Barnet swaps QC to secure early Court of Appeal date for outsourcing challenge

Barnet Council has hired a new QC so that the Court of Appeal can hold an expedited hearing into the legal challenge to the authority’s decision to award Capita a £320m contract to run back office services.

The appointment of Dinah Rose QC to take over from fellow Blackstone Chambers tenant Monica Carss-Frisk QC, who appeared for Barnet in the High Court, means the high-profile case can be heard in mid-July rather than the provisional dates of 7/8 October.

In April, Lord Justice Underhill rejected the claim brought by Maria Nash, a disabled local resident.

He refused permission to apply for judicial review in respect of all three grounds of challenge argued on Ms Nash’s behalf.

The judge concluded that the application was out of time – the proceedings were brought 18 months after they should have been – and that he was not prepared to extend time.

Lord Justice Underhill said it would be contrary to all principles of good administration for that basis now to be put in doubt.

However, the judge added that if the application had been made in time, he would have held that the council had not complied with the consultation obligations under s. 3(2) of the Local Government Act 1999 in respect of decisions taken in 2010/11 to outsource the back office services and, separately, development and regulatory services.

Lord Justice Underhill said it did not necessarily follow that he would necessarily have quashed those decisions.

Cllr Richard Cornelius, Leader of Barnet Council, welcomed news of the July trial date.

He said: “We’ve been keen from the outset to get the appeal hearing expedited. The provisional date in October, which was not made public by the courts, was the earliest date that could be accommodated by both legal teams and the court.

"We want to minimise the costs to the taxpayer that a delayed hearing would have brought. The provisional date in October was not in any way satisfactory. By being as flexible as possible and getting a new QC we’ve been able to bring about a hearing date three months earlier.”

Cllr Cornelius added: “I am confident that this process will confirm the council’s successful approach.”

Barnet insisted that the contract with Capita would save £125m over ten years and see an up front £8m investment in improved customer service.

See also: Unleashing localism in procurement – it’s really best value by Mark Cook

One of a kind by Claire Booth

Best value revisited by Nicholas Dobson