ERD -v- London Borough of Hounslow (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim number: AC-2024-LON-004488

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

12 December 2025

Before:

The Hon Ms Justice Obi

Between:

The King on the application of
ERD

-v-

London Borough of Hounslow

and

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
(Interested party)

Order

On an application by the Claimant for anonymity, urgent consideration and interim relief

Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant

ORDER BY THE HON. MS JUSTICE OBI

  1. Anonymity
    (a) Pursuant to CPR 39.2(4) and/or the Court’s inherent jurisdiction and/or s. 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998:
    (i) the name of the claimant is to be withheld from the public and must not be disclosed in any proceedings in public; and
    (ii) the claimant is to be referred to orally and in writing as ERD.
    (b) Pursuant to s. 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, there must be no publication of the identity of the claimant (or her children). The Claimant’s application for an anonymity order is granted under s.11 Contempt of Court Act 1981 and CPR r.3.1(2). The Claimant and her children in this case shall have anonymity until further order. No report or publication of these proceedings shall directly or indirectly identify the Claimant (or her children) or of any matter likely to lead to their identification in any report of, or otherwise in connection with, these proceedings.
    (c) Pursuant to CPR 5.4C(4):
    (i) the parties must within 3 days file a redacted copy of any statement of case filed, omitting the name, address and any other information likely to lead to the identification of the claimant;
    (ii) if any statement of case subsequently filed includes information likely to lead to the identification of the claimant, a redacted copy omitting that information must be filed at the same time;
    (iii) unless the court grants permission under CPR 5.4C(6), no non-party many obtain a copy of any unredacted statement of case.
    (d) Any person wishing to vary or discharge this Order must make an application, served on each party.
  2. Urgent Oral Hearing
    (a) The Claimant’s application for interim relief is to be listed for an urgent oral hearing, during the week commencing 15 December 2025 and by no later than Friday 19 December 2025, with a time estimate of 2 hours including judgment.
    (b) The Defendant shall file any submissions/evidence in response to the application for interim relief within 48 hours of the date of this Order.
    (c) The parties shall file and exchange skeleton arguments by 10am on the day before the hearing referred to in paragraph 1.
  3. Liberty to apply: The parties have liberty to apply to vary or revoke these directions.

Reasons

  • The Claimant and her four children are currently living in temporary accommodation within the Defendant’s borough. The property is described as overcrowded and may not meet the Claimant’s assessed disability needs.
  • There are concerns about the welfare of the children, including a recent incident on 4–5 December 2025 when the eldest child was absent overnight. The Claimant asserts that this increases safeguarding risks.
  • The Interested Party has made two formal requests under section 27 of the Children Act 1989 for assistance, and pre-action correspondence has been sent to the Defendant. No substantive response has been received to date.
  • In light of these matters and given the potential impact on the Claimant and her children, the Court considers that the application for interim relief should be listed for urgent hearing during the week commencing 15 December 2025.
  • Anonymity is granted to protect the Claimant and her children from the risk of identification in circumstances where significant safety concerns have been raised