Peter Oldham KC and Jen Coyne appeared for the local authority in R (B) v Neath Port Talbot CBC on 12th March 2019 in which the Court rejected the Claimant’s renewed oral application for permission to apply for judicial review. The Claimant argued that the Council’s decision to close Cymer Afan Comprehensive School was taken in breach of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. The Council argued that the Act imposed general duties not giving a right to an individual to claim judicial review in the event of a breach allegedly affecting him or her; but that, if that was wrong, the Council had complied with its duties in any event. The Court found that, assuming in the Claimant’s favour that the she was entitled to bring a judicial review claim enforcing provisions of the Act in these circumstances, the Council had indeed complied with its obligations under the Act, and therefore refused the application for permission.
