On Tuesday 2 July 2026 the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in R (Gould & Jeffrey) v Devon County Council [2025] EWHC 96 (Admin), an important decision on service closures and rearrangements, and the legal requirements for ensuring such decisions are taken lawfully. The judgment will impact public authority decisions on service closures and rearrangements generally.
The specific issue in the case involved the framing of the officer’s report recommending the closure, and the considerations referred to in the report. In particular, it addressed whether and what statutory duties must be referred to in such reports.
The case concerned the closure of non-statutory drop-in centres in North Devon. The appeal alleged that a number of the Council’s wider statutory duties under the Care Act 2014, whilst not said to have been breached, had not been expressly referred to in the officer’s report, and so not taken into account in the Council’s decision-making.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding that the Council’s decision to close the service was lawful. Phillips LJ gave the leading judgment, with which Falk and Bean LJJ agreed. The Court of Appeal held that the Council had been under no legal obligation to refer to specific statutory obligations in the officer’s report.
In dismissing the appeal, the Court also noted that the appellant’s contentions, had they been correct: “would have profound and startling results for public bodies, requiring them in every case to have regard to a wide range of statutory duties which were (or were arguably) relevant in a broad sense although not identified in the governing statute.”
The judgment brings to an end litigation which included an urgent interim relief hearing in June 2024, a judicial review trial in October 2024, and a Court of Appeal hearing in March 2026.Jonathan Auburn KC and Oliver Jackson acted for the successful Council throughout. A copy of the Court of Appeal’s judgment is available here.
