Background
The first post on Law & Religion UK addressed the successful challenge of the National Secular Society, (NSS), and Mr Clive Bone, a former Bideford town councillor, to the inclusion of ‘Prayers’ as the first substantive item of business at full meetings of the Council, National Secular Society & Anor, R (on the application of) v Bideford Town Council [2012] EWHC 175 (Admin) (10 February 2012).
This held that that saying prayers as part of the formal
agenda of a council meeting was unlawful, since S111 of the Local Government Act 1972 did not authorize it, and there was no other statutory power permitting prayers. The ruling turned purely on statutory powers; the court did not find a human‑rights breach.
Although Bideford Council was granted leave to appeal, this was overtaken by events as the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles fast-tracked section 1 of the Localism Act 2011 to give local (and parish councils from April 2012) “power to do anything that individuals generally may do”, in an attempt to restore their ability to hold “Council Prayers” following the High Court ruling. However, this did not apply to Wales, nor to smaller parish councils or certain single‑purpose authorities.
There remained legal uncertainty about whether the general power covered prayers, and the Local Government (Religious etc. Observances) Act 2015 was introduced specifically to remove all doubt and to provide a clear statutory basis. The Act fully reversed the effect of the Bideford ruling and councils in England and Wales may: include prayers or other observances as part of the formal agenda; choose the form of observance (e.g. Christian, multi‑faith, or non‑religious reflective observance); and allow councillors to opt out without disadvantage (a practice encouraged but not mandated). The Act does not require councils to have prayers; it simply permits them.
As we observed at the time, the initial action taken by the NSS appeared to be an example of “be very careful what you wish for”, (although at the time we suggested “that in practice relatively little would change as a consequence of the new Act, but equally, future legal action along the lines of Bideford seemed unlikely).
Recent Events
The opinions of Local Authorities to “Council Prayers” have changed since events at Bideford, and last year the NSS observed that Reform councillors imposed prayers on Derbyshire County Council after the party had taken control of the Council. More recently in Kent County Council (KCC), on 12 May 2026 Local Government Lawyer reported that the County Council’s monitoring officer had warned she may have to issue a section 5 report after members voted to debate a constitutional amendment that would see the Lord’s Prayer livestreamed during full council meetings.
A report by monitoring officer Petra Der Man had indicated that prayers could lawfully be held either off camera at the start or end of meetings, or in a separate room for those wishing to participate. However, Kent County Council, controlled by Reform UK, passed a motion to begin meetings with the Lord’s Prayer and the national anthem, both to be livestreamed. The move followed a committee decision to put the issue to all 81 councillors, and an amendment allowed the prayer to be broadcast despite earlier legal warnings.
Maybe ‘Reform’ councils should sing Onward Christian Soldiers, followed by Rule Britannia?
Notwithstanding the claim by the then SofS, the argument that the General Power of Competence permits prayers is a ludicrous and unsustainable one. It fundamentatlly confuses the local authority as a body corporate and the body of councillors who direct it. The General Power of Competence gives power to the council as a body corporate, not to the meeting of councillors at which the council’s actions are decided.
For instance, an individual could jump up and down, but if the councillors at the annual council meeting were to jump up and down, that would not be the council jumping up and down.
The General Power of Competence argument also fails because an individual generally does not have any power to summon a meeting of the local authority, and to address it.