Jul 14, 2020
Legal advice obtained by Swale Borough Council on the prospect of a judicial review to overturn a consent order for a 350 MW solar power station and battery storage on Graveney Marshes has suggested that there is no basis upon which the decision can be legally challenged.
Jul 14, 2020
A 24-year-old woman with Down Syndrome has been granted permission for a judicial review challenge of Norfolk County Council’s policy of charging people for essential care and support.
Jul 14, 2020
A man from Wolverhampton has lost an appeal against his conviction for unlawfully subletting a council home.
Jul 14, 2020
The Welsh Government’s National Procurement Service has started the procurement of a new framework agreement for the provision of solicitors services to the Welsh public sector.
Jul 13, 2020
There was nothing that could be done and a local authority would have to keep searching in circumstances where there was no suitable placement for a young and vulnerable person, the Department for Education has told the High Court.
Jul 13, 2020
Local governance arrangements are not robust enough with some authorities’ commercial property investments not being properly transparent or subject to adequate scrutiny and challenge, an influential committee of MPs has warned.
Jul 13, 2020
The Regulator of Social Housing has this month told large social landlords that it intends to gradually scale up its regulatory activity as the pandemic situation eases.
Jul 13, 2020
A group of parents and carers have threatened Sutton Council with a judicial review challenge over the 2016 outsourcing of its statutory services for special educational needs and disabilities.
Jul 13, 2020
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has consented to judgment over the decision to dismiss a developer’s appeal for a residential development of up to 90 dwellings, it has been reported.
Jul 10, 2020
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council has announced it is to appoint Susan Zeiss as Monitoring Officer in the autumn of this year.
Jul 10, 2020
Landmark Chambers has announced that Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill is to join Chambers as an Associate Member, as from 1 September 2020.
Jul 10, 2020
A recently housed Haringey mother that had been living in a bed and breakfast since February 2020 was failed by her local council because it did not do enough to prevent her from becoming homeless, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has said.
Jul 10, 2020
A social landlord that owns or manages around 13,000 properties across the North West, operating in more than 30 local authority areas, is to procure a legal services framework.
Jul 10, 2020
Brunel University London is to procure a legal services framework worth an estimated £1.7m.
Jul 10, 2020
Harlow District Council is to set up a legal services framework worth an estimated £4m to provide support for special projects.
Jul 09, 2020
A Christian Foster service has been told it must allow gay parents to sign up as carers, the High Court has ruled.
Jul 09, 2020
A group of parents of children with special educational needs or disabilities has been granted permission to take the London Borough of Waltham Forest to judicial review over spending cuts.
Jul 09, 2020
Welsh law means that a landlord who is unlicensed cannot lawfully serve an eviction notice on tenants, the Court of Appeal has found.
Jul 09, 2020
A McKenzie friend can only address a court in exceptional circumstances the Honourable Mrs Justice Steyn has ruled in a case in which a claimant sat under a bench after arguing with the judge.
Jul 09, 2020
A Family Court judge should have refused an unnamed county council’s application to withdraw care proceedings for a child with an unexplained injury, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
Jul 09, 2020
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 does not permit the courts to intervene to prevent someone from making decisions that are unwise or damaging to them if they have the necessary capacity, the High Court has ruled.
Jul 09, 2020
A newly created strategic alliance between two councils is under threat after opposing councillors from one authority say they plan a judicial review of the decision.
Jul 09, 2020
A group of survivors of the terror attack at the Manchester Arena in 2017 have a lost a legal bid to be given “core participants” status at the public inquiry into the bombing.
Jul 08, 2020
A judicial review into the allocation of funding for hospital services in Hertfordshire is to take place after campaigners for a new hospital successfully applied for a judicial review of the plan to redevelop the area's existing hospitals.
Jul 08, 2020
The Housing Ombudsman has published its new Complaint Handling Code in preparation for its assumption of greater powers at the end of the year.
Jul 08, 2020
Allegations that Kettering General Hospital removed patients from waiting lists are being revisited by police who say they are launching an investigation of possible False or Misleading Information Offences (FOMI) offences by the hospital.
Jul 07, 2020
The Coram Children’s Legal Centre (CCLC) has suggested that hundreds of children in the care system could be left unlawfully resident in the UK following Brexit if they fail to register with the EU settlement scheme before June next year.
Jul 07, 2020
Housing charity Shelter has called for emergency changes to the Housing Act to prevent large numbers of private renters from being evicted when the ban on evictions ends on 23rd August.
Jul 06, 2020
Evidence against 30 people investigated over the disappearance of a £10.25m loan made by Northampton Borough Council to a football club will start to be passed to prosecutors in the next two weeks, police have said.
Jul 06, 2020
Nottingham City Council has been handed back control of the half-finished Broadmarsh shopping centre site after the collapse of retail landlord Intu into administration prompted the council’s joint venture with the company to be liquidated.
