This month includes updates on conservation, judicial review, re-organisation, procurement and social value.
Welcome to our Public Matters Newsletter.
This month we have:
Ben Standing provides an update on the latest in conservation law, including legislation and case law.
Matthew Alderton looks at how public bodies must understand the scope of ‘irrational’ or ‘unreasonable’ challenges so that proactive steps can be taken to reduce the likelihood of successful judicial intervention.
Anja Beriro shares some of the matters we’ve been discussing with clients and in our team to help you move decisions on more quickly.
Victoria Searle summarises the key points in our response to the Government’s Independent Review of Administrative Law and next steps.
Sam Trevorrow explains when PPN 07/20 will apply and what action contracting authorities need to take when it does.
Athina Agrafioti considers the current social value requirement under the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 and the new social value measures the government launched in September this year.
This guide provides information and guidance for local authorities considering a move to a unitary form of local government in their area.
This month we speak to John Simons, Head of Procurement & Audit at Scape. John shares a bit about himself and his sector insights.
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.
