[2025] EWHC 2271 (Admin)

The application to adduce further evidence

On Tuesday 26 August 2025 the Claimant’s solicitors issued an application for permission under CPR 54.16 for permission to rely upon a further witness statement from the Claimant. That statement itself was signed on Friday 22 August. I was provided with that application for the first time at the start of the hearing.

In the witness statement the Claimant explains what happened when the lift broke down on 17 August 2025 and was not repaired until the morning of 19 August 2025. On behalf of the Claimant, Mr Ogilvie-Harris submitted that the statement should be admitted as it showed that the lift was continuing to break down and that the claim was not academic. He stated that it did not give rise to new grounds of challenge such that he would be applying to amend his claim. Instead Mr Ogilvie-Harris argued that the statement demonstrated the necessity for the court to give permission to determine the grounds of challenge arising from the breakdown of the lift earlier in the year.

Ms Godfrey indicated that the Defendant opposed the application and that the contents of the statement were disputed. I gave her an opportunity to take further instructions on how to proceed and whether she would seek an adjournment to put in rebuttal evidence. Having done so, Ms Godfrey explained that, provided the Court admitted the statement on the basis that its contents were not admitted and on the understanding that the statement went only to the question of whether the claim was academic, then the Defendant did not object to the application.

At the hearing I indicated that I was prepared to accede to the application on the basis that had been essentially agreed between the parties.