August 17, 2026

MUB -v- Cambridgeshire County Council (anonymity order)

Administrative Court High Court King's Bench Division Anonymity Order

Claim number: AC-2026-LON-003785

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

In the matter of an application for judicial review

14 August 2026

Before:

The Hon. Mrs Justice Dias

Between:

The King
on the application of
MUB
(a child, by her litigation friend, MYT)
(Claimant)

-v-

Cambridgeshire County Council
(Defendant)

Order

UPON applications by the Claimant issued on 14 August 2026 for permission to bring judicial review and for urgent interim relief, expedition and anonymity

AND UPON the Defendant not yet having filed a response to the claim or to the Claimant’s application for interim relief, expedition or anonymity

AND UPON considering the documents lodged by the Claimant

ORDER BY THE HON. MRS JUSTICE DIAS

Anonymity:

(a) Pursuant to CPR 39.2(4) and/or the Court’s inherent jurisdiction and/or s. 39 of the Children and Young Persons’ Act 1933:

(i) the Claimant’s name 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 MUB and her litigation friend as MYT.

(b) 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.

(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;

(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.

Mandatory injunction:

(a) As soon as possible and by no later than 4pm on 28 August 2026, the Defendant must issue a final Education, Health and Care Plan for the Claimant pursuant to section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and regulation 13 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, naming a suitable educational placement in Section I and specifying the special educational provision required to meet the Claimant’s needs in Section F.

(b) The Defendant may apply to vary or discharge paragraph 2(a) above, any such application to be served on each party.

THIS IS A [MANDATORY/PROHIBITORY] INJUNCTION. BREACH MAY GIVE RISE TO PROCEEDINGS FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT. IT MUST BE COMPLIED WITH UNLESS AND UNTIL IT IS SET ASIDE BY A COURT, EVEN IF AN APPLICATION TO VARY OR DISCHARGE IT HAS BEEN MADE UNDER PARAGRAPH 2(b) ABOVE

Abridgement of time and expedition:

(a) The Defendant’s Acknowledgement of Service (CPR 54.8) must be filed and served by 4pm on 21 August 2026;

(b) Any Reply from the Claimant (CPR 54.8A) must be filed and served by 4pm on 25 August 2026.

Adjournment of permission to a hearing:

(a) The application for permission to apply for judicial review is adjourned to be determined after a hearing.

(b) The permission hearing is to be listed on or as soon as possible after 28 August 2026 with a time estimate of 1 hour, including submissions by the parties and an oral judgment by the judge. If either party considers that more time should be allowed, the Court Office should be informed as soon as possible.

(c) Within 10 days of the service of this Order, the Claimant must file and serve an electronic copy of the Permission Hearing Bundle, prepared in accordance with the guidance on the Administrative Court website and containing the following documents:

(i) the Claim Form, Statement of Facts and Grounds and any evidence or other documents filed with the Claim Form;

(ii) any Acknowledgment of Service, Summary Grounds of Defence and any accompanying documents served by any Defendant and/or Interested Party;

(iii) any Reply or other document served by any party to the proceedings at the paper permission stage;

(iv) this Order;

(v) any other document the Court would be likely to consider material to its decision on permission to apply for judicial review.

(d) If the Claimant fails to comply with sub-paragraph (b), permission will be determined on the basis of the documents before the Court, unless at the hearing the Court otherwise directs.

(e) At least 2 days before the date listed for the hearing, the Claimant must file and serve:

(i) a skeleton argument, maximum 10 pages;

(ii) an electronic bundle containing any authorities which the Court needs to read at the hearing (the Authorities Bundle: see para. 22.1.2 of the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide); and

(iii) if requested by the Court, a hard copy version of the Permission Hearing Bundle and Authorities Bundles.

(f) At least 1 day before the date listed for the hearing, any party other than the Claimant intending to participate in the hearing must file and serve any skeleton argument, maximum 10 pages.

(g) If any party fails to comply with the timetable set out above, the Court may have regard to the failure when considering any question about costs at the hearing.

REASONS

(1) Anonymity: The Claimant is a child and the claim relies on 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 in paragraph 1.

(2) Mandatory injunction: The Defendant agreed to carry out a full EHC needs assessment as long ago as 23 January 2025. However, it was only on 10 July 2026 that a draft ECHP was issued inviting a response within 15 days and no final ECHP has yet been issued. The Defendant is prima facie in clear and inexcusable ongoing breach of its statutory obligations in this regard and it is appropriate to require it to finalise the ECHP without further delay.

(3) Abridgement of time/expedition: The Claimant has lost more than 20 months of secondary education and there is a serious risk that they will not have any educational placement or suitable provision in time for the start of the new academic year. It is therefore important that these proceedings are determined urgently and, if possible, in time to allow an appropriate educational placement to be made at or shortly after the commencement of the school year.

(4) Adjournment of permission to a hearing: In all the circumstances and to avoid further unnecessary delay, the application for permission should be determined at a hearing.

Signed: Mrs Justice Dias DBE

Date: 14 August 2026