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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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Ineos Upstream Limited and another v The Lord Advocate [2018] CSOH 66 Why is this decision significant? This ruling matters because it tackles a highly charged issue: the development of unconventional oil and gas ( UOG), including hydraulic fracturing (fracking), and the competence of a devolved government, namely the Scottish government, to control that activity. It interests planning practitioners as it clarifies the reach of planning law and policy, and it is relevant to constitutional lawyers as it confirms that courts determine the legal consequences of governmental steps, regardless of how ministers characterise them. It also records an acknowledgement by the Scottish ministers that public statements heralding a fracking ban did not accurately represent the legal reality. What did the court decide? Lord Pentland, sitting in the Outer House of the Court of Session, refused Ineos Upstream Limited’s petition for judicial review. Ineos contended that the...
R (on the application of Tate) v Northumberland County Council [2018] EWCA Civ 1519 What are the practical implications of this case? It is unsurprising that the court adhered to the established law on material considerations and the consistent duty to give reasons. Where no explanation is offered for departing from a previous, comparable decision, decision-making can become erratic, causing real prejudice to members of the public affected by the grant of planning permission as well as to objectors. In such contexts, reasons are essential to preserve confidence in the development control regime. This judgment is a further reminder that decision-makers must provide sufficient reasons on the principal issues in planning determinations, so it is clear that the decisive questions have been confronted and resolved and, accordingly, that proper regard has been paid to material...
DLA Delivery Ltd v Baroness Cumberlege of Newick and another [2018] EWCA Civ 1305 What are the practical implications of this case? The judgment confirms that the Secretary of State must consider relevant rulings issued after an inquiry has closed, even where those rulings are neither relied upon in further submissions to him nor specifically flagged by the parties. Accordingly, appellants and respondents alike should monitor any analogous determinations handed down while their appeal is pending so they can calibrate expectations. The ruling further underlines that the Secretary of State cannot depend on the litigants to identify pertinent authorities; the responsibility rests with him to apprise himself of them. The Court of Appeal also reaffirmed that, if the Secretary of State proposes to adopt a different stance and reach a different outcome on like issues to earlier decisions at the appeal stage, he must give...
The full text of the Interim Report is available here. The Town and Country Planning Association ( TCPA) has asked for feedback on the Interim Report’s findings before the final report is published... What is the background to the Interim Report? The Raynsford Review of Planning (the Review), chaired by former planning minister Nick Raynsford, is an independent initiative established by the TCPA in 2017. It seeks to determine how government could reform the English planning system so it is fairer, better resourced and capable of delivering quality outcomes, whilst still promoting the creation of new homes. The Review was not commissioned by government; accordingly, its conclusions will not be binding. Nevertheless, the task force—comprising academics, politicians, policy makers and consultants—has been gathering evidence and engaging with stakeholders over an 18‑month period starting in June 2017. As a result, the final report, due in late 2018, is...
Clin v Walter Lilly & Co Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 490, 177 Con LR 1 What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling shows that a construction contract may carry an implied term requiring the employer to pursue planning approvals. Yet it is unlikely to amount to an unqualified duty to secure those approvals, given the inherent unpredictability surrounding approvals. In real terms, a curtailed duty on the employer to ‘use all due diligence’ to obtain approvals may leave the contractor absorbing the fallout—typically extra expense and exposure to delay damages—if a local authority behaves unreasonably. The safer course is to stipulate in the contract, in express terms, who bears responsibility for planning approvals, the scope of that responsibility, and the ramifications if approvals are not forthcoming. What was the background? Walter Lilly was engaged by Mr Clin to undertake demolition,...
Original news R (on the application of Bishop) v Westminster Council [2017] EWHC 3102 ( Admin) What is the significance of the decision for authorities and developers? This ruling stands as a clear caution to developers and local planning authorities ( LPAs) to strictly observe the procedural rules governing planning applications. The court condemned the developer for recklessly submitting the wrong ownership certificate and other errors on the application form, which together were misleading and deprived an interested party of the chance to make representations on the proposal. Beyond placing any planning permission obtained through misleading statements at risk of being set aside, it is a criminal offence to issue an ownership certificate that you know is false or misleading, or to do so recklessly. Sound practice is to carry out a Land Registry search of the site before lodging an...
Original news Bohm and others v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2017] EWHC 3217 ( Admin) What is the significance of the decision for decision-makers and developers? The ruling offers helpful guidance on the NPPF’s heritage provisions, which should be approached as a coherent whole and applied in a practical, purposive way, rather than read piecemeal. It draws a clear line between NDHAs, which lack statutory protection, and designated heritage assets, which benefit from it. NDHAs fall under paragraph 135 of the NPPF, requiring the application to be examined in its entirety, with a balanced judgement reached by the decision maker, based on the proposal’s overall merits. The NPPF does not prescribe the mechanics of that exercise, nor the weight to be attached to any given consideration, allowing professional judgement too. The correct methodology is that, where an NDHA...
