Local Government

Siân regularly acts both for and against local authorities in a range of matters, often in complex matters in which multiple statutory duties (including under Care Act 2014, Children Act 1989, and Housing Act 1996, amongst others) are engaged. She has spent time seconded in house at a major local authority so has insight into the practical pressures and issues which face local government and the solicitors who act for them.

Current and recent instructions include:

• Stanley v. Welwyn Hatfield [2020] EWCA Civ 1458 – Siân appeared as led counsel for the appellant in this significant case. The Court of Appeal clarified the status of statutory review decisions notified out of time by the local authority, and the proper route for bringing a statutory appeal against such a decision.
• R (BL) v. Islington [2021] EWHC 3044 – Siân was instructed as sole counsel for the local authority in resisting the application for permission to apply for judicial review and in resolving the numerous ancillary issues regarding the claimant’s litigation capacity.
• R (TT) v. Kinston-upon-Thames (CO/1519/2021) – Siân was instructed sole counsel for the claimant in the successful application for permission to seek judicial review, and subsequently as led counsel for the hearing of the substantive application. The case raises a novel and important point of statutory interpretation as to the consequences of a failure by a local authority to comply with s. 184(5) Housing Act 1996.

Covid-19

Over the past two years Siân has been at the forefront of a number of cases concerning local authority powers and duties in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Siân’s recent cases include:

• R (Cort) v. Lambeth [2022] EWHC 1085 (Admin) - Siân acted as led counsel for the successful claimant in challenging the authority’s failure to comply with national ‘Everyone In’ guidance.
• R (ZLL) v. Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government [2022] EWHC 85 (Admin). Siân acted for the claimant, led by Jamie Burton QC, in this challenge to the government’s unpublished decision to end the ‘Everyone In’ policy. Siân continues to act for the appellant claimant in the forthcoming appeal to the Court of Appeal, following the grant of permission by Fordham J.
• R (PG) v. Hammersmith & Fulham (HHJ Lickley QC, 17 December 2021), in which she was successful in obtaining interim relief both on the papers and at an oral hearing, in the context of the spread of the OMICRON variant of Covid-19 on the grounds that the local authority had failed to take into account a material relevant consideration.

Statutory Appeals

Siân has extensive experience of acting in statutory appeals. Her recent work includes:

• SR v. Haringey (HHJ Roberts, 20 January 2022) – Siân was instructed as sole counsel for the appellant in the proceedings before the county court and in securing permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal. She remains instructed as led counsel in the forthcoming second appeal. The case raises important issues regarding the proper approach to applications for assistance from households with children living in unlicensed HMO accommodation.
• OH v. Lambeth (Stephen Midwinter QC, 26 November 2021) – Siân acted for the successful appellant in this statutory appeal pursuant to s. 204 Housing Act 1996. The case raised a novel point of law as to the relevant point in time to be considered by a local authority when determining whether an applicant has a resident dependent child for the purposes of assessing priority need.
• RO v. Bexley (HHJ Venn, 9 July 2021) – Siân acted for the respondent in a rare application pursuant to CPR 52.18. The appeal was struck out and the authority was awarded its costs of the proceedings.

Urgent Applications and Interim Relief

Siân accepts instructions in urgent and interim relief applications, including out of hours applications to the High Court, across her areas of expertise. Her rcent instructions include:

• R (OLO, AMA, and OCO) v. Redbridge (CO/488/2022) – Siân acted for the claimants in this claim for breach of s. 17 Children Act 1989, which secured an increase of almost 100% in support provided to the family.   
• R (NA) v. Hammersmith & Fulham (CO2202/2021) – Siân acted in this application for urgent interim relief on the basis that there was ‘reason to believe’ the applicant may be in priority need pursuant to the (then newly implemented) s.78 Domestic Abuse Act 2021. The client secured interim accommodation and an order that the authority pay her costs.
• R (WA) v. Home Secretary (CO/1207/2021) – Siân acted in this successful claim for interim relief against the Home Secretary for breach of s. 95 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and s. 55 Borders, Citizenship, and Immigration Act 2009.

