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.
This week’s actions are:
School admission appeals: given the recent LGO decision, lawyers advising on school admission appeals should remind:
- School governing bodies of the relevant disability discrimination legislation and the importance of complying with the disability provisions in the School Admission Appeals Code.
- Appeal panels and their clerks of the importance of seeking legal advice where they feel that they are not adequately trained in a certain area of law.
Employment: HR officers will want to familiarise themselves with the new regulations giving employees the right to request time off work to study or carry out training which are coming into force on 6 April 2010. Employers might wish to consider implementing a policy on such requests and training managers to deal with them appropriately within the new statutory procedure.
Decision-making: following the decision in Savage v Hillingdon London Borough Council, local authority officers taking decisions based on a council policy or scheme should ensure they:
- Have a proper understanding of the policy or scheme and its application.
- Do not apply the policy or scheme provisions too rigidly.
- Consider whether exceptions may apply to the policy or the scheme.
If they consider the above as part of their decision-making process, it is less likely that a local authority will be found to have fettered its discretion if the decision is subsequently challenged in judicial review proceedings.
Planning: local planning enforcement officers should be alerted to the decision of the Court of Appeal in Welwyn Hatfield Council v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) and Beesley (2) when determining whether a building has been constructed and used in accordance with planning permission look at the interior of the building as well as the exterior.
Consultations: there were only six consultations this week on:
- Draft statutory guidance on establishing economic prosperity boards and combined authorities.
- New school governance regulations in England.
- Draft Teachers’ Pensions Regulations.
- Proposed changes to protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
- An amended order exempting ecclesiastical buildings from listed building consent.
- Proposals to introduce a general consent for local authorities in England to establish and operate discretionary licensing schemes for houses in multiple occupation.