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 email.

Civil litigation:

• The High Court has:
  • set aside a default judgment that had been entered in circumstances in which the acknowledgement of service had been filed five days late (Robinson v Kensington & Chelsea and another); and
  • dismissed an appeal of a costs management order by a deputy master, holding that he was entitled to take into account costs already incurred, comment that these costs were excessive and then approve a reduced budget (Redfern v Corby Borough Council).
• The MoJ has published its response to part two of its consultation paper, Court fees: Proposals for reform, which proposes the introduction of some substantial fee increases.

Commercial:

• Professional bodies for tax advisers have published interim guidance on the enforceability of engagement letters, following the coming into effect of the Consumer Contracts (Information Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

Education and social services:

• The Office of the Schools Adjudicator for England has published the annual report for the Chief Schools Adjudicator covering the period September 2013 to August 2014.
• The Court of Appeal has upheld a first instance order preventing a child’s return to Brazil, but substituted a finding of fact regarding the child’s habitual residence (S (A Child) (Habitual Residence and Child’s Objections) (Brazil)).
• The Court of Protection has:
  • held that the legal principles to be applied at a fact finding hearing in the Court of Protection are the same as those applied to proceedings about child protection (A Local Authority v M); and
  • held that the definition of habitual residence under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 is the same as that applied in family law, including under Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 (An English Local Authority v SW and A Scottish Local Authority).
• The DH has published a revised version of its statutory code of practice on the Mental Health Act 1983. The revised code must be followed by local authorities, managers and health professionals, and the revisions reflect views received on the DH’s consultation on the existing code, plus changes to legislation, policy, case law and professional practice that have taken place since the code was introduced in 2008.

Employment and pensions:

• The EAT has upheld a tribunal’s award of compensation made to a former employee who had been victimised when he was turned down for a new job with his former employer (Das v Ayrshire & Arran Health Board).
• The Cabinet Office has published guidance on the use of settlement agreements, special severance payments and confidentiality clauses on the termination of employment that will apply from 1 February 2015.
• BIS has published a consultation on proposals to amend the procedure for postponements in the employment tribunals.
• The Supreme Court has announced it will hear an appeal against an October 2013 decision of the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland concerning the pension rights of the surviving unmarried partner of a deceased member of the Local Government Pension Scheme.
• The Pensions Regulator has finalised its draft code of practice relating to the governance and administration of public service pension schemes.

Environment:

• The ECJ has overturned a judgment of the General Court in two joined appeal cases, and narrowed the scope of access to environmental justice under the Aarhus Convention for NGOs (Council v Stichting Natuur en Milieu and Pesticide Action Network Europe and Council v Vereniging Milieudefensie and Stichting Stop Luchtverontreiniging Utrecht).
• The DECC has published a guide to energy performance contracting best practices, which is designed to help public sector bodies considering entering into the DECC’s model energy performance contract.

Health:

• The CMA has published the full text of its decision on the anticipated acquisition by Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust of West Middlesex University NHS Trust.
• Monitor has published a consultation on draft guidance outlining the core principles that NHS providers can follow to enable patients to receive integrated care.
• The DH has launched a consultation on a draft good practice form for the release of a body from hospital to allow the bereaved to make arrangements for a funeral.

Housing:

• The Court of Appeal has held that, for the purposes of determining whether it was reasonable for an individual to continue to occupy accommodation under section 175 of the Housing Act 1996, “other violence” in section 177 of the Act covered not only physical violence (actual or threatened) but other threatening or intimidating behaviour or abuse (Hussain v London Borough of Waltham Forest).
• The draft Anti-social Behaviour (Authorised Persons) Order 2015 has been laid before Parliament.
• The Welsh Government has published a consultation on draft secondary legislation associated with Part 2 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.

Local government:

• The Court of Appeal has refused an appeal against a council’s decision to cease to provide a direct transport service via a dedicated unit to eligible disabled adult users (R (Robson and another) v Salford City Council).
• The High Court has upheld a challenge to the decision by a council’s cabinet to join a consortium promoting housing development on a site where the council owned over 39 acres of land (R (Galaxy Land Ltd) v Durham County Council).
• HMRC has published the draft Income Tax (Travel Expenses of Members of Local Authorities) Regulations 2015 for comment.
• The DfT has published guidelines on community transport funding and the EU state aid rules.

Property and planning:

• The Neighbourhood Planning (General) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 will come into force in England on 9 February 2015.
• The draft Community Right to Challenge (Business Improvement Districts) Regulations 2015 have been published.
• The High Court has:
  • held that changes made to planning enforcement provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 had not removed the good faith requirement established in Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and another v Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (Jackson v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government); and
  • considered the meaning of the term “mixed use” in class F, Part 3 of Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (Valentino Plus Limited v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and others).
• The government has:
  • proposed amendments to the Infrastructure Bill that would introduce a new Electronic Communications Code; and
  • announced the final package of measures available to assist homeowners affected by Phase One of the high speed rail link, HS2.
• The Land Registry has published a set of specific addresses for land registration applications and correspondence.

Public procurement and state aid:

• The CCS has published a procurement policy note on implementing Article 6 of the Energy Efficiency Directive.

Regulation and enforcement:

• The government has proposed new economic thresholds for individuals entering bankruptcy or applying for a debt relief order.