The Application of) v Worchestershire County Council Admn 10-Feb-2014
The Claimant challenged the decision of the Respondent to uphold its reversal of a previous decision to disregard a property, Sunnydene, Astley Burf, Stourport-on-Severn owned by the Claimant’s elderly mother, in calculating her mother’s ability to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 24 October 2022; Ref: scu.541915
Linden J
[2021] EWHC 682 (Admin)
England and Wales
Updated: 23 October 2022; Ref: scu.659916
[2016] ScotSC 3
Scotland
Updated: 23 October 2022; Ref: scu.562042
Challenge by residents to transfer of residential care home.
[2007] EWCA Civ 27, [2007] 2 WLR 1097
England and Wales
Updated: 22 October 2022; Ref: scu.248280
Claimants challenged the grant of planning consent for the construction of a storage and distribution facility without first undertaking an environmental impact assessment.
Held: The local authority had concluded that the project could not be encompassed by the phrases ‘infrastructure project’ or ‘urban development project’. Whilst there might be some scope for disagreement, that did not mean that a decision could only be challenged by way of review as to its Wednesbury unreasonableness. If in law the interpretation was incorrect, the judge had a duty to correct it, and that did not involve such considerations, though the issue might arise later. The interpretation was outside the range of reasonable responses, and the appeal was allowed.
Brooke, Buxton, LJJ, Morland J
Times 21-Feb-2003, [2003] EWCA Civ 140, Gazette 03-Apr-2003, [2003] JPL 1309
England and Wales
Cited – Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation CA 10-Nov-1947
Administrative Discretion to be Used Reasonably
The applicant challenged the manner of decision making as to the conditions which had been attached to its licence to open the cinema on Sundays. It had not been allowed to admit children under 15 years of age. The statute provided no appeal . .
Cited – Younger Homes (Northern) Ltd v First Secretary of State and Another Admn 26-Nov-2003
The claimant sought to quash a planning decision on the basis that a screening decision had not been made.
Held: Though the procedures within the authority could have been bettered, there was no formal requirement for a screening option to . .
Cited – Richardson and Orme v North Yorkshire County Council CA 19-Dec-2003
The claimants appealed against an order dismissing their application for a judicial review of the respondent’s grant of planning permission. They contended that a councillor with an interest in the matter had wrongfully not been excluded from the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 22 October 2022; Ref: scu.179729
An elector of Glasgow, under section 14 of the Glasgow Corporation Act 1909, took objection to the Corporation’s accounts dealing with the common good, and presented a petition in the Sheriff Court. His averments were to the effect that the accounts were imperfectly vouched, giving lump sums where details should have been given; that such lump sums included illegal payments, viz., the payment of the election expenses of candidates at municipal elections in adjoining burghs who would favour annexation to Glasgow. Held that such payments would be illegal as being contrary to public policy, and would not be protected by the subsequent Act of Parliament giving effect to the annexation scheme, which provided for the payment of the expenses of preparing for, obtaining, and passing the Act, and consequently that a proof should have been allowed.
Viscount Haldane, Viscount Finlay, Viscount Cave, Lord Dunedin, and Lord Moulton
[1920] UKHL 385, , 57 SLR 385
Scotland
Updated: 22 October 2022; Ref: scu.631527
The court considered an allegation of discrimination in the application of housing benefit for a disabled person.
Held: The claimants had established a prima facie case of discrimination under Article 14 of the ECHR, and that the Secretary of State had failed to establish objective and reasonable justification for the discriminatory effect of the statutory criteria Although the court was able to arrive at its decision on other grounds, Maurice Kay LJ would have relied if necessary on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to resolve any uncertainty over ‘the meaning of article 14 discrimination’ in the circumstances of the case
Maurice Kay, Hooper, Henderson LJJ
[2012] EWCA Civ 629, [2013] PTSR 117, [2012] LGR 954
European Convention on Human Rights 14, Housing Benefit Regulations 2006
England and Wales
Cited – SG and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions SC 18-Mar-2015
The court was asked whether it was lawful for the Secretary of State to make subordinate legislation imposing a cap on the amount of welfare benefits which can be received by claimants in non-working households, equivalent to the net median earnings . .
Cited – SG and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions SC 18-Mar-2015
The court was asked whether it was lawful for the Secretary of State to make subordinate legislation imposing a cap on the amount of welfare benefits which can be received by claimants in non-working households, equivalent to the net median earnings . .
Cited – MA and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions SC 9-Nov-2016
The appellants claimed housing benefit. They appealed against rejection of their claims that the imposition of limits to the maximum sums payable, ‘the bedroom tax’, was unlawful on equality grounds. The claimants either had disabilities, or lived . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 22 October 2022; Ref: scu.457696
Levy on aldermen for disallowed expenses of West London Poor Union
[1859] EngR 593, (1859) 1 El and El 936, (1859) 120 ER 1162
England and Wales
Updated: 21 October 2022; Ref: scu.287945
Justices could find a wilful refusal to pay a debt despite the defendant’s assets having become vested in his Trustee on bankruptcy.
Ind Summary 05-Feb-1996
England and Wales
Updated: 21 October 2022; Ref: scu.87610
Dispute as to exercise of right to buy premises from local authority – when notice served.
Sir Andrew Morritt C, Carnwat LJ, Moses LJ
[2006] EWCA Civ 1366
England and Wales
Updated: 20 October 2022; Ref: scu.249065
The company appellant, E, wished to develop its land. The Council had declared it to be a conservation area. E said that they had not given the necessary notice of the meeting of the sub-committee at which the initial decision had been made. E appealed against a finding that due notice had been given.
Held: E’s appeal failed. The reference to ‘three clear days’ in the statute referred to working days only. Of the days to be counted, the 1st May had been a public holiday. The notice was not therefore as required, and the meeting was procedurally defective and ineffective in law. However the later decision of the full committee was the effective decision, and achieved that which the sub-committee had failed to achieve.
The chalets sought to be replaced were structures or erections, and therefore buildings within planning law.
Sir Thomas Bingham MR, Staughton LJ, Mann LJ
[1993] 46 EG 181
Local Government Act 1972 100B
England and Wales
Applied – The King v The Justices of Herefordshire 9-May-1820
By 49 G 3, c 68, s 5, ten clear days’ notice of the intention to appeal is required.
Held, that the ten days are to be taken exclusively, both of the day of serving the notice and the day of holding the sessions.
One Joseph Stinton, having . .
