Call: 2011

Vivienne Sedgley

  • assiduous and thorough

    Legal 500 (2022)
  • A standout junior

    Legal 500 (2021)
  • Conscientious, calm under pressure and someone with excellent client relation skills.

    Chambers and Partners (2023)
  • Excellent judgement

    Legal 500 (2021)
  • A persuasive advocate, bright, knowledgeable and a team player

    Legal 500 (2021)
  • A remarkable junior whose star is in the ascendant.

    Chambers and Partners (2023)
  • produces work at lightning speed

    Chambers and Partners (2022)
  • calm and composed

    Chambers and Partners (2022)
  • an outstanding junior in election law

    Legal 500 (2022)
  • Hard working, responsive, good client manner

    Legal 500 (2021)
  • Her written work is of very good quality

    Chambers and Partners (2022)
  • excellent advocacy

    Legal 500 (2022)
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Practice Summary

“A remarkable junior whose star is in the ascendant”, Vivienne has a wide-ranging public law practice.

She is ranked in the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners as a leading junior for administrative and public, election, local government, and planning law.

The directories describe her as “outstanding”, “excellent judgement”, a “persuasive advocate” who “produces work at lightning speed”.

She is a published author in her practice areas, writing for Supperstone, Goudie and Walker: Judicial Review and Parker’s Law and Conduct of Elections.

She is known for her approachability and clear written advice, particularly in tricky areas of law.

Vivienne is well versed in the workings of public bodies, having extensive in-house experience (e.g. local authorities, government departments and the House of Commons) and knowledge of associated issues concerning access to information under the Freedom of Information and Data Protection Acts.

She writes for one of the leading legal commentaries: Supperstone, Goudie and Walker: Judicial Review.

She acts for claimants, defendants and interested parties. She has experience of judicial review in a wide range of contexts. Her work includes matters as varied as:

  • Green energy schemes, including Government subsidies and local authority powers;

  • Commercial disputes concerning public authorities, including concurrent civil and judicial review claims;

  • Public health matters including covid-19 restrictions;

  • Procurement;

  • State aid/subsidy controls;

  • Planning;

  • Challenges to tribunals;

  • Professional regulation;

  • Consultation disputes;

  • Advising Parliamentary Committees and MPs.

She is often called upon to provide swift advice in urgent matters and did so frequently during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Recent cases include:

  • F v Lord Chancellor: Legal aid decision-making;

  • A v Cabinet Office: Covid-19 secondary legislation;

  • G v Ofgem: Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentives;

  • B v DWP: Social security assessments and the Equality Act 2010.

Vivienne is an election law specialist. She is Assistant Editor to Richard Price OBE KC for one of the leading election law commentaries: Parker’s Law and Conduct of Elections. She has acted and advised in a variety of urgent, sensitive and high-profile matters. Her recent instructions include varied matters such as:

  • Emergency ‘on call’ advice on election days;

  • Election expenses at party and candidate levels;

  • Criminal offences and relief;

  • Access to the full electoral register;

  • Electoral registration;

  • Disqualification from office;

  • Donations;

  • General election campaign expenditure;

  • Terms of office;

  • Third party campaigning;

  • Validity of votes;

  • Referendums, including on local government and council tax;

  • Political party disputes and disciplinary action;

Recent cases include:

  • R (Democracy Newham Limited) v London Borough of Newham [2021] EWHC 150 (Admin) concerning the effects of Covid-19 legislation;

  • X v X: Application for relief from criminal offences concerning election expenditure;

  • R v D: Injunction following disciplinary action by a political party.

Vivienne works extensively in local authority matters, for both claimants and defendants.

She well understands the pressures and challenges facing local government, having worked extensively in-house and as a consultant for specialist local government solicitors.

