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.
Central government: those in central government may be interested in the Welsh Government’s consultation on refreshing its relationship with the third sector.
Civil litigation: litigation lawyers may wish to note decisions by the:
- Court of Appeal, which refused to allow a claimant to amend particulars of claim after the expiry of a limitation period (D & G Cars Ltd v Essex Police Authority).
- High Court, which warned of the importance of compliance with rules, directions and orders under the revised CPR (Fons HF v Corporal Ltd).
- High Court, which ruled on which court had jurisdiction to order payment on account for costs orders made by the Supreme Court (Harrison and another v Black Horse Ltd).
- Northern Irish High Court, which permitted disclosure of Facebook comments in Mareva proceedings (Martin and others v Giambrone p/a Giambrone & Law).
Litigation lawyers should also note that the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators has announced plans to launch the Property Disputes Appointments Service.
Commercial: commercial lawyers may be interested in the Court of Appeal’s consideration of whether a contract signatory was contracting personally or on behalf of another (Hamid v Francis Bradshaw Partnership).
Education: education lawyers should be aware that the Department for Education has published updated land transfer advice.
Environment: environmental lawyers should note that:
- The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme Order 2013 (amending the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme) was made on 15 May 2013 and came into force on 20 May 2013.
- Two judicial review challenges have been launched concerning the government’s grant of a development consent order for the construction of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.
- Defra has launched a Smarter Guidance and Data project, to make complying with environmental legislation and reporting requirements more efficient.
- The Environment Agency has published updated guidance on understanding the meaning of regulated facility under the Environmental Permitting regime.
FOI and data protection: information lawyers should be aware of the:
- Intellectual Property Bill, which will introduce a new exemption to FOIA covering continuing programmes of research intended for future publication.
- Updated guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office on vexatious, manifestly unreasonable and repeat requests under FOIA and the EIR.
- Delay to the LIBE Committee’s vote on reforms to data protection legislation.
Health: health officials and commissioners may wish to read Monitor’s proposed guidance on the National Health Service (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) (No 2) Regulations 2013, which it has published for consultation.
Housing: housing officers should look at the Court of Appeal’s ruling:
- That a local housing authority was entitled to have regard to the personal support and assistance available to a homeless housing applicant when considering whether the applicant was in “priority need” (Hotak v London Borough of Southwark).
- Overturning the High Court’s decision on how statutory damages (under section 27 and 28 of the Housing Act 1988) should be calculated following a secure tenant’s unlawful eviction (London Borough of Lambeth v H Loveridge).
Human rights: lawyers dealing with human rights claims should note that the High Court has held that a county court was wrong to refuse to allow an appellant to pursue an Article 8 claim in relation to a tree on a property he was occupying on the basis that he had no proprietary interest in the property concerned (Lane v The London Borough of Kensington & Chelsea London Borough Council).
Local government: local government lawyers should note that the:
- Government has confirmed proposals to put the local authority publicity code on a statutory basis.
- The Local Authorities (Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committees) (Wales) Regulations 2013 have been made and will come into force on 24 May 2013. They contain provisions about operating joint overview and scrutiny committees.
Pensions: employment lawyers should be aware of the judgment of the Deputy Pensions Ombudsman, who found that there was no breach by an employer of the duty in Scally v Southern Health and Social Services Board where the member had available, on request, information from which she could “reasonably have been expected to appreciate” that a particular decision would be to her financial disadvantage (Farrimond (PO-680)).
Property and planning: property and planning lawyers may be interested in the:
- Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (England) Order 2013, which comes into force on 30 May 2013 and increases permitted development thresholds for householder extensions and non-domestic extensions, and new buildings.
- Updated questionnaire that has been published by the Land Law Committee of the City of London Law Society (CLLS), for use when preparing the CLLS Land Law Committee Long Form Certificate of Title (7th edition 2012).
- Public consultation launched by Transport for London and Network Rail, seeking views on Crossrail 2.
Public procurement: procurement officers should note the:
- Cabinet Office guidance on procurement for growth.
- Summary guidance on the use of social impact bonds and commissioning for outcomes, published by the Cabinet Office’s Centre for Social Impact Bonds.
- Second call for evidence by BIS, as part of the review of the balance of competences between the UK and the EU.
- Government’s response to Transport Committee’s report on the cancellation of the InterCity West Coast franchise competition.
Regulation and enforcement: enforcement officers should be aware that the Court of Appeal has confirmed that injunctions to restrain gang-related violence (IRGVs) are the correct sanction in cases of gang-related activity (Birmingham City Council v James and another).