Heavey v The Greater London Authority

Judicial Review

In the High Court of Justice Administrative Court

Claim Form

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Notes for guidance are available which explain how to complete the judicial review claim form. Please read them carefully before you complete the form.

For Court use only

Administrative Court Reference No. Date filed

SECTION 1 Details of the claimant(s) and defendant(s) Claimant(s) name and address(es)

rI

1st Defendant name

ame

Declan Heavey

~he Greater London Authority

r

ddress----------------------,

Defendant's or (where known) Defendant's solicitors' address to which documents should be sent.

71 Queens Road West London E13 OPE

name

Anna Condliffe, Authority Solicitor

r

address-------------------,

[TelePhone no.

07880437681

7th Floor, Windsor House 42-50 Victoria Street London SW1H OTL

rc-mail address

dheavey@gmail.com Claimant's or claimant's solicitors' address to which documents should be sent.

[TelePhone no.

Direct: 020 3054 7937

[FaX no.

020 3054 3556

~oIIJaii address

annacondliffe@tfI.gov.uk address-------------------,

2nd Defendant

[TelePhone no.

Defendant's or (where known) Defendant's solicitors' address to which documents should be sent.

r-mail address

Claimant's Counsel's details

ddress-------------------,

ddressi----------------------,

[TelePhone no.

[Fax no.

[&-mail address=====~--==========~ [TelePhone no.

[Fax no.

[E-mail address:=====~--==========~

N461 Judicial review claim form (04.13)

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Š Crown copyright 2013

SECTION 2 Details of other interested

parties

Include name and address and, if appropriate, details of OX, telephone or fax numbers and e-mail ame

L~ c____r.

ame

_______JI Lr

Homeless Project

.

address---------------------,

ddress-------------------,

245 Gray's Inn Road London WC1X8QY

[TelePhone no.

020 7520 8660

[Fax no.

[TelePhone no.

[FaX no.

020 7837 7498

[E.mall address

r-mail address

info@shp.org.uk

SECTION 3 Details of the decision to be judicially

reviewed

Decision:------------------------------------------,

The Defendant's decision to uphold the Claimant and his wife's referral from GLA Housing First to Clearing HousefTST in contravention of the 2014/15 Pilot Funding Agreement between GLA and SHP at Schedule 2.

rate

of decision:

23 March 2015 Name and address of the court, tribunal, person or body who made the decision to be reviewed. ame--------------------,

address---------------------,

GLA TFL Legal 7th Floor, Windsor House 42-50 Victoria Street London SW1 H OTL

The Greater London Authority

SECTION 4 Permission to proceed with a claim for judicial review I am seeking permission to proceed with my claim for Judicial Review.

Is this application being made under the terms of Section 18 Practice Direction 54 (Challenging removal)?

DYes

0No

Are you making any other applications? If Yes, complete Section 8.

DYes

0No

Is the claimant in receipt of a Community Legal Service Fund (CLSF) certificate?

DYes

0No

Are you claiming exceptional urgency, or do you need this application determined within a certain time scale? If Yes, complete Form N463 and file this with your application.

DYes

~No

Have you complied with the pre-action protocol? If No, give reasons for non-compliance in the box below.

o Yes

DNo

~Yes

DNo

Have you issued this claim in the region with which you have the closest connection? (Give any additional reasons for wanting it to be dealt with in this region in the box below). If No, give reasons in the box below.

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Does the claim include any issues arising from the Human Rights Act 1998?

If Yes, state the articles which you contend have been breached in the box below.

~Yes

DNo

Article 6 (Right to a fair trial): "In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law."

SECTION 5 Detailed statement of grounds

o set out below

o attached

The Claimant challenges the decision of the Defendant to uphold his and his wife's referral from the Mayor of London's Housing First Programme to Clearing House/TST as unacceptable and unlawful because it contravenes the "secure exit plan" stipulated in the 2014/15 Pilot Funding Agreement between GLA and SHP at Schedule 2. Unlike Housing First, Clearing HousefTST is "time-limited" in that eligibility for flats, issued on two-year renewable Assured Shorthold Tenancies, terminates when individuals are assessed as being able to live independently. By reason of upholding this referral, the Defendant is accountable and responsible for it. The Defendant has also failed to comply with its discovery obligations by not providing the Claimant with evidence that GLA Housing First has ended and will not be continued. The Defendant does not consider this matter suitable for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and therefore the Claimant seeks permission to proceed with a claim for judicial review as a remedy of last resort on the said qround of llleqalitv,

SECTION 6 Aarhus Convention claim

I contend that this claim is an Aarhus Convention claim

DYes

If Yes, indicate in the following box if you do not wish the costs limits under CPR 45.43 to apply.

If you have indicated that the claim is an Aarhus claim set out the grounds below

SECTION 7 Details of remedy (including any interim remedy) being sought 1. A declaration that the Defendant has acted unlawfully.

2. A quashing order of the decision under review.

3. Such other reliefs as the Court may think just.

4. Damages for distress and failure to comply with discovery obligations.

SECTION 8 Other applications I wish to make an application for:-

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~No

SECTION 9 Statement of facts relied on 1. On 17 May 2014, the Claimant and his wife were granted their tenancy by Family Mosaic Housing Association as clients of the Greater London Authority Housing First Programme ("GLA Housing First") with support from the Single Homeless Project ("SHP"), one of three charitable organisations funded by GLA to operate the Mayor of London's Housing First service. In an email dated 4 September 2014, SHP wrote to the Claimant as follows: "I am writing to inform you of the current situation with GLA Housing First. This scheme was set up as a 3 year Pilot and therefore this will come to an end in March 2015. GLA have informed us that the scheme will not continue after this date due to lack of funding. We have been asked to begin exit strategies for all those who access the service. Clearing House has asked that clients who want to remain in their accommodation and who are managing their tenancies well, are referred back to the clearing house for them to assess. They will then assess these clients to ensure they feel they are able to manage the tenancy with TST [Tenancy Sustainment Team] support" (see Supporting Documents ("SO"), p. 17).