Appeal From – Regina v Swansea City Council, ex parte Elitestone Ltd QBD 1993
On 1 May a sub-committee held a meeting at which land was declared to be a conservation area. Under the Act, the agenda had been open for inspection for three clear days. They were available from April 26, and there was no suggestion that they had . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 19 October 2022; Ref: scu.449987
Application for leave to appeal – judicial review of compulsory purchase order
[2001] EWCA Civ 1889
England and Wales
Updated: 19 October 2022; Ref: scu.218529
The court was asked whether the council held land as public open space. Its predecessor had acquired the land for that purpose in 1926, and had used it as such. During the war, part of the land had been temporarily appropriated for allotment purposes under powers contained in Defence Regulations. By the late 1970s the land had fallen into disuse. The council operated a tree nursery on that part of the land for some 30 years, but it closed in the late 1990s. The council proposed to grant planning permission for house building on the land. An officer’s report presented to the relevant committee expressed the view that the land was not held as public open space; and that it was separate from the remainder of the recreation ground. Based on that report the council granted planning permission for housing.
Held: The decision was set aside.
Part of her reasoning was based on the inadequate inquiries that had been made before concluding that the land was not held a public open space. She found that the land had been originally acquired as public open space. She then went on to consider whether there had been any change in that state of affairs. The question she posed was whether the land had been appropriated for uses other than public recreation. Having set out the statutory powers of appropriation, and some of the case law, she said: ‘If Shropshire Council had considered the application of these legal principles to the evidence in this case, it would have been very likely to conclude that, aside from the temporary war time allocation allotments, there had been no formal appropriation of any part of the Greenfields Recreation Ground to a purpose other than recreational use. There was no evidence of a resolution by the Borough Council or Town Council that a portion of the Recreation Ground was no longer required for recreational purposes and should be appropriated for another use. Nor was there any evidence that the formal procedures for appropriation had been followed. There was no evidence of ministerial approval for appropriation under the previous legislation, nor formal notices advertising proposed appropriation and consideration of objections under the LGA 1972, as amended.
In my view, it is very likely that the Borough Council was authorised to appropriate a portion of the recreation ground for use as temporary allotments during World War II. Mr Goodman’s research revealed that the Defence (General) Regulations 1939 conferred on local authorities a temporary power to allocate its land for use as allotments, including land forming part of a park or open space, as part of the ‘Dig for Victory’ project. The temporary power was revoked by section 5(1) of the Emergency Laws (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1953. Section 5(1) also made provision for local authorities to let land for the purpose of allotment gardens, ‘notwithstanding anything in any Act . . . or any trust or covenant or restriction affecting the land’. However, there was no evidence that the Borough Council ever resolved to exercise its powers under the 1953 Act to continue to let the land as allotments on a more permanent basis.’
There was, therefore, no evidence either of a formal decision by the council; nor evidence of satisfaction of any of the conditions required to be fulfilled before a lawful appropriation could be made. The mere fact that the land had been used for other purposes (including as allotments and as a tree nursery) was not enough.
Mrs Justice Lang DBE
[2019] EWHC 3539 (Admin)
England and Wales
Cited – Adamson, Regina (on The Application of) v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council CA 18-Feb-2020
Appropriation was not in sufficient form
The claimants had challenged an order supporting the decision of the Council to use their allotments for a new primary school, saying that the land had be appropriated as allotment land, and that therefore the consent of the minister was needed.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 19 October 2022; Ref: scu.648115
The Court was asked whether land had been appropriated for planning purposes.
McCullough J said: ‘I do not find the concept of ‘appropriation’ easy to grasp, since land which is ‘appropriated’ is already in the council’s ownership. More must surely be involved than a mere decision that land held for one purpose will henceforth be held for another. Otherwise, for example, if an authority decided to build houses on a small part of land it was holding for future light industrial development, the change of purpose would involve, indeed require, an ‘appropriation’, and, as a consequence of section 237, could materially effect the rights of any interested third parties. It seems to me that, at least in a case where third parties are known to have rights, an authority cannot properly embark on such a course unless it has good reason to believe that interference with such rights is necessary. I regard it as significant that a single provision in the 1990 Act, section 226, empowers an authority both to acquire land compulsorily and to ‘appropriate’ its own land. I see ‘appropriation’, therefore, as the equivalent of compulsory purchase of a council’s own land, and the same degree of ‘requirement’ or ‘necessity’ should apply in each case.’
McCullough J
(1997) 73 P and CR 70
England and Wales
Cited – Adamson, Regina (on The Application of) v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council CA 18-Feb-2020
Appropriation was not in sufficient form
The claimants had challenged an order supporting the decision of the Council to use their allotments for a new primary school, saying that the land had be appropriated as allotment land, and that therefore the consent of the minister was needed.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 19 October 2022; Ref: scu.648251
Where a local authority acquires land for one purpose, it cannot use the land for a different purpose unless authorised to do so by statute. The property had actually been conveyed to the council but the council was restrained from using the property for a hospital when it had been acquired for a sewage works.
[1900] 2 Ch 377, [1900] LJR 39
England and Wales
Cited – Adamson, Regina (on The Application of) v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council CA 18-Feb-2020
Appropriation was not in sufficient form
The claimants had challenged an order supporting the decision of the Council to use their allotments for a new primary school, saying that the land had be appropriated as allotment land, and that therefore the consent of the minister was needed.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 19 October 2022; Ref: scu.648249
The Court was asked whether the defendant local authority (the council) was obliged to obtain the consent of the minister before deciding to dispose of certain land in its area currently in use as allotments by the claimant, Mr Adamson, and others. That depends on whether the council has ‘appropriated’ that land for use as allotments within section 8 of the Allotments Act 1925, as amended. If it has, it may not dispose of the land without the consent of the minister.
Held: The land had been appropriated for that purpose in 1935 when, as part of a town planning scheme, the council decided to zone the land for allotments.
The Hon Mr Justice Kerr
[2019] EWHC 1129 (Admin)
England and Wales
Appeal From – Adamson, Regina (on The Application of) v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council CA 18-Feb-2020
Appropriation was not in sufficient form
The claimants had challenged an order supporting the decision of the Council to use their allotments for a new primary school, saying that the land had be appropriated as allotment land, and that therefore the consent of the minister was needed.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 17 October 2022; Ref: scu.637773
The court was asked: ‘Did the concept of ‘statutory incompatibility’ defeat an application for the registration of land as a town or village green under section 15 of the Commons Act 2006? ‘ At first instance, the judge had held that he could not properly interfere with the inspector’s conclusion.
