Yesterday, Tuesday 18 November, saw the first Court hearing of Napo’s Judicial Review application. The Directions hearing at the High Court was attended by Ian Lawrence, General Secretary and Yvonne Pattison and Chris Winters (Co Chairs).
The Hearing ran till shortly before 5pm and was followed by further discussions with our legal team from Matrix Chambers and Edward Cooper from Slater & Gordon. The Judge has listed the case for Wednesday 10th of December for a maximum of 2.5 days and also set a procedural time table.
Our understanding from yesterday’s hearing is that although the Secretary of State may award contracts prior to the hearing, they will not be signed until after the outcome of the Judicial Review, and this has dictated the timetable set by the judge.
As members will understand, the next few weeks will be extremely busy and the continuing work in preparation for the main hearing must be given priority. We are grateful for the support and input by members’ to date, and it’s possible that we will request further specific information. Discussions with our legal team are ongoing and members will appreciate that this is a particularly sensitive time and we are restricted in terms of the amount of information that can be made public. We undertake to update members further as and when we are able to.
The continuing support of Napo’s members is greatly appreciated.
Regards to all.
Ian Lawrence General Secretary and the Napo Officer Group