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.
Children’s services:
- The Court of Appeal has granted a grandmother permission to appeal against a care and placement order relating to her grandson (Re J (A Child)).
- Ofsted has published a single framework for inspecting all local authority services for vulnerable children.
- The DfE has published a consultation on regulations governing the registration requirements applying to organisations that provide social care services on behalf of local authorities.
Civil litigation:
- The Civil Procedure (Amendment No 7) Rules 2013, which implement the 66th update to the Civil Procedure Rules, will come into force on 1 October 2013.
Employment and pensions:
- The DfE has published a consultation reviewing how schoolteachers’ trade union facility time can be managed more transparently and cost-effectively.
- The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 have been laid before Parliament.
Environment:
- Defra has published a consultation on the UK government’s draft Aarhus Convention implementation report.
FOI and data protection:
- The government’s response to the Caldicott review on information sharing in the healthcare sector has been published, alongside accompanying guidance.
- The Law Commission has published a consultation paper looking at the issues involved in data sharing between public bodies.
Health:
- The National Health Service (Direct Payments) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (which amend the rules on making direct payments for health care services) will come into force on 14 October 2013.
- The Health and Social Care Act 2012 (Consequential Amendments No 2) Order 2013 (which makes consequential amendments to legislation resulting from the healthcare reforms brought about by the Health and Social Care Act 2012) will come into force on 1 November 2013.
- NHS England has published guidance for NHS commissioners on how to fulfil their duties under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to ensure public participation in healthcare.
- Monitor has published the report of the Co-operation and Competition Panel on the merger of parts of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and North Bristol NHS Trust.
Housing:
- The LGO has found that Westminster City Council was housing homeless families in bed and breakfast accommodation for longer than the recommended limit of six weeks. The council agreed to pay £500 to each complainant.
Local government:
- DCLG has published updated guidance on openness and the transparency of councillors’ personal interests, to require councillors to register their membership of trade unions.
Property and planning:
- The High Court has considered the meaning of “eaves” in connection with roof extensions under permitted development rights (Waltham Forest London Borough Council v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government).
- The government has announced further measures to assist people wishing to build their own homes.
Public procurement:
- The Cabinet Office has published a consultation on proposals for making public sector procurement more accessible to SMEs.
- The House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts has published a report on the Cabinet Office’s work to improve government procurement and the impact of government’s ICT savings initiatives.
- The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published guidance on procurement and the public sector equality duty for public authorities in Scotland.
- Advocate General Nils Wahl has handed down an opinion relating to the direct effect of the old Utilities Contracts Directive before its transposition into national law.
Regulation and enforcement:
- The OFT has published its response to the Draft Consumer Rights Bill.