Purpose

The purpose of this report is to
update Cabinet of the legal and financial implications and the
options available to the Council in relation to the Judicial Review
claim being brought by the 4Cs Academy Trust. 

Decision

On the proposition of Councillor
Qayyum, seconded by Councillor Cole, Cabinet RESOLVED
unanimously that officers should
be instructed to seek a stay of the judicial review proceedings and
seek to settle the judicial review proceedings. 

 

The Leader briefly summed up the
reasons for pursuing this option. Those reasons, which Cabinet
unanimously endorsed, were: 

 

1.    
It would reduce the costs of
preparing for a contested hearing and the risk that the Council
will be ordered to pay the Academy Trust’s costs if their
claim is successful.  

 

2.    
Win or lose, the costs of a
contested hearing would effectively be paid for from public
money. 

 

3.    
The Academy Trust has indicated
that it may agree a lease of Area C, with a 15m wide space on three
sides to allow people to walk around the fenced
area.  

 

4.    
Recognising that there was a risk
that any settlement terms might be challenged,  weighing up the impact on users of the land
for public recreation and the need for children to be able to
safely use the school playing fields, Cabinet  wanted officers to seek to negotiate a
settlement with the Academy Trust that would allow a lease to be
agreed that had a strip of land around it that could remain for
public recreational use.  

 

A full report can be found
below.