PLC Public Sector reports:
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Equality Act: anyone advising on the Equalities Act 2010 should be aware that the ban on age discrimination in the provision of services came into force on 1 October 2012.
Civil litigation: litigation lawyers should be aware that:
- As a consequence of the Civil Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2012 and section 93 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 coming into force on 1 October 2012, the 59th Civil Procedure Rules and the procedure for the enforcement of money judgments have changed.
- From 1 October 2012, Practice Direction 52 on appeals has been replaced with five new Practice Directions (PDs 52A-E).
Employment: employment lawyers should note that:
- The EAT has confirmed that the respondent in a race discrimination claim was not entitled to an adjournment because they had prepared to meet the case clarified by the claimant at a case management conference rather than the case identified on the papers by the tribunal at the outset of the hearing.
- An employment judge has held that a claimant can pursue a claim of post-employment victimisation under the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010), since section 108 of the EqA 2010, which renders post-employment discrimination and harassment unlawful, does not expressly apply to acts of victimisation.
Enforcement: those prosecuting and defending in the magistrates’ court should be aware that the victim surcharge amount has changed and also now applies to a number of additional sentences.
FOIA: information lawyers will be interested in the decision of the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) that Bury Council, when considering whether the applicant’s request for information was vexatious should have invited the applicant to narrow and focus his request and, when assessing whether the request was vexatious, should not have included the impact of questions submitted at public council meetings, to the Audit Commission and to the local MP.
Health: healthcare lawyers should note that the Department of Health has published:
- A series of factsheets on the health intelligence requirements for local authorities as part of their public health duties under the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
- A summary of the local education and training board authorisation process.
Housing: housing practitioners should be aware that a person squatting in a vacant housing association property has been prosecuted and jailed under the new Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 provisions.
ICT: anyone advising an organisation on the use of cloud computing should note the guidance published by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Property: property lawyers should familiarise themselves with the various changes that the Land Registry has made to Practice Guides 49 and 50 in order to reflect the changes it has made to its cancellation and rejection policy.
Public procurement: procurement officers should note that the High Court in:
- AG Quidnet Hounslow LLP v London Borough of Hounslow held that the Council’s decision to enter into a development agreement was not subject to the general principles of EU law as the proposed contractor would not be providing relevant services to the council and the proposed contract did not have the necessary cross-border element to be caught by Article 56 of the TFEU.
- BY Development Ltd and others v Covent Garden Market Authority [2012] EWHC 2546 (TCC) rejected an application for the claimants to adduce expert evidence at the trial of a public procurement dispute under the Public Contracts Regulations 2006. It did so on the basis that such evidence was not admissible or relevant given that the issues raised in such disputes are concerned with manifest error or unfairness.
Consultations: this week consultations have been published on: