It is a well-established principle of law that a public body will owe an individual a private law duty of care if the negligent exercise of its powers makes an existing situation worse.

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The statement is true. This was first outlined in East Suffolk Rivers Catchment Board v Kent [1941] where it was considered whether a public body owes a common law duty of care to an individual harmed by its negligent actions where it has been given a public law power to act, but not a public law duty to do so. In fact, it is this distinction (between powers and duties) that still leads to many of the judicial problems with finding the liability of a public body today. In East Suffolk, the House of Lords determined that no private law duty would be owed to a claimant in respect of the negligent exercise of a power, unless that action made the claimant worse off than they were before. See also Capital and Counties plc v Hampshire County Council [1997].

It Is a Well-Established Principle of Law That a Public