London Councils says grants budget "still stands" despite JR blow

London Councils has insisted that the proposed budget for its grants scheme for 2011/12 “still stands” even though a High Court ruling this week means the group will have to re-run the consultation process over its planned cuts.

A London Councils spokeswoman said: “Following the result of the judicial review, the London Councils grants budget agreed by London borough leaders in December still stands.

“The judge found against the claimants on most of their grounds of challenge but has asked us to do further work on equalities in the context of the agreed budget. We are in the process of assessing the best way of taking this forward.”

Mr Justice Calvert-Smith declared that a decision by the leaders’ committee of London Councils on 14 December 2010 adopting a categorisation of currently commissioned services and deciding on the timing of proposed changes and transitional arrangements in respect of the scheme was unlawful.

London Councils had reached its decision without due regard to its statutory equalities duties under the Race Relations Act 1976, the Sex Discrimination Act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the judge said.

The group was ordered to undertake a lawful process of reconsideration, in accordance with these public sector equality duties and – if it comes into force during the reconsideration process – the replacement public sector equality duty under s.149 of the Equality Act 2010.

Louise Whitfield, associate solicitor at Pierce Glynn, solicitors to the claimants, said the judge’s ruling meant that the whole process must be re-run.

“London Councils has to re-think the whole thing and once that is concluded, give anyone who is losing their funding three months’ notice from that point,” she added.

The grants scheme’s budget for 2011/12, put forward by the leaders’ committee and approved by over two-thirds of boroughs, was set at £17.8m, down from £26m. The budget is also likely to fall substantially further for 2012/13.

London Councils is understood to be urgently analysing the time and cost of the extra work it will now have to undertake following the High Court ruling. The group hopes to fund this work as far as possible through the scheme’s 2010/11 and 2011/12 budgets as well as reserves.

Philip Hoult