PLC Public Sector reports:
Make sure that you have not missed a key development in your area of the law by reviewing our latest list of recommended actions. Continue reading
This week the High Court has been considering the lawfulness of a consultation process undertaken by a public body. What differentiates the Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust v Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts [2011] EWHC 2986 (Admin) case is that this was the first ever judicial review challenge brought by one NHS organisation (the Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust (RBHT)) against another (the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT)). The High Court’s decision, quashing the consultation that was undertaken by JCPCT on the basis it was unlawful, reiterates again the importance for public bodies of ensuring that they get the consultation process right.
PLC Public Sector reports:
Make sure that you have not missed a key development in your area of the law by reviewing our latest list of recommended actions. Continue reading
Although the Public and Commercial Services Union and the Prison Officers’ Association were ultimately unsuccessful in their legal challenge by way of judicial review to the government’s decisions to change the Civil Service Compensation Scheme in relation to payments made on redundancy or early retirement, the two civil service trade unions did achieve some success in their July 2011 application for specific disclosure of materials upon which the government’s decisions were based (R (Public and Commercial Services Union) v Minister for the Civil Service [2011] EWHC 2556 (Admin)).
PLC Public Sector reports:
Make sure that you have not missed a key development in your area of the law by reviewing our latest list of recommended actions. Continue reading
26/10/2011
“Social value” and public procurement
PLC Public Sector reports:
Chris White MP’s Public Services (Social Enterprise and Social Value) Bill 2010-11 may have been the subject of a government hatchet job, but one of its key goals does remain intact (although largely rewritten and somewhat diluted). It looks increasingly likely that contracting authorities will be obliged to consider “social value” as part of their procurement processes and to consult on the issue if necessary. Continue reading
PLC Public Sector reports:
Make sure that you have not missed a key development in your area of the law by reviewing our latest list of recommended actions. Continue reading
PLC Public Sector reports:
The government’s much debated Health and Social Care Bill has now survived (relatively unscathed) a “listening exercise” and an attack in the House of Lords led by Lord Owen with the intention of sending the Bill to a Select Committee to examine and make recommendations on various issues raised by Parliament’s Constitution Committee (or to put it another way, kick it away to the long grass).
It appears that (subject to the inevitable further challenges that will be made) the changes are coming and NHS commissioning will fundamentally change. PLC Public Sector have been looking at the key changes and what commissioners, and those advising them need to know, in advance of them coming into force.
PLC Public Sector reports:
Make sure that you have not missed a key development in your area of the law by reviewing our latest list of recommended actions. Continue reading
REUTERS | Maxim Shemetov
David Gollancz, Keating Chambers:
Ineffectiveness is a horrible remedy. Indeed calling it a “remedy” seems ironic: it does not make anything better. Ineffectiveness is by definition only available where the contract has been entered into, and the limitation period is six months. It follows that in many cases ineffectiveness will bite when contractual relationships are well developed and its impact could be significant not just for the contracting parties, but also others who have had no involvement in the procurement.