REUTERS | Brian Snyder

In brief for week ending 18 January 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.

Adult social services:

Central government:

  • The House of Commons Exiting the European Union Committee has published its first report of the parliamentary session 2016-17 on the process for exiting the European Union and the government’s negotiating objectives.
  • The Prime Minister has delivered a speech on the UK government’s negotiating objectives for exiting the EU.
  • The House of Commons Library has published briefing papers on:

Civil litigation:

Education:

  • The Coasting Schools (England) Regulations 2017 have been made and came into force on 11 January 2017. The regulations define “coasting schools” for the purposes of section 60B of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and section 2B of the Academies Act 2010.
  • The House of Commons Library has published an updated briefing paper on grammar schools in England, outlining recent developments in the government’s policy on grammar schools.

Employment and pensions:

  • The EAT has upheld a tribunal’s decision that it had jurisdiction to hear a disability discrimination claim because the claim was not barred by the terms of the COT3 under which a previous claim had been settled (Department for Work and Pensions v Brindley).
  • The government has published non-statutory guidance on the regulations governing industrial action in important public services.
  • The Law Society has responded to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee’s inquiry into the future world of work.
  • The High Court has held that a challenge to a warning notice issued by the Pensions Regulator should be undertaken through statutory procedure and not judicial review (R (Grace Bay II Holdings Sarl and others) v The Pensions Regulator and others).

FOI and data protection:

  • The FTT(IR) has held that a council could not rely on the exemption in section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (personal information) and was required to disclose a draft investigation report concerning a councillor’s alleged breach of its code of conduct (Janet Dedman v Information Commissioner).
  • The ICO has published a decision notice finding that NHS Improvement could rely on section 31(1)(g) (prejudice to the exercise of a public authority’s functions) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in order to withhold requested information relating to a tender for the provision of primary medical care services (ICO decision notice FS50643575).

Housing:

Local government law:

  • The House of Commons Library has published a briefing paper providing background information on the draft Public Service Ombudsman Bill 2016-17.

Property and planning:

Public procurement:

Regulation and enforcement:

  • The Welsh Government has published a consultation on the proposals for the introduction of Fixed Penalty Notices for small scale fly-tipping in Wales. The consultation closes on 6 April 2017.
Practical Law In brief

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *