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Press Round-Up: Regulatory and Professional Discipline – August and September 2025
Imogen Roberts
1. AI battles
Hardly a day goes by without Artificial Intelligence dominating the headlines. Much ink has been spilled about the deployment of AI and algorithmic decision-making tools by the state. As programmes continue to be rolled out, it seems inevitable that some will start to be rolled back as a result of legal challenges. Concerns have already been raised about tools being used in immigration investigations and decision-making, the criminal justice system, and the welfare system.
2. The great Inquiry debate
Public Inquiries, and calls for more of them, were a prominent part of the news cycle throughout 2024. They were also the focus of a Lords Committee report in the autumn of last year. There is little doubt that the subject matters of inquiries merit serious concern but there are worries about costs, delays and impact. Expect continued debate throughout the year about whether new Public Inquiries should be established, what form they should take, and opportunities for reform. Kingsley Napley’s public law team helped to get that debate started in 2025 with a January event chaired by Joshua Rozenberg.
3. Education, education, education
Challenges to the Government’s decision to levy VAT on independent school fees are up and running. Kingsley Napley are advising the Independent Schools Council in respect of their challenge. The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 is due to come into force this year, with the issue of commencement itself being the subject of judicial review. The Act places new duties on higher education providers to secure freedom of speech, with litigation in this controversial area likely.
4. The end of infrastructure judicial reviews?
It seems that every government takes aim at judicial review in some way or another. In his first full year, Sir Keir is gunning for judicial reviews of infrastructure programmes. There are some extraordinary statistics about the time and money spent on HS2 and the government’s view is that legal challenges are in part to blame for such issues. Any attempt to ouster judicial review is tricky and controversial. At this stage it appears that the reform will avoid the controversies of an ouster clause and focus on streamlining procedure.
5. Environmental challenges
The new Government’s green credentials are likely to come under increasing scrutiny, particularly following the controversial decision to back a third runway at Heathrow. Further litigation will no doubt emerge in this developing area of law, particularly in the light of the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision on the relevance of downstream emissions to planning applications.
6. The candid civil servant
Recommendations for a wider duty of candour on public bodies were made in the Bishop James Jones report on the Hillsborough disaster and by the Infected Blood Inquiry. With reference to these, Grenfell, and the Post Office Horizon scandals, Keir Starmer announced that he would be introducing a ‘Hillsborough law’, placing public servants under a duty of candour. They would have a legal responsibility to tell the truth, or face criminal sanctions. A duty of candour already exists in the context of judicial review proceedings. The detail of a more wide-ranging duty is still being considered and it could lead to legal challenges for non-compliance.
Further information
If you have any questions regarding this blog, please contact Fred Allen in our Public Law team.
About the author
Fred Allen is a senior associate with more than 10 years of legal experience. He works within the Public Law Department and International Crime Group. His clients have included businesses, regulators, trade associations, religious institutions, schools, education providers, charities, and private clients including high net worth individuals, and senior political and business figures.
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