PLC Public Sector reports:
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Queen’s speech: local authority lawyers should be aware that the Queen outlined a number of Bills and commitments in her speech that are likely to affect those in the public sector including a Children and Families Bill, a draft Care and Support Bill and a draft Local Audit Bill.
Civil litigation: litigation lawyers specialising in judicial review will be interested in the Court of Appeal’s decision in M v London Borough of Croydon setting out the proper approach to awarding costs in judicial review proceedings where one party concedes some or all of the other party’s claim. The decision should encourage parties to judicial review proceedings to agree not only the substantive provision of the order to be made by the court but also the issue of costs, given that parties should no longer assume that in a settlement, where the issue of costs is left to be determined by the court, it will follow that an order for no order as to costs will be made.
Conduct: lawyers dealing with local authority members’ conduct should note the recent High Court decision in R (Calver) v Public Services Ombudsman for Wales in which it held that a decision by the Adjudication Panel for Wales ruling that the claimant had breached the council’s code of conduct by posting derogatory comments about it and other councillors on his personal website, breached the claimant’s Article 10 right to freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Employment: employment lawyers will be interested in the EAT’s decision in Brennan and others v Sunderland City Council and others, a case about discrimination compensation payable under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978. Although the Act gives a respondent the right to claim a discrimination contribution from another respondent, the EAT has confirmed that it does not give employment tribunals jurisdiction to apportion liability between respondents who are jointly or concurrently liable for discrimination compensation or to determine such claims.
Pensions: pension scheme administrators will be interested in the Deputy Ombudsman’s determination in Few (830406/1), which highlights the importance for schemes to act carefully if they discover pension benefits have been overpaid. Note that in this case the teacher who was granted ill-health early retirement but subsequently went on to work part-time was obliged to inform the Teachers’ Pension Scheme about her change of circumstances in writing.
Property: property lawyers should be aware that section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 , which received Royal Assent on 1 May 2012, creates a new offence of squatting in a residential building, although the date for it to come into force has yet to be appointed.
Procurement: procurement lawyers will be interested to know that the Scottish Court of Session in Healthcare At Home Ltd v The Common Services Agency rejected Healthcare At Home’s claim that CSA had breached the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, in particular the principles of equality, non-discrimination and transparency in its application of certain award criteria. The court was satisfied that CSA had not committed errors in its evaluation of HAH’s tenders and the successful tenderer against the award criteria and had provided sufficient reasons for its decision to award the contract to the successful tenderer.
Protection of Freedoms: the Protection of Freedoms Bill has been granted Royal Assent to become the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. The Act makes a number of changes to the existing vetting and barring scheme, the regulation of surveillance and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Regulation and enforcement: those officers involved with enforcing trading standard laws should be aware that the Sunday Trading (London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) Bill 2012 received Royal Assent on 1 May 2012, which means that for eight weeks from 22 July 2012 the Sunday restrictions on Sunday trading hours in England and Wales will be lifted for large stores (that is those with a floor space of more than 280 square metres).
State aid: public authorities should note that the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills has published a guide on frequently asked questions on state aid.