Law Society attacks legal aid reforms
Proposed reforms to the availability of legal aid for judicial review “will have a significant chilling effect”, the Law Society has warned.

Judge refuses council permission to apply for JR in rail interchange row
18/06/13: St Albans City and District Council is mulling its options after the High Court refused it permission to apply for a judicial review relating to plans for a strategic rail freight interchange.

Cabinet Office publishes guidance for Whitehall on use of private emails
18/06/13: The Cabinet Office has issued guidance to central government departments on the use of private email.

Blogger plans to take libel battle with council to Court of Appeal
18/06/13: A blogger who lost a claim for libel against a council and its chief executive and was ordered to pay £25,000 in damages has indicated this month that she will file her notice of appeal.

Guidance to stop councils getting "contractual kickbacks" from bailiffs: Pickles
18/06/13: New guidance will “stop the dodgy practices where town halls collect contractual kickbacks from bailiffs that will do almost anything to make money”, the Communities Secretary has claimed.

DCLG publishes guide to reporting on and filming council meetings
17/06/13: The Department for Communities and Local Government has published a guide to reporting on council meetings, amid claims that many local authorities are still prohibiting filming.

Supreme Court set to rule this week on overlapping powers of local authority
17/06/13: A London council will find out this week whether it has been successful in its appeal to the Supreme Court in a highways case examining a local authority’s overlapping powers.

Home Office in tougher stance on licensing authorities imposing CCTV on pubs
17/06/13: Licensing authorities will no longer be able to make CCTV a legal condition of every pub licence as a matter of course, under revised guidance issued by the Government this month.

Government launches code of conduct for PPP/PFI deals in savings drive
14/06/13: The Government has launched a voluntary code of conduct for public bodies and their private sector partners covering how to make savings from public private partnership contracts, including PFI deals.

Family President clarifies when use of expert is 'necessary' in proceedings
13/06/13: The President of the Family Division has clarified when the use of an expert witness is ‘necessary’ under guidance he gave earlier this year.

Consumer Rights Bill welcomed despite fears on trading standards notice plan
13/06/13: Enforcers such as Trading Standards officers will be required to give reasonable notice to businesses when carrying out routine inspections under a draft Consumer Rights Bill published by the Government this week.

Age of unaccompanied migrant children "too often disputed", say MPs
13/06/13: The age of unaccompanied migrant children is too often disputed, putting their welfare and best interests at risk and meaning the UK falls short of its UN obligations, MPs have warned.

Local authorities obtain 126 confiscation orders in 12 months: research
13/06/13: Local authorities have obtained 126 confiscation orders in the last 12 months and recovered £13.7m, research by the Association of Chief Trading Standards Officers (ACTSO) has revealed.

ICO fires warning on fax use after fining NHS trust £55,000
13/06/13: The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued a warning to organisations that use fax machines to send out sensitive information after the watchdog fined an NHS trust £55,000.

Supreme Court issues key ruling on care orders and 'significant harm'
12/06/13: The Supreme Court has upheld a High Court order that a two-year-old girl should be permanently removed from her parents’ care and placed for adoption over fears for her emotional or psychological harm.

EHRC develops plans for s. 16 inquiry into Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
12/06/13: The Equality and Human Rights Commission is developing proposals for a formal inquiry that would examine policy and practice in care homes and hospitals in relation to the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

Barnet swaps QC to secure early Court of Appeal date for outsourcing challenge
12/06/13: Barnet Council has hired a new QC so that the Court of Appeal can hold an expedited hearing into the legal challenge to the authority’s decision to award Capita a £320m contract to run back office services.

WYLAW councils and York select 23 law firms to legal framework agreement
12/06/13: The West Yorkshire authorities and York City Council have appointed 23 law firms to provide legal advice under a four-year framework agreement.

ICO doubles data protection enforcement casework in 2012/13
12/06/13: The Information Commissioner’s Office more than doubled its data protection enforcement casework in 2012/13, it has emerged.

Supreme Court to rule on permanent removal and adoption of girl
11/06/13: The Supreme Court will tomorrow hand down a key ruling on the permanent removal and placement for adoption of a child.

WLGA warns of legal action as senior officer pay controls loom
11/06/13: The Welsh Local Government Association has warned of possible legal action over a move to introduce independent controls for setting remuneration levels for senior local government officials.

Civil Justice Council becomes latest to question legal aid for JR reforms
11/06/13: The Civil Justice Council has become the latest organisation to voice concern over controversial government reforms to legal aid for judicial review.

Council to pay £4k after woman and children housed in one room at B&B
11/06/13: The Local Government Ombudsman has told a local authority to pay out nearly £4,000 after it mishandled a homeless application.

