R v Secretary of State for Education, ex parte Avon County Council (No 2)
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 24 May 1990 |
| Date | 24 May 1990 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
Court of Appeal
Before Lord Justice Mustill, Lord Justice Ralph Gibson and Lord Justice Nicholls
Judicial review - educational policy
An application for judicial review based upon a local education authority's differences of opinion on education policy with the Secretary of State for Education and Science was misconceived.
The Court of Appeal so held in giving reasons for dismissing on May 15 an application by Avon County Council for judicial review of decisions by the secretary of state which rejected proposals for the reorganisation of secondary education in Bath and instead approved the acquisition by Beechen Cliff boys school of grant maintained status under the Education Reform Act 1988.
Miss Elizabeth Appleby, QC and Mr Richard McManus for Avon; Mr John Laws and Miss Presiley Baxendale for the secretary of state; Mr William Hunter for the governors of Beechen Cliff school.
LORD JUSTICE RALPH GIBSON said that the application was being heard by the court at first instance and not on appeal.
On August 17, 1989 the minister rejected proposals made by Avon for reorganisation of secondary education in Bath and in effect approved grant maintained status for Beechen Cliff school. The proposals then rejected were the same as those now under challenge.
Avon applied for judicial review of that decision and Mr Justice Hutchison quashed the decision (The Times, March 13). The minister reconsidered the proposals and on March 30 gave reasons for reaching the same conclusion.
Avon were granted leave to apply for judicial review of the new decision by Mr Justice Kennedy but he refused to make a direction that the grant of leave should operate as a stay upon the implementation of the proposals for Beechen Cliff school.
The importance of the stay was that the application for judicial review could not be heard by a Divisional Court before June and if it were successful problems would then arise with reference to the undoing of the steps which would have been taken in making Beechen Cliff a grant maintained school.
Avon therefore appealed against the refusal of the stay and that was heard on April 11. The court ordered that it had jurisdiction to grant a stay but determined that a stay should not be granted (The Times, May 29).
The court directed that the hearing of the substantive application for judicial review should be reserved to the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
MacDonald v Carnbroe Estates Ltd
...526 Cay's Tr v Cay 1998 SC 780; 1999 SLT 321; 1998 SCLR 456 Charnley Davies Ltd (No 2) (Re) [1990] BCC 605; [1990] BCLC 760; Financial Times, 15 June 1990 Farrell v Alexander [1977] AC 59; [1976] 3 WLR 145; [1976] 2 All ER 721; 32 P & CR 292; 120 SJ 451 Glencairn (Earl of) v Birsbane (1677)......