Procurement and Commercial Public Law 

Siân has a growing practice in commercial judicial review, and accepts instructions from both public bodies and challengers. Her recent work includes:

• Acting for the Secretary of State in the landmark Covid-19 procurement policy judicial review R (on the application of Good Law Project) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWHC 346, led by Philip Moser QC.
• Advising on the implications of Covid-19 for procurement at local government level, in particular the use of ‘emergency’ and ‘exceptional circumstance’ provisions.
• Successfully defending a challenge to a Service Level Agreement entered by a local authority brought on the basis that the pricing structure gave rise to ‘apparent bias’ (Akinola v. Bexley, HHJ Saggerson, 6 May 2021).

Siân is a member of the Lexis expert panel on procurement law and her analysis of the latest cases in this area are regularly published in their commercial and public law highlights. Her recent work has included coverage of the high profile Covid-19 procurement challenges.

Equality & Human Rights

As a pupil Siân worked on a number of the leading cases on the application of the public sector equality duty under s. 149 Equality Act 2010 (Forward v Aldwyck Housing Group Ltd [2019] EWHC 24 (QB), London and Quadrant v Patrick [2019] EWHC Civ 1263 (QB), and Powell v Dacorum [2019] EWCA Civ 29). She was also involved in judicial review challenges under the Equality Act 2010 including a challenge against the ‘Right to Rent’ policy (R (Goloshvili) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 1263).

She is presently instructed in a number of human rights matters, including:

• R (ZOS) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (CO/1158/2022) – Siân acted for the family of a severely disabled child in securing permission to seek judicial review for breach of s. 55 Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009. She remains instructed as sole counsel in the upcoming hearing of the substantive application.

• Sheta v. Redbridge (HHJ Parfitt, 31 March 2022) – Siân represented the appellant in successfully challenging the local authority’s failure to comply with s. 149 Equality Act 2010.

• Sharaky v. Clearspring Ready Homes – Siân acted for the claimant (initially as sole counsel in the successful application for interim relief, later as led counsel in the recent three-day High Court trial). The claimant seeks injunctive relief and damages against asylum accommodation provider Clearspring Ready Homes.

Public Inquiries 

Siân has experience of inquiry work and is currently instructed on the Brook House Inquiry.

Siân has a growing practice is planning and environmental law, and acts in a range of planning matters from the advisory stages through to final hearing. She has experience of acting for planning authorities, land owners, and individuals in a broad range of matters. She is an active member of the UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA) and of the Planning and Environmental Bar Association (PEBA).

Siân’s current and recent cases include:

• Advising a local authority in relation to an appeal against a decision to issue a certificate of lawful commencement of development at a site in north London which attracted substantial local controversy;
• Acting for the claimant in an urgent claim for urgent interim relief injuncting further construction works from taking place outside the scope of permissions granted;
• Acting for the defendant property developer in an ongoing planning dispute with a local business.

Siân is a member of the Lexis expert panel for planning law and regularly provides analysis of the latest cases.

Siân brings to her growing education and employment work her broad experience of equality and discrimination law.

Her current and recent instructions in the field of education law include:

• Acting in a claim for judicial review of a decision by the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (R (Gawel) v. Office of the Independent Adjudicator CO/1599/2021).
• Advising in a claim against an educational institution for alleged unlawful disclosure of information to the claimant’s sponsor (FB v. Centre for Alternative Technology).
• Siân is regularly instructed in applications to the SEND Tribunal. Recent successes include defending a claim for costs against a local authority 10(1)(b) of the Tribunal Procedure (First Tier Tribunal) (Health, Education, and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008 (GG v. East Sussex).

