We previously reported that the High Court had granted permission to apply for judicial review in relation to two colleges that had had their sponsor licences revoked as a result of the ETS fraud investigation.
The High Court has handed down judgment in one of the cases, R (London St. Andrews College) v SSHD [2014] EWHC 4328 (Admin), and has dismissed the Claimant’s case.
We recommend that those who operate the sponsor licence of a Tier 4 sponsor review the judgment of Mrs Justice McGowan in full and this can be found here. Although fairly brief, the judgment confirms that the threshold remains very high for those seeking to persuade the High Court to interfere with enforcement action taken by the Secretary of State against Tier 4 sponsors.
Mrs Justice McGowan concluded that:
‘It must be understood that the grant of HTS status is a fragile gift, constant vigilance about compliance is a minimum standard required of such colleges. The burden of playing an active role in the support of immigration control is a heavy one. The SSHD is entitled to review purported compliance with a cynical level of supervision’.