Jul 06, 2020
The High Court is this month due to hold hearings in relation to two high-profile injunctions against unauthorised encampments.
Jul 03, 2020
Leading planning and infrastructure specialist Charles Banner QC has joined Keating Chambers with effect from 1 July.
Jul 03, 2020
A new report by LexisNexis looking at the effect of COVID-19 on demand for legal services across the profession has found that many disciplines that form part of local government practice are set to grow strongly or stabilise once the pandemic is over.
Jul 03, 2020
The Financial & Commercial Litigation Team at Brent Council was named ‘Legal Team of the Year’ at the LLG Virtual Awards 2020, which were held last night.
Jul 02, 2020
Doctors have failed in a High Court challenge to Northamptonshire County Council, the county’s chief constable and two NHS clinical commissioning groups over whether they should be paid to assist safeguarding partners.
Jul 02, 2020
Somerset County Council has overturned at judicial review a decision by the South West Regional Schools Commissioner that a local middle school should become an academy.
Jul 02, 2020
Cambridgeshire County Council is again locked in litigation with construction contractor BAM Nuttall over its guided busway, seven years after their last dispute was settled.
Jul 02, 2020
A young adult who lacks mental capacity can be used as a stem cell donor for a parent if this is also in the donor’s interest, the Court of Protection has ruled.
Jul 02, 2020
The High Court has quashed a judgment in default awarded against the London Borough of Tower Hamlets because pandemic restrictions had made it impossible to the council to receive the claim concerned.
Jul 02, 2020
Norfolk County Council has agreed to review its decision-making process and internal communications in relation to its special educational needs services, and provide its People and Communities select committee with regular updates on its performance, following a critical report from the Local…
Jul 01, 2020
The Lord Chancellor has agreed that there should be no constraints in the number of sitting days available during the COVID-19 recovery period for the courts or any hesitation in using fee-paid and deputy judges to fill any gaps which cannot be filled by the salaried judiciary, the Lord Chief…
Jul 01, 2020
Reports of anti-social behaviour have increased by 43% since March, the latest COVID-19 impact monitoring report by Housemark has revealed.
Jul 01, 2020
Tributes have been paid to Stephen Amos, Director of Litigation at the Government Legal Department, who has died this week.
Jul 01, 2020
Rental electric scooters will be allowed on roads, cycle lanes and tracks in the UK on a trial basis from this Saturday (4 July), the Government has said.
Jul 01, 2020
The High Court will next week (7-8 July) hear a challenge over the legal recognition of humanist marriages in England and Wales.
Jun 30, 2020
The Court of Appeal has agreed to hear broadcaster Chris Packham’s appeal regarding an application for permission for judicial review of the Prime Minister’s decision to proceed with the HS2 railway project.
Jun 30, 2020
The Court of Appeal will this week hear an appeal by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) over Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s decision to introduce a congestion charge on minicab drivers.
Jun 30, 2020
The Department for Health and Social Care has issued a position statement on the determination of ordinary residence disputes pending the outcome of the judicial review challenge brought by Worcestershire County Council.
Jun 30, 2020
Boris Johnson has announced a major review of planning law as a key component of the government’s economic recovery plan following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jun 29, 2020
A High Court judge has rejected an application for interim relief against a district council amid claims that an unfurnished one-bedroom flat was unsuitable accommodation for a claimant who was particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.
Jun 29, 2020
Lambeth Council is to revise one of its homeless prevention schemes, formerly known as Temp2settled, following a legal challenge amid claims it had resulted in families being removed from its social housing register.
Jun 29, 2020
Children’s rights charity Article 39 has been granted permission for a judicial review of the Department for Education’s removal and dilution of children’s legal protections during the coronavirus pandemic.
Jun 29, 2020
Winckworth Sherwood has advised Trident Group on its £75m private placement, in a deal that the law firm said “confirms the re-opening of the private markets to social housing providers”.
Jun 29, 2020
One of the largest housing associations in the Midlands has appointed 12 law firms to a legal services framework worth an estimated £7.5m.
Jun 26, 2020
Warwick District Council has agreed to pay £1,000 and provide new hibernation boxes for bats after it failed to properly consider the impact a development might have on local wildlife when it approved a planning application.
Jun 26, 2020
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has announced that, after pausing all casework during the COVID-19 crisis, it will be resuming all existing casework and taking on new complaints through its website from next week (29 June).
Jun 26, 2020
South Ribble Borough Council has suffered major failings in its governance with auditors having given ‘no assurance’ over two spending areas and criticised legal service procurement.
Jun 25, 2020
Worcestershire County Council has started legal action against the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in a dispute over which council should provide after-care services under the Mental Health Act 1983 to someone who has been detained on two occasions.
Jun 25, 2020
Two joint property owners have been found guilty of illegally sub-dividing a building into seven substandard flats in a prosecution brought by the London Borough of Camden.
