REUTERS | Ali Jarekji
07/04/2017

In brief for week ending 5 April 2017

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 Local Government email.

Central government:

  • The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union has presented the government’s White Paper: Legislating for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union to Parliament. The White Paper provides an overview of the government’s intentions for the effects of the forthcoming Great Repeal Bill.
  • The House of Commons Exiting the European Union Committee has published a report on the government’s White Paper that was published on 2 February 2017: The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union. This is the third report of the Committee’s initial inquiry into the government’s Brexit negotiating objectives.
  • The House of Commons Library has published a briefing paper summarising the Brexit negotiating positions of the UK, the European Council, European Commission and European Parliament at the beginning of the Article 50 process.
  • The House of Lords has published a library note providing an overview of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), including the history, structure and membership. The note considers how the UK would trade with the EU under WTO terms, if the UK left the EU without a trade deal.
  • The government has published a report following its technical review of the English votes for English laws Standing Orders.

Children’s services:

  • The Court of Appeal has confirmed that within care proceedings, there is no presumption that translation costs fall on the party who produces the document (Re Z (A Child)).
  • The High Court has:
    • given guidance on the requirements for placing a child looked after by a Welsh local authority outside the jurisdiction under section 124 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (Re E (A Child));
    • clarified that a costs funding order cannot be made under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court where the parent has been lawfully refused legal aid for legal advice and representation in wardship proceedings in a radicalisation case (HB v A Local Authority and another (Wardship – Costs Funding Order));
    • criticised the Government Legal Service, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for not promptly deciding and applying to assert Public Interest Immunity (PII) in a radicalisation case. The court confirmed the need to use a closed material procedure and the three-part test for deciding whether PII should be granted (Re C (A Child) (No 2) (Application for Public Interest Immunity)); and
    • issued guidance about how parallel extradition proceedings and care proceedings should be managed to ensure the best interests of the child are properly considered (PA v Criminal Court Coimbra (Portugal) and another).

Commercial:

Education:

Employment and pensions:

  • The Court of Appeal has upheld the decision of the EAT that the use of regulation A19 of the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 for retiring a large number of police officers following budget cuts was justified and not unlawful indirect age discrimination (Chief Constable of West Midlands Police and others v Harrod and others).
  • The EAT has decided that the employee liability information that a transferor must provide under TUPE does not have to specify whether an employee’s entitlements are contractual or not. This is because the requirement to provide particulars of employment under section 1 of the ERA 1996 does not distinguish between contractual and non-contractual matters and TUPE does not alter that position (Born London Ltd v Spire Production Services Ltd).

FOI and data protection:

  • The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched a new set of resources aimed at improving records management in the health sector. The ICO’s audits in a range of health organisations, from large NHS hospitals to small private dentists, prompted the work.

Housing:

  • The Court of Appeal has held that a notice to seek possession of premises occupied by an introductory tenant issued under section 128 of the Housing Act 1996 can consist of multiple documents (London Borough of Islington v Dyer).

Property and planning:

Public procurement:

Regulation and enforcement:

  • The House of Lords Select Committee on the Licensing Act 2003 (LA 2003) has published a post-legislative scrutiny report of the LA 2003, and analysed local authorities’ performance and funding arrangements under its framework.
Practical Law In brief

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