Practical Law

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 High Court has:
  • considered issues including the effect of a civil restraint order on judicial review applications for habeas corpus and parole board hearings (West v Taylor-Duncan and others); and
  • granted an interim injunction under section 44 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (Seele Middle East Fze v Drake & Scull Int Sa Co).
• New practice directions for parties concerning cases brought before the ECJ have been published in the Official Journal.
• The government has announced plans to raise the financial limit below which equity claims can be commenced in the county court to £350,000.

Commercial:

• The Consumer Rights Bill 2014 has been formally introduced into the House of Commons and has completed its first and second readings.

Education and social services:

• The Court of Appeal has given guidance that split hearings (where facts are considered separately from their welfare context) should only be used where a “stark and discrete” issue is to be determined (Re S (A Child)).
• The High Court has stated that in care proceedings, the court will not delay requiring a party to provide a comprehensive response to a threshold document, even if that party is a defendant in linked criminal proceedings and has not yet filed a criminal defence statement (A Local Authority v DG and others).
• The DfE has published updated advice and guidance on school behaviour.
• The DfE has published a consultation on supporting pupils with medical conditions.

Employment and pensions:

• The Welfare Benefits Up-rating Order 2014 has been made, which provides for the up-rating of certain social security benefits and payments which are to be increased by 1% from 6 April 2014.
• An employment tribunal has ruled that the definition of race in the Equality Act 2010 (which includes “ethnic origin”) is wide enough to encompass caste (Tirkey v Chandok and another).

Environment:

• The Supreme Court has dismissed the environmental judicial review challenges to the proposed HS2 rail network (R (Buckingham County Council and others) v Secretary of State for Transport).
• HMRC has published guidance on claims for repayment of landfill tax.
• The Environment Agency has launched an electronic waste transfer note system.

FOI and data protection:

• The Secretary of State has vetoed the disclosure of project assessment information about the HS2 rail link.
• The First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) has held that the Home Office did not have to disclose details of two of its immigration decisions following an information request from a business school (Goldsmith International Business School v Information Commissioner).
• The ICO has published its response to the government’s consultation on local authority parking.

Health:

• Monitor has decided to close its investigation into the commissioning of specialist cancer surgery services in Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

Housing:

• The Court of Appeal has held that it had no jurisdiction to hear an application for interim relief requiring a local authority to continue to house a homeless man pending the outcome of a substantive appeal to the Court of Appeal (Johnson v Lord Mayor and Citizens of Westminster).

Local government:

• The government has introduced the Deregulation Bill 2013-14 into the House of Commons, and has published its Response to the Report of the Joint Committee on the draft Bill.
• The Local Audit and Accountability Bill 2013-14 has been enacted as the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.
• The Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Registration of Buildings and Appointment of Authorised Persons) Regulations 2014 will come into force on 13 March 2014.
• The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2014 will come into force on 13 March 2014.
• DCMS has published a consultation paper to review civil partnership in England and Wales.
• The Welsh Audit Office has ruled that councils’ indemnity and pension pay supplements for their chief executives are unlawful.

Property and planning:

• The Non-Domestic Rating (Small Business Rate Relief) (England) (Amendment) Order 2014 has been made, which temporarily increases small business rate relief for England until 31 March 2015.
• The DCLG has published guidance for local authorities on:
  • business rates relief for retail properties; and
  • allotment disposals.
• DECC has published updated guidance for applicants and landowners and/or occupiers on applications for the grant of a compulsory electricity wayleave or felling and lopping of trees order.
• The DCLG has published the government response to its consultation on revised planning requirements for onshore oil and gas (including shale gas).
• The Land Registry has updated the following practice guides:
  • 12 – Official searches and outline applications; and
  • 14A – Charitable incorporated organisations and 67 – Evidence of identity – conveyancers.

Public procurement:

• The General Court has dismissed a company’s appeal against a decision to award it a second-place priority framework contract for the supply of external services in the area of software applications (European Dynamics Belgium SA and others v European Medicines Agency).
• The High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland has dismissed a judicial review application for the quashing of a council’s decision not to re-tender a co-mingled recyclables collection contract (In the matter of an application by Bryson Recycling Ltd for judicial review and in the matter of a decision by Banbridge District Council).
• The Crown Commercial Service has published a new model services contract.
• The government has published:
  • Procurement Policy Note 1/14 on sharing information within government; and
  • an update on the implementation of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.