The Suffolk Conservative Group has today questioned the decision by the new Reform UK administration at Suffolk County Council to pursue a legal challenge against the Government’s decision on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Suffolk.
The Leader of the Suffolk Conservative Group, Cllr Richard Rout, has commented:
“This judicial review seems spurious at best, and hiding behind legal privilege is weak. Pre-action protocol letters are not privileged in the way that claim implies. They’re a formal, procedural step in contemplated litigation, not protected legal advice. The proof is next door in Essex, where the County Council published its pre-action letter in full, setting out six detailed legal grounds, the case law it relies on, and the specific failures it alleges.
“If Suffolk had a comparable case, there would be no reason not to do the same. Instead, residents are being asked to take it on trust that strong grounds exist, while the actual document, and any genuine scrutiny of whether the challenge has merit, is kept hidden behind a privilege claim that does not stand up. The natural inference is that there is little in the letter that would survive being read in daylight.
“We remain clear that the government made the wrong choice splitting Suffolk into three but throwing good money after bad, particularly when the public consultation seemed to favour three councils, is not the answer. Council staff warned us that there were likely no grounds for challenge prior to the election, and this bland statement seems to confirm that.”
The Conservative Group has previously added that, while it disagreed with the Government’s decision it believed that pursuing legal action was an irresponsible use of taxpayers’ money and risked diverting attention from the practical challenges of LGR in Suffolk.