Jun 24, 2020
The Government has told local authorities and other agencies not to give priority to the introduction of the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) due to pressures from dealing with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jun 24, 2020
The National Audit Office (NAO) has warned against any weakening of controls over spending public money as a result of pressures from dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, and has called for attention to possible new opportunities for fraud and error.
Jun 24, 2020
Five council teams have been shortlisted for the ‘Legal Team of the Year’ at the LLG Virtual Awards 2020, which will be held next week.
Jun 24, 2020
Lewisham Council has appointed Suki Binjal as Director of Law, Governance and HR.
Jun 24, 2020
The Central Housing Investment Consortium (CHIC) of social housing providers and local authorities has appointed 22 law firms to its latest four-year, multi-million pound legal services framework agreement.
Jun 23, 2020
The Law Society has called for action to be taken to clear a backlog of cases in employment tribunals ahead of an anticipated "avalanche" of post-COVID claims.
Jun 23, 2020
The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has called on the Government to take “urgent action” to introduce a power for local authorities to suspend councillors for up to six months.
Jun 23, 2020
The Court of Appeal will this week hear an appeal challenging police use of live Automated Facial Recognition (AFR) technology in public spaces.
Jun 23, 2020
Law firm Trowers & Hamlins has promoted ten lawyers across a range of practice areas to its partnership with effect from 1 July 2020.
Jun 23, 2020
Public law specialist Sharpe Pritchard has bolstered its employment law offering with the appointment of a new partner.
Jun 23, 2020
Parklane Plowden Chambers has appointed David Kilduff, previously the head of the Commercial Group at Walker Morris, as its new chairman.
Jun 23, 2020
Public law and human rights specialist Ian Brownhill has joined 39 Essex Chambers from No. 5 Chambers.
Jun 22, 2020
Only 4% of Directors of Adult Social Services are fully confident that their budget will be sufficient to meet their statutory duties this year, down from 35% in 2019/20, the annual budget survey by ADASS has found.
Jun 22, 2020
Sites with planning permission that have an expiry date between the start of lockdown and the end of 2020 will see their consent extended to 1 April 2021, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, has announced.
Jun 22, 2020
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has called on local authorities not to undertake enforcement action which would result in unnecessarily restricting outdoor stalls.
Jun 22, 2020
The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal from a case management decision in care proceedings refusing an application by a parent with a learning disability for an intermediary assessment and the appointment of an intermediary.
Jun 22, 2020
The Government has published a code of practice “to encourage commercial tenants and landlords to work together to protect viable businesses” during the coronavirus pandemic.
Jun 19, 2020
So-called ‘hybrid’ meetings - where some councillors are present in a committee room and others participate remotely - are unlawful “under the current situation as it stands at the moment”, Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) and the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) have concluded.
Jun 19, 2020
A landlord has failed in a judicial review challenge after he was refused permission to vacate a guilty plea in relation to an enforcement notice, amid claims that a council was improperly motivated by an expected windfall from a confiscation order.
Jun 19, 2020
Law firm Browne Jacobson has appointed partner Bettina Rigg to its national education practice where she will be the firm’s Head of Higher Education.
Jun 18, 2020
Essex County Council was entitled as at 13 June 2019 to terminate a 25-year contract for the processing of household waste, a High Court judge has ruled.
Jun 18, 2020
The Court of Appeal has refused to grant the Valuation Office Agency permission to appeal a ruling in favour of Exeter City Council over the rateable valuation of the city’s Grade II-listed Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM).
Jun 18, 2020
The London Borough of Islington must pay costs in a homelessness case even though the claimant’s win was “to some degree ‘technical’”, the Administrative Court has ruled.
Jun 18, 2020
A High Court judge has declined to hear a judicial review application concerning the inclusion of an ‘informative’ into a certificate of lawfulness of existing use or development ("a CLEUD").
Jun 18, 2020
Social landlord Aster Communities has lost an appeal to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) over consulting lessees about works whose cost could be recovered through the service charge.
Jun 18, 2020
A “legal loophole” has left hundreds of vulnerable children who face homelessness to fend for themselves in unregulated children’s homes, children’s legal charity Just for Kids Law has claimed.
Jun 17, 2020
The coronavirus crisis has resulted in human rights abuses of young people who are autistic or have learning disabilities and have been detained, the Joint Committee on Human Rights has claimed.
Jun 17, 2020
A county council withdraws its new post-16 transport policy for the 2020-2021 academic year after being threatened with a judicial review challenge.
Jun 17, 2020
A Department for Transport decision to disqualify three bidders from procurement competitions for the South Eastern, East Midlands and West Coast Partnership passenger rail franchises was lawful, a High Court judge has ruled.
Jun 17, 2020
A Family Court judge has refused a father’s application for an adjournment of a part-heard final hearing so the proceedings could continue to be heard in Preston rather than moved to Manchester.
Jun 17, 2020
Law firm DAC Beachcroft has hired a four-strong team of public sector liability specialists, including partner John Palmer, from DWF in London.
