The High Court has rejected a judicial review of the UK Statistics Authority's decision in 2020 to align the Retail Prices Index with the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) in the calculation of inflation from 2030. The claimants in the judicial review were the trustees of five large pension funds which had invested heavily in RPI-linked gilts aimed at matching their RPI-linked pension liabilities. The impact of the Authority’s change would, from 2030, adversely impact their investment returns.

The High Court rejected the challenge. The Judge found that the Authority had the statutory power to make a change to the RPI – it had power to change the coverage and calculation of the Index. Moreover there was a consent mechanism for fundamental changes to the index which had been correctly followed. It had not been mistaken in making its decision solely based on statistics. Taking into account wider policy issues or the interests of particular groups, such as the impact on pensions or pension funds, would undermine the independence and objectivity with which the Authority was required to discharge its statutory functions, and there were no statutory requirements for wider consultation. The Court found that the Chancellor had accepted advice that there were no grounds to offer compensation to gilt holders and had decided in principle not to make any such payments. There was no basis for saying that that decision was irrational or flawed by any error of law.