Jan 20, 2022
Richard Heller, an established figure in trading standards and food safety work, has joined leading set of chambers, 2 Hare Court.
Jan 20, 2022
A judge has strongly criticised Rosebery Housing Association on its mishandling of a case where it sought an injunction against residents for anti-social behaviour.
Jan 20, 2022
A High Court judge has dismissed a judicial review challenge over the Government’s decision to end the ‘Everyone In’ initiative that was launched to get rough sleepers off the streets during the pandemic.
Jan 20, 2022
Failure to identify an appellant's cognitive limitations led to procedural unfairness in a case involving children, the Court of Appeal has found.
Jan 20, 2022
The High Court has rejected a claim by campaign group Save Britain's Heritage (SBH) to a planning decision by the City of London Corporation as being both out of time and unfounded.
Jan 20, 2022
A county council failed to establish that a child’s injuries were inflicted and the investigation into responsiblity for those injuries was "seriously flawed", a Familiy Court judge has found.
Jan 20, 2022
Wiltshire Council has lost on all three grounds a challenge to the decision of a planning inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government to allow a development it had refused.
Jan 20, 2022
The High Court has dismissed appeals against a case brought by Cardiff City Council over shams designed to avoid business rates.
Jan 19, 2022
Law firm Pinsent Masons has advised Suffolk County Council on its proposed public-private alliance with Lovell Partnership to deliver nearly 3,000 homes across the region.
Jan 19, 2022
The High Court has denied permission to Cumbria County Council for a judicial review of the Government's decision to create two unitary authorities in the county.
Jan 19, 2022
Cornwall Council has declared a "Critical Incident" in adult social care, a move which it said would “help alleviate pressure on our hospitals, reduce ambulance waiting times and allow more patients who no longer require hospital care to be discharged back into the community”.
Jan 19, 2022
The Government is “minded to” send commissioners into Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council as part of an intervention package, the Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has said whilst acknowledging the move would be "unprecedented".
Jan 19, 2022
Pauline Campbell, a senior lawyer at the London Borough of Waltham Forest, has been shortlisted for ‘Legal Personality of the Year’ at the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2022.
Jan 19, 2022
Sheffield City Council is to set up a cross-party committee to consider what action should be taken in relation to its chief executive, Kate Josephs, after she last week said she was "truly sorry" for going to a leaving party in December 2020 to mark the end of her role as Director General of the…
Jan 19, 2022
A legal challenge by a widower against Cornwall Council that contended the road that his wife had a car accident on was negligently designed has been allowed to progress, following a decision by the Court of Appeal.
Jan 19, 2022
Campaign group Big Brother Watch has launched a judicial review challenge against the Welsh Government over its ‘Covid Pass’, claiming that the scheme is unlawful “as it is disproportionate and unevidenced”.
Jan 19, 2022
Six universities have signed up to a pledge promising not to use legally binding Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) against students and staff in dealing with complaints of sexual misconduct, bullying, and other forms of harassment.
Jan 19, 2022
A decision by the leader of Haringey Council to abandon a housing development after agreeing to purchase a private property on the earmarked land has been criticised as "flawed" by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Jan 18, 2022
The Government has won an appeal over a High Court ruling that its decision to award a £560,000 contract for the provision of focus group and communications support services during the pandemic to Public First without public notice or competition gave rise to apparent bias and was unlawful.
Jan 18, 2022
The Leader of North Northamptonshire has issued a second statement in a bid to clarify its decision to pay £4m to a publican who alleged abuse of process in a food safety case brought against him by East Northamptonshire District Council more than 20 years ago, and to defend a former chief…
Jan 18, 2022
The maximum 6-month prison sentence that can currently be handed out by Magistrates is to be doubled to a year, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has announced.
Jan 18, 2022
Great Yarmouth Borough Council failed to deal with mould growth throughout a resident’s home that was causing damage, and then delayed in putting right faulty improvement works that worsened the situation, an investigation by the Housing Ombudsman has found.
Jan 18, 2022
A declaration by a High Court judge, which required the Environment Agency to achieve prescribed outcomes within a prescribed timetable in relation to a landfill site, went beyond the scope of the court's functions in dealing with a claim that the regulator was acting incompatibly with the…
Jan 17, 2022
Local authorities are “picking up the pieces” where decisions made by the Home Office on the age of unaccompanied asylum seekers are incorrect, the President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) has warned.
Jan 17, 2022
The Welsh Government intends to implement the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 on 15 July, Climate Change Minister Julie James has confirmed.
Jan 17, 2022
An unlicensed puppy trader has been ordered to pay £100,000 for placing misleading adverts, following a prosecution prepared and presented by Telford and Wrekin Council’s legal services department.
Jan 17, 2022
Campaign group Friends of the Earth has filed papers in the High Court challenging the Government's Net Zero Strategy (NZS) and its Heat and Building Strategy over "lacklustre" commitments to tackling climate change, making the policy the subject of two separate legal challenges.
Jan 17, 2022
Leeds City Council has appointed Pinsent Masons to a two-year contract worth an estimated £200,000 to provide legal advice on two of the largest infrastructure schemes in the city for decades.
