James Goudie KC « Local Government Law

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This blog is maintained for information purposes only. It is not intended to be a source of legal advice and must not be relied upon as such. Blog posts reflect the views and opinions of their individual authors, not of chambers as a whole.

CONSULTATION

July 14th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Decision making and Contracts

R ( BUJ ) v BROMLEY LBC ( 2026 ) EWCA Civ 888 holds that the Council was under a COMMON LAW DUTY TO CONSULT (1) the users of an adult education centre and ( 2 ) their carers ( a small group of identifiable persons ) before deciding to close it. This was based on fairness, rationality and legitimate expectation.

CLIMATE CHANGE

July 13th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Planning and Environmental

A Climate Change Committee Report, published on 8 July 2026, provides advice on what the Seventh Carbon Budget means at local level. It highlights action that local authorities can take in order to support the delivery of the 2050 NET ZERO TARGET.

POWER OF ENTRY

July 10th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Land, Goods and Services

When an acquiring authority seeks to exercise its POWER OF ENTRY FOR SURVEY under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to enter land at a “ reasonable time “, its NOTICE (1) has to be given to every owner or occupier, (2) does not run with the land, and (3) has to include DETAILS OF WHAT IS PROPOSED with such PRECISION as is reasonable and practicable, explaining (i) what is proposed to be done, (ii) where, and (3) when. So held in BARSTOW v GREEN GENERATION ENERGY ( 2026 ) EWHC 1698 ( Admin ).

CONTRACTUAL PAYMENTS

July 7th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Decision making and Contracts

Section 70 of the Procurement Act 2023 requires “ contracting authorities “ to publish information about significant payments under “ public contracts “. The first publication window has begun, on 1 July 2026, with a deadline for PUBLISHING the FIRST SET OF CONTRACT PAYMENT INFORMATION being 29 July 2026. Contracting authorities must publish information, unless exempt, about PAYMENTS OF MORE THAN £30,000 inc VAT, MADE UNDER PUBLIC CONTRACTS FOR PROCUREMENTS COMMENCED UNDER THE ACT FROM 1 April 2026.

JUDICIAL REVIEW

July 2nd, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Judicial Control, Liability and Litigation

The Judgment of Fordham J in R (EXR) v SSHD (2026) EWHC 1568 (Admin) contains a passage as follows:-

“The rubric of judicial review

Decisions of public authorities must be lawful, in a public law sense. That means – in broad terms – that they must be legal, reasonable and fair. To decide whether they are, the judicial review Court applies objective legal standards. Legality is really concerned with two things: whether the public authority has performed its substantive legal duties; and whether it has made correct conclusions on questions of Fairness is concerned with the legal legitimacy of the public authority’s decision-making process. Reasonableness asks whether an outcome of a decision was beyond the range of responses open to the public authority; and whether the reasoning process involved any recognisable public law error of approach. Sometimes there are nuances and overlaps. There is a species of public law error which involves a material error of an established fact, but nobody says that is relevant to the present case. There is a species of public law error which involves a decision as to a factual question whose lawfulness depends on its correctness, which is highly relevant to the present case.

ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION REGULATIONS 2004 ( EIR )

July 1st, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Planning and Environmental

The EIR impose a duty to make available environmental information that a public authority “ holds 2. In INFORMATION COMMISSIONER v O’HANLON (2026) EWCA Civ 838 the Court of Appeal holds that the date for determining what information is held is when the authority receives the request for information.

SUBSIDY CONTROL

June 30th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Capital Finance and Companies

WEIS v GREATER MANCHESTER COMBINED AUTHORITY ( 2026 ) EWCA Civ 825 concerns a challenge under the SUBSIDY CONTROL ACT 2022 to £120 million of loans given by the Authority It is held that there was no “ subsidy decision “ within the meaning of the Act.

PROCUREMENT OF CONTRACTS

June 30th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Decision making and Contracts

PPN 024, issued in June 2026, concerns the PUBLIC INTEREST TEST and INSOURCING STRATEGY. The Guidance does not apply to local authorities, BUT they are encouraged to consider the approach as GOOD PRACTICE. The test should be considered before starting relevant service projects. This includes re-procurements which may result in a public contract under the Procurement Act 2023.

ASSETS OF COMMUNITY VALUE

June 26th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Land, Goods and Services

HILL v SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE DC ( 2026 ) UKFTT 942 ( GRC ) deals with the question of entitlement to payment of COMPENSATION under Regulation 14 of the Assets of Community Value ( England ) Regulations 2012.

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