Leicestershire County Council v Transco Plc

On 4 November 2003, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in Leicestershire County Council v. Transco. Javan Herberg represented the gas utility company Transco plc in this test case involving a highway authority’s right to charge a daily penalty for late completion of street works (under s.74 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991) when, although the works have ended, no “end notice” has been submitted as required by the statutory scheme. Many claims by local authorities against utilities throughout the country, running into many millions of pounds, have been awaiting the outcome of the case.
The Court of Appeal (Lord Phillips MR, Kennedy and Jacob LJJ) allowed Transco’s appeal on both the preliminary issues of law before it. It held that the deeming provisions under the relevant regulations had no application to ordinary end notices, and that in any event, utilities are entitled to rebut any presumption that the works only finish when the end notice is served.

This ruling will have significant implications for local authorities and utilities performing street works throughout the UK and for the operation of the road charging regime, which has recently been considered by the House of Commons Transport Committee (HC 407, 25 June 2003).