Practical Law

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.

Civil litigation: litigation lawyers are likely to be interested in the following developments:

• The Civil Procedure (Amendment No 4) Rules 2013 have been made implementing the government’s proposals for reform of the judicial review system and will come into force on 1 July 2013.
• The Magistrates’ Court Fees (Amendment) Order 2013 has been made increasing certain magistrates’ court fees.
• The High Court has considered time extension and unless order applications following Jackson changes to the CPR (Re Atrium Training Services Ltd and Connor Williams Ltd).

Commercial:contracts lawyers may be interested in a recent Technology and Construction Court ruling, which provides a useful reminder of the principles around excluding and limiting liability, and the meaning of indirect loss (Elvanite Full Circle Ltd v AMEC Earth and Environmental (UK) Ltd).

Education: education lawyers should note that the: 

• The Information as to Provision of Education (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 have been made and will come into force on 1 July 2013.
• The Supreme Court has held that the High Court was entitled to conclude that the adoption of a child at risk of harm was necessary and was not a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Re B (a Child)).
• The Department for Education (DfE) has updated its guidance on:
  • preventing and tackling bullying; and
  • dealing with strike action in schools.
• The Education Funding Agency has published guidance on 2014-15 revenue funding arrangements for local authorities.

Employment and pensions: employment and pensions lawyers should be aware that:

• The new employment tribunals rules have been published.
• The Deputy Ombudsman has held that an absent LGPS member seeking an ill-health pension had transferred under TUPE (Linnard (PO-565)).

Environment: environmental lawyers are likely to be interested in the following developments:

• The government has published a National Policy Statement for Hazardous Waste.
• The OFT and the Department of Energy and Climate Change have published guidance on the Consumer Credit Act 1974 licence requirements for Green Deal participants.
• The Environment Agency has published a new version of the CRC energy efficiency scheme guidance for participants in phase two of the scheme.
• The government has issued a call for evidence on community energy.

FOI and data protection: information lawyers should be aware that the:

• The Information Commissioner’s Office has updated its guidance under various provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
• The EU Council’s Presidency has submitted a draft compromise text on Chapters I to IV of the proposed EU Data Protection Regulation for consideration by delegations.
• The ICO has published a letter to the Ministry of Justice on the draft EU Data Protection Regulation.

Health: healthcare lawyers should note the following recent developments:

• Monitor has opened its first investigation under the NHS (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) (No 2) Regulations 2013.
• The Competition Commission has:
  • published several working papers as part of its market investigation into the private healthcare market;
  • published a notice to terminate the extension of the period for its inquiry into the Dorset hospitals merger.

Housing: housing lawyers are likely to be interested in a recent Court of Appeal decision dealing with whether it was reasonable to grant a possession order despite the appellant having a sentimental attachment to the property (Holt v Reading Borough Council).

Local government: local authority members should note that the:

• The LGiU has published a report on the Local Government Ombudsman, calling for it to provide more support to members.
• The Welsh Government is currently consulting on communities and community council guidance under the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011.

Property and planning: planning lawyers are likely to be interested in:

• Changes to the mobile homes regime under the Mobile Homes Act 2013.
• The following decisions in which the:
  • Court of Appeal held that where a lease was silent on the landlord’s repairing obligations then a landlord was not responsible for repairs to retained parts of the property (Gavin and another v Community Housing Association Ltd).
  • High Court held that a squatter in possession for less than 12 years was not entitled to lodge a caution against first registration under the Land Registration Act 2002 (Turner v Chief Land Registrar).
• Revised guidance on applying for development consent for major infrastructure projects.
• A code of practice issued by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on cabinet and pole siting providing guidance for local authorities deploying electronic communications apparatus.

Public procurement: procurement officers should be aware that the:

• The Public Contracts and Defence and Security Public Contracts (Croatia Accession Amendments) Regulations 2013 have been published.
• The General Court has rejected a claim for damages by VIP Car Solutions SARL in relation to a contract award decision by the European Parliament.
• The European Ombudsman has published a decision on the provision of information to an unsuccessful bidder.

Regulation and enforcement: enforcement lawyers should note that the:

• The Court of Appeal has ruled that a single incident can be considered “commercial practice” as defined in Regulation 2(1) of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (R v X Ltd).
• The Home Office code of practice on the use of surveillance cameras has been published.
• The European Commission is consulting on the future EU occupational safety and health policy framework.