This month includes construction and the environment, clean air, legal privilege, dissipation of assets to avoid care home fees, state aid, Freedom of Information Act 2000, Part 36 case update.
Welcome to our Public Matters Newsletter.
This month we have:
James Harwood provides a summary of the short and longer-term environmental issues in construction projects.
Sophie Hoffman looks at current clean air legislation, recent developments and the role of local authorities going forwards.
Natasha Stay provides an update on legal privilege in light of the recent decision in Brooksbank v Information Commissioner and another.
We have seen an increase in local authorities contacting us for advice about dissipation of assets in the context of care homes/nursing homes fees. Amba Griffin-Booth provides an overview of the considerations that local authorities should take into account.
Alex Kynoch reviews decision 2019/1712 on a public loan granted by Slovakia to Železničná Spoločnosť Cargo Slovakia [ZSSK Cargo], and it's imapct on public bodies.
Matthew Alderton looks at the principle behind the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and exceptions for public authorities.
Emma Marshall summarises the recent case of Hochtief (UK) Construction Limited, Volkerfitzpatrick Limited v Atkins Limited, and the effectiveness of Part 36 offers.
Law firm Browne Jacobson has collaborated with Wiltshire Council and Christ Church Business School on the launch event of The Council Company Best Practice and Innovation Network, a platform which brings together academic experts and senior local authority leaders, allowing them to share best practice in relation to council companies.
In the Autumn Statement delivered on 17 November, rises to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates were announced, to take effect from 1 April 2023.
Announced in September but scrapped on 17 November the investment zone proposals were very short lived. The proposal has now morphed into the proposal for a smaller number of clustered zones earmarked for investment.
Settlement agreements are commonplace in an employment context and are ordinarily used to provide the parties to the agreement with certainty following the conclusion of an employment relationship.
On 2 November 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the much awaiting case of Hillside Parks Ltd v Snowdonia National Park Authority [2022] UKSC 30. The Court’s judgment suggests that the long established practice of using drop-in applications is in fact much more restricted than previously thought. This judgment therefore has significant implications for both the developers and local planning authorities.
The war on plastic is being taken to a new level, and businesses that don’t consider sourcing recycled packaging materials could face costly implications.
In ‘failure to remove’ claims, the claimant alleges abuse in the family home and asserts that the local authority should have known about the abuse and/or that they should have removed the claimant from the family home and into care earlier.
