FOI request (FOIR-263387937)

Freedom of Information Act 2000 (Act) Request

Costs incurred in Judicial Review Planning Cases - Financial Years 2014/2015 to 2018/2019

Costs incurred in Planning Appeals - Financial Years 2014/2015 to 2018/2019

I am undertaking a PhD at the University of Sussex under the supervision of Professors Lindsay Stirton and Donald Mcgillivray and shall be grateful if you will please supply the information sought in an Excel spreadsheet in accordance with the ruling of Lord Justice Longmore in the case of Innes v Information Commissioner [2014] EWCA Civ 1086 and S 11(1) of the Act.  In respect of the information sought regarding Judicial Review Planning cases, the parties to the claim should have submitted a costs schedule under CPR 9.5 (4) at Permission stage and again prior to the substantive hearing if the matter proceeded.  In such cases, the information sought may be easily identified either being set out in the costs schedule required for the court or being reflected in the Court Order.

The information sought is as follows:

1. All costs incurred by the Council in each financial year from 2014/2015 to 2018/2019 in either defending or bringing a claim for Judicial Review in respect of Planning cases including any external professional fees incurred.

For the purposes of this piece of research the definition of Planning cases means:

1. Defending the grant of Planning Permission;

2. Defending a challenge to the Local Plan;

3. Defending a decision regarding Planning Enforcement, eg serving a Breach of Condition Notice or a decision not to enforce;

4. Bringing a claim for Judicial Review against another public authority in respect of a Planning issue;

5. Defending Council decisions regarding Rights of Way;

6. Defending Council decisions regarding Town and Village Greens.

Please identify costs incurred by way of the categories listed above.  To the extent the information is available, please also provide internal costs incurred by the Council in respect of each case and please identify those costs separately from the legal costs incurred.

2. All costs incurred (including any external professional fees) incurred by the Council in each financial year from 2014/2015 to 2018/2019 in all Planning Appeals for those years, whether they were by Written Representations, Hearing or by Public Inquiry.  Please include information where a costs award was made by the Inspector together with the Planning Appeal reference and the year of the decision.