Welcome to our September edition of Public Matters, our monthly round-up of legal updates, news and insights for the public sector.
Welcome to our September edition of Public Matters, our monthly round-up of legal updates, news and insights for the public sector.
The concept of Legal Project Management (LPM) is increasingly relevant to the delivery of legal services, both in-house functions and private practice law. This is unsurprising, LPM is crucial if lawyers are to add value by controlling budgets, communicate pro-actively on risk mitigation and costs, and manage time by resourcing to deal with pinch points in the project.
On 31 August 2022, the Court of Appeal handed down the Judgment in respect of the appeal case of HXA v Surrey County Council and YXA v Wolverhampton City Council [2022]. In this article, our social care experts look at the facts of the case, details of the appeal and the serious cost consequences of it.
Boosting local growth and improving infrastructure are key policy goals within the now familiar Government "Levelling Up" agenda. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, when enacted, aims to ensure faster delivery of such infrastructure projects, through amendments regarding the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) Development Consent Orders (DCO) system.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has published a consultation on proposals to require Local Government Pension Scheme administering authorities in England and Wales to assess, manage and report on climate change risks.
Devolution is one of the main focuses of the Levelling Up White Paper. In this article we consider the effect of the future devolution powers on local leaders and communities, and how devolution arrangements are likely to impact health and social care at a local level.
A recent High Court judgement that ruled in favour of a private provider to the NHS, provides a timely reminder that awards for damages in procurement cases can be high, if contracting authorities act with disregard to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
In this article we look at local authority companies and whether they are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. And for those that are, what information are they legally obliged to submit.
In an unreported case, the High Court has ruled that an out-of-court administration appointment, instigated by a sole director of a company with unmodified model articles, was valid notwithstanding an earlier decision made in another case. While the organisations involved are private companies, the principles of the judgment will be just as relevant to private companies operating in the public domain and those incorporated by public sector organisations to further their objects.
In response to HM Treasury’s consultation on Administrative Control Process for Public Sector Exits, Browne Jacobson are hosting a virtual forum to gather your views and feedback on the proposals.
This webinar will look at some practical contractual and liability issues involved in installing, owning, operating, maintaining electric vehicle charge points.
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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.