Home Affairs Committee slams failings over child sexual exploitation
11/06/13: The police, social services and the CPS must all bear responsibility for the way in which vulnerable children who were victims of child sexual exploitation were left unprotected by the system, MPs have said.

MPs warn over ability of some councils to meet their statutory obligations
07/06/13: MPs have today fired a dire warning over the prospective ability of some councils to meet their statutory obligations if current local government funding trends continue.

Family President publishes revised Public Law Outline ahead of pilot
07/06/13: The President of the Family Justice Division, Sir James Munby, has issued a new practice direction and the revised Public Law Outline.

Treasury Counsel concern over plans to limit legal aid for judicial review
07/06/13: Some 145 Treasury Counsel – barristers appointed to act for the Crown or Government departments – have written to the Attorney-General to express concern about proposals to limit legal aid for judicial review.

ICO fines city council £150,000 over data breach, 74 missing laptops
07/06/13: The Information Commissioner’s Office has fined a city council £150,000 after a major data breach and the subsequent revelation that 74 of the authority’s laptops had gone missing.

Use of expert witnesses decreases in family courts: Cafcass
06/06/13: The proportion of s.31 care applications involving the use of an expert witness has declined from 92% in 2009 to 70% in 2011-12, according to new research published by Cafcass.

North West council fined £70k after data breach relating to adopted child
05/06/13: A council in the North West has become the latest local authority to be fined by the Information Commissioner’s Office after a data breach in its social services team.

LGO raps council for overcharging home care services for 18 months
05/06/13: An investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman has found that a county council overcharged the public for non-residential services for more than 18 months.

Ombudsman attacks council for failing to support boy abandoned by parents
05/06/13: The Local Government Ombudsman has sharply criticised a local authority for its failure properly to support a child abandoned by his parents.

Law Society puts boot into Government reforms to legal aid for judicial review
04/06/13: Proposed reforms to the availability of legal aid for judicial review “will have a significant chilling effect” and build in an extra, pre-emptive level of protection for public authorities, the Law Society has warned.

Borough council faces legal action over free car parking for worshippers
04/06/13: The National Secular Society is bringing a legal challenge to Woking Borough Council’s policy of allowing free parking to worshippers.

Town council pays out after unlawfully suspending councillor
04/06/13: A town council has agreed to apologise to a councillor and pay nearly £8,000 in legal fees after accepting that it had unlawfully suspended him.

ICO issues £100k fine after public body leaves sensitive data at former site
03/06/13: The Information Commissioner’s Office has handed out another six-figure fine after a second public body was found to have left sensitive records at a former site.

NHS LA names 14 firms to £400m Department of Health legal panels
03/06/13: The NHS Litigation Authority has selected 14 law firms to advise a range of Department of Health organisations under a four-year, £300-400m framework agreement.

Council warns of challenge to merger between primary and private schools
03/06/13: A council has warned the governing body of a primary school of a potential legal challenge if it goes ahead with a merger with a local private school.

Report on child sexual exploitation in Rochdale urges clarity on legal issues
31/05/13: An independent report into child sexual exploitation issues in Rochdale has called on the council to join with other local authorities and appropriate agencies to seek clarity at a national level on a range of legal issues.

FOI requests reveal misuse of social media by staff at Welsh councils
31/05/13: There were 14 recorded cases of council staff misusing social media in 2012, freedom of information requests submitted by the BBC have revealed.

Borough council consults on 'preferred option' of late night levy
31/05/13: Woking Borough Council has launched a consultation on proposals for its preferred option of a late night levy.

NCP sues for £600k+ after council decides to take back running of car parks
30/05/13: Car parking giant NCP is suing Worthing Borough Council for more than £600,000 after the authority announced plans to take back the running of the car parks it owns from next year.

Warning over impact on high streets of relaxed permitted development rights
30/05/13: High streets could be overrun with clusters of betting shops and payday loan companies as a result of changes to the planning rules on permitted development rights, councils have claimed.

Ninety QCs urge withdrawal of planned limits on legal aid for judicial review
29/05/13: Some 90 Queen’s Counsel have signed a letter calling on the Government to withdraw its “unjust” proposals to limit legal aid for judicial review.

Party banned from taking legal action over council decisions without leave
29/05/13: A High Court judge has issued an order preventing a political party from issuing legal proceedings relating to a council’s decisions without leave of a senior judge.

Former council lawyer sets up specialist planning enforcement practice
29/05/13: A lawyer who has worked at three different local authorities is to launch a specialist planning enforcement law firm from the beginning of June.

New statutory code for LA health and safety inspections comes into force
29/05/13: A new statutory code coming into force today (29 May) will require local authorities to focus health and safety inspections on higher risks or where intelligence suggests employees or the public are at risk.

