Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Planning JR in England and Wales: High Court rejects disclosure of Ministerial Submissions; Tweed necessity test applied; CPR 54 PD disapplies CPR 31; decision letter and inspector’s report sufficient

Published on: 23 January 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Environment expert

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Article summary

Friends of the Earth Ltd v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and another [2023] EWHC 3255 (KB) What are the practical implications of this case?

This case supplies a concise restatement of the principles governing requests for specific disclosure in judicial review proceedings that challenge planning permission granted by the SoS, with particular emphasis on applications concerning Ministerial Submissions. It confirms the approach in earlier authorities and decisions: disclosure will be directed only where doing so would genuinely and materially aid the court in performing the task before it. The judge observed that there has been only one decided statutory planning matter in which disclosure of a Ministerial Submission was ordered—Ball v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2012] EWHC 3590 (Admin). In that instance, a claim of actual or apparent bias was advanced, necessitating careful scrutiny of materials said to evidence such bias. The judge further warned of a substantial risk that, were Ministerial Submissions routinely disclosed, proceedings would be diverted into an immaterial, expensive and time-consuming dispute within the litigation about the meaning and interpretation of such submissions in the context of judicial review of planning decisions, particularly in cases when...

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