Jan 14, 2022
The chief executive of Sheffield City Council has said she is "truly sorry" for going to a leaving party in December 2020 to mark the end of her role as Director General of the Cabinet Office's COVID-19 Task Force.
Jan 14, 2022
The Government's use of a fast track "VIP" lane for awarding PPE (personal protective equipment) contracts was unlawful, the High Court ruled this week.
Jan 14, 2022
The process that led to a £95,000 departure payment being made to a former chief executive of Pembrokeshire County Council “represented a serious breakdown in governance” including a failure to comply with legal requirements, a failure to address the concerns of the Head of Legal and Democratic…
Jan 13, 2022
Environment law group ClientEarth has launched a legal action against the Government over what it calls an “inadequate” net zero strategy.
Jan 13, 2022
A decision by Camden Council's to refuse Covid business grants to two businesses over incorrect ratepayer records at the local authority was wrong, an investigation from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Jan 13, 2022
A High Court judge was wrong to hold that the court cannot grant final injunctions against unauthorised encampment that prevent newcomers from occupying and trespassing on land, the Court of Appeal has said.
Jan 13, 2022
Law firms Weightmans and RadcliffesLeBrasseur have revealed they are in formal contract negotiations with a view to completing a merger at the end of March 2022.
Jan 13, 2022
Devon County Council has awarded a contract worth £150,000 to the Access Group for the provision of a legal case management system.
Jan 13, 2022
Complainants as well as sanctioned councillors should be given the right to ask the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) to review a council’s handling of alleged breaches of its code of conduct, the Ombudsman, Michael King, has said.
Jan 13, 2022
Newport City Council has said it has no powers to disqualify a councillor who admitted soliciting a sex worker.
Jan 13, 2022
A couple who illegally bred dogs have been ordered to pay more than £450,000 following a successful prosecution by Vale of Glamorgan Council.
Jan 13, 2022
City of Bradford Council has made a payment put in five figures to settle a claim by a couple who were deprived of a child they wished to adopt.
Jan 13, 2022
Ashchurch Rural Parish Council has lost a judicial review challenge it brought over construction of a bridge to access large planned housing developments.
Jan 12, 2022
The Good Law Project has withdrawn its judicial review challenge over the multi-billion pound “Levelling Up Fund”.
Jan 12, 2022
If the Government introduces the proposed new ‘Protect Duty', local authorities will require significant resource and capacity to ensure that those within its scope are aware of their responsibilities and comply, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said.
Jan 12, 2022
Alistair Cantor, a specialist in commercial & regulatory litigation (including insolvency), local government work, property and housing law, has joined Cornerstone Barristers as a tenant.
Jan 12, 2022
Sovereign Housing, one of the largest housing associations in the UK, has named 17 law firms to a legal services framework worth an estimated £12.8m over five years.
Jan 11, 2022
TLT has strengthened its public sector team with the appointment of Gemma Townley as a partner in its technology, IP and data team.
Jan 11, 2022
Andy Fry has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS).
Jan 11, 2022
The Supreme Court will this week hear an appeal from a council this week over whether a landlord can terminate a flexible tenancy agreement prior to the expiry of the fixed term if the tenancy agreement does not expressly provide for re-entry or forfeiture.
Jan 11, 2022
A landlord has been ordered to pay more than £64,000 for breaching a planning enforcement notice served on a property in Barking being used illegally as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).
Jan 11, 2022
The UK's largest housing association, Clarion, has appointed a former partner at law firm Winckworth Sherwood to its Housing Association Board.
Jan 11, 2022
A Housing Ombudsman investigation has found complaint handling failures at the London Borough of Ealing that amounted to severe maladministration, in a case in which a resident had to wait six years for a leaking roof to be replaced.
Jan 10, 2022
The Supreme Court has given Swindon Borough Council permission to appeal in a case about whether a planning condition can require the dedication of a highway.
Jan 10, 2022
Simon Bird QC has been elected as Head of Chambers at Francis Taylor Building, taking over from Andrew Tait QC.
Jan 10, 2022
The benefits of vaccination against Covid-19 for a child with autism, severe learning disability and asthma "significantly outweigh" the possible risks, the Court of Protection has found, despite objections from the boy's parents.
Jan 10, 2022
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, has given developers a deadline of early March to agree a fully funded plan of action including remediating unsafe cladding on 11-18 metre buildings.
Jan 07, 2022
A former Cabinet member for housing at Southwark Council breached the local authority’s Code of Conduct by acting anonymously through a Twitter account, an independent investigation by law firm Bevan Brittan has found.
Jan 07, 2022
North Northamptonshire Council has agreed to pay "substantial damages" to a publican who alleged abuse of process in a food safety case brought against him by a predecessor authority more than 20 years ago.
Jan 07, 2022
A boy with special education needs who received “virtually no” education for two years should be given £6,900 in compensation by Suffolk County Council, an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has recommended.
Jan 06, 2022
A mother of two disabled children has successfully brought a complaint against Greenwich Council after a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation found the local authority's social housing allocation policy disadvantaged the family.
