REUTERS | Mike Blake
05/11/2013

Local government law quarterly digest (August 2013 – October 2013)

This is the fourth in our series of quarterly local government update blogs, which will enable readers to catch up on the most important cases, issues or developments in local government since May 2013.

Please feel free to submit a comment below or contact us at feedback@practicallaw.com if you have any views on the cases, issues, or legal development that is covered or if you think we have missed something that should be brought to the attention of local government practitioners. Continue reading →

REUTERS | John Kolesidis
28/10/2013

Procurement Lawyers’ Association event: the new procurement directives

Procurement enthusiasts armed with more questions than answers gathered at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on the evening of Monday 14 October to discuss the new draft procurement directives.

Two panels of experts provided their insights into the development of the Directive and the impact its provisions might make in practice. Rosemary Choueka of Lawrence Graham LLP chaired the event. Continue reading →

15/10/2013

The courts’ approach to challenges based on the public sector equality duty

The decision of the High Court in R (T) v Sheffield City Council (a case on cutting funding) reinforces the message that has been coming from the courts in the last year that:

  • The public sector equality duty (PSED) in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) is not to be used by aggrieved claimants to challenge the merits of a local authority’s decision-making process.
  • Unrealistic standards should not be set for equality impact assessments (EIA).
  • It is not for the courts to micro-manage the consideration of equalities and decide whether the decision-maker had given appropriate weight to equalities.
  • Although the principles of the duty (and the court’s application of those principles) remain unchanged, there has been a shift in how the principles are applied in practice.

Continue reading →

REUTERS | Lisi Niesner
09/10/2013

Public procurement case digest (August – September 2013)

Practical Law Public Sector reports:

The most notable case in the last two months concerned a subsidy provided to a private company for a construction project, which the ECJ held to be in breach of the procurement rules. The ECJ also provided more clarity on how to determine whether an organisation that carries out a public service constitutes a contracting authority.

Please feel free to submit a comment below or contact us at: feedback@practicallaw.com 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 →