MC -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department (anonymity order)
Case No: CO/2515/2022
In the High Court of Justice
Queen’s Bench Division
Administrative Court
13 July 2022
Before
The Honourable Mrs Justice May
Between
The Queen on the application of MC
-v-
Secretary of State for the Home Department
On the Claimant’s application for urgent interim relief
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant and the Defendant
Order by the Honourable Mrs Justice May
1. Until further Order:
(a) pursuant to CPR 39.2(4), the anonymity of the Claimant and any child of the Claimant is protected and the Claimant shall be referred to as “MC”;
(b) pursuant to CPR5.4C, no person may obtain a copy of any document from the Court records without permission of the Court unless the Claimant’s solicitors have first had the opportunity to remove details which could lead to her identification.
2. Pending consideration of permission to claim judicial review or further order the Defendant is directed within 7 days to:
(1) provide MC with self-catering accommodation in Bradford under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999;
(2) provide MC with additional support payments of £3 per week under regulation 10A of the Asylum Support Regulations 2000;
3. Either party may apply to the court to vary or discharge any part of this Order upon giving at least 24 hours notice to the court and to the other party.
4. Costs reserved.
Observations
The Claimant is 35 weeks pregnant with her first child and her asylum claim is pending. Her present accommodation (a full-board hotel) is plainly unsuitable for a new mother, since bathroom facilities are meagre and kitchen facilities are non-existent. Under the SSHD’s own policy she ought to have been considered as a priority for dispersal accommodation and she ought also to have received additional payments yet requests, reminders and a pre-action protocol letter to the Defendant have been met with no response.