“The recent announcement from the justice secretary, opening up probation work to the private and voluntary sectors, may help to rebuild lives.”
The Guardian, 15th May 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Private contractors are increasingly being used by local councils in an attempt to curb offences of littering. This has provoked an uproar amongst the press with reports of local residents being issued with ‘heavy handed fines’ for the most trivial offences, rather than receiving a warning and the opportunity to pick up their litter first.”
Full story (PDF)
Zenith Chambers, 3rd May 2013
Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk
“Lord McNally, the minister with responsibility for legal aid, has announced a decision to ‘accelerate’ the timetable to introduce competitive tendering for criminal legal aid. The government wants to save cash, but LAG asks can it succeed where the last government failed, as designing a tender system will be complex with no guarantee of savings?”
LAG News Blog, 5th March 2013
Source: www.legalactiongroupnews.org.uk
“A quarter of agencies that provide care to people in their own homes do not meet all five national standards of quality and safety, regulators said.”
The Independent, 13th February 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The ‘easyCouncil’ model of no-frills local services is set to go on trial this spring after the High Court announced it will review a £320m services contract due to be outsourced by the Conservative-controlled London Borough of Barnet.”
The Guardian, 22nd January 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Legal process will provide a chance for the courts to consider to what extent councils should consult with constituents.”
The Guardian, 19th December 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Joint ventures between the public and private sectors are increasingly common. They are often a focus for vigorous political debate over issues such as the costs involved, the savings to the public purse, the profit to the private sector partner, and allegations of conflicts of interest. While those are political arguments on which Tribunals take no view, they do point to the significant public interests that are engaged when considering access to information. So said the Tribunal in David Orr v IC and Avon and Somerset Police Authority (EA/2012/0077), a recent decision notable for grappling with access to information about such a public/private joint venture.”
Panopticon, 11th October 2012
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
“Serco, a leading private contractor of public services, is failing to meet legal requirements to provide enough staff, train them properly or monitor their performance in the out-of-hours GP service it runs for the NHS in Cornwall.”
Daily Telegraph, 18th July 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Mayor of London Boris Johnson is considering legal action after it was ruled Underground maintenance firm Tube Lines’ costs should be £4.46bn.”
BBC News, 10th March 2010
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“The only companies that could fall within the term “other appointee”, as contained in Sch 15 to the Greater London Authority Act 1999, were public private partnership companies in whose favour there was under a scheme the transfer of property, rights and liabilities from an existing appointee.”
WLR Daily, 26th November 2007
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note: once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
