Devon had 17 judicial reviews of its decisions last year

Devon County Council has been the subject of 17 judicial review challenges over decisions it has made in the past year, including in adult social care, planning, special educational needs and its communities department.

The number of challenges is in line with similar councils, according to Cllr Andrew Saywell (Conservative, Torrington Rural), cabinet member for organisational development, workforce and digital transformation.
The figures came to light in response to a question by Cllr Jess Bailey (Independent, Otter Valley), who told a full council meeting she would “prefer to be informed by this authority when judicial reviews occur rather than finding out about it [online]”.
One judicial review against the council related to its decision to enter into a so-called ‘safety valve’ agreement with the Department for Education (DfE).
This secured Devon £95 million over nine years to help eradicate a £163 million special educational needs and disabilities (Send) deficit, essentially involves the council ensuring the education service spends money more efficiently and that it pays cash to tackle its historic overspend.
In June, law firm Rook Irwin Sweeney was instructed on behalf of a child in Devon challenging the decision to enter the agreement.
The claimant’s concern was that reducing Devon’s Send overspend could negatively impact people who need the funding.
Judicial reviews assess the way in which decisions are made rather than whether the decision itself is right or wrong.
Cllr Bailey said she hoped the council was using the judicial review challenges as a “learning opportunity”.
She asked Cllr Saywell if he could produce a document for councillors “advising us what lessons have been learned from any judicial reviews in the past 12 months”.
Cllr Saywell said he would investigate, but noted the authority had to be careful about publishing details of judicial reviews because of issues such as data protection and whether the cases were live.
“But, most cases taken against us we win,” he added.