PLC Public Sector reports:
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Civil litigation: litigation lawyers will be interested in the Court of Appeal decision in Tibbles v SIG plc, which provides guidance on the court’s powers under CPR 3.1(7) to vary or revoke a costs order.
Children’s services: local authority lawyers specialising in social services law will be interested in the Court of Appeal’s decision in R (AE) v London Borough of Croydon, which concerned an unaccompanied asylum seeker’s appeal of a deputy judge’s assessment of his age. The Court of Appeal confirmed that, on a balance of probabilities, it was satisfied that the appellant’s age was as he claimed and that the deputy judge in the Administrative Court had erred in her analysis of the evidence relating to his age. Although the appellant’s appeal was allowed and the Court of Appeal granted a declaration that the appellant was the age he claimed, the decision confirms that the scope of the Court of Appeal to interfere in a first instance age assessment decision is limited.
Education: education lawyers should be aware that the Department of Education published a guide on exclusion from maintained schools, Academies and PRUs which from 1 September 2012 replaces the September 2008 guidance.
Employment: employment lawyers should be aware that, following the decision of the EAT in Guest Engineering Ltd v Vaio, an employee who represented himself in unfair dismissal proceedings has been given leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal on the basis it was unfair for the EAT to overturn the previous decision (which was in his favour) on the grounds of procedural unfairness. It appears therefore that the Court of Appeal will have the opportunity to clarify the extent to which it is reasonable for tribunals to give litigants in person greater latitude in matters of procedure.
Funding cuts: local authorities making decisions about cuts to funding should be aware that the Court of Appeal in R(Greenwich Community Law Centre) v Greenwich London Borough Council has upheld the High Court’s decision which ruled that Greenwich London Borough Council’s decision to cut funding to Greenwich Community Law Centre was lawful and in compliance with its public sector equality duty.
Human rights: social care lawyers should note the High Court decision in R(De Almeida) v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in which it held that the local authority’s decision not to offer the terminally ill claimant care and assistance under section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948 and instead suggest to for him that he return to Portugal was unlawful and a breach of his rights under Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Local government: local authorities interested in maximising their trading and charging powers should be aware that the LGA and Local Partnerships have updated their guide on charging and trading to reflect the changes introduced by the general power of competence.
Property and planning: local authority planning lawyers should be aware that the Court of Appeal has confirmed in:
- R (Godfrey) v London Borough of Southwark that an intention expressed in 2002 that a site redevelopment would include a new community centre did not create a substantive legitimate expectation that the 2002 understanding would be considered when the planning application was considered in 2010. The decision confirms that planning decisions need to take account of the considerations that exist at the date of the decision rather than applying an assessment of needs made many years before.
- Frozen Value Ltd v Heron Foods Ltd that a landlord who opposed a lease renewal under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 on the basis that it wanted to occupy the premises itself must be the competent landlord throughout in order to satisfy the five year ownership rule under section 30(2) of the Act.
Public procurement: public procurement officers may be interested in:
- The two procurement pledges that have been published, one by the Cabinet Office and one by the Local Government Association.
- HM Treasury’s publication on 27 April 2012 of an addendum to its Standardisation of PFI contracts version 4 (SoPC 4).
- The Select Committee’s 81st report on equity investment in privately financed projects, which calls upon HM Treasury in its review of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to address PFI’s intrinsic flaws by improving flexibility in the way that private finance is used.
Regulation and enforcement: licensing officers should be aware that:
- The Sunday Trading (London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) Bill, which is intended to suspend Sunday trading restrictions for large shops for an eight week period, has had its second reading in the House of Lords.
- The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (Commencement No. 5) Order 2012 has brought into force all the remaining amendments to the Licensing Act 2003 except the power of licensing authorities to set fees and early morning alcohol sale restrictions orders.
Consultations: this week a consultation was published on a draft procurement pledge for local government.