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:
- The Court of Protection has held that two patients who were transferred from hospital in Scotland to a hospital unit in England had acquired habitual residence in England, and the court therefore had jurisdiction to make decisions about their care and residence (DB and EC v Worcestershire County Council and others).
Central government:
- The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice has announced the government’s committment to its 2015 manifesto pledge to introduce a British Bill of Rights and repeal the Human Rights Act 1998.
Children’s services:
- The Association of Lawyers for Children has published draft guidance to the judiciary on how judgments in public law children cases should be anonymised to avoid the jigsaw identification of children, and how descriptions of sexual abuse should be abridged within or annexed to a judgment to avoid publishing graphic details.
- The President of the Family Division has published his 14th View from the President’s Chambers. The latest report responds to concerns about the settlement conferences pilot and whether the tandem model of representation for children will continue in public law children cases.
Civil litigation:
- The High Court has refused an application to strike out a claim after the parties, having entered into a compromise agreement, were unable to agree the terms of a consent order (Walsh and another v Hall and another).
Employment and pensions:
- The Equality Act 2010 (Commencement Order No 11) Order 2016 has been made and brought section 78 of the Equality Act 2010 into force on 22 August 2016.
- The ECJ has held that where an individual applies for a job only in order to seek compensation for discrimination, and not to obtain employment, they will be outside the scope of both the Equal Treatment Framework Directive and the Equal Treatment Directive (Kratzer v R + V Allgemeine Versicherung AG).
- The EAT has held that rule 12(1)(b) of the Employment Tribunal Rules, which requires tribunals to reject a claim without a hearing, where it is in a form which “cannot sensibly be responded to”, is outside the scope of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 and therefore ultra vires (Trustees of the William Jones’s Schools Foundation v Parry).
Environment:
- The Environment Agency has published guidance on the environmental permits and permissions required for onshore oil and gas operations (including shale gas) in England.
FOI and data protection:
- The FTT(IR) has held that:
- information relating to the sponsorship fees that the Tate Gallery had received from BP did not engage section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (prejudice to commercial interests) and as such it must be disclosed (Brendan Montague v The Information Commissioner and another); and
- anonymised clinical trial data did not engage the section 22A, 40(2), 41 or 43(2) exemptions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (Queen Mary University of London v The Information Commissioner and another).
- The Home Office has published the Report of the Bulk Powers Review, evaluating the case for four of the powers in the Investigatory Powers Bill.
Housing:
- The House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee has published its Third Report of Session 2016-17 on Homelessness.
Public procurement:
- The European Commission has published a notice in the Official Journal extending its deadline for considering a request from Vapo Oy under Article 35 of Directive 2014/25 on procurement by utility companies.
Practical Law In brief