Updates include Agile contracting in Government, Liberty Protection Safeguards, survey consultation, Health and safety success for schools at trial and more.
Welcome to our Public Matters Newsletter.
This month we have:
Kay Chand discusses what agile software contracting is and considers the key benefits and benefits of this. Kay also provides recommendations for government bodies in relation to agile working models.
Chris Stark explains what the Liberty Protection Safeguards will be used for and considers the changes being proposed and what is expected to stay the same.
Using recent case law examples for reference, in this article Laura Hughes, provides practical tips for public bodies undertaking a consultation.
In recent months our insurance litigation specialists have supported a couple of schools’ successful defence of claims at trial.
In this article, Katherine Langley takes us through the cases and highlights some learning points other schools should be aware of.
Do local authorities owe a duty of care to children living at home with their families? Sarah Erwin-Jones and Louise Fisher discuss recent case law including a matter concerning one of Browne Jacobson’s long-standing clients.
It has been confirmed that cost protection under the Aarhus Convention does apply to a claim brought by an environmental activist against the Welsh Ministers.
Alistair Taylor explains how this decision confirms that Aarhus cost protection applies where the claim is not based on environmental arguments alone.
Michaela Burrell summarises the case of R (on the application of Rights: Community Action) v Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government [2021] and the Court of Appeal decision.
A recent High Court case has provided much needed clarity on the timescales for action when it comes to amending EHCPs.
In this article, SEND expert Richard Freeth has outlined the judicial interpretation for changing a plan after an annual review – which will have significant impact on both local authorities and schools.
Can public bodies legally terminate their contracts with suppliers such as Gazprom? In this article, Jasmine Shokar considers the legal and ethical implications of termination of such contracts and the options available to public bodies.
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.
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.
Across the UK, homelessness is an urgent crisis, and one that is set to grow amid the rising cost of living. Local authorities are at the forefront of responding to this crisis, but with a lack of properties that are suitable for social housing across the UK, vulnerable individuals and families are often housed in temporary accommodation.
Settlement agreements in an employment context are ordinarily used to provide both parties with certainty following the conclusion of an employment relationship – but what happens when there is alleged discrimination after entering into a settlement agreement?
Updates include UK Shared Prosperity Fund, contracts, Subsidy Control Bill, data controller liability, Government Covid-19 procurement and Highway Code revisions.
The complex and rather nebulous transitional subsidy control regime set out in the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement and the UK’s wider international commitments has made it difficult for public authorities and those working with them to proceed with certainty where subsidies are involved.
Investment zones have been introduced by the Conservative party to get the United Kingdom (UK) ‘working, building and growing’. They are to be designated sites which provide time-limited tax incentives, streamlined planning rules and wider support for local growth to encourage investment and accelerate the development of housing and infrastructure that the UK needs to drive economic growth. Processes and requirements that slow down development will be stripped back with the intention of attracting new investment.
Created at the end of the Brexit transition period, Retained EU Law is a category of domestic law that consists of EU-derived legislation retained in our domestic legal framework by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. This was never intended to be a permanent arrangement as parliament promised to deal with retained EU law through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (the “Bill”).
It is clear that the digital landscape, often termed cyberspace, is a man-made environment, in which human behaviour dominates and where technology both influences and aids our role in it — through the internet, telecoms and networked computer systems, which are often interdependent. The extent to which any organisation is potentially vulnerable to cyber-attack depends on how well these elements are aligned.
Three months on from the commencement of the new statutory Integrated Care Systems (ICS) Anja Beriro and Gerrard Hanratty reflect on the main themes and issues that have come from the new relationship between local government and health.
The Procurement Bill (the Bill) has now been with us for about four months, during which time there have been a huge number of amendments proposed in the House of Lords (circa 320). Lately, there has been less mention of it — unsurprising, really, given everything else going on in politics recently — but here’s a summary of some of the key issues and themes so far.
Browne Jacobson has been named as a supplier on Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) Public Sector Legal Services Framework on Lot 1a – full-service provision (England and Wales) and Lot 2a – general service provision (England and Wales).
