QL -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department (anonymity order)
Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order
Claim number: AC-2024-LON-001209
In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court
11 April 2024
Before:
The Honourable Mrs Justice Lang DBE
Between:
The King on the application of
QL
-v-
Secretary of State for the Home Department
(Port Ref: LTN/5237207)
Order
On the Claimant’s application for urgent consideration and interim relief;
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant;
Order by the Honourable Mrs Justice Lang DBE
1. The Defendant do file and serve a response to the application for interim relief no later than 4 pm on Friday 12 April 2024.
2. The urgent application for interim relief must be considered by a Judge on the papers no later than Monday 15 April 2024.
3. Liberty to apply to vary or discharge this order on 2 days notice to the other party.
4. Pursuant to CPR r.39.2, in any report of these proceedings, there shall be no publication of the name and address of the Claimant and her children, nor any other particulars likely to lead to their identification. In the proceedings, the Claimant shall be anonymised and referred to as “QL” and her children shall be anonymised and referred to, in descending age order, as “QL1”, “QL2” and “QL3”.
5. No later than 14 days from the date of this order, the Claimant’s solicitors shall file with the Court copies of case documents which have been anonymised and/or redacted to protect the identity of the Claimant and her children, in accordance with paragraph 4 above.
6. Non-parties may not obtain any documents from the court file which have not been anonymised and/or redacted to protect the identity of the Claimant and her children, in accordance with paragraph 4 above.
7. Costs reserved.
Reasons
1. On the Court’s own initiative, I have granted an anonymity order to protect the identity of the Claimant’s children, in particular QL1 who is the focus of this claim. In the circumstances, a departure from the general principle of open justice is justified.
2. The Defendant has accepted a duty under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 to provide the Claimant and her children with adequate accommodation and support as asylum seekers.
3. They have been accommodated in self-contained accommodation in Plymouth since May 2019. Due to electrical failures in the property in Plymouth, they were moved at short notice to a hotel in Hitchin, Hertfordshire on 22 February 2024. The evidence indicates that this was intended to be a temporary move while repairs were carried out and that the Defendant intends to move the family back to Plymouth.
4. QL1 is aged 16 and is enrolled at a school in Plymouth, with his sister who is aged 13. The children have been unable to attend their school since the move because of the distance. This is especially prejudicial to QL1 who is due to sit his GCSE examinations, commencing 9 May 2024. The new term begins on 15 April 2024. Despite communications from the Claimant, her solicitors and the school, the family has not been moved back to Plymouth.
5. The Claimant contends that the Defendant is acting (1) in breach of the duty to provide adequate accommodation under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; (2) in breach of the Defendant’s Allocation of Asylum Accommodation policy, which advises that accommodation may be arranged in the area requested if the child has started their final school year leading up to their GCSE examinations; and (3) in breach of the duty to promote the welfare of the children as required by section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration 2009.
6. In my view the Claimant has a strong prima facie case, and the balance of convenience is likely to lie in favour of the family returning to Plymouth as soon as possible, if necessary to temporary accommodation in the first instance. However, I am not willing to make a mandatory order without first giving the Defendant an opportunity to respond. The timescale for the response has had to be curtailed, as
the school term begins on Monday 15 April 2024.