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Court of Appeal rejects government appeal over river basin management plans

The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court ruling that the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs acted unlawfully in approving a river basin management plan.

In Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs v Pickering Fishery Association, R (On the Application Of) & Anor [2025] EWCA Civ 378 (02 April 2025), Senior President of Tribunals Sir Keith Lindblom, Lord Justice Fraser and Lord Justice Holgate, unanimously dismissed the Government's appeal.  

The dispute centres around Upper Costa Beck, a water body in the district of Ryedale in North Yorkshire, which has in recent years been polluted by discharges from several sites along its length, causing a decline in its populations of fish.

The water body falls within the area covered by the Humber River Basin Management Plan ("the HRBMP").

The Plan was approved by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 14 December 2022 under reg.31(1) of the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017 No. 407) ("the WFDR 2017").

The WFDR 2017 transpose Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council "establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy", commonly referred to as "the Water Framework Directive" ("the WFD").

A local angling club, Pickering Fishery Association, and membership association Fish Legal successfully challenged the Government's plans in the High Court in December 2023 under the following four grounds:

  • That the Secretary of State erred in law by failing to discharge the duty in reg.12(6) of the WFDR 2017 to carry out a periodic review of the Programme of Measures in the River Basin Management Plan ("RBMP")
  • That the Secretary of State’s approval of the river basin management plan was wrong in law because the document submitted for her to approve did not comply with regs. 3 and 12
  • That the Secretary of State breached reg.16(7) by failing to carry out a lawful review of the implementation of the measures set out under reg.16(6)(b)
  • That the Secretary of State failed to carry out lawful consultation.

However, the Secretary of State went on to appeal the ruling.

The Court of Appeal ultimately dismissed the appeal after reaching the following conclusions:

  1. To comply with the WFD and the WFDR 2017 a Programme of Measures drawn up under regs.12 and 13 must identify a programme or scheme of actions for each water body in order to achieve the EOs [Environmental Objectives] for that body within the relevant deadline.
  2. Where the Environmental Agency and the Secretary of State rely upon generic provisions in a Programme of Measures, such as national legislation or policy, as a basis for identifying the measures for a water body, they must set out in the Programme of Measures measure(s) or action(s) for each water body to achieve its EOs which follow from an application of those provisions to that body.
  3. So long as a Programme of Measures shows the measure(s) or action(s) programmed for each water body in order to attain its EOs within the relevant deadline, the level of detail to include in the Programme of Measures is a matter of judgment for the Environment Agency and the Secretary of State, subject to a legal challenge solely on Wednesbury principles.

Fish Legal claimed that the ruling would have significant implications for River Basin Management Plans across the country.

Penelope Gane, Head of Practice at Fish Legal, said: “It’s a day of mixed emotions. We are obviously delighted for the Pickering Fishery Association. This win is validation for them in their fight to bring back fish to the Costa Beck.  But we’re also angry that a small angling club, after two decades of trying to get the authorities to act, has had to go to court to force the Government and its agencies to do their job in regulating polluting industries.”

She added: “This Government came to power promising to clean up rivers, lakes and seas. They could have dropped this appeal, but instead they have dragged out the legal process, wasting time and taxpayer money trying to defend continued inaction to restore not only the Costa Beck, but rivers nationwide.”

Nicholas Ostrowski of Six Pump Court, who appeared for the Office for Environmental Protection and made written submissions, said: “Given the current, heightened, interest in the pollution of watercourses across the UK this decision is a welcome clarification of the obligations on the Secretary of State and the Environment Agency to improve water quality.”

Adam Carey