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.
This week’s actions are:
Adult safeguarding: those advising members of Overview and Scrutiny Committees or select committees scrutinising adults’ services, should draw their attention to the adult safeguarding scrutiny guide published by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) that considers how local arrangements can work better to safeguard vulnerable adults.
Academies Bill: education, contracts and property lawyers in local education authorities will be aware of the government’s proposals to allow all local authority-maintained schools to become Academy schools and a Bill has now been published paving the way for this. As the detail of how the transition may occur develops, local authority lawyers will need to have a clear understanding of how Academies are established and then subsequently run. We suggest that subscribers use our materials on Academies to ensure they are fully informed.
Equal pay: employment lawyers advising on an equal pay claim should note the decision of the EAT in City of Edinburgh Council v Wilkinson, which held that a broad approach should be adopted when identifying an establishment and that working in the same “service” was synonymous with working at the same establishment. Senior management and HR departments should be advised that any claim that staff do not work at the same establishment as they are based in different locations is therefore likely to fail.
FOIA: there have been two Information Tribunal decisions that will be of interest to information lawyers and anyone responsible for responding to FOIA requests:
- In Ward v Information Commissioner, the Tribunal provided a useful summary of the principles established by case law on when a request may be considered vexatious. The decision confirms existing case law that it is the request not the person making the request which must be vexatious, but goes on to state that the context and history of a request may be taken into account when determining whether or not it is vexatious. Therefore, this remains a grey area, but this summary could be used to update internal guidance on current thinking.
- In Roberts v The Information Commissioner, the Tribunal held that while senior members of staff are more likely to have a reasonable expectation that their names may be disclosed following information requests, it will be necessary to consider whether disclosing someone’s identity is lawful (under the Data Protection Act 1998) on a case-by-case basis. Although the decision confirms existing case law, it clarified that time spent deciding what names should be disclosed should be taken into account when deciding whether the costs limit in section 12 of FOIA would be exceeded. Again authorities may wish to consider updating any internal guidance they may have on disclosing personal information and redacting documents.
Data protection compliance: those responsible for ensuring that government departments comply with the data protection principles should note the new code of practice published by the Information Commissioner on its new powers to serve assessment notices.
LGO: following the LGO’s report on North Tyneside MBC, those advising local authorities on dealing with problematic members of the public should ensure that any decision to exclude a member of public from council meetings is made by someone with the authority to do so and only after the importance of allowing public access to council meetings has been considered.
Enforcement of section 106 agreements: anyone advising on the enforceability of planning obligations by third parties should note the High Court’s decision in Milebush Properties Ltd v Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. The court held that a beneficiary under a section 106 agreement could not enforce the terms of the agreement because they were not a party to it. The decision whether, and how, to enforce a planning obligation was one for the local planning authority, having regard to its planning objectives.
Noise nuisance: following the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Oluić v Croatia, anyone responsible for preventing noise nuisance should be informed that if they do not take adequate action to deal with the nuisance, they may be breaching the human rights of any third parties affected by the nuisance.
Public procurement: the government has stated that local authorities will have to publish all tender documents and contracts worth over £500 from January 2011, as well as details of all spending over £500. While full details of exactly what will need to be published and how are still awaited, the attention of procurement officers, finance departments and senior management responsible for communications should be drawn to this coming requirement. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, has this week provided some more information on how this will work in practice, click here for the latest developments.
Consultation: this week, the Law Commission invited proposals for new law reform projects.