Category: contracting out

Austerity and Public Law: Richard Clayton QC: Accountability, Judicial Scrutiny and Contracting Out – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted November 30th, 2015 in budgets, community care, contracting out, judicial review, local government, news, ombudsmen by sally

‘Austerity Britain is shrinking the public sector and accelerating the process of contracting out services. However, the legal protections contracting out gives to service users are piecemeal and inadequate, raising very real concerns about how findings of unlawfulness are to be addressed.’

Full story

UK Constitutional Law Association, 30th November 2015

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Insurance surgery: Out for the count – New Law Journal

Posted October 29th, 2015 in contracting out, health, insurance, negligence, news, third parties by sally

‘Bridget Tatham follows the rise & risk of public sector outsourcing.’

Full story

New Law Journal, 26th October 2015

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

High Court expedites hearing of contract dispute between Cornwall and BT – Local Government Lawyer

Posted September 3rd, 2015 in contracting out, contracts, local government, news, telecommunications, trials by sally

The High Court will in December hold an expedited hearing of a dispute between Cornwall Council and BT over whether the local authority was entitled to terminate a major contract for material breach.

Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 2nd September 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

GPS tracking of offenders delayed by further 12 months – The Guardian

Posted July 15th, 2015 in contracting out, dangerous offenders, delay, electronic monitoring, news, recidivists by tracey

‘The introduction of the next generation of GPS tracking of offenders, including convicted paedophiles, has been delayed for at least another 12 months, the Ministry of Justice has announced.’

Full story

The Guardian, 14th July 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Self-harm, drug-taking and sexual abuse more common in privately run prisons, new figures show – The Independent

Posted April 7th, 2015 in contracting out, drug abuse, news, prisons, self-harm, sexual offences by sally

‘Twenty-five years after the first private facility opened in Britain, private jails are performing far worse than government-operated facilities on at least a dozen counts. They account for a higher proportion of fighting, sexual assaults, drug-taking, self-harming, hunger strikes, and prisoner escapes than public-sector prisons, according to an analysis by The Independent on Sunday of new government statistics.’

Full story

The Independent, 5th April 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Home Office wins £224m e-Borders appeal – BBC News

Posted February 18th, 2015 in appeals, arbitration, contracting out, contracts, damages, immigration, news by sally

‘The Home Office has won its appeal against an order to pay £224m to a US defence firm over the cancellation of a secure borders contract.’

Full story

BBC News, 17th February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Chief prison inspector calls for review of super-jails – The Guardian

Posted February 18th, 2015 in contracting out, news, prisons by sally

‘The chief inspector of prisons has called for a full review of the lessons learned from the opening of the troubled G4S-run Oakwood prison before any more “supersized” jails are opened.’

Full story

The Guardian, 18th February 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Charities in front seat of new reoffending drive – Ministry of Justice

Posted December 19th, 2014 in charities, contracting out, news, probation, recidivists, rehabilitation by sally

‘The government fired the starting gun today [18 December] on making key reforms to the way ex-offenders are looked after in the community, in an effort to tackle stubbornly high reoffending rates in England and Wales.’

Full story

Ministry of Justice, 18th December 2014

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

Probation privatisation judicial review dropped by union – BBC News

Posted December 9th, 2014 in contracting out, news, probation, trade unions by sally

‘A legal challenge to government plans to privatise parts of the probation service has been called off by the union representing probation staff.’

Full story

BBC News, 8th December 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Probation changes linked to murders – BBC News

Posted December 2nd, 2014 in contracting out, murder, news, probation, trade unions by sally

‘Changes to the way offenders are supervised in England and Wales may have contributed to two murders, says the probation officers’ union.’

Full story

BBC News, 2nd December 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Constructing safety nets – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted November 18th, 2014 in construction industry, contracting out, guarantees, insolvency, news by sally

‘Notwithstanding the economic upturn, many UK contractors are still tendering for work at negative margins; sustaining losses; and arguably operating one major dispute away from the brink. This article examines the common forms of security used by employers to safeguard performance by contractors, and/or protect against insolvency, and considers the degree of comfort they afford.’