Oates v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2017] EWHC 2716 ( Admin) What is the significance of the decision for authorities and developers? This ruling examines when those taking decisions should treat an enforcement notice as void, instead of relying on the power in section 176(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 ( TCPA 1990) to put right a flaw in a notice. The court confirmed that the obiter remarks in Miller- Mead v MHLG [1963] 2 QB 196, viewed in a fair and objective way, signify that where a contravention of TCPA 1990, s 173(1) and (3) is made out—namely, the enforcement notice fails to identify the alleged breach of planning control and the steps the addressee must take to cure it—then nullity must follow. By contrast, where the deficiency does not amount to such a clear...
Original news Mansell v Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council [2017] EWCA Civ 1314 What is the significance of the decision for authorities and developers? This ruling offers a clear restatement of how a fallback scheme should be treated as a material consideration in planning decisions. The Court of Appeal underlined that courts should shun rigid or mechanistic tests and remember the breadth for a lawful exercise of planning judgment by the decision-maker. Because fallback scenarios depend heavily on their particular facts, the application of planning judgment is paramount. In this instance, there was no legal misdirection in giving weight to the fallback available under permitted development rights. The Court of Appeal also affirmed the High Court’s view that, for the purposes of Class Q in Part 3 of Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning ( General Permitted Development) ( England) Order 2015, SI...
What crisis is the UK currently facing in terms of housing? Anyone paying even minimal attention recognises the shortage of truly affordable homes. Aspiring first-time buyers struggle ever more to step onto the property ladder, rents continue to rocket, and homelessness is climbing. Earlier in 2017, trade union campaigners and community figures issued an open letter demanding more social housing and condemning the ‘severe harm’ caused by ‘precarious, unaffordable, substandard’ homes. They sensibly stressed that building genuinely affordable dwellings is essential, and that this hinges on sustained government funding and resolve. In May 2017, Inside Housing reported that fewer than half of Right to Buy replacements qualify as social housing. Inside Housing further noted that Sheffield Hallam University, for the Consortium of Associations in the South East, warned that government proposals to cap housing benefit at Local Housing Allowance levels would exclude 84% of young...
Original news Dean v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [2017] EWHC 1998 ( Admin); [2017] All ER ( D) 72 ( Aug). The Planning Court concluded that the grant of a PEDL under section 3 of the Petroleum Act 1998 ( PA 1998) was not entirely constrained by the statutory licensing code, so the Secretary of State could agree to alter the licence terms. Consequently, it rejected the claimant’s case that the deed varying the licence was ultra vires, and dismissed his application for judicial review. What was the background to the case? In 2008 the defendant issued a PEDL conferring exclusive rights on the licensees to search, drill for and recover hydrocarbons within a defined geographic area. The licence period was split into three stages: a stage for the licensee to undertake the agreed works programme of seismic and...
Original news Brexit must not trade away environmental protections, Committee warns, LNB News 04/01/2017 90 The Environmental Audit Committee has cautioned ministers that safeguards for the environment must not be diluted during the UK’s exit from the EU or thereafter, and urges the introduction of a new Environmental Protection Act alongside Article 50 TEU talks to preserve the UK’s high environmental benchmarks. Such legislation would limit the danger of ‘zombie legislation’—that is, EU-derived rules carried into domestic law but left unrefreshed, vulnerable to being whittled away via statutory instruments with scant parliamentary oversight. What prompted the Committee to issue this report? Titled ‘ The Future of the Natural Environment after the EU Referendum’, it forms part of a suite of inquiries by the Committee into the real‑world consequences for UK environmental policy once we leave the EU. This work follows an earlier...
Original news New Dawn Homes Ltd v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2016] EWHC 3314 ( Admin) What is the significance of the decision for authorities and developers? Here, the outcome rested on the facts and the precise language of the local plan policy. The judgment serves as a useful prompt about how far the explanatory text within local plan policies may assist in construing the policies themselves. A plan's supporting text comprises the reasoned justification and any descriptive or explanatory material for a policy. While that material is pertinent to interpreting the related policy, it is not a policy, nor part of one; it lacks policy force and cannot override policy. It neither creates new policy nor forms any part of the binding policy wording. Its role is interpretative only and cannot be used to trump policy....
The UK remains the global frontrunner in offshore wind, with 5GW already operating and a goal of 10GW of installed capacity by 2020. The scale of schemes is growing steadily, helping to capture significant economies of scale. For example, in February 2016 DONG Energy announced plans to proceed with construction of the 1.2GW Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm, set to become the world’s largest offshore wind farm (and expected to use Siemens 7MW turbines). The UK’s referendum decision to leave the EU has sent shockwaves through political and investment communities. Regarding offshore wind, ministers rapidly signalled after the vote their intention to maintain investment in clean energy, including offshore wind. For instance, on 29 June 2016 Amber Rudd, then Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, stressed the ongoing intention to bring forward more offshore wind, subject to further cost...
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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