Application for judicial review of decision to reduce number of hours of home tuition for financial reasons; local authority obligations under Education Act 1993 ; retrogressive measure ; issue of resource allocations of local authority.
Tandy marked a judicial distancing from, the narrow approach to the unreasonableness/irrationality ground employed in evaluating government action, which had previously been dominant in resource allocation decisions of the British Courts. A similar distancing has been demonstrated by courts in other subsequent cases (i.e., R v North & East Devon HA, ex parte Coughlan [1999] Lloyds Rep Med 306 (CA) ; R v North West Lancashire HA, ex parte A, D & G [1999] Lloyds Rep Med 399 (CA) [get links] (although these cases were decided on different grounds to Tandy). (Source: Syrett below).
This case signaled a departure from the deferential approach to resource allocation decisions by the state adopted by the House of Lords in previous cases addressing the failure of health and local authorities to meet the needs of citizens in the context of reduced allocation of resources to those authorities from central government (e.g., R v Cambridge Health Authority ex parte B 1995 1 WLR:906; R. v Gloucestershire County Council ex parte Barry [1997] 2 All ER 1) [get links].
Michael Beloff QC Blackstone Chambers Blackstone House Temple London EC4Y 9BW Tel: 020 7583 1770 Email: clerks@blackstonechambers.com Tim Kerr QC, 11 King’s Bench Walk Chambers, 11 King’s Bench Walk, Temple, London, EC4Y 7EQ Tel: 020 7632 8500 Andrew Sharland 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square, Gray’s Inn, London WC1R 5AH DX 1029 LDE t 020 7404 5252 f 020 7242 7803 clerks@4-5.co.uk For the Education authority: Nigel Pleming QC 39 Essex Street London WC2R 3AT Tel: 020 7832 1111 Rabinder Singh QC Matrix Chambers Griffin Building, Gray’s Inn London WC1R 5LN United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)20 7404 3447 Fax: +44 (0)20 7404 3448 Email: matrix@matrixlaw.co.uk