PLC Public Sector reports:
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Education: education lawyers should be aware that the Department for Education has published statutory guidance on the induction of newly qualified teachers in England, to which those involved in the induction process must have regard. The guidance comes into force on 1 September 2012.
FOIA: information lawyers should be aware that the Information Commissioner’s Office has published guidance on:
- Deleting personal data under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). The guidance sets out how organisations can ensure compliance with the DPA, in particular the fifth data protection principle (which provides that personal data processed for any purpose is not kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose), when archiving or deleting personal information.
- Requests for personal data in relation to public authority employees and the application of section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The guidance focuses on how the exemption relates to information about public sector employees.
Outsourcing of public sector services: Local Government Pension Scheme administrators should be aware that the Local Government Pension Scheme (Miscellaneous) Regulations 2012, which come into force on 1 October 2012, change the admission agreement procedures where contractors are involved in the outsourcing of public sector services so that the contractor (and not the administering authority) is required to undertake, to the administering authority’s satisfaction, the risk assessment of whether a bond or indemnity is necessary.
Social care: those involved with enforcing contracts with care homes and investigating allegations of abuse should note the decision of the High Court in Davis and Another v West Sussex County Council. The Court quashed the adverse determinations that had been made by West Sussex at a safeguarding case conference dealing with allegations of abuse at a private care home with whom it had an contractual relationship as a result of procedural failings by West Sussex which affected the claimant’s public law rights.
Consultations: this week consultations were published on: