REUTERS | Alex Domanski

In brief for week ending 11 June 2014

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.

Central government:

  • A new Private Member’s Bill has been introduced that will allow MPs to waive the defence of parliamentary privilege so that they can bring proceedings for libel.
  • The European Commission has released its 2014 Convergence Report, which assesses eight member states’ readiness to join the single currency.

Civil litigation:

Education and social services:

  • The DH has published a consultation on draft regulations and guidance to implement the measures on care and support under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014.
  • The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 have been laid before Parliament.
  • The High Court has given guidance about the steps to be taken when a local authority seeks to remove a child who is living at home with his parents under a care order (A Father v SBC and others).
  • The government has published its response to the consultation, Adoption: getting it right, making it work.

Employment and pensions:

  • The Employment Practices Bill 2014-15 has had its first reading in the House of Lords.
  • The Flexible Working Regulations 2014 have been laid before Parliament and will come into force on 30 June 2014.
  • HMRC has published further guidance to intermediaries, end clients and workers on how the new agency rules for employment businesess and other intermediaries interact with the Construction Industry Scheme and IR35.

Environment:

Equality and human rights:

FOI and data protection:

  • The FTT(IR) has:
  • The intellectual property adviser to the government has published a report on search engines and piracy.

Housing:

Property and planning:

  • The Infrastructure Bill 2014-15 has been introduced into the House of Lords, which contains several points of interest for property practitioners.
  • The DCLG has announced that it intends to end forty year old restrictions which effectively prevent Londoners from renting out their homes on a short term basis.

Public procurement and state aid:

  • BIS has launched “Cyber Essentials“, its cybersecurity certification scheme.
  • The European Commission has published a staff working document setting out guidance on a common methodology for state aid evaluation.

Regulation and enforcement:

  • The government has published two draft statutory instruments that will increase the levels of fines that can be levied in magistrates’ courts.

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