Recent work in the field of employment law includes:

• Acting unled for the claimant in a successful application for judicial review against the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, in which the High Court held that ACCA’s retrospective application of its bye-laws so as to deprive members of the right to an oral renewal hearing was unlawful ([2020] EWHC 3059). Siân subsequently acted unled in in the appeal to the Court of Appeal, and succeeded in having the appeal dismissed ([2021] EWCA Civ 1635). Siân acted pro bono instructed by Advocate, and secured pro bono costs orders under s. 194 Legal Services Act 2007 in both the High Court and Court of Appeal, totalling over £25,000.
• Advising a senior public sector employee regarding restrictions on his right to publish articles in sector-specific press, and his right to access legal advice provided by his employer.
• Advising on an application to set aside summary judgment in a claim for breach of the Agricultural Wages Act 1948 and Agricultural Wages (England and Wales) Order 2012.

Siân’s practice has a growing Caribbean dimension, and her advisory and appellate work complements her areas of expertise in domestic law.

Her current and recent work includes:

• Betaudier v. Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago [2021] UKPC 7 – Siân was instructed as junior counsel for the successful appellant in a claim against the state for wrongful arrest and unlawful detention.
• Duncan & Jokhan v. Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago [2021] UKPC 17 – Siân was instructed as junior counsel for the successful appellant in a claim for damages for breach of the constitutional right to liberty and security of the person.
• Jogie v. Sealey (JCPC 2017/0090, awaiting judgment) – Siân is instructed as junior counsel for the appellant in this appeal concerning the scope of the equitable doctrine of relation back in the context of service of a notice to renew a statutory tenancy.
• Silochan v. Cedeno (JCPC 2022/0002) – Siân is instructed as junior counsel in this expedited appeal to the Privy Council. The case concerns the proper procedure and time limit for prosecuting ‘continuing’ planning offences in the magistrates.
• Ministry of Social Development and Family Services v. P (JCPC 2021/0021) – Siân is instructed as junior counsel in this upcoming constitutional appeal concerning the lawfulness of a policy in Trinidad and Tobago which restricts disability benefits to those with a ‘permanent’ condition.

R (Cort) v. London Borough of Lambeth [2022] EWHC 1085 (Admin)

Siân appeared as junior counsel for the successful Claimant. The court held that the Defendant’s refusal to provide the Claimant with accommodation under the national ‘Everyone In’ initiative failed to give sufficient weight to central government guidance and took into account irrelevant considerations.

R (ZLL) v. Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government [2022] EWHC 85 (Admin)

Siân acted for the claimant, led by Jamie Burton QC, in this application for judicial review of the MHCLG’s decision to withdraw the ‘Everyone In’ policy adopted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Fordham J has now granted permission to appeal on two grounds and Siân continues to act in the upcoming appeal. 

R (BL) v. London Borough of Islington [2021] EWHC 3044

Siân acted for the London Borough of Islington in resisting the application for permission to seek judicial review and in resolving complex preliminary issues concerning the claimant’s mental capacity.

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants v. Awodola [2021] EWCA Civ 1635

Siân appeared unled on behalf of the successful respondent, opposite a leading silk. She secured a pro bono costs order of £25,000.00 for the Access to Justice Foundation.

Duncan & Jokhan v. Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago [2021] UKPC 17

Siân acted for the successful appellants in this constitutional appeal against the Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago, led by Anand Beharrylal QC. 

Betaudier v. Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago [2021] UKPC 7

Siân acted for the successful appellant in this appeal against unlawful arrest and detention, led by Anand Beharrylal QC.

R (Good Law Project Ltd) v. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2021] EWHC 346

Siân acted for the Secretary of State in this high profile Covid-19 procurement policy challenge, led by Philip Moser QC and instructed by the Government Legal Department.

R (Awodola) v. Association of Chartered Accountants [2020] EWHC 3059

Siân represented the claimant in this successful application for judicial review, alongside co-counsel Joshua Hitchens. Siân further represented the same client in his subsequent successful application for litigant in person and pro bono costs orders ([2020] EWHC 3369).

