PLC Public Sector reports:
Review this week’s recommended actions to make sure that a key development hasn’t passed you by.
Withholding personal information under FOIA: the ICO has published several decision notices in the past week on what data will be exempt from disclosure under FOIA because it is personal information. Anonymised statistics about SATs results and the number of children a local authority takes into care will not qualify for the exemption. The postcodes of staff and pupils of a school and details of a lump sum and pension paid to a former chief planning officer will be exempt from disclosure. Local authorities should take account of these decisions when responding to requests for information. The ICO has also produced guidance on the disclosure of salaries with some example cases that should be reviewed where necessary.
Discrimination: public sector employers should note the decision in Amnesty International v Ahmed, which makes it clear that discrimination is discrimination even if the motive for it is benign, well thought through and has good reason.
Data protection fees and data security: public sector organisations required to register as data controllers should take note of the new guidance published by the ICO on the forthcoming two-tier registration fee structure. Annual fees for public authorities employing more than 250 staff will rise from £35 to £250 per year on 1 October 2009. This week’s public authority on the wrong side of the ICO was the London Borough of Sutton, which lost paper files and unencrypted laptops containing personal information. With the threat of fines from the ICO for reckless handling of data from April 2010, public authorities must review, update and then enforce suitable data security policies now.
Section 202 reviews: local authorities should note the decision in Heald v Brent, where the Court of Appeal confirmed that section 202 Housing Act 1996 reviews can be contracted out. The court made it clear however that people who have requested a review should be made aware of the identity and status of the reviewer.
Council housing: local authorities in England considering options for the delivery of new council housing should review the latest guidance issued by the DCLG on reforms to the Housing Revenue Account subsidy system.
Housing priority – medical needs: following the LGO’s decision in Sandwell, local authorities should ensure that medical advisory panels have members with appropriate medical qualifications, or at least access to advice from a suitably qualified professional.
Homelessness: the LGO’s decision in Lambeth highlights the need for local authorities to make sure that applicants for assistance are provided with full details of their individual assessments, to ensure that they are able to take account of these when considering offers of assistance from the local authority.
Employment of children: local authorities in England should note the new guidance on the employment of children published by the DCSF, which includes information on the age at which children can carry out specific types of work, the maximum hours they can work, mandatory rest periods and prohibitions applicable to child employment. The guidance does not cover arrangements for children taking part in performances.
Decision-making: all public authorities should make sure that not only are their actual decisions documented but, also that their reasons for reaching any decisions together with the information that was considered in coming to the decision are documented alongside the decisions themselves. The LGO’s report on Medway highlights how a failure to do so will make it much more difficult to defend a decision-making process from challenge.
Planning – alternative sites: the Court of Appeal’s decision in Langley Park School v Bromley highlights the need for local planning authorities to take account of the level of objection to a proposed development when deciding if it needs to consider alternative sites.
Business Rate Supplements Act 2009: local authorities intending to take advantage of the powers to raise revenue under the Business Rate Supplements Act 2009 should note the publication of the commencement order. The Act allows them to charge a supplement of up to 2 pence per pound of rateable value from 1 April 2010.
Shared ownership – designated areas: local authorities in rural areas should note the designation by the Government of more than 13,000 rural settlements as protected areas, in which shared-ownership homes must remain shared-ownership.
Revised code on Streetworks: local authorities should take note of the publication of a revised third edition of the code of practice for the co-ordination of Streetworks.
IDEA equality procurement guidance: procurement lawyers should be aware of the latest guidance published by IDEA detailing ways that equality issues can be taken account of in procurement processes.
Licensing sub-committees – staying proceedings: local authorities should note the high court’s decision in Harpers Leisure v Guildford that the council’s licensing sub-committee acted correctly in refusing to stay the review proceedings because it did not have statutory power. The grounds to stay or strike out the proceedings listed in section 51(4) of the Licensing Act 2003 did not include an allegation of abuse of process from the licensee. Local authorities should update any guidance given to committee members accordingly.
Consultations: this week saw consultations published about reform of the citizenship test, local bus services, changes to permitted development, amendments to PPS25, OGC procurement documents and Local Partnerships’ housing procurement pack.
If you wish to submit your views on any of the actions we have recommended, or would like to highlight any other issues that you feel need action by public sector lawyers, please feel free to submit a comment below.