August 4, 2026

MIL -v- Cambridgeshire County Council (anonymity order)

Administrative Court High Court King's Bench Division Anonymity Order

Case number: AC-2026-LON-000943

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

In the matter of an application for judicial review

3 August 2026

Before:

Anneli Howard KC,
sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge

Between:

The King
on the application of
MIL
(a child, by his litigation friend, MLB)
(Claimant)

-v-

Cambridgeshire County Council
(Defendant)

Order

Notification of Judge’s Decision (CPR 54.11, 54.12)

Following consideration of the documents filed by the Claimant, the Defendant’s Acknowledgement of Service and Summary Grounds of Defence and the Claimant’s Reply

ORDER BY ANNELI HOWARD KC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge)

Permission to apply for judicial review: Permission is granted on all grounds.
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 Claimant’s name and that of his litigation friend 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 MIL and his litigation friend as MLB.

(b) Pursuant to s. 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, there must be no publication of the identity of the Claimant and/or his litigation friend or of any matter likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant and/or his litigation friend in any report of, or otherwise in connection with, these proceedings.

(i) the parties must within 7 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 and/or his litigation friend;

(ii) if any statement of case subsequently filed includes information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant and/or his litigation friend, 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.

Expedition: The hearing of the claim is expedited. The hearing is to be listed on/no later than 30 October 2026.
Abridged Case Management Directions:

(a) The Defendant must, within 28 days of the date of service of this Order, file and serve (i) Detailed Grounds for contesting the claim or supporting it on additional grounds and (ii) any written evidence to be relied on.

(b) Any Reply and responsive evidence from the Claimant (CPR 54.8A) must be filed and served by within 14 days of the date on which the Defendant serves evidence pursuant to (a) above.

(c) The parties must agree the contents of the hearing bundle. An electronic version of the bundle must be prepared and lodged, in accordance with the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide Chapter 21 and the Guidance on the Administrative Court website, not less than 21 days before the date of the substantive hearing. The parties must, if requested by the Court, lodge 2 hard- copy versions of the hearing bundle.

(d) The Claimant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument (maximum 25 pages), complying with CPR 54 PD para. 15 and the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide paras 20.1 to 20.3, not less than 14 days before the date of the substantive hearing.

(e) The Defendant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument (maximum 25 pages), complying with CPR 54 PD para. 15 and the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide paras 20.1 to 20.3, not less than 7 days before the date of the substantive hearing.

(f) The parties must agree the contents of a bundle containing the authorities to be referred to at the hearing. An electronic version of the bundle must be prepared in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The parties must, 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, must be lodged with the Court not less than 7 days before the date of the substantive hearing.

(g) The time estimate for the substantive hearing is ½ day. If either party considers that this time estimate should be varied or that extensions are needed for any of the above deadlines over the summer vacation, they must inform the court as soon as possible and seek to agree and submit varied directions.

OBSERVATIONS AND REASONS

(1) Permission: The Claim advances two grounds that the Defendant has (i) failed to make arrangements for suitable alternative education provision under s.19 Education Act 1996 and (ii) failed to secure the special educational provision specified in his EHC plan pursuant to s.42 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Both grounds are arguable since the statutory duties are proactive, absolute and non-delegable: the Claimant has been unable to attend school for over four years since May 2022 due to his medical conditions and is currently receiving the minimal 2 hours of school funded tutoring per week. The Court has not been notified that the Defendant has provided any detailed plan or timetable to arrange a package for education otherwise than at school (EOTAS).

(2) Anonymity: The Claimant is a vulnerable minor with special educational needs and the application contains sensitive personal medical information in which the Claimant has a reasonable expectation of privacy. There are accordingly compelling reasons for the limited derogations from the principle of open justice.

(3) Expedition: The application for prioritisation was made in February 2026, but no Acknowledgment of Service or Summary Grounds have been filed by the Defendant. The Claimant is 14 years old and should be starting his GCSE curriculum. He has missed out on over 4 years of education to date, and it is important that any education provision is resolved as soon as possible, close to the start of the new academic year.

Signed: ANNELI HOWARD KC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge)
Date: 3 August 2026