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In brief for week ending 6 April 2016

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:

Civil litigation:

  • The Court of Appeal and Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) Fees (Amendment) Order 2016 has been made and will come into force on 18 April 2016. The order increases the fees for bringing appeals in civil proceedings before the Court of Appeal.
  • The latest Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2016 mainly entered into force on 6 April 2016. The related practice direction making document introduces a substantial number of amended court forms and new court forms for use in the Chancery Division.
  • The High Court has:
    • interpreted the form of costs order commonly made in the Supreme Court and considered, in particular, whether it entitled the receiving party to proceed to immediate assessment following the conclusion of the appeal, although the underlying proceedings were continuing (Khaira and others v Shergill and others); and
    • considered whether to retrospectively authorise alternative service under CPR 6.15(2) following a misunderstanding between the parties’ solicitors regarding an agreed extended time period for service of the claim form (Abbott and another v Econowall Ltd and others).
  • The Civil Justice Council has issued a response to Briggs LJ’s civil courts structure review interim report.

Education:

Employment and pensions:

  • The Court of Appeal has considered the circumstances in which employment tribunals have jurisdiction to hear discrimination claims brought against qualifications bodies by their members (Michalak v General Medical Council and others).
  • The EAT has upheld an employment tribunal’s decision that an employer’s genuine and reasonable belief that an employee was no longer permitted to work in the UK was sufficient to show that a subsequent dismissal was for some other substantial reason and was both substantively and procedurally fair (Nayak v Royal Mail Ltd).
  • A number of amendments to pensions and tax legislation are coming into effect on or around 6 April 2016.
  • The President of the Employment Tribunals has issued a consultation paper on the approach that employment tribunals should adopt when assessing pensions loss.

Environment:

  • The Scotland Bill 2015-16 has received Royal Assent to become the Scotland Act 2016. The Act provides for the devolution of powers to Scotland, including powers relating to energy market regulation, renewable energy incentives, and supplier obligations for energy efficiency and fuel poverty.
  • The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 2016 have been made and came into force on 6 April 2016. The Regulations amend the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 to replace the current flood defence consents with environmental permits for flood risk activities, in order to regulate activities on or near watercourses in England and Wales.
  • The Infrastructure Act 2015 (Commencement No 5) Regulations 2016 have been made and came into force on 6 April 2016. The Regulations bring section 50 of the Infrastructure Act 2015 fully into force. Section 50 inserts sections 4A and 4B into the Petroleum Act 1998 to provide for safeguards for licensing onshore fracking in England and Wales.
  • The Environment Agency has:
    • announced that a Magistrates’ Court has ordered a company and director to pay fines, compensation and prosecution costs of £30,000 following a conviction for waste offences; and
    • published a report on the implementation of the contaminated land regime under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in England.
  • Defra has published a plan setting out priorities for improving National Parks in England over the period from 2016 to 2020.

FOI and data protection:

Health:

  • The Department of Health has published an updated version of its standard NHS terms and conditions for the supply of goods and for the provision of services.

Housing:

Human rights:

  • The Court of Appeal has granted an interim injunction to prevent a newspaper from disclosing details of extramarital sexual activities of the appellant, a well-known person in the entertainment business, on the grounds that publication of the article would infringe the appellant’s right to privacy (PJS v News Group Newspapers Ltd).

Property and planning:

Public procurement:

  • The government has announced that it is extending existing guidance on procuring steel for major construction projects so that it applies to the whole public sector, beyond central government.
  • The government has unveiled an official building information modelling (BIM) level 2 website to coincide with the government’s mandate requiring BIM level 2 for all centrally procured government projects from 4 April 2016.

Regulation and enforcement:

  • The Riot Compensation Act 2016 has received Royal Assent. The operative provisions will come into effect on a date appointed by the Secretary of State by regulations.
  • Two new sets of regulations in England and Wales impose a duty from 6 April 2016 on every keeper of a dog to have their dog microchipped and to record information on a database.
  • The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2016 came into force on 4 April 2016 and amend the Criminal Procedure Rules 2015.
  • The Court of Appeal has:
    • dismissed an appeal against a conviction and found that the judge had not erred in admitting evidence of the appellant’s bad character pursuant for section 101(1)(d) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The judge reached a decision which was open to him within the band of evaluation which he was carrying out (R v Larkin); and
    • issued a Practice Direction amending Practice Direction (CA (Crim Div): Criminal Proceedings: General Matters) [2015] (Practice Direction (CA (Crim Div): Criminal Proceedings: General Matters) (Amendment No 1) [2016]).
  • The Health and Safety Executive has announced that three companies and a company director have been fined following a conviction for a health and safety breach.
Practical Law In brief

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