Overview

The High Court has decided that the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG) acted unlawfully in abolishing Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS) in July this year.

Cala Homes had challenged the Secretary of State’s earlier decision on the grounds that primary legislation was required to enable CLG to take such a decision - and that in any event the lack of any strategic environmental assessment made any decision to revoke the RSS structure unlawful.

The court agreed with Cala’s arguments and confirmed that the Secretary of State could not rely on his interpretation of existing legislation in the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 in support of his decision to revoke the RSS framework.

However early reaction suggests that despite the decision, there will be a limited window of opportunity for developers to rely on the temporary reinstatement of the RSS framework - as this speed-briefing from Shoosmiths explains.