PLC Public Sector reports:
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Education: education lawyers are likely to find the following developments of interest:
- The Schools Forums (England) Regulations 2012 will come into force on 1 October 2012. Key changes introduced by the Regulations include preventing a non-school forum member from voting on certain matters relating to local authority funding allocations and allowing observers appointed by the Secretary of State to speak at meetings where they are not members.
- The publication by the Department for Education of updated non-statutory guidance on federated governing bodies.
Employment: employment lawyers should be aware of:
- The changes that have been introduced by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 relating to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and Criminal Records Bureau. The changes came into force on 10 September 2012.
- The decision of the EAT in Manchester College v Hazel and another, in which it held that employees dismissed for failing to agree a pay cut following a TUPE transfer had been unfairly dismissed and must be re-engaged at their previous rate of pay.
FOIA: information lawyers will be interested in a series of tribunal judgments released this week:
- In Information Commissioner v Magherafelt District Council, the Upper Tribunal held that a summarised schedule of disciplinary action taken by a local authority was personal data and exempt from disclosure under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
- In Trago Mills (South Devon) Ltd v Information Commissioner, the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) (FTTIR) upheld the Commissioner’s finding that the details of a former senior decision-maker’s compromise agreement were exempt from disclosure under section 40 of FOIA.
- In Wynn v Information Commissioner, the FTTIR upheld the Commissioner’s finding that the Serious Fraud Office was not required to disclose full details of its investigation into the collapse of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, as the information was exempt under sections 30 (investigations) and 42 (privilege) of FOIA. The FTTIR also held that time already incurred could be taken into account when calculating the cost of responding to a request for the purposes of the exemption in section 12 of FOIA.
Squatting: local authorities should be aware that since 1 September 2012 squatting in a residential building has been a criminal offence.
Consultations: this week consultations were published on:
- Implementing the excessive payment surcharges ban contained in the Consumer Rights Directive.
- The registration of the education workforce in Wales.
- A guide to the roles of the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Forestry Commission relating to new development.
- How the empty homes premium will be included in the council tax base calculation.