A former councillor supported by the National Secular Society challenged the council in court over the Christian prayers which had been held traditionally since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

[1] The High Court of England and Wales held that there was no legal authority for councils to pray at their meetings as it was not specifically mentioned in the Local Government Act 1972 as not being "conducive or incidental to, the discharge of any of their functions".

Pickles asserted that the power would permit councils to pray at their meetings, and therefore overturned the court's judgment within a week.

[7] During introduction, he called the 2011 court judgement “an aggressive and unwelcome secular attack on our British values”.

Observers noted that the act had the effect of returning the law to the perceived status quo ante before 2011 but afforded protection against similar legal challenges.