Taylor's (Ryan) Application
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Mr Friedman KC sitting as HCJ |
| Judgment Date | 01 May 2020 |
| Neutral Citation | [2020] NIQB 46 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 01 May 2020 |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2020] NIQB 46
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: FRI11261
Delivered: 01/05/2020
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
___________
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION (JUDICIAL REVIEW)
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IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION BY RYAN TAYLOR
FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW
___________
FRIEDMAN J
Introduction
[1] The Applicant has renewed an application for interim relief for the
Respondent, the Department for Communities, or alternatively, the Notice Party, the
Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE), to make the payment of a sum
equivalent to the previous housing benefit to fund the rent on his home for a short
period, pending the determination of the expedited substantive judicial review
proceedings. The hearing has been inescapably delayed by the COVID 19 crisis. It is
agreed that this application should be dealt with on the papers and the parties have
supplied skeleton arguments and supporting materials. Counsel and their clients
had access to a confidential draft judgment for a short period prior to finalisation. I
am grateful to Mr Steven McQuitty on behalf of the Applicant, Mr Aidan Sands, on
behalf of the Respondent and the Notice Party, and those who instruct them both,
for the assistance that has been provided generally, and especially so in the present
circumstances of social isolation.
The Substantive Claim
[2] The Applicant is a remand prisoner in HMP Magilligan. He has until April of
this year also been a short term sentenced prisoner serving a sentence of 8 months on
a separate charge, which caused him to lose his housing benefit under a legislative
scheme that is the subject of the claim. The Housing Benefits Regulations
(Northern Ireland) 2006 (the Regulations) as amended by The Social Security
(Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013, provide that
persons in receipt of benefits, including a sentenced prisoner, can be away from their
home for 13 weeks and still continue to receive benefits (Reg. 7(13). As this
Applicant received a sentence of 32 weeks, of which he was required to serve at least
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3 cases
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Taylor, Ryan and The Department for Communities and The Department for Work and Pensions - Judgement No.2
...of two interim relief orders of the High Court, dated 1 May 2020 and 22 June 2020 respectively (see In re Ryan Taylor’s Application [2020] NIQB 46 and [2020] NIQB 52). Pursuant to these orders the payments of HB should in theory have been restored: once again there is no documentary evidenc......
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Ryan Taylor and The Department for Communities and the Department for Work and Pensions
...of two interim relief orders of the High Court, dated 01 May 2020 and 22 June 2020 respectively (see In re Ryan Taylor’s Application [2020] NIQB 46 and [2020] NIQB 52). Pursuant to these orders the payments of HB should in theory have been restored: once again there is no documentary eviden......
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Taylor's (Ryan) Application
...housing benefit regulations as they apply to remand and short-term sentenced prisoners. In total the payments so far amount to £850: see [2020] NIQB 46. [3] This first ruling (hereafter ‘Ruling 1’) dealt with the procedural challenges posed by Covid-19 (at §§3-4), the facts and issues arisi......