Held: The CA agreed with the court at first instance
Rupert Jackson, Lindblom, ThirlwallLJJ
[2018] EWCA Civ 721
England and Wales
Appeal from – Lancashire County Council v The Secretary of State for The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Another Admn 27-May-2016
Ouseley J he said that he would have arrived at a different conclusion from the Inspector as to the purpose for which the Authority had acquired the land at issue; but considered that that did not entitle him to interfere with the inspector’s . .
At CA – Lancashire County Council, Regina (on The Application of) v SSEFRA and Another SC 11-Dec-2019
Two appeals as to the circumstances in which the concept of ‘statutory incompatibility’ will defeat an application to register land as a town or village green where the land is held by a public authority for statutory purposes. In the first case, . .
Cited – Adamson, Regina (on The Application of) v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council CA 18-Feb-2020
Appropriation was not in sufficient form
The claimants had challenged an order supporting the decision of the Council to use their allotments for a new primary school, saying that the land had be appropriated as allotment land, and that therefore the consent of the minister was needed.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 17 October 2022; Ref: scu.608721
The local council had acquired land for open space purposes. It subsequently appropriated the land for industrial and employment purposes. But the land continued to be used for recreation. On an application to register the land as a town or village green, the inspector held that it could be inferred from the council’s conduct that it had re-appropriated the land to open space use, alternatively, it had impliedly granted permission for lawful sports and pastimes to be carried out on the land.
Held: The decision was quashed. Under section 163 of the 1933 Act (and now section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972) the local authority must decide whether or not the land is required for the purpose for which it is held, it must carry out what has been described as a conscious deliberative process. Thus the suggestion that an appropriation can be inferred from use alone is problematic.
Dove J said: ‘First, section 122(1) contains no prescribed formula for the procedure to be adopted when a council appropriates land from one purpose to another. It does however need the council to determine that it no longer requires the land for the purpose for which it was holding it up to the point of that appropriation.’
Dove J continued: ‘The difficulty with that suggestion is the need for the authority, when exercising the power under section 122 of the 1972 Act, to be satisfied that the land ‘is no longer required’ for the purpose for which it is held. That requires some conscious deliberative process so as to ensure that the statutory powers under which the land is held is clear and appropriation from one use to another cannot, in my view, be simply inferred from how the council manages or treats the land.’
Dove J
[2015] EWHC 2576 (Admin)
England and Wales
Cited – Adamson, Regina (on The Application of) v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council CA 18-Feb-2020
Appropriation was not in sufficient form
The claimants had challenged an order supporting the decision of the Council to use their allotments for a new primary school, saying that the land had be appropriated as allotment land, and that therefore the consent of the minister was needed.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 17 October 2022; Ref: scu.552359
The court was asked: ‘When local inhabitants indulge in lawful sports and pastimes on a recreation ground which has been provided for that purpose by a local authority in the exercise of its statutory powers, do they do so ‘by right’ or ‘as of right’?’ The appellant now appealed on an argument not put before the judge at first instance.
Held: The appeal failed. Sullivan LJ said: ‘The Field was ‘appropriated for the purpose of public recreation’ by the UDC and its successor the Borough Council under an express statutory power to provide and thereafter maintain it as a recreation ground. Throughout the 20 year period the local inhabitants indulged in lawful sports and pastimes on the Field by right and not as of right.’
Commenting on the case of Beresford, Sullivan LJ said: ‘I confess that I find it difficult to understand why the statutory approval of the corporation’s new town plan 1973 by the minister, which had the effect of granting planning permission for the development of the land as ‘parkland/open space/playing field’, when coupled with the subsequent laying out and grassing over of the land, was not sufficient to amount to an ‘appropriation’ of the land as recreational open space in the sense in which Lord Walker used that word.’
Richards, Sullivan, McFarlane LJJ
[2012] EWCA Civ 1373, [2013] 1 WLR 1521, [2012] WLR(D) 306, [2013] 1 P andCR 8, [2013] 1 EGLR 1, [2013] 2 EG 68, [2012] 44 EG 95, [2013] BLGR 32
England and Wales
Appeal from – Barkas, Regina (on The Application of) v North Yorkshire County Council and Scarborough Council Admn 20-Dec-2011
The claimants sought to have registered as a town or village green land in Whitby which had been provided as a playing field by the Local Authority since 1934. The inspector had found that the use had not been ‘as of right’ as required by the 2006 . .
Cited – Regina v City of Sunderland ex parte Beresford HL 13-Nov-2003
Land had been used as a park for many years. The council land owner refused to register it as a common, saying that by maintaining the park it had indicated that the use was by consent and licence, and that prescription did not apply.
Held: . .
Cited – Hall v Beckenham Corporation 1949
A claim was made in nuisance against the local authority, the owner of a public park, in which members of the public flew noisy model aircraft.
Held: The local authority were not liable as the occupiers of the park for an alleged nuisance that . .
Cited – Regina v Oxfordshire County Council and Another, Ex Parte Sunningwell Parish Council HL 25-Jun-1999
When setting out to establish that a piece of land has become a village green with rights of common, the tests are similar to those used in the law of prescription and adverse possession. Accordingly, there is no need to establish a belief in those . .
Cited – Lewis, Regina (on The Application of) v Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and Another SC 3-Mar-2010
The claimants sought to have land belonging to the council registered as a village green to prevent it being developed. They said that it had for more than twenty years been used by the community for various sports. The council replied that it had . .
Appeal from – Barkas, Regina (on The Application of ) v North Yorkshire County Council and Another SC 6-Mar-2014
The Court was asked as to the registration of a playing field as a ‘town or village green’. Local residents asserted that their use of the land, having been ‘as of right’ required the registration. They now appealed against rejection of that . .
Cited – Adamson, Regina (on The Application of) v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council CA 18-Feb-2020
Appropriation was not in sufficient form
The claimants had challenged an order supporting the decision of the Council to use their allotments for a new primary school, saying that the land had be appropriated as allotment land, and that therefore the consent of the minister was needed.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 17 October 2022; Ref: scu.465109
The question was whether the council held land as open space, either under the Public Health Act 1875 or under the Open Spaces Act 1908. The title deeds under which the council acquired the land in 1936 did not state the purpose for which it had been acquired. The council relied on a subsequent deed dated 1964. That deed recited that ‘the Council have been requested to put on record the purposes for which the lands are to be used and the Council have decided so to do by this Deed’. It then purported to declare that the land was ‘held by the Council under its statutory powers for the benefit or interest of the Public as Open Spaces for the recreation of the Public or for Public Walks Parks and Pleasure Grounds’. Consistently with the deed the land was used for that purpose for many years. In the course of a non-statutory inquiry the inspector decided that the deed amounted to an appropriation.
