Jolyon and The Good Law Project are pushing for yet another judicial review of government business; this time arguing that the cash for the Levelling Up fund has been unfairly allocated towards Conservative constituencies, and claiming Rishi Sunak’s Richmondshire is being prioritised over more deprived areas like Barnsley. And so Jolyon’s next noble crusade begins…
When the funding plans were announced back in March, council areas were divided into three support categories, with Category 1 areas awarded an initial £125,000 and given support priority over Categories 2 and 3. The formula for allocating the grants was, Rishi said, “based on an index of economic need, which is transparently published by MHCLG and based on a bunch of objective measures.”
Jolyon and his learned friends allege that Rishi’s statement was “inaccurate” – bold talk given Jolyon’s own habit of making “factually incorrect” claims nowadays – and have now been granted a two-day hearing into whether the case merits a full judicial review. The judge who granted the hearing said:
“The grounds are arguable, subject to the observation that the existence of a free-standing principle of a duty of transparency (or good administration) upon which a judicial review challenge can be founded is at best debatable…
However, it is appropriate for the issues about transparency to be explored at the substantive hearing along with the other grounds.”
It is obvious to anyone with half a brain that Jolyon’s lawfare efforts are often merely politics by another means. Perhaps he should go into politics rather than the courts?
