PLC Public Sector reports:
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School exclusions: education lawyers should note that a commencement order has been made bringing section 3 of the Children, Schools and Families Act 2010 into force on 1 September 2011. Section 3 amends section 19 of the Education Act 1996 in relation to the obligation on local authorities to secure suitable accommodation for children who because of exclusion from school, illness or any other reason will not receive education without alternative arrangements being made.
Social work: Welsh Ministers and Welsh family proceedings officers now have a partial exemption from the subject information provisions in the Data Protection Act 1998 following their inclusion in a list of exempted bodies by virtue of the Data Protection (Subject Access Modification) (Social Work) (Amendment) Order 2011.
Residential care: those responsible for dealing with financial assessments for residential care should note that the Department of Health has published an updated Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide following the National Assistance (Sums for Personal Requirements) Amendment (England) Regulations 2011 in March 2011.
The case of R (W) v Croydon Borough Council [2011] EWHC 696 (Admin) should also act as a useful reminder for local authorities to undertake effective and full consultation with all interested parties before reaching a decision to take a claimant out of residential accommodation.
Employment: given that the EAT has upheld a tribunal’s decision that a law firm discriminated against a male lawyer on the ground of his sex when, in a redundancy selection exercise, it inflated the score of a female colleague on maternity leave, local authority employers should ensure that they strike the right balance between the rights of pregnant women and women on maternity leave on the one hand and the rights of men not to be discriminated against.
FOIA: local authority information officers should be aware of the decision in Dransfield v IC & Devon County Council that a public authority does not hold information for the purposes of section 3 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 where the information is held by the contractor and the authority only has access for the purposes of checking that the contractor is complying with their contractual obligations.
Housing: local authority housing officers conducting housing reviews under section 202 of the Housing Act 1996 should be aware that following the Court of Appeal decision in Makisi v Birmingham City Council, an applicant has the right to request a meeting to make oral submissions to a reviewing officer if they want to make them in person rather than by telephone. However, the decision confirms that they are not entitled to call third party witnesses or conduct cross-examinations.
Local authority housing officers should also be aware that if they receive a written request from an unrepresented applicant for a review of the suitability of accommodation that has been offered under the Housing Act 1996, they should exercise common sense and take a broad view of the request rather than a strict legalistic view, see Nzamy v London Borough of Brent.
Local authority housing review officers should ensure that when taking their review decisions, they consider all the circumstances of the particular case. In Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead v Hemans, the review officer considered that the reasons for the wife leaving the marital property, domestic violence and the threat of her child being taken into care, were irrelevant. The Court of Appeal subsequently quashed that decision on the basis it was fundamentally flawed.
Planning: planning officers should note the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) report finding South Holland District Council guilty of maladministration causing injustice after taking enforcement action against a housing developer against Counsel’s advice and against national planning policy guidance. South Holland was order to pay the developer £25,000 in compensation.
Bailiff action: local authorities instructing bailiffs should note the critical comments made by the LGO in a recent report concerning Slough Borough Council and distraining goods of a significantly lower value than the outstanding debt.
Public procurement: local authorities should be aware that the Local Government Group has published a practitioner guide to publishing new contracts and tender information aimed at helping local authorities to comply with the government’s transparency requirements.
Public authorities should ensure their tender documents make clear any strict requirements, such as planning permission or necessary licences since the Court of Appeal has confirmed in Countryliner Ltd v Surrey County Council they can automatically disqualify bidders who do not comply with those requirements.
Waste authorities: should familiarise themselves with the new waste regulations.
Consultations: this week there were consultations launched on:
- School funding reform.
- Best value draft statutory guidance.
- Draft guidance on the Agency Workers Regulations.
The government has also launched a thematic review of regulations as part of its “red tape challenge” and a “listening exercise” focusing on proposed changes to the NHS.