On 6 December 2021, the CAT published a ruling on permission to appeal and costs, following its earlier judgement that refused to strike out collective proceedings brought by Mr. Justin Gutmann against London & South Eastern Railway and South Western Trains, Stagecoach South Western Trains. The grounds of appeal included alleged errors in law in determining the merits threshold for the opt-out collective proceedings and establishing the prospect of success of the abuse allegations. The defendants also questioned the existence of “common” issues across the class, contended that the claimants lacked a credible and plausible methodology, and argued that inadequate weight had been given to the defendants’ cost-benefit analysis. The CAT determined that none of the grounds of appeal raised by the defendants had a reasonable prospect of success and therefore refused the right to appeal against the existing Collective Proceedings Orders (CPOs).