Archive for the ‘Public Sector’ Category
Thursday, May 17th, 2012
A council has been fined £70,000 under the Data Protection Act after highly sensitive and confidential information was stolen from a social worker’s home.
In this case the social worker took records home to work on them, storing them in a laptop bag alongside his encrypted computer. The material was under lock and key. Unfortunately he was the victim of a burglary.
The vast majority of those working with children and vulnerable adults are committed and hardworking. They often give up time outside work to catch up. Employers must ensure they are properly equipped and trained to do this safely. If not, more fines like that announced yesterday, are likely.
This is an important decision. A laptop bag is an insecure place for any papers and policies for staff authorised to take paperwork home must make it clear that all such records should be kept secure, and away from other valuable items. And remember, policies are no use unless they are accompanied by regular training!
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: browne jacobson, council fined, Data Protection Act, papers stolen in burglary, sarah erwin-jones
Posted in Public Sector, Social Care | No Comments »
Monday, May 14th, 2012
The Cabinet Office has published its latest Procurement Policy Note giving guidance to government departments (which includes their agencies and non-departmental public bodies) on how to implement the coalition’s procurement pledges. The main one is to reduce the number of procurement exercises carried out using competitive dialogue in what the paper calls a “presumption against competitive dialogue”. The Public Contracts Regulations 2006 already make it clear that this presumption is part of the EU’s procurement regime so this should be nothing more than a reminder of that.
However, the Note also gives guidance on how to manage pre-procurement engagement and use the Lean sourcing principles, both of which will no doubt be welcomed by contracting authorities (not just government departments) keen to better understand how to use these to reduce the time and expenditure of procurement exercises. One eye should be kept on the legislation and the case law to ensure that in using these techniques contracting authorities don’t unintentionally give unfair advantage to certain potential bidders.
Posted by Anja Beriro, who specialises in : local authority law, public sector procurements, commercial agreements, projects and shared services; clients: local authority and private sector bodies
Anja Beriro
0115 976 6589
aberiro@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: Anja Beriro, browne jacobson, cabinet office, government, policy procurement note, Procurement, Public Contracts Regulations 2006
Posted in Government bodies, Procurement, Public Sector, Retail, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, May 10th, 2012
Russell Hobby, General Secretary to the NAHT made this statement in support of the Government’s proposal to introduce performance related pay for Teachers. He sees the move as positive for the careers of talented young teachers who should be awarded for performance, regardless of experience. The School Teachers’ Review Body has been asked to investigate the possibility of paying teachers on the basis of their performance. At the moment, the incremental pay of teachers increases automatically, unless they are in formal capability proceedings. This controversial move by the NAHT is out of step with all of the other teaching unions, the spokesman for ATL has commented, ‘it is completely misguided and a bad time to do it’.
The proposals are consistent with Mr Gove’s drive to improve standards by delegating power down to schools. How far he takes account of the concerns of unions remains to be seen.
Posted by Heather Bragg, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including; contractual issues, unfair dismissal, redundancy and all areas of discrimination.
Heather Bragg
0115 976 6553
hbragg@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: Browne Jacobson LLP, Education, Heather Bragg, NAHT, performance related pay for teachers, Russell Hobby, schools
Posted in Education, Employment, Public Sector | No Comments »
Thursday, May 10th, 2012
The European Commission has launched a major initiative to reform and modernise state aid control.
The key elements are:
- state aid control must support sustainable growth by discouraging aid that doesn’t bring added-value and distorts competition. The Commission will develop common principles for assessing national projects and will revise some existing texts
- state aid enforcement must focus on cases with the biggest impact, ensuring stronger scrutiny of larger aid, enquiries by sector and simplification of exemptions, especially the General Block Exemption Regulation – but Member States must improve submission quality and compliance with EU law
- streamlined procedures for quicker decisions and rules and concepts will be better explained.
State aid rules are notoriously complex and difficult to grasp. This review has unsurprisingly been triggered by European economic difficulties; anything which makes the regime simpler and more efficient has to be welcomed. However, the reform package won’t be in place until the end of 2013 at the earliest. It may be too little, too late.