Kent CC solicitor stands for junior lawyer rep on Law Society Council
29/05/13: A local authority lawyer is standing for election as a Law Society Council member representing the Junior Lawyers Division.

Councils net new powers as Mobile Homes Act 2013 comes into force
29/05/13: A new licensing regime for park home sites that comes into force this week will give councils greater power to enforce breaches and make it easier to prosecute site owners who harass residents, ministers have claimed.

Welsh Government set to end two-year intervention in running of council
28/05/13: The Welsh Government’s two-year-long intervention in the running of Anglesey Council is to finish at end of this month.

Police watchdog rules out investigation into ex-council leader
28/05/13: The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has announced that it will not be investigating an allegation of misconduct in public office made against the former leader of a London borough.

Five lords justices designated to hear appeals arising out of Jackson reforms
28/05/13: The Master of the Rolls has designated five judges to hear appeals to the Court of Appeal arising out of the Jackson Review reforms.

Scottish local authorities name 12 law firms to £4m framework
28/05/13: Twelve law firms have won places on a £4m legal services framework agreement advising almost half of the local authorities in Scotland. The contracting authority was Glasgow City Council.

Council faces £2m bill after losing landmark appeal on funding regulation
24/05/13: Westminster City Council faces having to pay out up to £2m after it lost a Court of Appeal ruling on sex shop licence fees.

HB Public Law in formal launch amid plans for third member council
23/05/13: HB Public Law – the shared legal service set up by Harrow and Barnet Councils – held its formal launch this month, as it emerged that consideration is being given to a third local authority joining the structure.

EHRC issues guide on human rights and commissioning home care
23/05/13: The Equality and Human Rights Commission has issued new guidance in a bid to improve local authorities’ understanding of their human rights obligations when commissioning and procuring home care for older people.

London borough faces judicial review over bid to move soup kitchen
23/05/13: A local authority is facing a judicial review challenge over its decision to revoke a licence for a soup kitchen and move it to an out-of-town site.

Cabinet Office issues advice on 'procuring for growth'
23/05/13: The Cabinet Office has published a short guidance note and practical tips for procurers on procuring for growth.

Councils to take legal action over withdrawal by DEFRA of PFI credits
22/05/13: Two local authorities are to bring a judicial review challenge over the Government’s decision to withdraw £65m in waste infrastructure credits for a long-term waste management contract.

Borough council to consult on adopting late night levy
22/05/13: The Cabinet at Cheltenham Borough Council is to consult on the adoption of a late night levy.

Claimants launch judicial review challenge to DWP 'benefit cap' policy
22/05/13: A group of eight claimants have launched a judicial review challenge to the Government’s ‘benefit cap’ policy.

Cabinet Office publishes template contract for social impact bonds
21/05/13: The Cabinet Office has published a template legal contract as part of its drive to support the development of social impact bonds (SIBs).

Watchdog consults on reforms amid concerns over electoral fraud
21/05/13: The majority of cases of alleged electoral fraud relate to local government elections, the Electoral Commission revealed this month as it launched a consultation on proposed reforms.

Minister points to major changes to Local Government Pension Scheme
21/05/13: The Government is to consult later in 2013 on a number of broad principles for change to the Local Government Pensions Scheme, Brandon Lewis has announced.

DCLG to implement majority of Taylor review on planning guidance
21/05/13: The Government has said it will accept the majority of the Taylor review’s recommendations on rationalising planning practice guidance.

Test purchases in Milton Keynes see half of gambling premises fail
21/05/13: A programme of test purchases at ten gambling licensed premises in Milton Keynes found that half were failing in their duty to prevent young people from being involved in under-age gambling.

Top family judge urges earlier involvement of local authority lawyers
20/05/13: Local authority lawyers need to get involved earlier – advising and assisting their social work clients – than is often the case, the President of the Family Division has argued.

High Court grants permission for JR of max expenditure policy on adult care
20/05/13: A judge has given permission for a claimant to bring a judicial review challenge over a council’s plans for a ‘maximum expenditure policy’ on funding for adult care packages where people choose to live in the community.

Call to reform age assessment systems as councils incur massive legal costs
20/05/13: The system for assessing the age of children arriving alone in the UK is inadequate and costing local authorities up to hundreds of thousands of pounds in unnecessary legal costs, a report has claimed.

LBLA starts process of selecting new solicitors framework agreement
17/05/13: The starting gun has this month been fired for places on one of the most high-profile solicitors framework agreements in local government.

NHS Shared Business Services kick-starts £130m legal services tender
17/05/13: NHS Shared Business Services has kick-started the procurement exercise for a legal services framework agreement potentially worth more than £130m over four years.