The Court of Appeal has handed down its much anticipated judgment in Aubrey Weis v Greater Manchester Combined Authority [2026] EWCA Civ 825. The proceedings concern whether £120 million of loans given by Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), under the leadership of Andy Burnham, to SPVs owned and controlled by a well-known Manchester developer (Mr Darren Whitacker) constituted an unlawful subsidy under the Act and/or were contrary to the GMCA’s public law duties.
Weis is first case in which the Court of Appeal has considered the nature and extent of the legal duties imposed on public authorities under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (the Act) and the nature of the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (CAT) jurisdiction when determining cases in which public authorities deny that the financial assistance they have provided constitutes a “subsidy” within the meaning of the Act (i.e. subsidy/no subsidy cases).
In an important judgment, with significant implications for future public law litigation related to subsidy/no subsidy cases, the Court of Appeal has:
1. reversed a significant number of the conclusions of the CAT, and substantially upheld Mr Weis’s claims that GMCA’s decision-making process related to the loans was vitiated by material breaches of public law duty; but
2. held that Mr Weis’s appeal should nonetheless be dismissed because: (i) it was a matter for the CAT to objectively determine whether the loans were “subsidies” within the meaning of the Act, (ii) the CAT had objectively concluded in terms that could not be impeached that they were not, and (iii) it followed that the CAT had no jurisdiction in respect of Mr Weis’s other public law grounds of claim.
The CAT also made significant observations regarding the relevance of EU law to the construction of the Act, and the admissibility of expert evidence in subsidy/no subsidy cases.
The case has significant implications for the conduct of all future legal law challenges to subsidy/no subsidy decisions.
Joseph Barrett KC, leading counsel for Mr Weis, will consider the key lessons that emerge from the judgment for those who advise upon and litigate subsidy control and related public law issues.
If you would like a recording of this webinar please email: AdminRoom@11kbw.com
