REUTERS | Mike Blake

In brief for week ending 8 October 2014

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.

Central government:

  • BIS has published a consultation document on options for embedding joint working between economic regulators.

Civil litigation:

  • The CPRC has announced that it is seeking views on amendments to the Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review.
  • Jackson LJ’s keynote speech to the Costs Law Reports conference on 30 September 2014 has been published.
  • The regulator for members of CILEX has opened the application process for legal executives to gain practice rights in immigration and litigation and related advocacy rights without supervision by an authorised person such as a solicitor.

Education and social services:

  • The Designation of Rural Primary Schools (England) Order 2014 came into force on 1 October 2014, designating certain schools as rural primary schools in England.
  • The LGO has criticised a local authority for refusing to continue funding school bus passes for two sisters when they moved to another house in the same village.
  • The High Court has:
    • repeated its guidance on drafting injunctive orders, how these should comply with Family Procedure Rule 37.9(1), and explained the meaning and test for the word “harassment” when used in injunctive orders (Gloucestershire CC v Newman); and
    • considered an application for the change of both surnames and forenames for two children, as well as an application to vary a contact order for direct contact with older siblings post placement for adoption (London Borough of Haringey v Musa).
  • Thirty Nine Essex Street has published the October 2014 issue of its Mental Capacity Law Newsletter, which provides summaries and comments on recent Court of Protection cases and reports on news relevant to the Court of Protection.

Employment and pensions:

  • The EAT has:
  • The Conservative Party has proposed various reforms to employment law at its Party Conference.

Environment:

Human rights:

  • The Conservative Party has published its proposals for changing Britain’s human rights laws if it is re-elected in 2015.

Local government:

  • The government has published a revised Local Government Transparency Code, which sets out the minimum data that local authorities should be publishing, the frequency it should be published and how it should be published.
  • The LGA has announced that it has set an independent audit company, Public Sector Audit Appointments, to take on public sector auditing responsibilities when the Audit Commission closes.

Property and planning:

  • The High Court has considered the conduct of a mortgagee in possession as involuntary bailee of another’s goods, and held that the duty of an involuntary bailee is to do what is right and reasonable. What is right and reasonable will depend upon the particular facts of a case (Campbell v Redstone Mortgages Ltd).
  • The DCLG has updated its guidance on how councils should use their Local Plan to protect green belt land and whether they must meet housing needs in full.
  • Ofwat has published a consultation on its proposals for updating its policy on how highway drainage charges should be dealt with by new appointees.

Public procurement and state aid:

Regulation and enforcement:

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