PLC Public Sector reports:
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Central government: those:
- advising Ministers and anyone else interested in how central government operates will be interested in the Cabinet Manual that has been published by the government.
- involved with ensuring infrastructure resilience in their organisation and area should note that the Cabinet Office has published a guide on improving the resilience of critical infrastructure in relation to natural hazards.
Localism Bill: local government lawyers should note that the Localism Bill will have its third reading in the House of Lords on 29 October 2011, and is expected to receive Royal Assent before the end of 2011.
Public procurement: public procurement lawyers will be interested in:
- The High Court’s judgment on costs in Mears Limited v Leeds City Council. It provides useful guidance on the approach a court will take to costs awards when a claimant challenges a procurement process on several grounds but is only successful in relation to one of those grounds.
- The annulment of a procurement decision of the Council of the European Union on the basis that it had failed to provide reasons for the scores allocated to tenderers in the evaluation process.
Children’s services: those advising local safeguarding children boards and other agencies that deal with children who may have been trafficked should be aware that the Department for Education has published practice guidance on safeguarding children who may have been trafficked. The practice guidance sets out action that should be taken and the national referral mechanism for identifying and recording trafficked children.
Equality Act 2010: those within local authorities responsible for ensuring compliance with the Equality Act 2010 should read the quick start guide published by the GEO on the specific public sector equality duties.
Health: the Department of Health has published guidance on records management for NHS organisations going through organisational change or a period of transition. This guidance will be of interest to those organisations likely to be affected by the Health and Social Care Bill 2011.
Consultations: this week consultations were published on: