PLC Public Sector reports:
Make sure that you have not missed a key development in your area of the law by reviewing our latest list of recommended actions.
Central government: those working in central government and in private companies taking part in back to work schemes organised under the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Employment and Enterprise) Regulations 2011, will be interested in a recent ruling by the High Court in R (Reilly and another) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions finding that two such schemes were lawful and did not amount to a breach of the claimants’ Article 4 rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. However, the court declared that there had been breaches of regulation 4 of the 2011 Regulations in both cases in relation to the way that the schemes had been administered and the claimant’s participation requirements.
Contract law: anyone advising public authorities on entering into contracts should note the decision of the High Court in R (A) v Chief Constable of B Constabulary. The court held that a public authority could not use a contract to lawfully reduce the extent of the duty to act fairly that would otherwise be imposed by public law. Many public contracts will have provisions in them exempting the authority from providing information in certain circumstances (in this case the reason for a sub-contractor not being approved during a security vetting process), this case suggests that relying on such a provision could be open to challenge.
Energy efficiency: local authorities should be aware that the Department of Energy and Climate Change has issued guidance under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 to local authorities requiring them to report on their plans to achieve improved energy efficiency for homes in their area. The reports should be made by 31 March 2013 and every two years thereafter.
Housing: housing practitioners should be aware:
- Of a recent report published by the Local Government Ombudsman criticising two councils for failing to follow their own joint protocol for dealing with homeless young people and also failing to fulfil their duties under the Children Act 1989 in respect of a homeless 16 year old boy in their areas.
- That section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 will come into force on 1 September 2012 making it a criminal offence to squat in a residential property.
- Of the High Court decision in Hannon v Hillingdon Homes Ltd that a bannister is part of the structure for the purposes of the Defective Premises Act 1972 and accordingly a landlord was liable under section 4 of the Act following the removal of a bannister by a tenant. This case will be worrying for landlords (in particular, landlords of social housing) who have maintenance contracts with independent contractors for the repair and maintenance of their housing stock. Landlords should review the terms of their leases and their procedures to ensure that they are notified promptly of any relevant defects by people visiting let properties on their behalf.
Local government: lawyers working in local government should be aware of the following recent developments:
- The High Court in R (Buck) v Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council has ruled that a directly elected mayor was entitled to overrule a budget amendment proposed by the full council which would enable the council to continue to provide its existing library provision and to instead implement the budget cuts that had been agreed by the executive.
- The Department for Communities and Local Government has published a guide for councillors on openness and transparency on personal interests to assist them to meet the requirements of the new standards regime introduced by Chapter 7 of the Localism Act 2011. The guide covers which personal and pecuniary interests should be declared by sitting and newly-elected councillors and entered in each authority’s register of members’ interests.
- The High Court in Makro Properties v Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has held that the temporary storage of documents occupying only 0.2% of a warehouse’s floor space was actual occupation for the purposes of business rates liability. This meant that a new period of empty rates relief applied when that occupation ended.
Planning: planning lawyers should note the High Court decision in R (Valley Action Group Ltd) v Bath and North East Somerset Council and another in which it allowed a claim for judicial review of a local authority’s decision that the installation of mobile poultry units was not development for the purposes of section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and therefore did not require an environmental impact assessment.
Consultations: this week consultations have been published on:
- Preparation for the Office of the Public Guardian to deliver services online.
- Banning waste wood from landfill.
- Changes to Part L of the Building Regulations in Wales.
- A draft guidance note by RICS on daylighting and sunlighting.
- Deregulating listed building consents.
- Changes to planning application fees.
- Flood risk management plans.
- Welsh proposals for councils to increase council tax on empty properties.
- Reforming the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 and exempting self-employed persons from health and safety regulation, where their work poses no risk of harm to others.