The original legal challenge was made by Solarcentury, Friends of the Earth and HomeSun, and the High Court ruled on 21 December that a Government proposal to cut payments for any solar scheme completed after 12 December 2011 – 11 days before an official consultation into the proposal had even closed – was unlawful. The Government’s appeal against the High Court decision was heard on 13 January and rejected today.
Jeremy Leggett, Chairman, Solarcentury said:
"A historic judgement has been made today, one that should be welcomed by the entire renewable energy industry. Renewables can only play the pivotal role necessary to deliver a new green economy, if we have a stable market and investor confidence backed by lawful, predictable and carefully considered policy. Today we have reminded Government that it will be held to account when it acts illegally and tries to push through unlawful policy changes. We would much prefer not to have taken this path but Ministers gave us no choice. Our hope now is that we can work together again to restore the thriving jobs rich solar sector that has been so badly undermined by Government actions since October."
