In our last email correspondence with members on Friday 24th October we explained that we would be giving the Secretary of State a short extended period in which to respond to our previous deadline.
It is clear from last week’s response from the Treasury Solicitor (TSol) seeking an extension to this deadline that we could expect a response 'early this week'. In the absence of a further response by this afternoon, the Officers and myself have now authorised Slater and Gordon to issue a final request for a reply to reach us by 4:00 tomorrow. This we believe is more than reasonable under the circumstances.
Protecting Napo's position
The rationale for that is in the absence of a substantive response, though one has been promised, we are advised to give a further time line which if not adhered to we will then authorise proceedings. If any substantive reply is received and is still viewed as unsatisfactory we will do likewise.
We need to be mindful that the Judiciary might take a dim view of any JR application that would be seen as precipitate if correspondence is in the process of being exchanged (even if a deadline is missed) or that they take a different view of what constitutes a 'reasonable short period' for a substantive response.
Another members mail out will follow on Thursday but meanwhile we want to thank all members for their patience and forbearance during what is a complex situation.
Ian Lawrence, General Secretary, and the Napo Officers Group
28th October 2014