Richard Hirst v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The Appellant lodged an appeal on 3 April 2025 against a Notice issued by the Respondent under Regulation 5(3)(b) of the Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2015. The appeal was incomplete because the Appellant did not include a copy of the Notice they wished to appeal against.

The Tribunal requested the missing Notice on 15 May 2025 and gave the Appellant until 12 June 2025 to provide it. When the Notice was still not provided, the Tribunal issued Case Management Directions on 25 September 2025 directing the Appellant to provide a copy of the Notice within 7 days. The Directions warned that a failure to comply could lead to the striking out of the proceedings without further notification.

It was explained in the Directions that the appeal could not proceed without a copy of the Notice being appealed against. Indeed, Rule 22(3) of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (General Regulatory Chamber) Rules 2009 states: “If the proceedings challenge a decision, the appellant must [emphasis added] provide with the notice of appeal a copy of any written record of that decision …”.

The Appellant replied by email on 26 September 2025 without providing a copy of the Notice and stating: “I'm not paying someone to decode all this legal jargon and advise me.”

Under Rule 8(3)(a) of the 2009 Rules, the Tribunal may strike out the proceedings if “the appellant has failed to comply with a direction which stated that failure by the appellant to comply with the direction could lead to the striking out of the proceedings or part of them”.

As the Appellant has not provided a copy of the Notice as directed, there are grounds to strike out the appeal.