Jonathan Lewis – Lexis®PSL – Specific proposals impacting rights needed to trigger consultation obligations (R (Eveleigh & Others) v Secretary of State for Work and Pension)

Public Law analysis: The claimants judicially reviewed the alleged failure of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (SSWP) to consult lawfully, by way of its UK Disability Survey (the ‘Survey’), before publishing a National Disability Strategy (the ‘Strategy’). The Court of Appeal unanimously reversed the decision of Mr Justice Griffiths in R (Binder and others) v SSWP , in finding that the Survey was not, at a common law, a ‘consultation’. This was because the SSWP was not seeking views on a specific proposal likely to have a direct impact on a person or on a defined group of people. The Court of Appeal therefore held that Griffiths J was wrong to decide that the Survey was subject to the Gunning requirements, wrong to hold that the SSWP had acted unlawfully and wrong to quash the Strategy. Written by Jonathan Lewis, barrister at Monckton Chambers.

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This article was first published by LexisNexis on 13 July 2023.