Held: HHJ Kaye QC did not agree. He accepted a submission that: ‘It was insufficient merely to state that the land was ‘in practice’ held for a purpose which was not inconsistent with the new, informally appropriated, purpose. To be a valid appropriation to the stated use, the local authority must have concluded that the land subject to the appropriation was ‘not required’ for its existing purposes (see Local Government Act 1933, ss 163, 165). No such conclusion is recorded in the 1964 Deed or elsewhere nor does the 1964 Deed declare it was appropriating the land to a different purpose. Moreover, to take effect as an appropriation from one use to another the formal statutory mechanisms of the Local Government Act 1933 needed to be complied with and ministerial approval (at that time) was needed. It was apparent none of the formalities had been observed. All this is unsurprising given the inspector was relying on and treating the 1964 Deed as an informal process.’
HHJ Kaye QC
[2012] EWHC 1934 (Admin)
England and Wales
Cited – Adamson, Regina (on The Application of) v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council CA 18-Feb-2020
Appropriation was not in sufficient form
The claimants had challenged an order supporting the decision of the Council to use their allotments for a new primary school, saying that the land had be appropriated as allotment land, and that therefore the consent of the minister was needed.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 17 October 2022; Ref: scu.463281
[1997] EWHC Admin 1020, [1999] 2 FLR 359
England and Wales
Cited – Regina v Hampshire County Council Ex Parte H and Another CA 22-Jun-1998
Before a child’s name can be entered on a local authority’s ‘at risk’ register something more must be shown than general risk of living in stressed family and something directed to the particular child must be shown. . .
Cited – L, Regina (on the Application of) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Admn 19-Mar-2006
The court considered the duties on the respondent in providing an enhanced criminal record certificate. In one case, the claimant had brought up her son who was made subject to child protection procedures for neglect. Her job involved supervising . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 17 October 2022; Ref: scu.137965
Applications under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 for authorisations relating to the Respondents’ care plans involving, inter alia, deprivation of liberty.
[2019] EWCOP 28
England and Wales
Updated: 16 October 2022; Ref: scu.642840
The defendants had been acquitted of obstructing a public highway across their golf course. The authority appealed.
Held: The obstruction was deliberate. If the defendants wanted to challenge the status of the pathway on the definitive map, then they should do so by proper means.
[1997] EWHC Admin 1035
England and Wales
Cited – Arrowsmith v Jenkins 1963
Lord Parker CJ said that ‘wilfully’ in the context of an accusation of wilfully obstructing a highway means ‘intentionally as opposed to accidentally, that is, by an exercise of his or her free will’ . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 14 October 2022; Ref: scu.137980
Michael Fordham QC
[2019] EWHC 2754 (Admin)
England and Wales
Updated: 14 October 2022; Ref: scu.642698
[2004] EWHC 2210 (Admin)
England and Wales
Updated: 13 October 2022; Ref: scu.226903
Schiemann LJ, Keene LJ
[2001] EWCA Civ 1450
England and Wales
Updated: 13 October 2022; Ref: scu.218289
Challenge to decision that claimant was not in need of care package.
Peter Marquand sitting as a deputy High Court judge
[2016] WLR(D) 427, [2016] EWHC 1762 (Admin), [2017] PTSR 140
England and Wales
Updated: 13 October 2022; Ref: scu.567651
Challenge to new age limits for taxi drivers – Councillor’s failure to disclose suggested personal interests.
Beatson J
[2009] EWHC 3051 (Admin), [2010] ACD 33, [2010] BLGR 234, [2010] PTSR11, [2010] PTSR (CS) 11
England and Wales
Updated: 12 October 2022; Ref: scu.381674
Application for leave to appeal against refusal to allow amendment to pleadings. She sought damages. The council had pursued her to bankruptcy for substantial sums of alleged arrears of Council Tax, but those claims were rejected by the trustee. Both the bankruptcy and the extension of it were caused by the council’s wrongful claims.
Held: New evidence substantially changed the prospects of success, and the appeal should proceed.
Tuckey LJ
[2002] EWCA Civ 362
England and Wales
Updated: 12 October 2022; Ref: scu.216992
[2017] UKFTT NV – 2017 – 0015
Environmental Protection Act 1990 46
England and Wales
Updated: 12 October 2022; Ref: scu.644320
[2001] EWCA Civ 1409
England and Wales
Updated: 11 October 2022; Ref: scu.218364
The claim concerns the powers available to local authorities to provide accommodation for rough sleepers with no recourse to public funds during the COVID pandemic
[2021] EWHC 578 (Admin)
England and Wales
Updated: 11 October 2022; Ref: scu.659492
Challenge to the choice as to a new junction for a motorway.
[2018] EWHC 3351 (Admin)
England and Wales
Updated: 11 October 2022; Ref: scu.631209
Biirmingham County Court – application re transfer of the Council’s possession proceedings activities to the High Court.
Salmon DJ
[2015] EW Misc B41 (CC)
England and Wales
Updated: 11 October 2022; Ref: scu.556498
The claimant sought permission to challenge the defendant’s failure to seek from the High Court (a) an authorisation to deprive his daughter NM of her liberty and (b) consequential annual reviews by a judge of her confinement. The defendant denies that NM is deprived of her liberty.
Mr Justice Mostyn
[2021] EWHC 709 (Admin)
England and Wales
Updated: 08 October 2022; Ref: scu.659910
[2017] EWCA Civ 2695
England and Wales
Updated: 08 October 2022; Ref: scu.646274
Gross LJ, William Davis J
[2019] EWHC 2563 (Admin), [2019] WLR(D) 559
Local Government Act 1972 101(1)(b) 222(1)(a), Localism Act 2011 1
England and Wales
Updated: 07 October 2022; Ref: scu.642708
The claimants challenged the decision of the defendants to provide library services through a Community Partnership model, saying that the defendant had failed to comply with the requirements of the 2010 Act to have regard to statutory equality needs.
Wilkie J
[2012] EWHC 867 (QB)
Updated: 07 October 2022; Ref: scu.452982
The Centre appealed from rejection of its claim for judicial review of the defendant’s decision to discontinue financial support for the Centre.
Ward, Elias, Black LJJ
[2012] EWCA Civ 496
England and Wales
Appeal from – Greenwich Community Law Centre, Regina (on The Application of) v Greenwich London Borough Council Admn 21-Dec-2011
. .
Cited – Bailey and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v London Borough of Brent Council and Others CA 19-Dec-2011
Appeal against failure of challenge to decision to close public libraries. . .
