PLC Public Sector reports:
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Civil litigation: litigation solicitors will be interested in the Court of Appeal’s confirmation that a claimant, who accepts a pre-action Part 36 offer before a claim is issued, is entitled to the costs of any steps that they take in contemplation of proceedings.
Employment: employment lawyers will be interested in the:
- Court of Appeal’s decision that a chief executive’s dismissal was automatically unfair and was contrary to regulation 7(1) of TUPE 2006 as it was for a transfer-connected reason (to enable a purchaser to acquire the business and assets without the continued employment of its chief executive).
- First reported decision on the meaning of “client” under regulation 3(1)(b)(ii) of TUPE 2006 and the EAT’s decision that the service provision change test will only be met if the activities carried out by different contractors before and after a change in service provision are on behalf of the same client.
FOIA: local authority officers working in human resources should be aware that, when the Finance Bill 2012 receives Royal Assent, HM Revenue & Customs will have the power to require dataholders to provide HMRC with a person’s name, address and date of birth where their identity cannot be determined from information that they hold.
Information lawyers will be interested in a recent First-tier Tribunal decision on section 32 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Tribunal held that an application to have a certificate of conviction disclosed was covered by the absolute exemption under section 32 and therefore the Ministry of Justice was not required to disclose the requested information. It was a matter for each individual court to make a decision on.
Information officers should be aware that the Information Commissioner’s Office has published:
- New guidance on information held in private e-mail accounts.
- Revised guidance for compliance with new cookie laws.
- A new data privacy toolkit for organisations.
Local government: local government officers will be interested to know that the:
- Local Government Finance Bill 2011-12, which introduces a rates retention scheme, has had its first reading in Parliament.
- Court of Appeal has held that the government’s consultation on relaxing planning laws on houses in multiple occupation were sufficient.
- Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court decision which held that Brent Council had not acted unlawfully by deciding to close 50% of its libraries.
Health: members of local authorities involved in the reforms to public health under the Health and Social Care Bill 2010-11 should note that the Department of Health has published a series of factsheets on the reforms and the roles of local authorities.
Procurement: procurement officers should be aware the European Commission has published its proposals for modernising public procurement rules. The aim is to simplify and make the rules and procedures more flexible.
Public bodies: those advising public bodies should be aware that the Public Bodies Bill 2011 has received Royal Assent and a majority of the Act will come into force on 14 February 2012. The government has also published a statement setting out the 31 NDPBs which have been identified for review in the first year of the three year review cycle.
Social care funding: local authorities will be interested in the High Court’s finding, quashing Pembrokeshire County Council’s decision to pay its care home providers a weekly rate of £464 for 2010-11, and ordering the council to re-determine the weekly rate. The case is a reminder that a local authority cannot deviate from a policy decision without rational justification.
Consultations: this week consultations have been published on: