Dundee City Council has failed to contest a legal bid to overturn a decision to close Kemback Adult Resource Centre.
Lawyers acting for campaigners have launched a judicial review of the ruling to close the centre for adults with additional support needs.
The courts gave the council’s legal department three weeks to respond, but the deadline passed last week. The local authority’s lawyers will now have to petition a judge to request a late submission if they intend to defend their position.
Solicitor Sarah Smith of Thomsons, acting on behalf of Kemback Street Action Group, said: “The council had 21 days to lodge answers. The deadline was close of business on Thursday.
“They haven’t done that. This means they haven’t set out their case at all and they haven’t really given a reason for that.
“At the moment, they’re not engaging with the process.”
Chairman of Kemback Street Action Group George Stewart said: “To me, they can’t be coming from a position of strength, or they would have lodged answers.
“By ignoring the court, they’re taking a position of arrogance.”
The local authority’s lawyers have also refused to sign a legal document declaring that they will rerun a botched consultation.
On Monday politicians appointed an independent consultant to oversee a new survey of service users and their families. However, campaigners and their lawyer want to see the decision “set in stone”.
Sarah Smith said: “The current position is that the council has refused to sign the minute of undertaking.
“It may be their position that it is unnecessary for a minute of undertaking to be signed, but it’s completely standard. If they’re going to carry out a consultation, why not formalise it?
“The only reason for not signing it is if they thought they might breach it, which would put them in contempt of court.”
Mr Stewart urged the council to sign the legal agreement.
He said: “All the council did on Monday night was agree the details of a new consultation, and this independent consultant’s role is just to make sure the members of staff don’t display any further incompetence. That’s my interpretation.
“We would like them to sign a minute of undertaking because we don’t trust them one bit.
“We don’t know what they’re up to so we’d feel more comfortable if the new consultation was set in stone.”
A council spokesman said he could not comment on “ongoing court proceedings”, prompting Labour MSP Jenny Marra to suggest the SNP-led local authority is running scared.
She said: “It looks like the SNP are not confident that they have acted within the law on Kemback Street.
“If they were confident, they would have complied with the court process and lodged their answers by now.
“This court action is to protect the Kemback Street families and force the council to wake up to their responsibilities to listen to people. The SNP council has a moral, legal and democratic duty to consult people who their decisions affect.
“They have neglected this duty and seem now to be neglecting the legal process that will hopefully sort this mess out.”