Cases

We challenged the Government to ensure that all children had the resources to learn online from home during the Covid-19 pandemic. While we did not achieve all we had hoped, we kept up pressure on the Education Secretary.

We challenged the Government to review its Clean Air Strategy – but we were denied permission to bring that challenge. But there’s a silver lining, as the judge left the door open for further challenges on the ‘precautionary principle’ on environmental hazards.

With noted environmentalist, Dale Vince, we have written to the Government to require that it reviews the Airports National Policy Statement – or face legal proceedings. The claim, if successful, will mean Heathrow Airport expansion will have to meet much tougher environmental standards to get the go-ahead.

The NHS commissions Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) to provide specialist assessment, consultation and care for children and young people to help reduce the distressing feelings of a mismatch between their assigned sex and their gender identity.

Together with EveryDoctor, we launched legal proceedings against the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) over the award of a PPE contract to a jeweller from Florida, who had no previous experience supplying PPE.

In April, Government announced that they supported the creation of the UK Rapid Test Consortium (UK-RTC). The idea was that the companies and institutions involved would create a rapid antibody test. On 2nd June, Government awarded a contract worth £10 million to Abingdon Health for the materials needed to produce the test. On 14th August, they handed Abingdon Health another contract worth a staggering £75 million.

Each week it seems another individual secures a role of vital public importance without any advertisement or fair process – and very often that individual has personal and political connections to Government.

The High Court has now ruled “The Secretary of State acted unlawfully by failing to comply with the Transparency Policy” and that “there is now no dispute that, in a substantial number of cases, the Secretary of State breached his legal obligation to publish Contract Award Notices within 30 days of the award of contracts.”

We have received hundreds of emails from devastated students, whose grades have been downgraded and who have lost their university places and job offers, lost funding and scholarships, and completely lost their faith that their Government will help.

The hearing is now over. We are now waiting for the judgment.

The High Court has now ruled Michael Gove broke the law by giving a contract to a communications agency run by long time associates of him and Dominic Cummings.

Frontline NHS staff and care workers are putting their lives at risk because of the Government’s failure to provide adequate PPE. Doctors are having to wear visors made by teenagers on 3D printers. Care workers are being told to share the same mask. A number of the protective gowns that the Government flew in from Turkey have been deemed unsafe for use and are now sat in a warehouse gathering dust.

Every child has the right to a suitable education: that is what the Education Act says. But the Government’s plan to continue education online during the coronavirus lockdown risks leaving a million children behind.

Victory at last. Following judicial review proceedings, issued by Good Law Project alongside noted environmentalists Dale Vince and George Monbiot, Government has confirmed in its Energy White Paper that it does concede the need to review the Energy National Policy Statement.