Planning Permission: Judicial Review
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Government's press release entitled Crackdown on baseless legal claims to get Britain building, published on 16 July 2026, what data the Department holds on the number of major housing developments delayed by judicial review proceedings in each of the last five years.
Answered by Ministry of Justice
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on judicial review cases in England and Wales as part of the Civil Justice statistics quarterly bulletin (Civil justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK). The consolidated figures for all judicial review cases since 2000 are available at the “Civil Justice and Judicial Review data (zip file)” link.
The existing dataset does not provide further breakdown of cases beyond significant planning court claims and other planning cases. It does not specifically identify major housing, transport and energy developments.
This is why the Ministry of Justice published the Judicial Review Reforms Beyond Nationally Significant Infrastructure consultation on 16 July 2026. The consultation sought evidence on the potential impact of legal challenges on the delivery of major infrastructure projects and other strategically important developments to inform the Government’s decision on further judicial review reforms.
The consultation closed on 27 August 2026. The Government is considering the responses received and will set out its position in due course.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →