The High Court has held in (Riki Shasha and others) v. Westminster CC [2016] EWHC 3283 (Admin) that local government officers granting planning permission under delegated authority are required to give reasons for their decisions. The decision is based on the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014, made under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.
This is despite the fact that the requirement to give reasons for a grant of planning permission which was at one stage imposed under amendments to the GPDO 1995 from 2003 was consciously repealed in 2013 as part of the red tape challenge and the current Development Management Procedure Order 2015 contains no such requirement.
The decision will have inevitable implications for decision making by local planning authorities where officers are acting under delegated powers. Meyric will therefore be holding a breakfast briefing on the topic in Chambers in the near future.
Meyric Lewis appeared in Shasha for Westminster City Council instructed by Shahnaz Zaidi.