PLC Public Sector reports:
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Civil litigation: litigation lawyers are likely to be interested:
- In the following Jackson reform developments:
- a statutory instrument relating to Part 36 of the CPR has been published. The instrument alongside section 55 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 provides for a court to order a defendant to pay an amount to a claimant as an additional sanction in certain cases where the defendant has refused an offer to settle.
- two draft statutory instruments have been published dealing with damages-based agreements and conditional fee agreements.
- In the decision in Nulty and Others v Milton Keynes Borough Council in which the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal relating to the cause of a fire at a recycling plant and whether a cigarette discarded by an employee was responsible. The case considered establishing causation in circumstances where it is difficult to ascertain which single cause was responsible.
- To know that the Law Society has published a practice note on instructing a barrister under the new standard contractual terms.
CCGs: anyone interested in the NHS reforms being introduced by the Health and Social Care Act 2012, should note that from 1 February 2013, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) will be able to commission secondary medical services for delivery from 1 April 2013.
Education: education lawyers advising on industrial action by members of NUT and NASUWT should be aware that the Department for Education has updated its advice on this industrial action.
FITs: environment lawyers are likely to be interested in the fact that 17 solar photovoltaic installation companies have commenced civil proceedings against the Department of Energy and Climate Change claiming £140 million of losses allegedly incurred as a result of the Department’s unsuccessful attempts to cut the feed-in tariffs for smaller-scale installations by more than 50% at short notice.
FOI and data protection: there have been a number of First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) (FTTIR) decisions published this week including:
- Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust v IC, in which the FTTIR dismissed the first appeal against a monetary penalty notice.
- Department for Education v Information Commissioner and Another, in which the FTTIR held that information concerning the number of applications that had been made to open free schools should be disclosed.
- Mr Yiannis Voyias v IC, where the FTTIR held that information on “voids” did not need to be disclosed by the London Borough of Camden as it was exempt information under section 31(1)(a) and to disclose it could potentially lead to an increase in squatting and general crime in the area.
Highways: those dealing with works on public highways should note that the government has announced that from 2015 all local authorities will be able to introduce their own street works permit schemes without the need for approval from the Department for Transport.
Housing: housing lawyers should be aware of the following recent developments:
- The Court of Appeal in Sims v Dacorum Borough Council has confirmed that a joint secure tenant is able to unilaterally terminate their secure tenancy and doing so will not breach the human rights of the remaining tenant under the European Convention on Human Rights.
- The Local Government Ombudsman has criticised Kettering Council over a decision taken by its housing association holding that family whose son had special needs that the council had nominated for a housing-association owned home was not eligible as they already owned another property.
Local government: the following developments in local government are likely to be of interest this week:
- The High Court ruling in Snelling and another v Burstow Parish Council, in which it held that Burstow had applied the correct power of sale (set out in section 32 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908) in relation to its proposed sale of part of an allotment site for development and therefore the Secretary of State’s consent was required for the disposal.
- The Political and Constitutional Reform Committee has published a report proposing codifying the relationship between central and local government in order to give local government more autonomy.
- The National Audit Office has published a report on the financial sustainability of local authorities over the remainder of the spending review period, which among other things concluded that currently local authorities have managed to absorb the funding cuts but this has had an impact of their ability to provide certain services.
Pensions: pensions practitioners interested in:
- The Public Services Pensions Bill, should note that it has completed its committee stage in the House of Lords.
- The draft Pensions Bill, should be aware that it has confirmed that the single-tier state pensions will be introduced and salary-related pension schemes will be abolished.
- Prorating, should note the High Court decision in Industry-Wide Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme Co-ordinator Ltd v Industry-Wide Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme Trustees Ltd and Another in which the court refused to make a “correcting construction” in order to insert a provision for prorating in a pension increase rule.
Planning: Planning lawyers are likely to be interested in a decision by the High Court in R(Allsop) v Derbyshire Dales District Council in which it gave guidance on the scope of section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1980.
In addition, the government has announced a number of changes to the permitted development rules which are intended to make it easier to bring previously developed land back into use. These changes are expected to come into force in Spring 2013.
Public procurement: procurement lawyers should note that:
- The Northern Ireland High Court in Lowry Brothers Ltd and Wilson (t/a A G Wilson) v Northern Ireland Water Ltd has issued a judgment refusing a request by a defendant for the plaintiffs to provide an undertaking in damages in actions alleging a breach of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2006.
- Infrastructure UK has published an infrastructure procurement routemap offering guidance on improving delivery capability.
Regulation and enforcement: Licensing enforcement lawyers should also be aware that a code of practice on the sale of age-restricted products has been published. The code is intended to end the inconsistent regulation of the sale of age-restricted products.
Consultations: this week consultations were published on:
The government has also published its response:
- To the consultation, Ending the Employment Relationship.
- To its consultation on bailiff reform.
The Competition Commission has published an issues statement on the proposed merger between Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and invites responses to the statement by 11 February 2013.