Months later she got a sympathetic GP's letter and found solicitors who wrote asking the council to exercise its power to extend the 21-day period and allow a review of its decision. The council gave a reasoned rejection of the request for an extension of time.
The solicitors wrote again to ask for an extension, enclosing a psychiatrist's report. Again, the council declined to extend the 21-day period.
The Court of Appeal rejected Ms C's appeal from the dismissal of her challenge to the council's refusal to extend time. It decided the council had a wide discretion in deciding whether to accept late review requests. In this case, the council had properly considered the material put before it. No appeal lay against its exercise of discretion and only in an unusual case would it be possible to upset such a decision in a claim for judicial review.
Source
Housing Today
Reference
The law gives no indication of the matters a council should consider on an application to extend time. This judgment fills that gap.