Make sure that you have not missed a key development in your area of the law by reading our In brief review of the latest Practical Law Public Sector e-mail.
Civil litigation:
- The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against a decision rejecting a late application to adduce expert evidence in a personal injury claim (Boyle v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis).
- The High Court has considered the differences in public interest immunity and the closed material procedure in the first judicial consideration of the Justice and Security Act 2013 (CF v The Security Service and others).
Education and children’s services:
- The School Information (England) (Amendment No 2) Regulations 2013 have been made.
Employment and pensions:
- The European Court of Human Rights has held that parental leave schemes must be compatible with Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Topčić-Rosenberg v Croatia).
- The EAT has upheld an appeal by a company against a decision that a group of employees had transferred to it under TUPE, holding that completing a job eight months after transfer did not fall within the exclusion set out in regulation 3(3)(a)(ii) of TUPE 2006 (Swanbridge Hire & Sales Ltd v Butler and others).
- Investigations undertaken by HMRC have revealed that more than 2,400 workers in the care sector have not received the minimum wage.
Environment:
- The Environmental Noise, Site Waste Management Plans and Spreadable Fats etc (Revocations and Amendments) Regulations 2013 have been made and will come into force on 1 December 2013.
- The draft CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (Allocation of Allowances for Payment) Regulations 2013 have been published.
- Defra has published a document creating 27 new Marine Conservation Zones in England.
- DECC has published a consultation on renewable energy and other changes to the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme.
FOI and data protection:
- Lord McNally has informed the House of Lords that the Defamation Act 2013 will come into force on 1 January 2014.
- The ICO has reported the conviction, under section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998, of two men who tricked organisations into disclosing personal data.
Health:
- The National Health Service (Approval of Licensing Criteria) Order 2013 has been made.
- The OFT has published its decision not to refer to the Competition Commission a joint venture between University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and The Doctors Laboratory Ltd.
Housing:
- The Welsh Government has launched an equity loan Help to Buy scheme for 2014.
Local Government:
- The draft Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 have been published.
- The Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Functions and Responsibilities) (Wales) (Amendment No 2) Regulations 2013 have been made.
Property and planning:
- The High Speed Rail (Preparation) Act 2013 has been passed.
- The High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Bill 2013-14 has been published.
- The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure and Section 62A Applications) (England) (Amendment) Order 2013 has been made.
- The High Court has dismissed an application under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 holding that the claimant was not a “person aggrieved” under the Act (JB Trustees Ltd and others v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and others).
- The government has:
Public procurement:
- The Cabinet Office has confirmed that the modernisation of the EU procurement rules has been delayed to early 2014 due to delays with translating the agreed texts of the three new directives.
- The ECJ has held that seeking further information from candidates after the deadline for taking part in the tendering procedure had expired will not necessarily breach the principle of equal treatment.
- The government has published its Infrastructure Carbon Review.