Southampton given go-ahead for fluoridation
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- Published: Monday, 20 June 2011 12:41
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| A High Court judge has rejected a final appeal against the decision not to allow a judicial review of claims that the Strategic Health Authority failed to properly assess arguments against the proposals before giving them their unanimous backing. Campaigners have admitted they have reached the ‘end of the road’ in their legal bid to stop fluoridation in Southampton. |
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South Central Strategic Health Authority (SHA) has now finally been given the all-clear to move ahead with the scheme, which will affect nearly 200,000 people. The authority has said that the chemical could be added to the water supplies within several months.
It is more than two years since the SHA’s 12-strong board voted to approve the scheme, despite overwhelming opposition from residents during a public consultation. The plans had to be put on hold until after an earlier court ruling in favour of the SHA in February.
It faces a race against time to ensure the scheme is up and running, with the Government planning to axe all strategic health authorities by next spring as part of its sweeping reforms of the NHS. Powers over the fluoridation scheme will then fall to Southampton City and Hampshire County councils, although the Department for Health says it is not yet known what process they would have to go through to reverse the decision.
Judge Sir Henry Brooke is the fourth judge to reject the application for a judicial review. He said he believed the authority had gone far enough in assessing submissions, because the sheer weight of responses made it impossible for it to conduct detailed evaluation of every single argument.
He said: “It was engaged in a colossal consultation process. It did a significantly prescriptive job in analysing responses and in obtaining scientific evidence on these matters. In my judgement it would not be appropriate to grant permission for a judicial review.”
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