At the coalface of EIR: investigative journalists win Whitehaven mine case

Rarely has a decision provoked so much ire as the last government’s approval of a new coal mine in Whitehaven in Cumbria. And not just from the usual green suspects: lesser-known eco-warriors the CBI thought it was a terrible idea, as did poor old Alok Sharma (remember him?), a member of the self-same government – perhaps because it fell to him to defend this lunacy to a sceptical world, while hosting the COP 26 climate change summit in Glasgow in 2021.

The decision was, inevitably, challenged in court, and one of the judicial review claimants sought disclosure of the ministerial submission – a briefing from civil servants to Secretary of State prior to the approval decision. Disclosure was refused in the litigation – an important part of the context in this EIR case, about a request for the same information.

The FTT has now granted the appeal against the Commissioner’s decision that the submission could be withheld under reg. 12(4)(e) EIR (Amin v IC [2025] UKFTT 221 (GRC)).

The FTT found that the balance of the public interest favoured disclosure, in light of the controversy over the project [91] and in particular the fact that it is not known publicly whether officials recommended approval or refusal [92].

There are no radical developments of the law to be seen here, but the case is of interest (1) for its subject matter (which rumbles on – the approval for the mine was quashed, applying the landmark Supreme Court decision in Finch, and the next step is awaited), and (2) because it marks a first victory for an initiative being run by Lucas Amin and Peter Geoghegan, both of Democracy for Sale, to use FOIA and EIR more systematically and effectively as a tool of investigative journalism. Look out for more Amin appeals…

11KBW’s Peter Lockley appeared, pro-bono, for Lucas Amin.

Ben Mitchell