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 Local Government email.

Adult social services:

• The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by a claimant seeking judicial review of a council’s decision to reduce the claimant’s personal budget and to revise his care and support plan pursuant to the Care Act 2014 (R (Davey) v Oxfordshire County Council and Others).

Central government:

• David Davis and Michel Barnier have provided closing remarks following the third round of Article 50 negotiations. The Department for Exiting the European Union and the European Commission have also published a second joint technical note that summarises and compares the UK and EU positions on citizens’ rights.
• The House of Commons Library has published a briefing paper on the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.

Children’s services:

• The Department for Education has issued directions to the London Borough of Croydon Council in respect of its children’s social care functions and appointed a Children’s Services Commissioner to oversee and review these.

Civil litigation:

• The High Court has considered an application for relief from sanctions after claimants had failed to comply with an order for a payment on account of costs and a subsequent related unless order (Singh and others v Charity Commission and others).

Commercial:

• The TCC has overturned an adjudicator’s decision on contract interpretation and granted declaratory relief (Vinci Construction UK Ltd v Beumer Group UK Ltd).

Education:

• The Charity Commission and the Department for Education have entered into a new memorandum of understanding providing a framework for working together.

Employment and pensions:

• The Pensions Ombudsman has upheld a complaint where an LGPS scheme administrator had, without explanation, incorrectly quoted a member’s pension benefits and refused to calculate them using a higher average salary (Determination in a complaint by Ms S).

Environment:

• The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency have published a framework document on how they will work together.
• The UK Environmental Law Association has published a report to determine the extent to which the Henry VIII powers in the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill are needed to amend deficiencies in environmental legislation after Brexit.

FOI and data protection:

• The ICO has fined a council £70,000 under section 55A of the Data Protection Act 1998, for leaving vulnerable people’s personal information exposed online for five years.
• The government has published a consultation on the UK transposition of the Cybersecurity Directive.
• The ICO has published its response to a government consultation on the EU General Data Protection Regulation national law derogations.
• A European research project co-funded by the European Commission, Privacy Flag, has launched privacy tools for citizens and companies to assess and support compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation.

Housing:

• The Homes and Communities Agency has published guidance on fees for social housing providers and terms of reference for a fees advisory panel.

Local government law:

• The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has assessed whether a single property should be treated as separate units for rating purposes because different elements within the property were put to different uses (Hughes (VO) v York Museums and Gallery Trust (Rev 1)).
• The Department for Transport has published a consultation document on the future of highway lane rental.

Property and planning:

• The government has published the terms of reference for the independent review of Building Regulations and fire safety.
• HS2 Limited has published a guide to the environmental surveys it may have to conduct on private land as part of the construction of the high speed railway known as HS2.
• The government has published a collection of useful information on fire safety for tenants and residents, aimed at people who might have concerns about fire safety in the buildings where they live.

Public procurement and state aid:

• The Local Government Association has published a report on encouraging innovation in local government procurement.
• The European Commission has announced that it has decided to approve, under the state aid rules, rescue aid to be granted by Germany to Air Berlin.

Regulation and enforcement:

• The Health and Safety Executive has announced that:
  • a care home operator has been fined £60,000 after pleading guilty to section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and regulation 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 in the Crown Court; and
  • a council has been fined £8,000 after pleading guilty to section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 in the Sheriff Court (Scotland).