Council rejects challenges over decision to take Government to court over reorganisation
Suffolk County Council has rejected four opposition challenges to how it decided to pursue legal action against the Government over local government reorganisation (LGR), but has declined to publish its reasoning or comment further on the decision.
Why it matters: The council is pursuing a judicial review against the Government that is expected to cost up to £500,000. Opposition councillors from across the political spectrum have questioned how the decision to launch and continue that legal action was taken – but say they have been barred from sharing the council's response to their concerns.
The details: Between 27 June and 1 July, councillors from opposition groups lodged four formal challenges – known as 'call-ins' – under the council's constitution, questioning decisions taken on 18 and 29 June to issue and then continue judicial review proceedings.
- Sources say the council's monitoring officer has rejected these challenges, with 26 pages of reasoning deemed confidential and withheld from the public.
- It is also understood that the monitoring officer is set to present a Section 5A report to cabinet members. Such reports are reserved for cases where the monitoring officer believes a council proposal, decision or omission is, or is likely to be, illegal.
- Asked directly, Suffolk County Council declined to say whether the call-ins had been rejected, whether a Section 5A report was due, or whether it had done anything wrong.
Oliver Rouane-Williams
What they're saying: Cllr Richard Rout, leader of the Suffolk Conservative Group, which tabled some of the challenges, said the decision to keep the response confidential was "frankly disgraceful". He said: "We don't think that this decision was made properly and that's why we tabled our challenges, but the council have barred me from sharing what's in the report. It's just secrecy after secrecy – we're having to force and lever information out of this administration."
Cllr Andrew Stringer, leader of the Green Group, said: "It's disappointing that [the Reform administration] does not seem to be welcoming of scrutiny; it is worrying that this stuff is getting locked down so tight. In local government, we are supposed to act as open and transparent as we possibly can, and I see no reason to keep it confidential."
Cllr Martin Cook, leader of the Labour Group, said: "Nobody can have any assurance that the decision was made completely lawfully while this report remains hidden."
Cllr Inga Lockington, leader of the Liberal Democrats, joined other opposition leaders in criticising how the administration had handled the issue.
A council spokesperson said: "Our monitoring officer has already sent a detailed response on this matter, and we do not plan to comment further."
Timeline:
- 18 June: Cllr Michael Hadwen, the council's Reform leader, authorised the start of legal proceedings against the Government.
- 29 June: The decision was made formal by cabinet, which agreed to continue with legal proceedings. The decision was recorded as "urgent" and therefore not subject to call-in.
- 27 June – 1 July: Opposition councillors lodged four formal challenges to how the 18 and 29 June decisions were taken.
- 1 July: The council acknowledged "a significant volume of correspondence from a number of elected members" and said a response would follow "during the course of next week".
- 10 July: No response had been received by this deadline.
- 27 July: The Conservative Group Leader sent a further letter, asking for a response, or at least a timetable, by the end of that week.
- 3 August: A detailed response from the monitoring officer was received, which the council has determined is confidential.
The other side: Opposition groups have called on the council to publish the monitoring officer's response by the end of this week, with anything "genuinely privileged" removed. The council has not commented on this call, or on the criticism from opposition leaders.
The bottom line: Suffolk County Council has rejected opposition challenges to its decision to take the Government to court over reorganisation, but its reasoning remains confidential – a position opposition leaders across the political spectrum have criticised, and one the council has declined to explain further.
Don't forget: If you enjoy our content, please add Ipswich.co.uk as a "preferred source" on Google so you can easily find more of the content you value.
This article cost us ~£34 to produce
It's free for you to read thanks to the generous support of our partners. Please support us by supporting them.
Below the line