Audit Commission v Ealing LBC [2005] EWCA Civ 556

The Audit Commission has the power under legislation to rate the performance of local authorities and categorised Ealing’s performance as “weak”.

Ealing sought judicial review on the grounds that the Audit Commission had acted unlawfully by adopting a rule which automatically downgraded a local authority which had received a zero rating from another statutory body, the Commission for Social Care Inspection (“CSCI”), in respect of its social services performance.

It had thereby refused to apply its own mind to the reasons why CSCI gave that star rating and whether those reasons warranted downgrading.