BXW -v- London Borough of Lambeth (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtCivilHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Case number: AC-2024-LON-004147

In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court

In the matter of an application for judicial review

10 February 2025

Before:

His Honour Judge Antony Dunne
sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge

Between:

The King
on the application of
BXW

-v-

London Borough of Lambeth

Order

Notification of the Judge’s decision on the application for permission to apply for judicial review (CPR 54.11, 54.12)

Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant. No acknowledgement of service has been lodged by the Defendant

ORDER by His Honour Judge Antony Dunne sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge

  1. The application for permission to apply for judicial review is granted in relation to grounds 1 and 2
  2. The application for permission to apply for judicial review is refused in relation to ground 3.
  3. The application is to be listed for 3 hours the parties to provide a written time estimate within 7 days of service of this order if they disagree with this direction.

Anonymity

  1. Pursuant to CPR 39.2(4) and/or the Court’s inherent jurisdiction and/or
    s. 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998:

the Claimant’s name is to be withheld from the public and must not be disclosed in any proceedings in public; and

the Claimant is to be referred to orally and in writing as BXW .

  1. Pursuant to s. 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, there must be no publication of the identity of the Claimant or of any matter likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant in any report of, or otherwise in connection with, these proceedings.
  2. Any person wishing to vary or discharge this Order must make an application, served on each party.

Reasons

Grounds 1 and 2

  1. It appears that the only written Housing Needs Assessment and Personalised Housing Plan which purports to comply with section 189A Housing 1996 was completed on 29th April 2021. The Claimant’s circumstances and housing needs have changed since then and it is arguable a review is required.

Ground 3

  1. The Claimant complains that the temporary accommodation offered to her in Lewisham is unsuitable as it is (a) outside Lambeth; (b) puts her at risk (c) was too small as it is only one bedroom; and (d) was unsuitable because it is on the second floor and she has a one year old child.
  2. I have considered the submissions made in the statement of grounds and the contents of the Defendant’s review letter of 21st October 2024. The Defendant’s review letter addresses each of the Claimant’s complaints about suitability and, in my view, reaches rational conclusions in relation to each of them. In reaching this conclusion I have also considered the independent review dated 4th October 2024 commissioned by the defendant of accommodation offered to the Claimant in Bexleyheath. That review also concluded that a one bedroom property outside of Lambeth was suitable for the Claimant, albeit that it found the property unsuitable because the address was known to the Claimant’s abusive ex-partner.
  3. In addition, as conceded by the Claimant, she has an alternative remedy to challenge the suitability of her accommodation in that she can pursue a statutory review and appeal. I am not satisfied that the Claimant’s challenge to the suitability her accommodation is so closely connected to the judicial review of her housing needs assessment and personalised housing plan that the usual review and appeals route should be displaced by judicial review.
  4. For the above reasons ground 3 is neither arguable nor appropriate.

Case Management Directions

  1. The Defendant and any other person served with the Claim Form who wishes to contest the claim or support it on additional grounds shall, within 35 days of the date of service of this Order, file and serve (a) Detailed Grounds for contesting the claim or supporting it on additional grounds, and (b) any written evidence that is to be relied on. For the avoidance of doubt, a party who has filed and served Summary Grounds pursuant to CPR 54.8 may comply with (a) above by filing and serving a document which states that those Summary Grounds shall stand as the Detailed Grounds required by CPR 54.14.
  2. Any application by the Claimant to serve evidence in reply shall be filed and served within 21 days of the date on which the Defendant serves evidence pursuant to 1(b) above.
  3. The parties shall agree the contents of the hearing bundle and must file it with the Court not less than 4 weeks before the date of the hearing of the judicial review. An electronic version of the bundle shall be prepared and lodged in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The parties shall, if requested by the Court lodge 2 hard-copy versions of the hearing bundle.
  4. The Claimant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument not less than 21 days before the date of the hearing of the judicial review.
  5. The Defendant and any Interested Party must file and serve a Skeleton Argument not less than 21 days before the date of the hearing of the judicial review.
  6. The parties shall agree the contents of a bundle containing the authorities to be referred to at the hearing. An electronic version of the bundle shall be prepared in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The parties shall if requested by the Court, prepare a hard-copy version of the authorities bundle. The electronic version of the bundle and if requested, the hard copy version of the bundle, shall be lodged with the Court not less than [3] days before the date of the hearing of the judicial review.
  7. If permission has been granted on some grounds but refused on others, the Claimant may request that the decision to refuse permission be reconsidered at a hearing by filing and serving a completed Form 86B within 7 days after the date this order is served on the Claimant. The reconsideration hearing will be fixed in due course. However, if all parties agree and time estimates for substantive hearing allow, the reconsideration hearing may take place immediately before the substantive hearing. The Administrative Court Office must be notified within 21 days of the service and filing of Form 86B if the parties agree to this course.

Signed: HHJ Antony Dunne