Stanley v. Welwyn Hatfield [2020] EWCA Civ 1458

Siân was instructed as led counsel for the appellant in this significant case clarifying the status review decisions pursuant to s. 202 of the Housing Act 1996 which are notified out of time by the local authority.

‘Local authority refusal to accommodate NRPF applicant during COVID-19 pandemic unlawful for failure to have regard to central government ‘Everyone In’ policy: R (Cort) v. London Borough of Lambeth’ (Lexis PSL, 20 May 2022, available online)

‘eflash: R (Cort) v. London Borough of Camden’ (17 May 2022, 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square E-flash update, available online)

‘High Court clarifies scope of Aarhus Convention costs protection: R (Lewis) v. Welsh Ministers’ (Lexis PSL, 16 March 2022, available online)

‘’Everyone In’ pandemic response not ‘prescriptive policy guidance’: R (ZLL) v. Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government’ (Lexis PSL, 16 February 2022, available online)

‘eflash: R (ZLL) v. Minister for Housing, Communities, and Local Government’ (25 January 2022, 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square E-flash update, available online)

‘PPE procurement ‘VIP lane’ breached obligation of equal treatment under PCR 2015: R (Good Law Project and Every Doctor) v. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’ (Lexis PSL, 20 January 2022, available online)

‘Everyone In Again?’ (SHLA Update, 9 December 2021, available online)

‘Procurement challenge with no real prospect of success struck out: Adferiad Recovery Ltd v. Aneurin Bevan University Health Board’ (Lexis PSL, 2 December 2021, available online)

‘Clarification of the proper approach to social housing relief from the Community Infrastructure Levy: Stonewater v. Wealden District Council’ (Lexis PSL, 1 November 2021, available online)

‘Disclosure in COVID-19 procurement challenges: Good Law Project Ltd and Everydoctor Ltd v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’ (Lexis PSL, 28 July 2021, available online)

‘Stay granted in ‘Hanbury’ procurement judicial review pending decision of the Court of Appeal in ‘Public First’ proceedings: Good Law Project Ltd v. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’ (Lexis PSL, 20 July 2021, available online)

‘Consideration of serious risk in planning applications: Valero Logistic UK Ltd and another v. Plymouth City Council’ (Lexis PSL, 8 July 2021, available online)

‘Direct award of government contract to ‘Public First’ unlawful: R (Good Law Project) v. Minister for the Cabinet Office (Defendant) Public First (Interested Party)’ (Lexis PSL, 14 June 2021, available online)

‘Permission granted in judicial review challenge to antibody test procurement: Good Law Project v. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Defendant) and Abingdon Health (Interested Party)’ (Lexis PSL, 10 June 2021, available online)

‘Incapacious respondents to closure order proceedings: Ealing LBC v. M’ (co-authored with Joshua Hitchens, Local Government Lawyer, 2 February 2021, available online)

‘Local Authority Powers Coronavirus Update: Part 2A Public Health Orders’ (co-authored with Jonathan Manning, 21 July 2020, available online)

‘Homelessness Law & Practice: Covid-19 Update’ (presented to the Law Friends Society, 6 May 2020, available online)

‘Local Authority enforcement powers: Coronavirus Q&A’ (co-authored with Jonathan Manning, 27 April 2020, available online)

‘Covid-19 Court & Professional Guidance’ (co-authored with the junior barristers of 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square, first published 24 April 2020, available online)

‘Question-Testing for Britain’s Testing Questions: The Role of the Electoral Commission in Ensuring ‘Intelligibility’ of Referendum Questions’ (co-authored with Ian Peacock, Association of Electoral Administrators Magazine, January 2020, available online)

‘The evolution of procedural exclusivity: time to strike out the rule in O’Reilly v Mackman?’ (Winner of the Michael Beloff Essay Prize for Public Law; Grays Inn Student Law Journal Volume VII, August 2017, available online)