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 Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Bill 2013-14 has received Royal Assent.

Civil litigation:

• The Court of Appeal has held that:
  • the Mitchell guidelines do not apply to applications for time extensions made before the expiry of the time limit as they are not relief from sanctions (Hallam Estates Ltd and others v Teresa Baker);
  • service of a claims form in error still amounted to effective service as it was a procedural error capable of remedy under CPR 3.10 (Issac Stoute (a minor by his litigation friend Michael Stoute) v LTA Operations Ltd (T/A Lawn Tennis Association); and
  • the relief from sanctions principles are also applicable to an application to vary an order dismissing appeals for non-compliance with orders regarding the appeal bundles (McKew v Moore).
• The High Court has held that when:
  • assessing costs under the old CPR costs rules, the proportionality of individual costs may be assessed even if the overall costs are themselves proportionate (Finglands Coachways Ltd v O’Hare); and
  • interpreting a court order applying to a person who  had a hand in drafting it, it is permissible to have regard to their reasonable intentions when drafting and their reasonable understanding of the order (Feld v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills).
• The practice direction making document in relation to the 72nd Update to the CPR has now been published.

Education and children’s services:

• The School Governance (Constitution and Federations) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 have been made.
• The DfE has published:
  • statutory guidance on the process for transferring surplus and deficit balances on an Academy conversion; and
  • non-statutory guidance on school admission of children adopted from local authority care.
• The Court of Appeal has:
  • allowed an appeal against care and placement orders and remitted the case for rehearing following a flawed decision by a family judge reviewing a lower court decision (Re B (A Child)); and
  • given guidance abut fact finding hearings (Re S (Children, W & T)).
• The House of Commons Library has published a standard note on child arrangement orders.

Employment and pensions:

• The Immigration Bill 2013-14 has been granted Royal Assent.
• The Immigration (Employment of Adults Subject to Immigration Control) (Maximum Penalty) (Amendment) Order 2014 has come into force.
• The EU Council has adopted the Posted Workers Enforcement Directive.
• The EAT has held that an individual can still be considered an “employee” under the Employment Rights Act 1996 even if they have not exercised their right to be paid (Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills v Knight).
• The ET has refused a costs order on the basis that the claimants’ had entered into a damages-based agreement with their solicitor which would mean that the solicitor would benefit but not the claimants (Barry and others v University of Wales Trinity St David).
• There is currently some confusion over the time limits involved in relation to early conciliation; practitioners may find a leaflet published by the HMCTS of use.
• The Local Government Pension Scheme (Offender Management) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 have been made.

Environment:

• The ECJ has given a preliminary ruling on the approach that should be taken under the Habitats Directive when considering whether a project will adversely affect the integrity of a Special Area of Conservation or a Site of Community Interest (TC Briels and others v Minister van Infrastructuur en Milieu).
• The government has responded to its consultation on simplifying waste transfer notes.

FOI and data protection:

• The Intellectual Property Bill 2013-14 has received Royal Assent.
• The ECJ has confirmed that there is a right to have search engine results removed whwere they affect individual’s privacy rights (Google Spain SL and Google Inc v Agencia Espanola de Proteccion de Datos (AEPD) and Mario Costeja Gonzalez).
• The FTT(IR) has required a local authority to disclose information about a development project but did not require it to disclose the financial model used in respect of the development (London Borough of Southwark v Information Commissioner and Lend Lease (Elephant and Castle) Limited and Adrian Glasspool).
• The ICO has published a best practice IT security report.

Health:

• The Care Bill 2013-14 has received Royal Assent.
• Monitor has announced it will be investigating the proposed merger of pathology services in the north west of England.

Housing:

• The Court of Appeal has held that an appellant was not a statutory tenant under the Rent Act 1977 as she was not a “surviving spouse” as required under the relevant provisions of that Act (Northumberland & Durham Property Trust v Ouaha).

Local government:

• The ECtHR has confirmed a Supreme Court decision finding that a local authority was entitled to refuse to continue to provide a night-time carer for the applicant (McDonald v UK).
• The FTT(GRC) has dismissed an appeal against the listing of a bowls club concluding that the council had been right to list the site as an asset of community value (Gullivers Bowls Club v Rother District Council).

Property and planning:

• The Water Act 2014 has been published.
• The Court of Appeal has:
  • considered whether a tenant is entitled to a refund if the lease break date is between rent payment dates (Marks and Spencer plc v BNP Parisbas Securities Services Trust Company (Jersey) Limited and another); and
  • quashed a planning permission that had been granted in respect of a wind turbine in the green belt (Holder v Gedling Borough Council).
• The High Court has:
  • considered the effect of a certificate of lawful use for A3 where the actual use of the premises did not fall under that class (Hannan v London Borough of Newham); and
  • quashed a TPO on the basis that the person whose land was affected by the order had suffered prejudice as a result of the local authority’s failure to serve the TPO correctly (Village Developments plc v Tandridge District Council).
• The Land Registry has published new guidelines for the submission of supporting documents.

Public procurement:

• The High Court has ruled on whether a claim form in a procurement action covered pleadings in the particulars of claim and as such whether they were time-barred (Travis Perkins Trading Company Ltd v Caerphilly County Borough Council).
• The Advocate General has given his opinion on the concept of a “public works contract”.
• The NEC has launched its NEC for FM suite of contracts aimed at facilities management engagements.