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 Jackson Steering Committee has issued a press release providing an update on its work on UTBMS J-Codes.
Commercial:
- The Community Interest Company (Amendment) Regulations 2014 amend the Community Interest Company Regulations 2005 by removing the share dividend cap and come into force on 1 October 2014.
Education and social services:
- The Court of Appeal has set aside care and placement orders where the first instance judge failed adequately to reason her welfare determination (N-D (Children)).
- The Court of Protection has identified factors to be weighed when applying the balance sheet approach to determine which of three competing siblings should be appointed as a deputy for their incapacitated father (DG and others v Peter).
- The High Court has transferred care proceedings to Portugal under Article 15 of BIIR (B-C and Others (Children)).
Employment and pensions:
- The High Court has declined to make a declaration of incompatibility under the Human Rights Act 1998 in respect of aspects of the statutory trade union recognition scheme in Schedule A1 of TULRCA (R (on the application of Boots Management Services Ltd) v Central Arbitration Committee and others).
- The EAT has:
- overturned a tribunal’s decision that two interpreters, who performed regular assignments for HM Courts and Tribunals Service, were not “in employment” under the Equality Act 2010 and were therefore unable to pursue race discrimination claims (Windle v Arada and another);
- considered whether an employee had been automatically unfairly dismissed for taking time off to deal with emergencies involving their dependants (Ellis v Ratcliff Palfinger Ltd); and
- considered whether an employment tribunal had erred in law by having regard to the fact that the claimant had legal expenses insurance in deciding not to make a costs order (Mardner v Gardner and others).
- BIS has published a technical guide to assist employers when they are considering the new rights to shared parental leave and pay.
Environment:
- The DECC has responded to its May 2014 consultation on enhancing the annual report publication on CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme participants and confirmed that it will not implement its proposals.
FOI and data protection:
- The Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland has awarded nominal damages under the Data Protection Act 1998 and affirmed a £20,000 general damages award, which included compensation for distress caused by a data breach (CR19 v Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland).
- The European Commission and the Article 29 Working Party have published further information on their approach to the right to be forgotten.
- The CMA has announced that it has launched a review of the OFT’s 2006 market study into the commercial use of public sector information.
Housing:
- The Housing (Wales) Act 2014 will come into force on a date to be appointed by the Welsh Government and makes changes to housing legislation in Wales, including to the social housing and homelessness regimes. The Act also makes a number of changes to the private housing regime.
Local government:
- The NAO has published a consultation inviting views on the draft Code of Audit Practice for the audit of local public bodies.
Public procurement:
- The ECJ has handed down a ruling on a reference from a German court on whether, in the context of a public procurement procedure, national law can require that sub-contractors based in another member state pay a minimum wage to their staff (Bundesdruckerei GmbH v Stadt Dortmund).
- The Cabinet Office has published a consultation on the transposition of the new EU public procurement directives and the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
Regulation and enforcement:
- The Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 (Commencement No 1) Order 2014 brings into force the substantive provisions of the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 from 1 October 2014.