‘The Court of Appeal (Underhill LJ, with whom Dingemans and Edis LJJ agreed) has rejected the proposition that, where a public authority voluntarily seeks the views of an interested party at the formative stage of “sufficiently crystallised” proposal affecting a group’s rights, such a process necessarily constitutes a formal consultation to which common law standards of fairness (i.e. the Gunning requirements) apply. This is a significant decision which affects public authorities’ ability to freely seek views on their policy proposals without necessarily being subject to certain public law obligations.’
Administrative Court Blog, 3rd May 2025