Posted by Sharon Jones, specialising in: joint ventures, complex commercial agreements, projects and competition law including public procurement, state aid;clients: local authority, health, governmental, private sector bodies.
Sharon Jones
0115 976 6284
sjones@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (2 votes cast)
Tags: browne jacobson, EU Law, European Commission, european economic difficulties, Sharon Jones, state aid
Posted in Public Sector, Regulatory | No Comments »
Friday, March 30th, 2012
Procurement of healthcare services is always topical particularly with an increased perception in some areas that the NHS is being privatised – so what does the Health and Social Care Act change about the approach to procurement?
To date, NHS bodies have been required to consider whether healthcare services have a cross border element when tendering such contracts because in the absence of such the EU Treaty principles, relating to the letting of such contracts, have no application. The Principles and Rules for Cooperation and Competition are, of course, very relevant but are currently non-statutory rules which even the Cooperation and Competition Panel cannot enforce.
The Act makes provision for regulations relating to procurement to be made under it and such regulations are widely expected. It will be interesting to see what impact such statutory rules have on commissioners and their decisions about competitive procurement and whether the market will be more likely to challenge commissioning decisions in this area where there are statutory rules which can be enforced.
Posted by Rachel Whitaker, who specialises commercial contracts, projects, competition law, procurement and state aid; clients include NHS bodies, local authorities, RDAs and national and international private sector clients.
Rachel Whitaker
0115 976 6538
rwhitaker@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: healthcare services, NHS, Procurement, Social Care Act 2012
Posted in Health, NHS, Procurement, Public Sector | No Comments »
Friday, March 30th, 2012
With the Health and Social Care Bill finally receiving Royal Assent this week finalising staffing structures and the appointment of individuals to key roles such as the Accountable Officer, Chair and Chief Finance Officer for the shadow CCGs will need to take priority.
A Health Service Journal survey has revealed that 60% of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) want primary care trust (PCT) managers as their Accountable Officers and to fill key leadership roles. However, recent data released by the Department of Health revealed that £168m was spent on PCT redundancies and early retirements in 2010-11 to help meet government savings targets. Perhaps even more worrying is that half of all mangers who signed up the Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS) were clinicians and experts in commissioning and finance.
Only time will tell if CCGs are able to encourage those that left under the MARS scheme to take up posts in their organisations.
Posted by Gemma Steele, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including; contractual issues, unfair dismissal, redundancy and all areas of discrimination.
Gemma Steele
0121 237 4561
gsteele@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: clinical commissioning groups, department of health, Health and Social Care Bill, Primary Care Trusts (PCT)
Posted in Employment, Public Sector, Social Care | No Comments »
Friday, March 30th, 2012
The Prime Minister provided us with an update on progress made since the “Our Public Services” White Paper (July 2011).
Despite some achievements eliminating poor performing schools and raising attainment in deprived areas remain a work in progress. The expansion of good schools and good schools taking over worse schools are actively encouraged, thereby promoting innovative school structures evolving out of academy chains and federations, progress fully supported by the Government.
As divisive as the Free Schools policy might be, the March update reiterates its importance to the government with 100,000 extra places planned in all by 2015. The £600m to fund Free Schools announced in the Autumn Statement is there to be spent.
The March update tells us little more than we already knew. Academies and Free Schools remain the cornerstones for education provision. Becoming an Academy is still the norm, Academy chains and innovative group structures are the order of the day and the delivery of the Free Schools policy will continue unabated.
Posted by Dai Durbridge, who specialises in advising schools, academies and other education providers on all pastoral matters. Recognised leader in safeguarding law, with a specific interest in the vetting and barring scheme; also defends claims made against education and social care providers.
education, social care and health settings; defending claims against education, social care and health providers.
