Pickles in court proceedings to enforce direction on council newspaper publishing

The Communities Secretary has issued court proceedings seeking enforcement of his direction that the Royal Borough of Greenwich publishes its newspaper no more than four times a year.

In a statement Local Government Minister Kris Hopkins said: “It is disappointing that Greenwich Council has refused to comply with our direction to stop the weekly publication of its municipal newspaper.

“Consequently, the Secretary of State has initiated proceedings in the High Court against the council to enforce that direction.”

The Royal Borough announced last week that it planned to bring judicial review proceedings after Eric Pickles served the direction over the frequency of Greenwich Time.

The council said its legal advice had suggested it had a “strong case”. It also claimed that using an alternative to Greenwich Time would place a considerably higher financial burden at a time when budgets have been slashed due to cuts from central government.