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 and children’s services: education lawyers should note that the Department for Education has published a Governor’s Handbook.
Employment and pensions: employment lawyers should be aware of the following EAT judgments:
- An employee who was summarily dismissed on capability grounds, and then reinstated, was constructively dismissed as a result of the imposition of a mandatory retraining programme (Thomson v Barnet Primary Care Trust).
- The Acas Code of Practice applies to dismissals where disciplinary proceedings have been, or ought to have been, invoked (Lund v St Edmund’s School).
- An employee who had raised a grievance and submitted a tribunal claim about persistent racist comments, was not victimised when his employer required him to relocate to an alternative site (Micheldever Tyre Service Ltd v Burrell).
- Seven weeks’ pay was too high for a technical breach of TUPE consultation provisions (Shields Automotive Ltd v Langdon).
Environment: environmental lawyers should note that the:
- European Commission has published in the Official Journal its Recommendation on the use of common methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations.
- Government has announced that its one-stop shop for consents for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) under the Planning Act 2008 is open for business.
Equality Act 2010: equality lawyers may be interested that the Scottish Government has published a report on integration of the public sector equality duty in Scotland.
FOI and data protection: information lawyers should be aware that the:
- Consultation on the Ministry of Justice’s proposal to extend the Information Commissioner’s powers to compulsorily assess NHS bodies‘ compliance with data protection legislation closes on 17 May 2013.
- Consultation on draft statutory guidance extending the period of retention for biometric data where necessary for the purposes of national security closes on 20 May 2013.
- Department for Business Innovation & Skills has published an independent report by Deloitte that assesses the market for public sector information across the UK.
Housing: housing officers should look at the Homes & Communities Agency’s consultation on protecting social housing assets.
Local government: local government lawyers should note that the:
- Supreme Court has clarified the scope of a local authority’s duty to provide accommodation to vulnerable adults under section 21(1)(a) of the National Assistance Act 1948 (SL v Westminster City Council).
- Local Audit and Accountability Bill has had its first reading.
- Department for Communities and Local Government has announced that town and parish councils will be able to submit “barrier busting” proposals to the government under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007.
Pensions: pension lawyers should be aware that the Department for Education is consulting on detailed proposals relating to the design of the reformed Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
Property and planning: property lawyers may be interested that:
- Permitted development rights have been extended for homeowners and businesses.
- The Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 (Commencement No 1 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Order 2013 has been made.
- The Court of Appeal has ruled that tenants’ unlawful flat conversion works did not render the building a house allowing them to acquire the freehold (Henley and another v Cohen).
- The Land Registry has revised Practice Guides 19 and 26.
- The Law Society has published updated conveyancing forms.
- The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has published a draft guidance note on capital allowances and land remediation relief on which it is currently consulting.
Regulation and enforcement: procurement officers should note that the draft Dangerous Dogs (Amendment) Bill, proposing that private property will be covered by the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, has been introduced to Parliament.