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.
Education: those acting for schools in Wales should be aware that anti-bullying guidance has been published setting out the different types of bullying and how to deal with and prevent incidents of bullying.
Employment: employment lawyers should be aware that the Employment Appeal Tribunal has upheld an earlier decision that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had not directly discriminated against a deaf diplomat or breached its duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 by withdrawing a job offer because of the cost of providing English lip-speaker support.
Pensions: the Deputy Pension Ombudsman has held that when deciding whether a member of the LGPS satisfies the ill-health early retirement criteria, an employing authority should ensure that it bases its decision on appropriate evidence and does not follow its medical advisers “blindly”. Those advising local authorities should ensure that when they make decisions relating to eligibility, they rely on evidence which does not contain anomalies and that their medical advisers understand their role under the LGPS governing regulations.
Health: those advising care providers and commissioners should note that guidance has been published implementing patients’ right to chose named consultant-led teams for treatment.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has also published equality and human rights guidance for Care Quality Commission inspectors, which may be useful in identifying and dealing with human rights violations in care provision.
Housing: housing lawyers should be aware that the Department for Communities and Local Government has published a statement on self-financing for council housing relating to:
- A new system to replace the current annual subsidies controlled by the government.
- The government reducing the interest rate charged by the Public Works Loan Board for loans to councils to:
- fund their one-off payments to begin self-financing; and
- leave the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy system.
Planning: the High Court in Egan v Basildon Borough Council [2011] EWHC 2146 (QB) has held that planning enforcement notices must be drafted accurately and precisely in order to give effect to what was intended, in this case, the demolition or removal of buildings constructed on the hard standings. Planning lawyers should note this decision, which provides clarification of the scope of a LPA’s incidental powers in connection with enforcement notices under section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972.
Also of interest to planning lawyers, will be the publication of a new page on the DCLG website dedicated to “public requests to order disposal” for those members of the public who wish to have the right to reclaim and develop unused public sector land and buildings under the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980.
Public procurement: procurement lawyers should read and take note of the European Commission staff working paper, which provides guidance on the application of the EU public procurement laws to relations between contracting authorities (public-public co-operation).
Bankruptcy: those dealing with local authority debt collection and enforcement departments should be take note of the Local Government Ombudsman report that has recently been published on using bankruptcy as an enforcement method for council tax debts.
Decision-making: Local authorities should be aware of the potentially far-reaching consequences of the High Court decision in Charles Terence Estates Ltd v Cornwall Council and others, that the predecessor authorities of Cornwall Council breached their fiduciary duty to local taxpayers when they failed to take account of market rents before entering into leases with Charles Terence Estates. When exercising a statutory power, a local authority must:
- Take into account its fiduciary duty towards its local taxpayers and the taxpayers’ interest in having their funds preserved.
- Balance that fiduciary duty with its other duties.
Unless a local authority has regard to all the relevant issues when reaching a decision, it will be found to have acted beyond its statutory power.
Consultation: this week a consultation has been launched on changes to the capital finance system.