Cited – London Borough of Lewisham and Others), Regina (on The Application of) v Assessment and Qualifications Alliance and Others Admn 13-Feb-2013
Judicial review was sought of the changes to the marking systems for GCSE English in 2012.
Held: The claim failed. Though properly brought, the failure was in the underlying structue of the qualification, and not in the respondent’s attempts . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 07 October 2022; Ref: scu.452899
The claimant sought judicial review of the Council’s adoption of planning strategy documents.
Held: The request was granted.
Lindblom J
[2012] EWHC 977 (Admin)
England and Wales
Cited – Regina v Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration ex parte Balchin Admn 25-Oct-1996
The petitioners complained that the Secretary of State for Transport was guilty of maladministration in confirming Road Orders without seeking an assurance from Norfolk County Council that the Balchins would be given adequate compensation for the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 07 October 2022; Ref: scu.452706
[2001] EWCA Civ 1835
England and Wales
Updated: 06 October 2022; Ref: scu.218393
[2002] EWCA Civ 844
England and Wales
Updated: 06 October 2022; Ref: scu.217038
Application for an interim injunction sought prior to the issue of a claim form. The Applicant seeks an order restrain a local referendum.
Mrs Justice Steyn
[2019] EWHC 2633 (QB)
England and Wales
Updated: 05 October 2022; Ref: scu.643119
The claimant sought judicial review of the refusal of the respondent to conduct a review of his needs for care on his anticipated release from prison.
Sales J
[2012] EWHC 414 (Admin)
National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990
England and Wales
Updated: 05 October 2022; Ref: scu.451709
[1836] EngR 343, (1836) 4 Ad and E 538, (1836) 111 ER 889
England and Wales
Updated: 04 October 2022; Ref: scu.314675
The council were liable to pay grants for building works. They wished to set the VAT element as an input tax. The Commissioners refused. Did the builders supply their services to the house owners, or to the council who paid the bill. The Act allowed the council to pay the sum direct to the builder. Grants might be repayable except where they were paid direct. It is not uncommon for one payment to satisfy two obligations. That is what happened here. The council was not entitled to reclaim the VAT.
The Vice-Chancellor
[2001] EWHC Ch 462
Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, Value Added Tax Act 1994 33
England and Wales
Cited – Commissioners of Customs and Excise v Redrow Group Plc HL 11-Feb-1999
Where house builders had paid the estate agents’ fees for exchanged property on sales, the supply had been, at least in part, to the builder, and the builder could accordingly recover the agents’ VAT as input tax. A supplier could be treated as . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 04 October 2022; Ref: scu.166916
The claimants, two disabled elderly people acted through their sons as litigation friends to challenge the defendant local authority’s budget-setting and consultation processes in relation to adult social care services.
Specifically, the claimants contended that:
i) The defendant’s decision to reduce its budget for the division which provides adult social care by andpound;17m over the next two years, with andpound;8.8m of savings from frontline services, was unlawful because it was taken without due regard to the disability equality duty in section 49A of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995); and
ii) The defendant’s ongoing consultation on its ‘Revised Social Care Offer’ breached the common law duty of fairness because it lacked sufficient information as to the nature and consequences of the proposals to allow respondents to make an intelligent response.
Ryder J
[2012] EWHC 17 (Admin)
Updated: 04 October 2022; Ref: scu.450501
The claimants sought judicial review of a decision by the respondent council not to put their property into a sound and habitable state.
Stephen Davies J
[2012] EWHC 39 (Admin)
Updated: 04 October 2022; Ref: scu.450435
Appeal against failure of challenge to decision to close public libraries.
Pill, Richards,Davis LJJ
[2011] EWCA Civ 1586
England and Wales
Approved – Meany and Others, Regina (On the Application of) v Harlow District Council Admn 9-Mar-2009
Challenge to process used for advertising an invitation to tender for its welfare rights and advice services within the district.
Held: Davis J said that the: ‘general regard to issues of equality is not the same as having specific regard, by . .
Cited – London Borough of Lewisham and Others), Regina (on The Application of) v Assessment and Qualifications Alliance and Others Admn 13-Feb-2013
Judicial review was sought of the changes to the marking systems for GCSE English in 2012.
Held: The claim failed. Though properly brought, the failure was in the underlying structue of the qualification, and not in the respondent’s attempts . .
Cited – Greenwich Community Law Centre, Regina (on The Application of) v Greenwich London Borough Council CA 24-Apr-2012
The Centre appealed from rejection of its claim for judicial review of the defendant’s decision to discontinue financial support for the Centre. . .
Cited – Jewish Rights Watch (T/A Jewish Human Rights Watch), Regina (on The Application of) v Leicester City Council Admn 28-Jun-2016
The claimant challenged the legaity of resolutions passed by three local authorities which were critical of the State of Israel. They said that the resolultions infringed the Public Sector Equality Duty under section 149 of the 2010 Act, and also . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 04 October 2022; Ref: scu.450102
Application for Judicial Review of a decision by the London Borough of Brent to close a Short Breaks Unit earlier than had previously been decided. The unit was one of two residential units run by the council for the provision of short term respite care for disabled children.
Stadlen J
[2011] EWHC 3251 (Admin)
Updated: 01 October 2022; Ref: scu.449867
Mann J
[2010] EWHC 680 (Ch), [2010] 2 CMLR 48
England and Wales
Updated: 01 October 2022; Ref: scu.406549
Care plan
Mrs Justice Hogg
[2004] EWHC 2720 (Fam)
England and Wales
Updated: 01 October 2022; Ref: scu.221049
Appeal against dismissal of claim for breach of statutory duty under Right to Buy legislation.
Carnwath, Lloyd, Toulson LJJ
[2011] EWCA Civ 1418
England and Wales
Updated: 29 September 2022; Ref: scu.449379
Moses J
[2003] EWHC 1659 (Admin)
England and Wales
Updated: 29 September 2022; Ref: scu.185613
Whether the appellant council acted unlawfully when it resolved to fix the fees for vehicle licences for hackney carriages and private hire vehicles, often called minicabs, at an amount which included recovery of all or part of the cost of supervising the conduct of drivers licensed to drive such vehicles and, if not, whether such costs may be taken into account in setting the fee for drivers’ licences.
[2019] EWCA Civ 2166
England and Wales
Updated: 27 September 2022; Ref: scu.645548
The claimants, disabled adults receiving community care services challenged changes to the eligibility threshold for such services.
