[2024] UKUT 00281 (IAC)

The Applicant’s position was that the Respondent had not proven that it was highly likely that the outcome for the applicant would not have been substantially different if the conduct complained of had not occurred, the test set out in Section 31(2A)(b) of the Senior Courts Act 1981. The Court of Appeal confirmed in Balajigari (in particular at §135) that courts should observe great caution in refusing relief on the basis of immateriality. How a Court might apply the test in Section 31(2A) had been considered in TTT v Michaela Community Schools Trust [2024] EWHC 843 (Admin), particularly at §269. A witness statement or evidence of how the decision-making evidence would have been approached had public law errors not occurred might have assisted, (see §269(x)), but the Respondent who had adduced no evidence, either by way of file notes or other records from the decision maker.