SXN -v- Cambridgeshire County Council (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim number: AC-2025-LON-003062

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

In the matter of an application for judicial review

17 September 2025

Before:

Robert Palmer KC
(sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court)

Between:

The King
on the application of
SXN
(by her litigation friend, SH)

-v-

Cambridgeshire County Council

Order

On an urgent application by the Claimant for interim relief and permission to apply for judicial review

Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant

ORDER BY ROBERT PALMER KC
(sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court)

  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 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 SXN.

(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.

(c) Pursuant to CPR 5.4C(4):

(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.

  1. Abridgement of time and expedition:

(a) The Defendant’s Acknowledgement of Service (CPR 54.8) must be filed and served by 4pm on 22 September 2025.

(b) Any Reply from the Claimant (CPR 54.8A) must be filed and served by 4pm on 24 September 2025.

(c) The papers are to be referred to a judge or deputy judge as soon as possible thereafter for consideration of the application for interim relief and/or permission.

REASONS

(1) Anonymity: The Claimant is a child. The claim further relies on personal 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) Abridgement of time/expedition:

a. This application for judicial review has been brought on the basis that the Defendant has failed over a period of some months to secure the specified special educational provision for the Claimant that was included in her EHC plan, contrary to section 42(2) of the Children and Families Act 2014. The Claimant’s parents have exhausted the Defendant’s internal complaints process, the result of which was to uphold their complaint that the Defendant had failed to make timely provision. 

b. On the face of it, there is a compelling case for the intervention of the Court to enforce the Claimant’s rights to the specified provision in the face of a breach by the Defendant of its statutory duties.

c. However, it would not be right to make a mandatory order without hearing from the Defendant. The appropriate course is to abridge time for the Defendant’s response, given the urgency of the matter, and for the matter to be considered by a Judge as soon as possible thereafter.

Signed: Robert Palmer KC
Date: 17 September 2025