High Court hears judicial review challenge over £2bn development vehicle – Local Government Lawyer

‘The High Court has this week begun hearing a judicial review challenge to the London Borough of Haringey’s decision to establish the Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV), which is said to be the largest local authority development vehicle of its kind.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 26th October 2017

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

£40,000 worth of drugs discovered at ‘unsafe’ Lancashire prison – The Guardian

‘More than 80 prisoners in fear of their safety have sought sanctuary in a special unit in a Lancashire jail inspectors say is the most violent they have visited in recent times.’

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The Guardian, 19th April 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

New UK rules finalised on the re-use of public sector information – OUT-LAW.com

‘Public bodies in the UK must make it easier for businesses to re-use the information they hold from the middle of next month, under new regulations that have been passed by parliament.’
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OUT-LAW.com, 30th June 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Group M UK Ltd v Cabinet Office – Henderson Chambers

‘The Technology and Construction Court has reiterated that, in considering whether to lift the statutory suspension of the placing of a public contract following a challenge by an unsuccessful tenderer, it will apply the American Cyanamid principles, as those principles are consistent with the requirements of Directive 2007/66/EC on the award of public contracts.’

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Henderson Chambers, 17th March 2015

Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk

UK’s first ‘supersized’ Titan jail to be run by public prison service – The Guardian

Posted February 25th, 2015 in drug abuse, news, prisons, public private partnerships by sally

‘Britain’s first “supersized” Titan prison, which will hold more than 2,100 inmates, is to be run by the public prison service and not a private security company.’

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The Guardian, 24th February 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Costs and care homes – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Public authority decisions are, of course, open to judicial review. However, such decisions are fundamentally the domain of the relevant decision-maker and not the court. The court’s sole function (in appropriate cases) is to review the substantive and procedural lawfulness of the decision in question but not its intrinsic merits.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 2nd February 2015

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Probation reforms ‘moving too quickly’, inspector warns – BBC News

Posted December 17th, 2014 in news, probation, public private partnerships, reports, trade unions by sally

‘Changes to probation services in England and Wales are being pushed through too quickly, the service’s chief inspector has warned.’

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BBC News, 15th December 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Probation contracts awarded to private organisations – BBC News

‘Private contracts to run probation services monitoring low and medium risk offenders have been awarded by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.’

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BBC News, 5th December 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Chris Grayling to press ahead with probation service privatisation – The Guardian

Posted December 3rd, 2014 in murder, news, probation, public private partnerships, rehabilitation, trade unions by sally

‘The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, has told MPs he will press ahead with a decision on Wednesday to privatise the probation service, despite renewed public safety concerns and before the outcome of a high court challenge next week.’

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The Guardian, 2nd December 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Competition watchdog reduces London hospital sell-off requirement – OUT-Law.com

Posted April 4th, 2014 in competition, hospitals, news, public private partnerships by sally

‘Private hospital operator HCA must sell one or two of its central London hospitals, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said, after the watch-dog found evidence that HCA was charging more than competitors and overcharging for routine procedures, the Financial Times reports.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 4th April 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Cormac Mac Amhlaigh: Once More Unto the (Public/Private) Breach …: s. 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Severability Thesis – UK Constitutional Law Group

‘Two interesting recent blog posts dealt with the meaning of public and private under s. 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998. They were motivated by injunction proceedings in the High court whereby the Olympic Delivery Authority, (ODA) the body charged with the logistics and infrastructure of the London Olympic Games, had sought injunctions to restrain protestors from entering and occupying land which was to be developed as part of the Olympic site. The main issues emerging from this case discussed in the two posts was whether the ODA constituted a ‘core’ or ‘hybrid’ public authority under s. 6 HRA; whether it could itself enjoy human rights to defeat or counter any human rights obligations it may hold in its capacity as a ‘hybrid’ body exercising public functions; and where the ‘centre of gravity’ for determining the human rights obligations of hybrid bodies lay under the Act; under the s. 6(3)(b) ‘public function’ test or the definition of ‘private act’ under s. 6(5).’

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UK Constitutional Law Group, 13th December 2013

Source: www.ukconstituionallaw.org

Lords block Chris Grayling’s plans to let private companies supervise ex-prisoners – Daily Telegraph

“The Coalition’s plans to let private companies supervise ex-prisoners have been blocked in the House of Lords.”

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Daily Telegraph, 25th June 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Probation reform: payment by results can reduce reoffending – The Guardian

Posted May 15th, 2013 in charities, news, probation, public private partnerships, recidivists by sally

“The recent announcement from the justice secretary, opening up probation work to the private and voluntary sectors, may help to rebuild lives.”

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The Guardian, 15th May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Litter Enforcers let loose in Leeds – what rights to private contractors have to request personal details and issue fines? – Zenith Chambers

Posted May 8th, 2013 in data protection, fines, litter, news, public private partnerships by sally

“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.”

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Zenith Chambers, 3rd May 2013

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

Criminal legal aid tenders – LAG News Blog

“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?”

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LAG News Blog, 5th March 2013

Source: www.legalactiongroupnews.org.uk

‘Not up to standard’: 25% of care agencies providing services to people in their homes are failing – The Independent

“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.”

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The Independent, 13th February 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Barnet’s ‘easyCouncil’ faces judicial review over outsourcing – The Guardian

“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.”

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The Guardian, 22nd January 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

What Barnet’s judicial review tells us about the future of outsourcing – The Guardian

“Legal process will provide a chance for the courts to consider to what extent councils should consult with constituents.”

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The Guardian, 19th December 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Board minutes of a public/private joint venture confidential and commercially sensitive – Panopticon

“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.”

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Panopticon, 11th October 2012

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Serco ordered to improve failing GP service – The Guardian

Posted July 18th, 2012 in medical treatment, news, public private partnerships, standards by tracey

“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.”

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Daily Telegraph, 18th July 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk