The Court of Appeal considered what status is accorded to Upper Tribunal decisions which are not “guidance cases” and whether such “non-guidance” cases are no more than factual decisions which ought not to be followed without more by the First Tier Tribunal.
The court held that previous decisions of the Upper Tribunal are admissible evidence of what it decided. It falls to the subsequent tribunal to decide what weight to give it. The extent to which the previous decision is one on general points of interest and the cogency of the reasoning are relevant to the weight, the determination of which is a question of fact for the subsequent tribunal. There was therefore no error of law on which an appeal could be made in the instant case.