Flavio Fellica v Liverpool City Council

Facts

The Appellant/Claimant, Mr Fellica, who lives at a property in Liverpool and acted in person, was party to two separate sets of proceedings in the Administrative Court. The first, filed in London on 23 February 2026 and issued on 8 April 2026, was a statutory appeal against the decision of the Valuation Tribunal for England dated 26 January 2026 striking out his appeal against Liverpool City Council's conclusion that he was not entitled to council tax reduction. The second, filed in Leeds on 5 May 2026 and issued for service on 11 June 2026, was a claim for judicial review seeking permission to challenge the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman's investigation from 21 June 2025, focusing on an Investigator's decision of 26 March 2026 not to uphold his complaint save in one respect (for which £100 and an apology were recommended), the decision of 9 April 2026 declining to re-open the investigation, and a decision on his service complaint; Liverpool City Council was an interested party. In each case an Administrative Court Lawyer made a minded to transfer order proposing transfer to the Administrative Court in Manchester. The Appellant/Claimant opposed both transfers, contending among other things that he had a reasonable apprehension of bias from the judges and staff in Manchester arising from his existing cases there, and asked that the venue question be decided by a judge with no prior dealings with those complaints.