Lawrence Gray v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The Appellant lodged an appeal form with the Tribunal on 8 June 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 only supplied the front page of the Notice they wished to appeal against.

The Tribunal requested a complete copy of the Notice on 8 July 2025 and gave the Appellant until 22 July 2025 to provide it. When the full Notice was still not provided, the Tribunal issued Case Management Directions dated 26 September 2025 directing the Appellant to provide a complete copy of the Notice within 7 days of the date of issue. 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 complete 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 has failed to reply, and the appeal remains incomplete. 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 complete copy of the Notice as directed, the appeal will be struck out for non-compliance with the Tribunal’s directions.