Can you change your mind before the tribunal makes a consent order?

You agreed terms to settle your claim, and now you are having second thoughts. Perhaps you have not signed anything yet, or the tribunal has been told a deal is done but nothing has come through. A 2026 case, Edward v North London NHS Foundation Trust, settles what happens if you say so before the tribunal makes its consent order.

What happened

Mr. Edward brought a claim against the NHS trust he had worked for. Parts of it had already been decided and sent back to the tribunal to work out what he should be paid.

Before that could happen, the two sides discussed settling. Terms were put in writing and Mr. Edward agreed them. Then he changed his mind. He wrote to the tribunal saying he no longer consented to the deal, and he did it before any order had been made.

The tribunal made the order anyway. The judge recorded that the case was settled on the agreed terms, and that was the end of the claim. Mr. Edward appealed, representing himself.

What the tribunal decided

The appeal succeeded and the order was quashed. His remaining claims go back to the tribunal to be decided.

A consent order is exactly what its name says: an order the tribunal makes because both sides are asking for it. It is not the tribunal deciding anything. That means the agreement has to be there at the moment the order is made, not merely at some earlier point.

The judge put it plainly:

It does violence to language to say that an order could be expressed to be made 'by consent' when, at the time when the tribunal makes it, the tribunal knows that one of the parties does not consent.

In plain English: if you tell the tribunal you have withdrawn your agreement, and the tribunal knows that when it comes to make the order, there is nothing for it to make an order about.

The appeal judge also confirmed there is no general power to end a live claim just because a judge thinks it would be sensible. A claim ends by settlement, by the claimant withdrawing it, by a proper consent order, or by being decided.

Why a consent order needs your consent on the day

Agreeing terms in an email is not the end of the road, and this is the part worth understanding before you are in the middle of it.

Up to the point the order is made, you can still say you have changed your mind. The tribunal cannot make a consent order over your objection, and if it does, that order can be challenged.

But this cuts both ways, and the timing is everything. Once the order has been made, or once you have signed a settlement agreement or an ACAS COT3, you are bound. Those are contracts. Changing your mind afterwards is a very different and much harder problem, and the tribunal cannot simply undo them because you have thought better of it.

The other side will know this too. Expect them to move quickly to get the order made, or to ask you to sign a COT3 rather than leaving matters resting on an exchange of emails.

If you have already signed, or the order has already been made, this case does not help you. That is the moment to seek legal advice. A solicitor will take the case on and run it for you. If you would rather keep running it yourself and just want advice on where you stand, you can instruct a barrister directly under the direct access scheme. If cost is the problem, Citizens Advice, your union or a local law centre may be able to help.

What to do about it

• Tell the tribunal in writing the moment you change your mind, and copy the other side in.
• Say clearly that you withdraw your consent, rather than asking to discuss it further.
• Check whether you have signed anything, because a signed settlement agreement or COT3 binds you whatever the tribunal has or has not done.
• Keep every email in which terms were discussed, so the sequence of who agreed what and when is not in dispute.
• Say what you now want to happen, so the tribunal knows the claim is live and needs listing.

Settlement is voluntary right up to the moment it is recorded. If you are no longer content with a deal, the thing that protects you is telling the tribunal before the order is made, not afterwards.

This post provides general information about the Employment Tribunal process. It does not constitute legal advice about your specific situation.

Edward v North London NHS Foundation Trust (2026)