Hammond v Secretary of State for the Environment (No.1) (1997) 74 P. & C.R. 134

Baroness Cumberiege of Newick v SSCLG [2017] EWHC 2057 (Admin) – Appeal outstanding

para 154: “There is no principle that the Secretary of State should be taken to be cognisant of all the decisions taken in his name. There is equally no principle that the Secretary of State is to be taken to be cognisant merely of all his own decisions and no requirement that he should be. Given that one reason why the Secretary of State may “recover” planning appeals in order to determine them himself is to introduce coherence and consistency in development control, however, avoiding apparent and unexplained inconsistencies in the Secretary of State’s own decisions on matters that may have ramifications for decision-making in other cases is an important consideration in determining what may required of him if he is not to act unreasonably.”