REUTERS | Neil Hall
22/07/2015

The Prevent duty: local authority implications

The government’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, is based on four areas of work:

  • Pursue: to stop terrorist attacks.
  • Prevent: to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.
  • Protect: to strengthen our protection against a terrorist attack.
  • Prepare: to mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack.

This post looks at the new duty on public bodies, specifically local authorities and schools, to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism, and considers what actions a local authority lawyer might be involved in to help discharge the duty.

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REUTERS | David Bebber
15/07/2015

Edenred – a deceptively narrow decision but with wide reaching consequences

The recent Supreme Court decision Edenred (UK Group) Ltd and another v HM Treasury [2015] UKSC 45 has already been the subject of a full note in Practical Law (see Legal update, Supreme Court dismisses appeal against government decision not to tender for administration of new scheme). In this short piece we consider some of the points raised by the decision that may become important in other cases.  We refer to the earlier legal update for discussion of the detail of the judgment.

The Supreme Court’s decision addresses two key points.  First, whether by reference to original tender material or the contract, it could be said that there was no real modification to the contract, and secondly whether any change was covered by a valid review clause.  The primary basis for the Supreme Court’s judgment (but not in the courts below) was on the former point.  In founding the case on the first point, the Court clearly sought to make a rather narrow finding but in doing so it has made observations which might have rather wider effects than intended.

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REUTERS | Kim Kyung-Hoon
15/07/2015

Public procurement case digest (June 2015)

June’s case digest includes a High Court decision considering a challenge the operation of a framework agreement for the supply of locum doctors, and an Advocate General opinion on the interpretation of Articles 47 and 48 of Directive 2004/18.

Please feel free to submit a comment below or send us an Ask query if you have any views on the cases covered, or think that we have missed a case that should be brought to the attention of public procurement practitioners. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Sharif Karim
07/07/2015

Education law quarterly digest (April 2015 – June 2015)

This is the latest in our series of quarterly education update blogs which will enable readers to catch up on the most important cases, issues or developments in education law from April 2015 to June 2015. Please feel free to submit a comment below or send us an Ask query if you have any views on the cases, issues, or legal development that are covered or if you think we have missed something that should be brought to the attention of education law practitioners.

In this post, we look at:

  • Recent decisions.
  • Legislative developments.
  • Government guidance.

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REUTERS | Nikola Solic
06/07/2015

What role do competition law principles play in public procurement?

Public procurement law is based on the free movement principles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). It requires equal treatment and transparency in public tendering.

Competition law seeks to ensure that EU and national markets operate efficiently for the benefit of consumers. It prohibits cartel activity, the abuse of dominance and other arrangements which restrict competition and are not justified by countervailing consumer benefits.

The objectives of procurement and competition law are thus similar and complementary. As the European Court (Stadt Halle (C-26/03)) has recognised, the principal objective of the procurement rules is “the free movement of services … and the opening-up to undistorted competition in all the Member States.” The new Directives adopted in 2014 also recognise an increased role for competition principles, as explained below.

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