Jan 06, 2022
BCP Council has successfully prosecuted a man following the suspicious death of a protected Monterey Pine tree.
Jan 06, 2022
West Berkshire Council last month won a continuation of an interim injunction preventing any further unauthorised development at the Lawrences Lane site in Thatcham.
Jan 06, 2022
Winchester City Council has been threatened with a judicial review by a local campaign group over its plans to turn over a former leisure centre site to the University of Southampton.
Jan 06, 2022
South Oxfordshire District Council last month confirmed it has dropped any further legal challenges to a planning inspector’s approval of a 133-homes retirement village in Sonning Common, which the council had rejected as it would be in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Jan 05, 2022
NHS Shared Business Services has issued a prior information notice on its next legal services framework, which is estimated to be worth up to £80m.
Jan 05, 2022
A major provider of affordable homes in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire is to procure a legal services framework.
Jan 05, 2022
The Government Legal Department has awarded a contract for consultation on and development of bespoke digital e-learning content that will support the delivery of the GLD learning strategy.
Jan 05, 2022
The Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) and Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) have launched a petition calling for councils to be given the choice to meet remotely.
Jan 05, 2022
The Government has reiterated the current position that any permanent change allowing local authorities to meet remotely requires primary legislation, after calls last month from organisations including the Local Government Association (LGA), Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) and the Association of…
Dec 30, 2021
An umbrella organisation, acting for environmental groups, has secured permission for a judicial review of the Marine Management Organisation’s (MMO’s) decision to grant a changed licence for the deposit of 800,000 tonnes of dredged mud and sediment in the Severn estuary.
Dec 30, 2021
The Local Government Association has called on the Government to immediately redirect a significantly greater share of the new Health and Social Care Levy to frontline adult social care.
Dec 30, 2021
Lincolnshire Police has issued a dispersal order after receiving multiple reports of hare coursing.
Dec 30, 2021
CoramBAAF, the independent membership organisation for professionals, foster carers and adopters, has called on all local authorities to check that their procedures comply with the detail of the Adoption Agencies Regulations (AAR) 2005 to avoid potential similar difficulties to those faced by…
Dec 30, 2021
A new fund was launched earlier this month in a bid to address what has been described as a persistent shortage of social welfare lawyers.
Dec 29, 2021
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has published model clauses for use by local authorities and home builders in preparing s106 agreements that deliver First Homes through developer contributions, including First Homes exception sites.
Dec 29, 2021
The average time for a care or supervision case to reach first disposal was 45 weeks in July to September 2021, up four weeks from the same quarter in 2020 and one week compared to April to June 2021, according to the latest Ministry of Justice data.
Dec 29, 2021
A county council has been fined £300,000 for failing to inspect and maintain trees on a public footpath, following the death of a member of the public.
Dec 29, 2021
A claimant’s belief in a fear of catching Covid-19 and a need to protect herself and others, did not amount to a philosophical belief for the purposes of section 10(2) Equality Act 2010, an Employment Tribunal judge has ruled.
Dec 29, 2021
A former councillor and his wife have been convicted of fraud by false representation after they applied for a Covid-19 bounce back loan.
Dec 29, 2021
Kate Traynor has joined Landmark Chambers as a specialist property, costs and commercial litigation barrister.
Dec 23, 2021
The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) has won its appeal in a much-anticipated Court of Appeal ruling on which of two local authorities should pay for after-care services pursuant to s.117(3) of the Mental Health Act 1983 where the user has been detained, released and then, sometime…
Dec 22, 2021
The Supreme Court has upheld a decision by a panel of three of its own judges that a lawyer was in contempt of court for disclosing the outcome of one of the court’s rulings to the public while it was in draft and subject to embargo, knowing that such disclosure was prohibited.
Dec 22, 2021
The Court of Appeal has handed down a ruling on the impact of the public sector equality duty (PSED) on a claim for possession of rented residential premises.
Dec 22, 2021
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by a landlord against the imposition by Thurrock Council of a £17,000 penalty for failing to license a house in multiple occupation.
Dec 22, 2021
Specialists in children law, the Court of Protection and public law are strongly represented among the 101 barristers and solicitors appointed as new Queen’s Counsel this week.
Dec 22, 2021
Hillingdon Council has lost an attempt in the High Court to challenge a decision by London mayor Sadiq Khan to allow a tower block to be built in the borough.
Dec 22, 2021
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (as was) has lost a case in the Court of Appeal over whether a planning inspector was wrong to refuse to impose conditions on a grant of planning permission on the ground that they were unnecessary.
Dec 22, 2021
The operator of an airfield has lost on all three grounds in a challenge to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead’s decision to allow residential development on an adjacent site.
Dec 22, 2021
The London Borough of Barnet should not be allowed to resile from admissions it made about the state of a pavement on which a resident was seriously hurt in a fall, Master Stevens has ruled in the High Court.
Dec 21, 2021
The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has issued guidance on e-bundles for use in the Family Court and Family Division.
Dec 21, 2021
Law firm Hugh James has advised Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council on the purchase of the town’s indoor shopping centre, which is expected to play a major role in the authority’s 15-year town centre ‘Masterplan’.