Her work includes matters as varied as heraldry, flag-flying and cemeteries. She is often called upon to advise on decision-making reports and claims for judicial or statutory review. Her recent instructions include:

  • Churchyards, cemeteries and exclusive rights of burial;

  • Code of conduct investigations;

  • Council tax reduction schemes;

  • Public health matters including covid-19 restrictions;

  • Education, including property acquisitions and disposals, exclusions and special educational needs;

  • Community care, mental capacity and mental health;

  • Highways;

  • Development agreements

  • Strategic housing issues and the right to buy;

  • Food safety;

  • Procurement;

  • Joint working, including with NHS bodies;

  • State aid/subsidy controls;

  • Licensing challenges;

  • Cemeteries, churchyards and burial rights;

  • Planning, including local plans, section 106 agreements and enforcement;

  • Licensing of private hire vehicles and taxis;

  • Local government executive and non-executive decision-making;

  • Challenges to tribunals;

  • Combined authorities (including the first reported case - R (Derbyshire CC) v Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield Combined Authority [2016] EWHC 3355);

  • Consultation disputes;

  • Public sector equality duty and equality impact assessments.

She often provides urgent and out of hours advice, and advised extensively on emergency powers and decision-making during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Recent cases include:

  • Re strategic re-development by a local authority: Challenge to a high profile and controversial London regeneration scheme and withdrawal from a development agreement.

  • Re X and a local authority: Local authority liability following serious misconduct by a councillor.

  • TVH v Leeds City Council: Clarification of the law regarding the listing of land of community value.

  • A v A local authority: Novel legal issue concerning highway powers and resulting liabilities for flooding.

  • L v A local authority: New points of law concerning selective licensing designations for housing;

Vivienne sits on the Planning and Environment Law Bar Association (PEBA) Committee and is ranked as a leading junior in planning law. She is experienced in high-profile and complex inquiries, judicial reviews and statutory reviews. She acts for claimants, defendants and interested parties.

Vivienne’s work includes:

  • Inquiry concerning a controversial 49.9MW solar farm over a 130 hectare site in the Green Belt;

  • Examination of a nationally significant infrastructure project valued at £55 million and one of the largest capacity proposed solar parks in the UK;

  • The refusal of a £250 million scheme for residential units and a football club, and the largest development proposal for the authority in the last 20 years);

  • Examination in Public of the London Plan;

  • Enforcement action;

  • Section 106 obligations;

  • Public sector equality duty and controversial ‘gentrification’ schemes;

  • Highways Act 1980, including varied matters such as the provision of amenities and drainage powers;

  • Compulsory purchase and associated rights to compensation;

  • Traffic regulation orders;

  • Pre-conditions for commencement of planning permission.

Recent cases include:

  • A local authority v K: Prosecution for a long-standing breach of an enforcement notice on commercial premises;

  • Re an authority: £multi-million regeneration project in Central London;

  • P v A Local authority: Challenge to a local plan.

She regularly writes articles and delivers talks on planning issues. Examples of her work include:

Vivienne is adept at dealing with all stages of professional disciplinary and regulatory proceedings, including challenges by way of judicial review. She acts for both regulators and registrants. She has previously acted as clerk to the Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service (which deals with the regulation of barristers).

She has considerable experience of tribunal proceedings at first instance, including hearings lasting several weeks, more than one hundred charges, cross-examination of multiple experts, high-profile cases involving associated criminal investigations, safeguarding investigations and/or media coverage, and sensitive cases, involving vulnerable witnesses, relationships between professionals and clients, and the deaths of patients.

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  1. The Government have made two key announcements with a view to supporting housing development: (1) The further relaxation of permitted development for the conversion of commercial, business and service uses to dwelling houses, from 5 March 2024. (2) An instruction for councils to prioritise brownfield developments, alongside a consultation open until 26 March 2024.

  2. Vivienne Sedgley and Simon Randle have put together the attached update "Highways in a climate crisis" following the R (Boswell) v (1) Secretary of State of Transport and (2) National Highways [2023] EWHC 1710 (Admin) case.

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