When carrying out their functions, public authorities must have ‘due regard’ to six ‘needs’ identified in the section. Each ‘need’ represents a particular goal, which if achieved, would further the overall goal of the disability legislation. But the authority is not under a duty to achieve those goals, namely, to eliminate discrimination or promote equality of opportunity. It is a duty to have due regard to the need to achieve those goals; R (Baker) v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2008] LGR 239; [2008] EWCA Civ 141; [2009] PTSR 809, at . . When considering sub-paragraph (d), the duty is to have due regard to ‘the need to take steps to take account of disabled persons’ disabilities’: R (Brown) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2008] EWHC 3158 (Admin); [2009] PTSR 1506 . .
‘Due regard’ is the ‘regard that is appropriate in all the circumstances’ Baker . . The authority must give ‘proper regard’ to all the goals in s.49A in the context of the function it is exercising and, at the same time, pay regard to any countervailing factors which, in the context of the function being exercised it is proper and reasonable for the authority to consider. The weight to be given to the countervailing factors is a matter for the public authority rather than the court unless the assessment is unreasonable or irrational. Baker. . Brown . .
The test whether a decision maker has had due regard is a test of the substance of the matter, not of mere form or box-ticking, and the duty must be performed with ‘vigour and an open mind’: R (Domb) v Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council [2009] EWCA Civ 941, [2009] LGR 843, at [52]; ‘rigour and an open mind’ Brown . .
General awareness of the duty does not amount to the necessary due regard, being a ‘substantial rigorous and open-minded approach’; R (Boyejo) v Barnet LBC [2009] EWHC 3261 (Admin); (2010) 13 CCLR 72 . .
In a case where the decision may affect large numbers of vulnerable people, many of whom fall within one or more of the protected groups, the due regard necessary is very high: R (Hajrula) v London Councils [2011] EWHC 448 (Admin) . .
The duty ‘complements’ specific statutory schemes which may exist to benefit disabled people: Pieretti v Enfield London Borough Council [2010] EWCA Civ 1104; [2011] PTSR 565 . .
‘Due regard’ must be given ‘before and at the time that a particular policy that will or might affect disabled people is being considered by the public authority in question’: Brown at [91]. Due regard to the duty must be an ‘essential preliminary’ to any important policy decision, not a ‘rearguard action following a concluded decision’: R (BAPIO Action Ltd) v SSHD [2007] EWCA Civ 1139 . . Consideration of the duty must be an ‘integral part of the formation of a proposed policy, not justification for its adoption’: R (Kaur and others) v Ealing LBC [2008] EWHC 2062 (Admin) . .
If a risk of adverse impact is identified, consideration should be given to measures to avoid that impact before fixing on a particular solution; Kaur and others at [44], R (Rahman) v Birmingham City Council [2011] EWHC 944 (Admin) at [35] (sub-para 8): Domb . .
The question of whether ‘due regard’ has been paid is for the Court itself to review – the Court should not merely consider whether there was no regard to the duty at all, or whether the decision was Wednesbury unreasonable; Boyejo . . R (Meany) v Harlow District Council [2009] EWHC 559 (Admin) . .
It is good practice for the public authority to make express reference to the statutory duty and the code Baker at . . Brown at . . But where the public authority is discharging statutory duties in respect of disabled persons, it may be ‘entirely superfluous’ to make express reference to s.49A and absurd to infer from an omission to do so a failure to have regard to the duty: R (McDonald) v Kensington and Chelsea RLBC [2011] UKSC 33; [2011] PTSR 1266 . . The question in every case is whether the decision maker has in substance had due regard to the relevant statutory need. Just as the use of a mantra referring to the statutory provision does not of itself show that the duty has been performed, so too a failure to refer expressly to the statute does not of itself show that the duty has not been performed; Baker . . The question is one of substance, not form: McDonald .
The public authority must have due regard to the need to take steps to gather relevant information to enable it to perform its duty under s.49A(1)(d): Brown
There is no statutory duty to carry out an equality impact assessment Brown . ., Domb . .. At the most, s.49A imposes a duty to consider undertaking an assessment, along with other means of gathering information about the impact on disabled people: Brown.’
Lang J
[2011] EWHC 2911 (Admin)
Cited – Diedrick, Regina (on The Application of) v Hampshire Constabulary and Others Admn 26-Jul-2012
The claimant challenged the alteration of the PACE code of conduct to remove the mandatory requirement on an officer executing a stop and account or stop and search to record the self-defined ethnicity of the person so stopped, and also to challenge . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 26 September 2022; Ref: scu.448508
Munby LJ, Langstaff J
[2011] EWHC 2673 (Admin), [2012] 1 FCR 206, [2012] Fam Law 280, [2012] PTSR 546
Cited – M, Regina (on the Application of) v Gateshead Council CA 14-Mar-2006
The applicant had left care, but still received assistance. She was arrested and the police asked the attending social worker to arrange secure accommodation overnight. The respondent refused. The court was asked what duty (if any) is owed by local . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 26 September 2022; Ref: scu.448305
Patten J
[2006] EWHC 27 (Ch)
Pension Schemes Act 1993 151(4), Local Government (Early Termination of Employment) (Discretionary Compensation) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 8
England and Wales
Updated: 25 September 2022; Ref: scu.237911
procurement proceedings governed by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 – strike out application – granted in part
Mr Justice Stuart-Smith
[2019] EWHC 2211 (TCC)
England and Wales
Updated: 25 September 2022; Ref: scu.645913
The claimant company asserted that the defendant had not complied with the requirements when putting out to tender contracts for certain works.
Ramsey J
[2011] EWHC 2694 (TCC)
Updated: 25 September 2022; Ref: scu.447619
The plaintiff had been refused planning permission for a factory. The refusals were followed by the issue of Enforcement Notices and Stop Notices. The plaintiff said that they had been given re-assurances upon which they had relied.
Held: The appeal failed. The court tried to reconcile invocations of estoppel with the general principle that for a public authority: ‘an estoppel cannot be raised to prevent the exercise of a statutory discretion or to prevent or excuse the performance of a statutory duty.’
Estoppel cannot be used so as to fetter a statutory discretion entrusted to a local authority
Megaw, Lawton, Browne LJJ
[1981] 2 All ER 204, [1978] EWCA Civ 6, (1978) 38 P and CR 7
England and Wales
Cited – Hammersley v Baron De Biel, An Infant, By W J Blake, His Next Friend HL 25-Mar-1845
The Plaintiffs father, B, had agreed with one T that he would marry T’s daughter and provide a jointure for her in consideration of T’s undertaking to leave a sum of pounds 10,000 in his will to his daughter to be settled on her and her children. B . .
