PLC Public Sector reports:
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Charities: public sector bodies considering outsourcing some of their service provision to charities should be aware that the Charity Tax Group has published a briefing note covering the main VAT considerations.
Civil litigation: litigation lawyers will be interested in the High Court decision in Joyce v West Bus Coach Services Ltd confirming that where there has been a failure to comply with an unless order following a statement of case being struck out, it will not be possible to accept a part 36 offer.
Education: education lawyers should note the following recent developments:
- The School Behaviour (Determination and Publicising of Measures in Academies) Regulations 2012 have been laid before Parliament and will come into force on 1 April 2012. The Regulations cover the process that should be followed by an Academy principal when determining and publicising measures for searching Academy pupils without their consent.
- The Court of Appeal’s decision in Woodland v Essex County Council in which it held that schools do not owe a non-delegable duty of care to pupils to secure reasonable care for them throughout the school day.
Employment: the following decisions are likely to be of interest to employment lawyers:
- The EAT’s decision in Pasab Ltd (t/a Jhoots Pharmacy and another v Woods) in which it held that a Muslim employee who was dismissed for calling her employer’s business a “little Sikh club” was not victimised contrary to the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, she was dismissed because it was considered that she had made a racist comment.
- The EAT’s decision in Abellio London Ltd (Formerly Travel London Ltd) v Musse and others, in which it held that a relocation of six miles because of a TUPE transfer did amount a substantial change in an employee’s conditions to their material detriment. Therefore the employee was entitled to resign and claim that they had been dismissed for the purposes of TUPE.
- A decision by the ET in Gee and others v Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boy’s School, holding that the hourly rate of pay for visiting teachers (based on the annual rate of pay for full-time teachers) did include statutory holiday pay.
Equality duties: local authorities undertaking equality impact assessments (EIA) prior to introducing budget cuts should be aware of the High Court’s decision in R(Barrett) v London Borough of Lambeth. The Court found that a decision by Lambeth’s Cabinet to agree budget cuts without the decision-makers seeing a full EIA had been unlawful, but as Lambeth had already set the decision aside, no relief was required. The decision also makes it clear that paying due regard to the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 cannot be delegated by decision-makers to officers.
Health: healthcare lawyers should be aware that an updated version of the NHS Constitution and accompanying handbook have been published including sections dealing with whistleblowing.
Housing: housing lawyers should note that the following regulations have been made dealing with changes introduced to the social housing regime by the Localism Act 2011:
- The Flexible Tenancies (Review Procedures) Regulations 2012, which set out the procedure following a request for a review after an offer of a flexible tenancy.
- The Transfer of Tenancies and Right to Acquire (Exclusion) Regulations 2012, which set out the types of tenancies that are excluded from the right to acquire and the right to transfer.
- The Localism Act 2011 (Regulation of Social Housing) (Consequential Provisions) Order 2012, which amends secondary legislation to replace references to the Office for Tenants and Social Landlords to refer to the Homes and Community Agency.
- The Localism Act 2011 (Housing and Regeneration Functions in Greater London) (Consequential and Functions in Greater London) (Consequential, Transitory, Transitional and Saving Provisions) Order 2012, which amends secondary legislation following the abolition of the London Development Agency on 31 March 2012.
The government has also published a summary of responses to its consultation on reinvigorating the right to buy scheme together with details of its plans for reforming the scheme.
Local government: the fourth commencement order under the Localism Act 2011 has been made, which brings a number of provisions of the Localism Act 2011 into force. Those advising local authorities should also be aware that several other sets of regulations have been published as a result of the provisions in the commencement order coming into force:
- The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2012, which cover what happens when an excessive council tax increase is proposed but not approved by referendum.
- The Standards Board for England (Abolition) Order 2012, which transfers all property, rights and liabilities previously owned by the Standards Board to the Secretary of State.
Three sets of Regulations have also been published that deal with the administration of business rates.
Licensing: licensing lawyers dealing with music events should note that the Live Music Bill has been granted Royal Assent to become the Live Music Act 2012. The Act makes changes to the Licensing Act 2003 in relation to the performance of live music.
Property and planning: property lawyers dealing with neighbourhood development should be aware that the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) (Amendment) Order 2012 and Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 have been made and will come into force on 6 April 2012.
Also of interest is the High Court decision in Winfield v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, where it considered what amounted to an advertisement.
Public procurement: public procurement lawyers will be interested to note the government’s latest announcement of new measures aimed at increasing access for SMEs to public contracts. These include setting breakpoints in IT contracts so that there is less money locked into large lengthy contracts, further improving transparency and dialogue with government departments, extending the Mystery Shopper service to cover unfair practices in the supply chain, and rolling out measures to ensure prompter payment.