PLC Public Sector reports:
Education, housing benefit, adult social services, housing, employement and public procurement all feature on this week’s need to know list.
This week’s recommended actions are:
Adult social services: adult social services lawyers should ensure they are taking steps towards the personalisation of adult social care services in light of the recent letter sent to Directors of Adult Social Services 9 September 2009 which contains useful milestones for local authorities in England to measure their progress against in the run up to April 2011.
Care and education services: Lawyers advising commissioners of children’s services or officers responsible for placing children with complex needs should consider the best practice guide that was published on 10 September 2009, which includes case studies in respect of contract structure and monitoring.
Charging for home care services: The Court of Appeal decision in Domb emphasises how important it is for local authorities, when taking decisions that affect their local communities, to ensure that they:
- Have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity.
- Carry out a proper consultation.
- Undertake a thorough impact assessment and ensure that the assessment is reported to the decision-maker so that they can make an informed decision.
Employment issues: employment lawyers should note:
- That additional paternity leave (originally proposed in December 2004) is to be introduced in April 2011.
- The outcome of the recent ECJ decision entitling an employee who was sick while on annual leave the option to reschedule their annual leave since it coincided with a period of sickness that would otherwise have qualified for sick leave.
Local government finance: finance officers should be alerted to the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 2009, which allow the proposed accounting changes for the treatment of new homes and come into effect on 1 October 2009.
Introductory and secure tenancies: the recent decision by the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales against Cardiff County Council emphasises the importance for housing officers of ensuring that introductory and secure tenancies are treated differently and that effective procedures are in place for dealing with anti-social tenants. In relation to the remedies that are available for dealing with anti-social behaviour, the Court of Appeal decision in Swindon Borough Council v Michael Redpath reinforces that:
- Local authorities can take action to safeguard communities not only against the anti-social behaviour of existing tenants but also former tenants.
- Depending on the particular facts of a case, a local authority has the option to choose one of two remedies: an anti-social behaviour injunction or an anti-social behaviour order.
Local housing allowance: housing and rent officers should be aware that the extrapolation provision has been reinstated by the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Amendment Order 2009 and comes into force on 12 October 2009.
Parish and town councils: those advising parish and town councils on engaging with unitary local authorities may find the latest guidance published by the Commission for Rural Communities helpful.
Pensions: Those responsible for administering NHS pensions schemes should be informed of the new regulations that allow eligible members of the 1995 section of the National Health Service Pension Scheme to transfer their service to the 2008 section of the scheme.
Public procurement: procurement officers should be alerted to two recent court decisions:
- The ECJ in Sea Srl v Comune di Ponte Nossa set out the circumstances in which a contract can be directly awarded without calling for tenders to a publicly owned company.
- The Northern Ireland High Court dismissed an appeal by a company that was excluded from a tendering procedure for a works contract because it provided out-of-date project experience. The judgment also considers when a contracting authority is entitled to seek clarification of bidders’ submissions.
Council tax and business rate appeals: From 1 October 2009, the Valuation Tribunal for England has sole jurisdiction to hear appeals relating to council tax and business rates appeals in England.
Consultations: Just one consultation to report on this week. A three-month consultation has been launched by the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative seeking public sector views on enhancing the transparency and accountability of publicly funded construction projects.