2. In a letter dated 23 March 2015, the Defendant communicated its decision to uphold the referral of the Claimant and his wife to Clearing HouselTST (herein referred to as "the decision"). In this letter, the Defendant is particularly vague in its reference to roles: "The practical effect of the end of the Housing First project is simply that SHP will no longer have a role in relation to the provision of support for your tenancy and that role will be fulfilled by TST instead" (SO, p. 13).

3. It is contended that the Defendant's decision contravenes the "secure exit plan" stipulated in the 2014/15 Housing First Pilot Funding Agreement between the GLA and SHP at Schedule 2 (SO, p. 55). As comprehensively argued in the Claimant's pre-action letter dated 6 May 2015 (SO, pp. 3-10), this is because Clearing HouselTST does not provide the permanent accommodation and voluntary support characteristic of Housing First. The Claimant references, inter alia, a 2015 Housing First report partly funded by the GLA that points out that "housing is not conditional on accepting support" (SO, p. 22); and that "while someone could theoretically be asked to move on [upon expiry of the tenancy], the arrangement was generally thought to effectively offer ongoing security of tenure" (SO, p. 23). On the other hand, a 2012 Housing First report from Heriot-Watt University states that the Clearing House scheme is "time-limited" in that "eligibility for flats, issued on two-year renewable Assured Shorthold Tenancies, terminates when individuals are deemed to no longer require support to live independently" and "clients are required to comply with holistic support plans" (SO, p. 25).

4. In fact, because the Claimant and his wife do not require support to live independently, they do not qualify for Clearing House/TST. They do not have addictions or mental illness or behavioural issues; their needs are solely related to the high levels of opposition and disruption they encounter as employees of Network for Church Monitoring. The Defendant has conceded that the Claimant and his wife can sustain their tenancy without support. It follows, therefore, that the Defendant is knowingly upholding a referral that terminates the Claimant and his wife's eligibility for their flat and this constitutes a threat to life. The Claimant is in his mid-fifties and while living on the streets was last year diagnosed with asthma (SO, pp. 26-27), which is a chronic or lifelong disease that can be serious, even life threatening. Back on the streets the Claimant and his wife will be restricted to sleeping on buses despite his medical condition, as they had been prior to coming off the streets as a result of an excessive use of force by police to move them from their sleeping pitch.

5. The Defendant has accused the Claimant of refusing support from Clearing HouselTST. It is disingenuous to construe the Claimant's insistence on a "secure exit plan" from GLA Housing First as a refusal of support by him. Moreover, at schedule 1 of the said funding agreement between GLA and SHP, Housing First support is defined as follows: "[T]he client would not be required to engage in any service other than with his Housing First worker. The client will be able to remain in the accommodation so long as they are able to maintain their tenancies (I.e. they manage their housing benefit claim to pay the rent and do not face eviction for anti-social behaviour etc.). The Housing First worker would be responsible for providing and bringing in the support required to help the client meet these basic obligations" (SO, p. 52).

6. In a final response letter dated 1 June 2015 (SO, pp. 1-2), the Defendant states that there is no basis for a claim against the GLA and discounts the Alternative Dispute Resolution (AOR) section in the Claimant's pre-action letter dated 6 May 2015 (SO, p. 9). The Defendant has also failed to comply with its discovery obligations by not providing the Claimant with evidence that GLA Housing First has ended and will not be continued. The Claimant requests that the Court note that the GLA website still lists Housing First under the heading "Mayor's rough sleeping services" (SO, p. 19), which perhaps accounts for the Defendant's failure to comply with its pre-action disclosure duties (SO, p. 9).

Statement of Truth I Believe (The claimant believes) that the facts stated in this claim form are true.

(if signing on behalf of firm or company)

Claimant rs sQlisitgr)

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SECTION 10 Supporting documents If you do not have a document that you intend to use to support your claim, identify it, give the date when you expect it to be available and give reasons why it is not currently available in the box below.

Please tick the papers you are filing with this claim form and any you will be filing later.

o Statement of grounds ~

included

D attached

o included

D attached

o included

o attached o attached

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Statement of the facts relied on

o Application to extend the time limit for filing the claim form o Application for directions o Any written evidence in support of the claim or

o included

application to extend time

o Where the claim for judicial review relates to a decision of a court or tribunal, an approved copy of the reasons for reaching that decision

o Copies of any documents on which the claimant proposes to rely

o A copy of the legal aid or CSLF certificate o Copies of any relevant statutory material o A list of essential documents for advance reading by

(if legally represented)

the court

(with page references to the passages relied upon)

If Section 18 Practice Direction 54 applies, please tick the relevant box(es) below to indicate which papers you are filing with this claim form:

D a copy of the removal

directions and the decision to which

D included

D attached

D included

o attached

0 included

D attached

the application relates

D a copy of the documents

served with the removal directions including any documents which contains the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's factual summary of the case

D a detailed statement of the grounds

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Reasons why you have not supplied a document and date when you expect it to be available:-

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Signed

Claimant ('S Solicitor),

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