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 16th October 2014

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Voluntary sector at forefront of new fight against reoffending – Ministry of Justice

Posted October 30th, 2014 in charities, contracting out, news, probation, recidivists, rehabilitation by sally

‘A major step towards completing the government’s crucial rehabilitation reforms was taken today, as the organisations that will play a key role in turning round the lives of offenders were announced.’

Full story

Ministry of Justice, 29th October 2014

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

Probation union launches legal challenge over government reforms – BBC News

Posted October 30th, 2014 in contracting out, news, probation, trade unions by sally

‘A legal challenge to government plans to privatise some probation services in England and Wales has been launched by the probation officers’ union Napo.’

Full story

BBC News, 30th October 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Q&A: Probation reforms explained – BBC News

Posted October 30th, 2014 in charities, contracting out, news, probation, rehabilitation by sally

‘In June the government put into force plans to change the way the probation service runs, and forged ahead with proposals to privatise parts of it. But why are some people unhappy about this?’

Full story

BBC News, 29th October 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Six out of 10 prisoners freed from short jail sentences re-offend within a year – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 27th, 2014 in contracting out, drug offences, news, probation, public order, recidivists, robbery, sexual offences, statistics, theft, weapons by sally

‘More than 17,000 prisoners released into the community after serving short jail terms went on to commit new crimes last year, official figures have shown.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 24th October 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Drivers may be able to reclaim millions in unfair parking fines – The Independent

Posted September 22nd, 2014 in appeals, conflict of interest, contracting out, fines, local government, news, parking, statutory duty by sally

‘Motorists could demand the refund of more than £100m in parking fines, after what experts described as an “explosive” tribunal ruling left local government traffic officials in “absolute panic”.’

Full story

The Independent, 21st September 2014

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Care workers take Hampshire home employers to tribunal over pay and working hours – The Guardian

Posted August 18th, 2014 in care homes, care workers, contract of employment, contracting out, local government, minimum wage, news, remuneration, tribunals by tracey

‘Eleven female carers to the elderly are taking their employers to a tribunal claiming they were only paid by the minutes they spent with clients rather than their rostered working hours. The staff, who were on zero-hours contracts, allege that, due to the arrangements, they were paid less than the minimum wage of £6.31 an hour. It is understood that some of the employees at Apex Care in Romsey, Hampshire, where the firm was commissioned to provide the home care service by the council, believe their real hourly wage was close to £3.50.’

Full story

The Guardian, 17th August 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Greenwich Millennium Village Ltd v Essex Services Group plc and others – WLR Daily

Posted July 15th, 2014 in appeals, construction industry, contracting out, contracts, indemnities, law reports, negligence by tracey

Greenwich Millennium Village Ltd v Essex Services Group plc and others: [2014] EWCA Civ 960; [2014] WLR (D) 309

‘A contractor (the respondent) to which building work had been subcontracted which it had in turn subcontracted to another contractor (the appellant) which undertook to indemnify the respondent against liability for the appellant’s negligence was not prevented by its own negligence from enforcing the indemnity clause.’

WLR Daily, 11th July 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Probation service in chaos as systems wipe offenders’ data – The Independent

Posted June 23rd, 2014 in community service, computer programs, contracting out, data protection, news, probation by sally

‘Britain’s probation service is in chaos after a series of crippling computer failures over the past three weeks, with thousands of offenders’ case files lost, frozen or wiped.’

Full story

The Independent, 22nd June 2014

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Watchdog attacks the government’s handling ‘fiasco’ of disability payouts – The Guardian

Posted June 20th, 2014 in benefits, budgets, contracting out, disabled persons, news by tracey

‘The government’s handling of personal independence payments (Pips) has been “nothing short of a fiasco” that has caused distress to thousands of sick and disabled people, parliament’s public spending watchdog has found.’

Full story

The Guardian, 20th June 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk