On Friday 24 January 2025 the Administrative Court handed down judgment in R (Gould & Jeffrey) v Devon County Council [2025] EWHC 96 (Admin), an important decision on mandatory considerations for public bodies when making decisions on the closure or rearrangement of services. The judgment will impact on public authority decisions on service closures and rearrangements generally.
The case concerned the closure of non-statutory drop-in centres in North Devon. The challenge alleged that a number of the Council’s wider statutory duties and policies, whilst not said to have been breached, had not been expressly taken into account in the Council’s decision-making.
Eyre J found that the Council’s decision to close the service was lawful. The Council had been under no legal obligation to have regard to specific duties under the Care Act 2014 and other statutory provisions. The Judge carefully reviewed the correct approach to when such wider statutory duties and policies constituted mandatory considerations in decision-making, clarifying the law in this area. The claim was dismissed.
Jonathan Auburn KC and Oliver Jackson acted for Devon County Council throughout, at both interim and substantive hearings. A copy of the judgment is available here.
