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.

Central government:

• The National Audit Office has published a report on the impact of infrastructure investment on consumer bills.

Civil litigation:

• The Court of Appeal has held:
  • that the establishment of intimate sexual relationships to obtain covert intelligence falls within the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 regime (AJA and others v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and the Chief Constable of South Wales Police);
  • that it was not bound to accept the accuracy of a claimant’s witness statement where the claimant was unwell and therefore unable to be cross-examined by the respondents (McDonald v Department for Communities and Local Government and another); and
  • that it was not required to stay appeal proceedings pending the outcome of criminal proceedings which the defendant’s had themselves instituted (UCB Home Loans Corporation Ltd v Pinchen and others).
• The Technology and Construction Court has enforced an adjudicator’s decision, holding that the adjudicator had not breached the rules of natural justice and had jurisdiction (Roe Brickwork Ltd v Wates Construction Ltd).
• There have been a number of changes made to the Supreme Court Practice Directions.

Education and social services:

• The High Court has:
  • refused to grant an application by a local authority for a declaration of non-recognition of marriage of a young mother (A Local Authority v X and another (Children)); and
  • found family members guilty of contempt for failing to disclose the whereabouts of a mother and child (Re Davies).
• The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Russian authorities had breached Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to take prompt, reasonable measures to enforce a custody order (Pakhomova v Russia).
• The Department for Education has published advice on charging for school activities.

Employment and Pensions:

• The draft Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 have been published.
• The Court of Session has held that the dismissal of an employee charged with assaulting his partner at home was unfair but not discriminatory (CJD v Royal Bank of Scotland).
• The EAT has upheld a tribunal decision rejecting a claimant’s application for an order for disclosure which was made 12 days before the final hearing, and imposed a costs order as a result of the delay (Jones v Standard Life Employee Services Ltd).

Environment:

• The government has revoked the Site Waste Management Plans Regulations 2008 in England.
• The European Commission has proposed an EU ratification of the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol.
• Defra has announced that it will be reducing its activities in the waste management sector between April 2014-April 2015.
• The government has published its 2013 update to the Renewable Energy Roadmap 2011.

Equality Act 2010:

• The Court of Appeal has:
  • quashed the government’s decision to close the Independent Living Fund as a result of non-compliance with the public sector equality duty (Bracking v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions); and
  • held that there was no effective remedy where a local authority had failed to properly consult or have due regard to the public sector equality duty because the practical effects of the decision had already been implemented (R (Aaron Hunt) v North Somerset Council).

FOI and data protection:

• The First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) has ruled that legal advice about the legality of the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme was exempt from disclosure on the grounds of legal professional privilege (Hayden v Information Commissioner).
• The Office of the Biometrics Commissioner has published guidance on applications for biometric information retention.

Health:

• The Supreme Court has given guidance on the principles to apply when determining whether it is in a person’s best interests to receive life-sustaining treatment (Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v James).
• The Court of Appeal held that a decision to reconfigure hospital services was unlawful (Trust Special Administrator Appointed To South London Healthcare NHS Trust and another v London Borough of Lewisham and another).
• The High Court has:
  • held that a dentist was not entitled to public law remedies in a contractual dispute with the NHS Commissioning Board (Dr David Krebs v NHS Commissioning Board); and
  • dismissed a judicial review action challenging the decision of the Secretary of State and various Clinical Commissioning Groups and a hospital trust to close an A&E unit at Chase Farm Hospital (R (Enfield LBC) v Barnet Clinical Commissioning Group and others).
• The OFT has approved a joint venture between University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Free London NHS Foundation and the Doctors Laboratory.
• The government has published a response to its consultation on refreshing the mandate for NHS England.

Housing:

• Statutory guidance and an updated manual on housing transfer have been published.

Local government:

• The Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No 14 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions) Order 2013 has been made bringing into force provisions of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 dealing with universal credit and the abolition of certain income-related benefits.
• The House of Commons Library has published an updated library standard note on the amendments made to the Care Bill 2013-14 during its readings in the House of Lords.

Property and planning:

• The Infrastructure Planning (Business or Commercial Projects) Regulations 2013 have been published in draft form.

Regulation and enforcement:

• The Bar Council has published its response to the draft Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading (Amendment) Regulations 2013.