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.
Civil litigation: litigation lawyers should be aware that the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (Commencement No 3) Order 2013 has been published.
Commercial: commercial lawyers are likely to be interested in a recent Court of Appeal decision in which it considered the effect of delay on the benefit of a contract. The Court concluded that a delay of one month did not deprive a buyer of substantially the whole of the benefit of the contract so as to amount to repudiatory breach (Urban I (Blonk Street) Ltd v Ayres and another).
Education: education lawyers should note that the government has published updated guidance on school behaviour.
Employment: employment lawyers are likely to find the following developments of interest:
- The draft National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2013 have been approved and will introduce changes to the national minimum wage from 1 October 2013.
- The Northern Ireland Industrial Tribunal has referred a number of questions to the ECJ in relation to the scope of Article 1(1)(a)(ii) of the EU Collective Redundancies Directive including clarification on the meaning of “establishment” (Lyttle and others v Bluebird UK Bidco2 Ltd).
- The government has:
- announced that an unfair dismissal compensation cap will take effect on 29 July 2013;
- published a call for evidence on the current whistleblowing legislation and whether more protection is required;
- published a consultation on strengthening and simplifying the civil penalty scheme to prevent illegal working; and
- published its response to the consultation on mandatory early conciliation in most employment tribunal cases.
Environment: environmental lawyers should note that the:
- European Commission has published:
- a draft regulation on the criteria for recovered paper and when it will cease to be considered waste; and
- a consultation on sustainable buildings.
- Government has announced details of its proposed domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme.
FOI and data protection: information lawyers are likely to be interested in the government’s inquiry into nuisance telephone calls and text messages.
Health: those interested in the Dorset hospitals merger inquiry should be aware that the Competition Commission has announced its provisional findings in relation to it.
Housing: housing lawyers should be aware that:
- The Court of Appeal has confirmed that local authorities are not required to apply for possession orders when seeking to evict homeless applicants from temporary accommodation after making an adverse decision in relation to their application (R (ZH) v London Borough of Newham [2013] EWCA Civ 805 and R (CN) v London Borough of Lewisham [2013] EWCA Civ 804).
- The Local Government Ombudsman has criticised Bristol City Council for failing to provide a homeless applicant with a written decision in relation to her homelessness application and therefore preventing her from appealing against the decision.
Property and planning: property and planning lawyers should note that:
- The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (Commencement No 9) Order 2013 has been made and brought a number of provisions of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 into force on 15 July 2013.
- The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by the Secretary of State against a decision to allow the claimants to substitute a new procedural irregularity ground under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government v San Vicente and another).
- The High Court has held that a defective approach to register land as a town or village green could be corrected with retrospective effect (The Church Commissioners for England v Hampshire County Council and another).
- English Heritage in partnership with the Historic Towns Forum has published a review of high street issues.
Public procurement: procurement lawyers and procurement officers are likely to find the following of interest:
- COREPER has endorsed an agreement on the reform of public procurement in the EU.
- The ECJ has published a ruling on the application of the procurement rules to land development agreements in relation to the municipality of Eindhoven.
- The European Ombudsman has published its decision in a complaint alleging breaches of the duties of impartiality, independence and objectivity and fairness in a European Commission tender procedure in relation to the use of certain key experts by two other tenderers.
- The government has responded to the Brown review of the rail franchising programme,
- The Welsh Construction Strategy Steering Group has published its construction procurement strategy for public sector projects in Wales.
Regulation and enforcement: enforcement lawyers should note that the government has announced that it plans to bring regulations into force by the end of the year which are intended to improve the regulator’s powers to seize vehicles in waste offences.
Social services: those working in social services should be aware of the following developments:
- The government has published amended guidance on the assessment and approval of foster carers.
- The Care Bill 2013-14 is being considered by the House of Lords.
- The House of Lords Select Committee on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 has issued a call for evidence.