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 Commission on Devolution in Wales has published Part 2 of its report on the devolution settlement for Wales.
• The government has published guidance on naming and registering government websites.

Civil litigation:

• The ECJ has provided guidance on when it is required to give a preliminary ruling (Antonio Gramsci Shipping and others (Order of the Court)).
• The Court of Appeal has:
  • granted an application for permission to bring a second appeal as it raised an important point of law clarifying when fresh proceedings on the same facts will be allowed (Kotonou v National Westminster Bank plc); and
  • emphasised the need for litigants and those representing them to respect the confidentiality embargo attached to draft judgments (O’ Connell v Rollings and others).
• The High Court has:
  • held that a a default judgment against a defendant did not bind other defendants from advancing a case that was inconsistent with the default judgment obtained against the original defendant (Page v Champion Financial Management Ltd and others);
  • refused an application for a group litigation order under CPR 19 on the basis that the various issues that had arisen were not sufficiently common or related (Various v Barking, Havering & Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust); and
  • ruled that the liberty to apply provision of a consent order was procedural and not contractual (Ministry of Defence v Blythe).

Education and children’s services:

• Sections 120 and 121 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 came into force on 16 June 2014, making forced marriage a criminal offence.
• The High Court has:
  • rejected a father’s claim for damages against CAFCASS stating that it did not owe a public duty to children’s parents in proceedings (F-D v The Children and Family Court Advisory Service); and
  • ruled that it has the power to set aside an order made by a judge of the same level under the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 (TF v PJ).
• The Family Court has given guidance on the approach that should be taken when evidence or information changes during child proceedings that leads to a party requesting a court to review or vary existing findings (Re ZZ and others (Children)).
• The DfE has published guidance on standards for school food in England.
• The Welsh Government has published a consultation on Welsh school transport.
• The President of the Family Division has published his twelfth View from the President’s Chambers.

Employment and pensions:

• The ECJ has ruled that deceased workers are entitled to be paid in lieu of holiday that they have not taken (Bollacke v K + K Klass & Kock BV and Co KG).
• The Court of Appeal has held that employers are not obliged to make reasonable adjustments for non-disabled employees associated with disabled people (Hainsworth v Ministry of Defence).
• The High Court has held that maladministration can apply to unreasonable limitations inherent within automated systems operated by pension scheme administrators (NHS Business Services Authority v Jean Leeks and others).
• BIS has published the 2013 Survey of employment tribunal applications.

Environment:

• The Serious Crime Bill 2014-15 has been introduced to Parliament and will be relevant to environmental practitioners.
• Natural England has launched an online tool to assist in identifying whether proposed developments will affect sites of special scientific interest.

Housing:

• The Court of Appeal has held that a notice to quit was lawful despite the appellants claiming that there was evidence of presumed undue influence and that the elderly tenant lacked sufficient mental capacity to give the notice (Beech and another v Birmingham City Council).

Local government:

• The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (Commencement No 3) Order 2014 has been made and come into force.
• The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 have been laid before the National Assembly for Wales.

Property and planning:

• A further consultation on Crossrail 2 has been launched.

Public procurement and state aid:

• The General Court has dismissed an appeal by an unsuccessful bidder in relation to a procurement procedure organised by the European Commission for language-training services.
• The European Commission has:
  • announced that it has adopted a proposal to amend the Financial Regulation on the financial rules application to the general budget of the EU (which governs public procurement by EU institutions); and
  • adopted a communication on state aid on criteria for the analysis of the compatibility of state aid to promote the execution of important projects of common European interest.

Regulation and enforcement:

• The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 are now in force.
• The High Court has held that a council was entitled to rely on section 221(1) of the Local Government Act 1972 to obtain an injunction against an out-of-area telesales company that had been using misleading advertising (Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council v Worldwide Marketing Solutions Ltd and another).