Decision made on Decision Notices

Claire Morris, Associate

Decision Notices, following licensing hearings, have been emailed out for the past couple of years by public bodies and now, the High Court has ruled on the lawfulness of doing so.

This comes following a case where a taxi driver disputed the lawfulness of a Decision Notice being emailed to him which ended up in his spam folder which resulted in the deadline to Appeal the revocation of his dual driver’s licence, being missed.

In relation to how statutory notices and decisions by local authorities under sections 300(2) Public Health Act 1936 and section 233 of the Local Government Act 1972 are served, the High Court clarified that the e-mail service of such decisions is valid and effected on delivery, regardless as to whether the e-mail ends up in the recipient’s spam folder.

The High Court has confirmed that local authorities are entitled to serve notices and decisions by email, and any claims that the email went to a spam folder will have no effect.

Whilst this case relates to taxi licensing, these provisions govern a wide range of statutory decisions, and it is therefore a judgment of wide application. With the clear message being that if you are expecting to receive a Decision Notice, not only should you keep an eye out on your inbox, it is important to keep an eye on what is in your spam folder

You can read the full case here: Berow v Maidstone Borough Council [2026] EWHC 635

If you need further assistance, please get in touch with our licensing team at [email protected].

Contributor: Rebecca Egan, Specialist Licensing Paralegal