Cited – Ramsden v Dyson HL 11-May-1866
The Vice-Chancellor had held that two tenants of Sir John Ramsden, the owner of a large estate near Huddersfield, were entitled to long leases of plots on the estate. They ostensibly held the plots as tenants at will only, but they had spent their . .
Cited – Plimmer v Mayor, Councillors and Citizens of the City of Wellington PC 1884
(New Zealand) Mr Plimmer had occupied land under a revocable licence from the Corporation’s predecessor-in-title and at their request had made extensive improvements to it. He sought compensation when the land was to be vested in the defendant. The . .
Cited – Evenden v Guildford Football Club CA 1975
Lord Denning rejected an argument that, for promissory estoppels to apply, parties must be contractually bound to one another saying: ‘Promissory estoppel . . applies whenever a representation is made, whether of fact or law, present or future, . .
Cited – Maritime Electric Company Limited v General Dairies Limited PC 8-Feb-1937
(Canada) . .
Approved – Brooks and Burton Ltd v The Secretary of State for the Environment 1977
Lord Widgery, Lord Chief Justice, discussed extending the concept of estoppel saying: ‘There has been some advance in recent years of this doctrine of estoppel as applied to local authorities through their officers, and the most advanced case is the . .
Cited – Central London Property Trust Ltd v High Trees House Ltd KBD 18-Jul-1946
Promissory Estoppel Created
The plaintiff leased a block a flats to the defendant in 1939, at an annual rental of pounds 2500. High Trees had difficulty in filling the flats because of the war, and the parties agreed in writing in 1940 to reduce the rental to a half. No time . .
Cited – Southend-on-Sea Corporation v Hodgson (Wickford) Ltd QBD 1961
The Corporation had, by its engineer, said that its permission for the use of land as a builder’s yard was not in fact and law required. It was mistaken in this view.
Held: What the engineer had said could not create an estoppel preventing the . .
Cited – Campbell Discount Company Ltd v Bridge CA 1961
Agreed compensation is not a penalty
A hirer under a hire purchase agreement could terminate the hiring during the course of the term whereupon the hirer was required to pay a sum by way of agreed compensation.
Held: A sum of money payable under a contract on the occurrence of an . .
Cited – Inwards v Baker CA 13-Jan-1965
An indulgent father had encouraged his son to build a bungalow on his, the father’s, land. The son had done so in the expectation, encouraged by the father, that he would be permitted to remain in occupation.
Held: The court formulated the . .
Cited – Wells v Minister of Housing and Local Government CA 1967
It had been the practice of planning authorities, acting through their officers, to tell applicants whether or not planning permission was necessary. A letter was written by the Council Engineer telling the applicants that no permission was . .
Cited – Lever (Finance) Ltd v City of Westminster CA 22-Jul-1970
The appellant developers had obtained detailed planning approval for fourteen houses, but after adjustments for a building line, moving several properties distances of several feet toward other properties, further plans were submitted without . .
Cited – Moorgate Mercantile Company Ltd v Twitchings CA 1975
Lord Denning MR held: ‘Estoppel is not a rule of evidence. It is not a cause of action. It is a principle of justice and of equity. It comes to this. When a man, by his words or conduct, has led another to believe in a particular state of affairs, . .
Cited – Regina (Reprotech (Pebsham) Ltd) v East Sussex County Council Reprotech (Pebsham) Ltd v Same HL 28-Feb-2002
The respondent company had asserted that the local authority had made a determination of the issue of whether electricity could be generated on a waste treatment site without further planning permission. The council said that without a formal . .
Cited – Downderry Construction Ltd v Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and Another Admn 11-Jan-2002
The applicant had an existing planning permission. They sought and received confirmation from the local authority that the permission remained in effect. They then sought a certificate of lawful use. The letter confirming the permission had been . .
Cited – Regina v North and East Devon Health Authority ex parte Coughlan and Secretary of State for Health Intervenor and Royal College of Nursing Intervenor CA 16-Jul-1999
Consultation to be Early and Real Listening
The claimant was severely disabled as a result of a road traffic accident. She and others were placed in an NHS home for long term disabled people and assured that this would be their home for life. Then the health authority decided that they were . .
Cited – Stancliffe Stone Company Ltd v Peak District National Park Authority QBD 22-Jun-2004
The claimants sought a declaration. Planning permission had been confirmed for four mineral extraction sites by letter in 1952. In 1996, two were listed as now being dormant. The claimant said the letter of 1952 created on single planning permision . .
Cited – London Borough of Bexley v Maison Maurice Ltd ChD 15-Dec-2006
The council had taken land by compulsory purchase in order to construct a dual carriageway. It then claimed that it had left undedicated a strip .5 metre wide as a ransom strip to prevent the defendant restoring access to the road.
Held: The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 25 September 2022; Ref: scu.262693
The Honourable Mr Justice Owen
[20061 EWHC 2613 (Admin)
England and Wales
See Also – DB and Others v Worcestershire County Council (Costs) Admn 27-Oct-2006
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 22 September 2022; Ref: scu.658626
The court was asked as to the possibility of a local authority asserting a public law flaw in a contract to evade responsibility under it.
Cranston J
[2011] EWHC 2542 (QB)
Updated: 20 September 2022; Ref: scu.445059
The court was asked whether either, and if so which, of two local authorities have the duty under section 117 of the 1983 Act to provide after-care services on the release of SF aged 23 from compulsory detention for treatment under that Act. The applicant challenged a position statement of South Tyneside Council, suggesting that the answer was Sunderland.
Langstaff J
[2011] EWHC 2355 (Admin)
England and Wales
Updated: 20 September 2022; Ref: scu.444516
Owen J
[2006] EWHC 2613 (Admin)
England and Wales
See Also – DB and Others v Worcestershire County Council Admn 27-Oct-2006
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 20 September 2022; Ref: scu.344030
[2021] EWHC 250 (QB)
England and Wales
Updated: 19 September 2022; Ref: scu.658661
Application for judicial review of a purported decision by X Council to continue to detain FD, a girl who is 14 years and 5 months, in secure accommodation.
Mrs Justice Lieven DBE
[2019] EWHC 3481 (Admin)
England and Wales
Updated: 19 September 2022; Ref: scu.645849
(New Zealand)
[1964] UKPC 57, [1964] 3 WLR 584, [1965] 1 All ER 647, [1965] 1 WLR 797, [1964] AC 1469, [1964] 3 All ER 179, 62 LGR 607
England and Wales
Updated: 19 September 2022; Ref: scu.445238
New South Wales – Where a public authority has exercised a power dependent on its prior formation of an opinion which was open on the facts before the authority, it is to be presumed, in default of reason to the contrary, that the requisite opinion was formed and the power was properly exercised.
