Practical Law

Central government: anyone advising a government department on the introduction of new domestic regulation needs to be aware of the government’s new “one in, two out” policy.

Charities: anyone advising on the responsibilities of a charity trustee will be interested in two new guides published by the Charity Commission, a trustee handbook and an introductory guide for school governors of state-funded independent schools.

Equalities: all public sector lawyers should note that the government is “calling time” on equality impact assessments by public bodies.  Lawyers involved in discrimination claims will also be interested in the launch of the Equality Advisory and Support Service.

Freedom of information: lawyers who deal with freedom of information requests should note the decisions in:

• McCullough v IC and Northern Ireland Water, which held that non-privileged information must be disclosed in response to an EIR request, even if it is prejudicial to a public authority.
• Newham v Information Commissioner, which gave guidance on what confidential information received during a competitive procurement process can be withheld in response to a FOIA request.
• Michael Howard Associates Ltd v Information Commissioner, which held that a local authority was not required to disclose the identity of an anonymous caller to its hotline.

Health: NHS lawyers will be interested to note the details of the first mandate issued by the government to the NHS Commissioning Board.

Housing: housing lawyers should be aware that in R (Southern Landlords Association) v Thanet District Council, the council’s selective licensing scheme for local landlords has been upheld.

Local government: local government lawyers should be aware that:

• In Charles Terrance Estates Ltd v Cornwall Council, the Court of Appeal (CoA) upheld an appeal against a High Court decision that had held that thirty leases entered into by the council’s predecessor authorities were void and unenforceable. The CoA rejected the council’s claim that there had been a breach of fiduciary duty by the predecessor authorities, and also held that even if there had been such a breach, the leases would still not have been void.
• In Newcastle International Airport Ltd (NIAL) v Eversheds LLP, the High Court held that solicitors had not been negligent in taking instructions from the executive directors of a company in relation to the directors’ own service contracts. The case reinforces some important principles of decision-making for all members of local authority committees, for more information, see our blog.
• The DCLG has moved its website to the new GOV.UK domain.
• Following the Police and Crime Commissioner elections, the Local Government Association has produced a list of how local authorities and PCCs can work together.

Planning: planning lawyers should note:  

• That the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) Regulations 2012 came into force in England on 22 November 2012 consolidating 12 statutory instruments and provide for the payment of fees for applications made under Part 3 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA).
• The decision in R (Peel Land and Property Investments plc) v Hyndburn Borough Council, which raises important issues about the construction and effect of planning permissions and the interpretation of section 75 of the TCPA 1990. In particular, whether and how section 75(2) and 75(3) applies to alterations to buildings. Permission to appeal has been granted.
• That the Environment Agency has published guidance for developments requiring planning permission and environmental permits. The guidance focuses on planning applications where the Agency is a statutory consultee and the proposed development will either require an environmental permit or affect or be affected by an existing facility that operates under an environmental permit.

Projects: projects lawyers will be interested in the new project agreement for use with the new Priority School Building Programme that has been published for consultation.

Public procurement: public procurement lawyers will be interested in the Court of Appeal decision in Clinton (t/a Oriel Training Services) v Department for Employment and Learning:

• Upholding the High Court’s finding that the Department had applied an interpretation to one of the selection criterion which lacked clarity and transparency and excluding the bidder from the tender procedure for failure to satisfy the criterion constituted a manifest error.
• But deciding that the High Court erred in finding that the Department would have been able to ask the bidder to provide certain missing information. The submission of such missing information would, in reality, have amounted to the submission of a new tender.

Consultations: this week, consultations were published on:

• Compulsory foreign languages at Key Stage 2.
• The rules on party political broadcasts.
• Increased independence for NHS charities.
• A draft project agreement for schools procurement using private finance under the Priority School Building Programme.

Responses were also published to the consultations on flexible parental leave and flexible working.