Overview

In a case which will be of particular interest to education institutions, the Court of Appeal has upheld a claim by the former chief executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust that the Trust was in breach of contract when it failed, on the instructions of the Department of Health, to honour the terms of a compromise agreement.

Overturning an earlier High Court ruling, the appeal court rejected the Trust’s attempt to resile from the agreement it had willingly signed up to by claiming, after the event, that it was irrationally generous. Although the case involved an NHS Trust, it may be relevant to education institutions, which are also subject to restrictions on the way public funds are used.

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