Lord Wilberforce, Viscount Dilhorne, Lord Pearson, Lord Kilbrandon, Lord Salmon
[1973] UKPC 5, [1973] AC 774, [1973] 2 WLR 727
Updated: 19 September 2022; Ref: scu.444392
The applicants, pensioners with disabilities, challenged by judicial review decisions by the respondent to reduce the support services it supplied to them.
Kenneth Parker J
[2011] EWHC 2295 (Admin), (2011) 14 CCL Rep 629, [2012] PTSR D3, [2011] BLGR 909
England and Wales
Updated: 19 September 2022; Ref: scu.443598
The claimant sought judcial review of the defendant’s withdrawal of the provision of transport to and from a leisure facility, and otherwise.
Pelling QC J
[2011] EWHC 2175 (Admin)
England and Wales
Updated: 17 September 2022; Ref: scu.442699
The claimant sought judicial review of the Council’s rejection of his request for assistance under the 1948 Act. He was a failed asylum seeker, who having been destitute, had become mentally ill.
Held: The applicant’s appeal succeeded. As to the conclusion of the court below on the care and attention issue, Laws LJ said: ‘The judge has, I think, understated the nature of the support provided by the local authority through Mr Wyman. As Mr Knafler submitted, Mr Wyman is doing something for the claimant which he cannot do for himself: he is monitoring his mental state so as to avoid if possible a relapse or deterioration. He is doing it, no doubt, principally through their weekly meetings; but also by means of the arrangements for contact (or the renewal of contact) with the two counselling groups, and with the befriender. It is to be noted that care and attention within the subsection is not limited to acts done by the local authority’s employees or agents. And I have already made it clear that the subsection does not envisage any particular intensity of support in order to constitute care and attention.
I acknowledge that the question is to some extent a matter of impression; and also that the claimant must show that the local authority’s determination was not open to a reasonable decision-maker . . But in my judgment that test is met. The support provided by the local authority to the claimant qualifies as care and attention.’
Laws, Richards, Rimer LJJ
[2011] EWCA Civ 954, [2011] HLR 48, (2011) 14 CCL Rep 601, [2012] 1 All ER 935, [2012] BLGR 137, [2012] PTSR 574
England and Wales
Appeal from – SL, Regina (on The Application of) v City of Westminster Council Admn 15-Nov-2010
Application for permission to seek judicial review of a decision in a letter from the Council’s solicitor, to refuse to accommodate the claimant pursuant to duties under section 21(1)(a) of the National Assistance Act 1948.
Held: The claim . .
Appeal from – SL v Westminster City Council SC 9-May-2013
The applicant for assistance from the respondent Council under the 1948 Act was a destitute, homeless failed asylum seeker. He had been admitted to hospital for psychiatric care, but the Council had maintained that his condition was part of and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 17 September 2022; Ref: scu.442693
[1850] EngR 703, (1850) 15 QB 775, (1850) 117 ER 651
England and Wales
Updated: 17 September 2022; Ref: scu.298050
[1863] EngR 474, (1863) 3 B and S 793, (1863) 122 ER 297
England and Wales
Updated: 17 September 2022; Ref: scu.283129
Appeal against refusal of judicial review of compulsory purchase order.
[2001] EWCA Civ 723
England and Wales
Updated: 17 September 2022; Ref: scu.218191
Wilson JK
[2004] EWHC 435 (Admin)
National Assistance Act 1948 22(1) 22(2)
England and Wales
Updated: 16 September 2022; Ref: scu.194909
A claim was made against a local education authority for the negligence of a taxi firm employed by the authority to drive children to and from school.
Held: The claim failed. The authority had no statutory duty to transport children, but only to arrange and pay for it.
Lord Denning MR said that the authority was not liable for an independent contractor ‘except he delegates to the contractor the very duty which he himself has to fulfil’.
Lord Denning MR
(1980) 79 LGR 28
England and Wales
Cited – Woodland v Essex County Council SC 23-Oct-2013
The claimant had been seriously injured in an accident during a swimming lesson. She sought to claim against the local authority, and now appealed against a finding that it was not responsible, having contracted out the provision of swimming . .
Cited – Armes v Nottinghamshire County Council SC 18-Oct-2017
The claimant had been abused as a child by foster parents with whom she had been placed by the respondent authority. The court was now asked, the Council not having been negligent, were they in any event liable having a non-delegable duty of care . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 16 September 2022; Ref: scu.645790
The court was asked whether local authorities are vicariously liable for torts committed by foster parents against children placed with them while in care.
Held: The claim was rejected. The critical question was whether the foster parents were acting as the agents of the local authority. The statutory scheme was ‘entirely inconsistent with the notion that the foster parents are in any way the agents of the local authority in carrying out their duties’. Vicarious liability was generally confined to particular legal relationships, such as employment and agency.
Oliver LJ, Balcombe LJ
[1985] 1 WLR 1150
England and Wales
Cited – Armes v Nottinghamshire County Council SC 18-Oct-2017
The claimant had been abused as a child by foster parents with whom she had been placed by the respondent authority. The court was now asked, the Council not having been negligent, were they in any event liable having a non-delegable duty of care . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 16 September 2022; Ref: scu.645792
Claim for judicial review of the Defendant local authority’s refusal to exercise its discretion to treat the Claimant as if she were a ‘former relevant child’ within the meaning of section 23C of the Children Act 1989 (‘the 1989 Act’). The Claimant is now an adult. The practical effect of the Defendant’s refusal to treat her as if she were a ‘former relevant child’ is that she does not have access to the continuing support, which lasts well into adulthood, that she would have received if she had been cared for by the Defendant prior to her 18th birthday.
Deputy Judge Mathew Gullick
[2019] EWHC 3351 (Admin)
England and Wales
Updated: 16 September 2022; Ref: scu.645832
Renewed application for permission to appeal
[2015] EWCA Civ 1162
England and Wales
Updated: 16 September 2022; Ref: scu.558042
Langstaff J
[2011] EWHC 1975 (Admin)
Updated: 16 September 2022; Ref: scu.442195
Damages claim for sex abuse whilst in care home.
Lord Justice Chadwick Lord Justice Latham Sir Swinton Thomas
[2004] EWCA Civ 1747
England and Wales
Updated: 16 September 2022; Ref: scu.220528
Claim for judicial review of a decision of the defendant local authority to refuse to provide accommodation and support to the claimants, together with their parents, under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.
Leggatt J
[2013] EWHC 1205 (Admin)
England and Wales
Updated: 15 September 2022; Ref: scu.509137