‘The government is to investigate a council’s plans to turn some of its libraries into gyms with unstaffed book-lending sections, following a protest against the scheme – which won support from authors including Nick Hornby and Ali Smith.’
The Guardian, 11th April 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Two teenage girls have been detained for torturing and murdering a vulnerable woman in north-east England. But when a child deliberately kills, what is to blame? Is it possible some children are simply bad? Or are there other factors at play?.’
BBC News, 8th April 2016
Source: bbc.co.uk
‘In all of the excitement about the proposals in the White Paper for all schools to become academies, there has been little discussion about the Guidance for local authorities and RSCs on Schools causing concern – Intervening in failing, underperforming and coasting schools. Alongside this guidance, the Government has published its response to the consultation exercise, which includes a useful summary of the amendments that the Government made to the Bill during its Parliamentary passage.’
Education Law Blog, 7th April 2016
Source: www.education11kbw.com
‘A High Court judge has held the election of three town councillors in Cheshire to be void after it emerged that their nominations were defective.’
Local Government Lawyer, 5th April 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Cafcass, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) and ADSS Cymru have published guidance aimed at clarifying the expectations on local authorities for children looked after under s. 20 of the Children Act 1989.’
Local Government Lawyer, 4th April 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘April 2016 is a month of big changes for people living and working in the UK. A number of new laws and policies are coming into force, affecting just about everyone from public sector workers to dog owners. Here’s what the new laws could mean for you.’
The Independent, 3rd April 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘This is the opportunity to get to the heart of one of the biggest challenges for our generation, says inquiry chairman Lowell Goddard.’
The Guardian, 3rd April 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘The UK has left itself open to corruption at the heart of local government, transparency campaigners warned, after it emerged that council workers have been routinely issued with gagging orders when they left public service.’
The Independent, 3rd April 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The Government has set out how it plans to change the law to address falls in local authority adoption decisions and the courts’ granting of placement orders.’
Local Government Lawyer, 30th March 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A developer sought planning permission for a development on Green Belt land comprising nine residential houses and a barn and associated dwellings for a livery business. The proposal involved redevelopment of previously developed land at a livery, the business of which was partly retained. The local planning authority refused planning permission. On the developer’s appeal, an inspector appointed by the Secretary of State considered that the proposal comprising new buildings was appropriate development and concluded that, applying the requirements of the sixth exception in para 89 of the National Planning Policy Framework (“NPPF”), the new buildings would not impact adversely either on the openness of the Green Belt or the purposes for designation of the Green Belt. He accordingly allowed the developer’s appeal. The local planning authority applied under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to quash the inspector’s decision, contending, inter alia, that para 89, which listed six exceptions to the general policy that new buildings were inappropriate development in the Green Belt, should be interpreted to mean that development which was not only operational development for new buildings but also involved a material change in use for those buildings did not fall within the categories of appropriate development, and that therefore the inspector had erred in law in treating the proposal as appropriate development, since the construction of the new houses also involved a material change of use to residential or mixed residential and equestrian use.’
WLR Daily, 15th February 2016
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘The developer applied for outline planning permission for the development of 32 dwellings on a site lying outside the defined development boundaries and allocated sites set out in the local planning authority’s local plan. The local authority failed to determine the application and the developer appealed to the Secretary of State. The inspector appointed by the Secretary of State recognised that the main issue was whether the site was a suitable location for residential development having regard to the local plan and other considerations. He identified that the proposed development was in clear conflict with the location policy in the local plan, which policy remained in force and so retained its full weight as part of the statutory development plan. Having found therefore that para 14 of the National Planning Policy Framework (“the NPPF”) did not apply, the inspector went on to consider the policies of the NPPF as a whole, concluding that the proposed development constituted sustainable development so that the presumption in favour of sustainable development applied, that being a material consideration capable of outweighing the development plan, pursuant to section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Accordingly, the inspector allowed the appeal and granted permission. The local authority challenged that decision pursuant to section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 on the ground, inter alia, that the inspector had erred in law in failing properly to apply the approach to decision-taking set out in section 38(6)of the 2004 Act.’
WLR Daily, 16th March 2016
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘Better partnerships and more effective information-sharing at the local level will be needed to reduce alcohol-related crime and disorder, the government has said.’
OUT-LAW.com, 29th March 2016
Source: www.out-law.com
Swindon Borough Council v Webb (trading as Protective Coatings) [2016] EWCA Civ 152
‘Whilst hesitating to be prescriptive in a matter where the liberty of the subject is at stake, and where the circumstances are likely to be infinitely various, the procedure provided by CPR r 81.31 should be followed where a contemnor seeks his discharge before the expiry of his sentence (para 23).’
WLR Daily, 16th March 2016
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘The wording of the Public Sector Equality Duty must be strengthened so that the discriminatory consequences of decisions by the Government and public authorities can no longer be ignored, peers have said.’
Local Government Lawyer, 29th March 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A bitter dispute between campaigners and councillors over a controversial programme to cut down thousands of trees has continued at a hearing at the High Court in London.’
The Independent, 22nd March 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has upheld a challenge brought by traders against a High Court ruling that the decision by former Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to confirm a compulsory purchase order for Shepherd’s Bush Market was lawful.’
Local Government Lawyer, 21st March 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A parish council has won a High Court challenge over a local authority’s refusal to register land in its area as a village green.’
Local Government Lawyer, 21st March 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A High Court judge has ruled that the claims of two boys against a council for negligence in failing to protect them from harassment from neighbours on the estate where they lived were wrongly struck out.’
Local Government Lawyer, 18th March 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Bill and Mary Nicholson were awarded compensation after the Cedar tree’s roots caused serious damage to their semi-detached £400,000 property’
Daily Telegraph, 21st March 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘Can the name of a local councillor who has defaulted on Council tax properly be withheld from disclosure under the exemption for personal data in s.40 FOIA? That was the issue for the Upper Tribunal (“UT”) in Haslam v (1) Information Commissioner (2) Bolton Council [2016] UKUT 0139 (AAC), 10 March 2016. Mr Haslam, a journalist on the Bolton News, had submitted a FOIA request to Bolton Council for disclosure of names of councillors who had received reminders for non-payment of Council tax since May 2011. The Council refused to name names, citing the exemption in s.40 FOIA. The Information Commissioner and First-Tier Tribunal (“FTT”) upheld the Council’s decision. The UT (Judge Markus QC) has now reversed the FTT’s decision, and held that the name of the individual councillor concerned should be released.’
Panopticon, 18th March 2016
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
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