PLC Public Sector reports:
This week’s actions are:
Adult Social Care: those local government employees who are involved in the funding and commissioning of social care for adults with learning disabilities should familiarise themselves with the further guidance published by the Department of Health.
Connecting to public sewers: following the Supreme Court’s decision in Barratt Homes Ltd v Dwr Cymru Cyfyngedig (Welsh Water) [2009] UKSC 13, local authority planning officers should be aware that:
- The statutory right to connect to a public sewer is absolute.
- A developer cannot be refused permission to connect to a public sewer because the intended location is unsatisfactory.
Race Relations Act 1976: the Supreme Court has upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision in JFS. Clerks advising Admission Appeal Panels should be made aware that:
- As the School Admissions Code makes clear, it is unlawful for admission authorities to discriminate against applicants on the basis of race, colour, nationality or national or ethnic origin and they have a statutory duty to promote racial equality.
- The decision is not likely to have much of an impact on other religious schools since they do not adopt “descent-based” criteria but it may be arguable that refusing a non-Christian to a Church of England or Catholic School may be indirect race discrimination.
- Parliament may be required to legislate to allow justification of direction discrimination in certain cases.
Local authority auditors: should be alerted to the fact that new regulations amending the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 come into effect on 31 March 2010 and require that the remuneration of senior local authority employees is disclosed in the statement of accounts.
Local Government Pension Scheme: those local authority employees who are involved with staff outsourcing from the Local Government Pension Scheme, particularly those choosing the admitted body status (ABS) route, should familiarise themselves with the new guidance, to ensure that public sector contract bids satisfy the ABS route.
Procurement: procurement staff and those advising them should familiarise themselves with the new Remedies Directive (2007/66/EC), which came into effect on 20 December 2009 for procurements advertised on or after that date. In particular, procurement officers should:
- Be aware of the importance of the standstill period, the new ineffectiveness remedy and the fact that if proceedings are commenced by an aggrieved bidder, no contract may be entered into.
- Ensure that precedent procurement documentation takes account of the changes.
Procurements first advertised before 20 December 2009 will continue to be subject to the old regime.
Siting of large digital screens: planning officers and those advising them should be aware of the good practice guidance that has been published by the CABE and English Heritage on siting large digital screens in public places.
Consultations: there were eight consultations for the week ending 23 December 2009 on:
- The draft Civil Law Reform Bill.
- Draft regulations governing damages-based agreements.
- Proposed changes to rules 3 and 4 of the Solicitors’ Code of Conduct.
- Revised draft guidance following Lord Laming’s recommendations in The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report.
- Eligibility for adult social care.
- Proposed changes to secondary legislation to improve the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
- Draft statutory guidance on Local Economic Assessments.
- Implementing the EU Directive on the public procurement of green vehicles.
In addition, the Department for Transport also sought views on proposals to update its guidance on setting local speed limits and 20mph zones.