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More councils look set to take on the Government in court, as the controversy over local government reorganisation continues. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) is already facing a judicial review from Shrewsbury and Atcham BC, together with Congleton and Harrogate BCs. The executive at Devon CC voted last night (Tuesday) to go ahead with a legal challenge against the Government's decision to give unitary status to Exeter City Council. Durham City Council is now taking legal advice on the Government's decision to grant unitary status to Durham CC and Exeter City Council, respectively. Devon CC decided there were sufficient grounds to mount a credible case for a judicial review of whether the Government's process for handling, evaluating and consulting on the recent unitary proposals has been fair. They also want to examine the rationale for Hazel Blears' decision to give Exeter City Council unitary status. 'By the Government's own admission, Exeter City Council's bid has failed to meet the test of affordability,' said council leader Brian Greenslade. 'By the end of July, the city council had been given plenty of time to prove its figures could add up. That should have been the end of the matter, and to end the disruption and distraction this bid has caused. 'But the Government has now suddenly added a third stage to the process to give the city council yet more time to prove its case. 'That is clearly wrong and further evidence that this process is flawed and lacks real objective rigour.' Durham City Council leader, Fraser Reynolds, said the Government ‘has treated our residents with such contempt' by ignoring local feeling against a county-wide unitary. ‘I have asked the chief executive, Brian Spears, to seek legal advice on behalf of the council, on the grounds that this decision to go ahead with a super council was predetermined, and that's why public opinion was not taken into account,' added Cllr Reynolds. Stephen Cirell, local government sector leader at law firm Eversheds, said: ‘It is possible the new challenges will be on different grounds from the first, raising the spectre that the DCLG will have to fight more than one case on the same reorganisation process in parallel. ‘If the grounds are the same, then the cases may be be joined together, although this would undoubtedly mean that the date for hearing the Shrewsbury action would be put back from September to a later date. ‘Either way, the uncertainty of the whole process is likely to continue for some time to come, and that will affect future planning.' A DCLG spokesman said: ‘All decisions were made on merit against strict published criteria, taking relevant polls into account. It is completely untrue to claim that any decision was predetermined. ‘Exeter's proposals met our five tough tests, including affordability. We have asked it for further work and information by September to demonstrate conclusively that its financial case will achieve the desired outcomes.'

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WHITEHALL

DCLG faces legal double whammy

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