Dai Durbridge
0115 976 6578
ddurbridge@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: academies, free schools, Our Public Services White Paper July 2011, Prime Minister
Posted in Education, Public Sector | No Comments »
Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
The Cabinet Office has issued guidance on the use of pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQs) by central government departments intended to improve access for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are concerned that the administrative burdens of complying with public sector procurement requirements have a disproportionate impact on smaller businesses, which this guidance is intended to address.
The guidance states that PQQs must not be used as a pre-tender selection when the value of the goods, services or works falls below the EU procurement thresholds.
Whilst the removal of the PQQ stage will make life easier for SMEs wishing to submit tenders, it may give tenderers false hope if they are unlikely to be successful at the invitation to tender stage. It will also increase the workload of government departments by increasing the number of tenders they are required to assess.
Whilst this guidance only applies to central government departments it will be interesting to see whether local authorities wishing to improve SME access will follow suit.
Alex Kynoch
0115 976 6528
akynoch@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: eu procurement directives, PQQ's, Pre-qualification questionnaires, Procurement, Public Sector, SME's
Posted in Procurement, Public Sector | No Comments »
Monday, January 30th, 2012
The future structure and operation of the NHS Commissioning Board is set to be discussed at its board meeting this week.
Its board will consider a 63-page document outlining the NHS Commissioning Board’s future structure. It will have an “hour glass” shape – an 800-strong central office, four commissioning sectors (based on SHA cluster locations) and, at least initially, 50 local offices (covering PCT cluster areas). Each commissioning sector and local office is expected to have about 50 staff.
Whilst there is logic behind the structure, some might question how lean this structure really is. However, it seems that the NHS Commissioning Board’s budget represents a reduction of about 50% compared to the running costs of the functions transferring to it.
The board will also be asked to approve and adopt Clinical Commissioning Group guidance that has been in circulation (some in draft form) for a few months. Don’t ignore the board papers accompanying each item either, as they also contain some useful information.
Posted by Jonathan Hayden, specialising in: advising health and social care clients including clinical commissioning groups, primary and secondary care contracting, commercial contracts, joint ventures, statutory powers/duties and governance.
Jonathan Hayden
0121 237 4551
jhayden@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: clinical commissioning groups, health, NHS, NHS commissioning board, primary care trusts, Public Sector, Social Care
Posted in Health, NHS, Public Sector, Social Care | No Comments »
Monday, January 30th, 2012
At the World Economic Forum recently Neelie Kroes announced the setting up of the “Cloud Partnership”.
With it she announced a policy to increase the uptake of cloud computing throughout Europe through the creation of common standards and regulation, together with an initial investment of Euro 10 Million from the European Commission to make it happen.
Personally I’m always a little concerned by announcements to boost the economy through greater regulation. If however the policy results in greater uptake of cloud computing by the public sector (whether through true “public” clouds or through the greater use of “private” clouds), as common standards are agreed and accepted then there is a real chance of (much-needed) cost savings, which must be welcome.
Let’s hope an agreement on standards can be reached more quickly than agreement on the debt crisis, even if it does involve putting up with unnecessary repeated references by politicians to becoming “not just Cloud friendly but Cloud active”.
Posted by Richard Nicholas, who specialises in commercial, IT and outsourcing agreements, complex projects for private and public sector clients, collaboration, distribution & agency contracts, e-commerce and consumer law.
Richard Nicholas
0121 237 3992
rnicholas@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: cloud computing, Commercial contracts, European Commission, government bodies, IT Contracts, neelie kroes, outsourcing, Public Sector, world economic forum
Posted in Commercial contracts, Consumer contracts, Government bodies, IT Contracts, Outsourcing, Public Sector | No Comments »
Monday, January 16th, 2012
Today is the first working day of the obligation under the Localism Act 2011 for local authorities and single status fire and rescue authorities to produce a Pay Policy Statement. The government issued draft guidance for consultation before Christmas and once that comes out in final form authorities will know exactly what is expected.
While a lot of local authorities will already have started thinking about drafting a statement it will require a lot of input from both officers and members and will need to be approved by the full authority. This approval is aimed at making the authority more accountable to the local tax payers with the hope that the gap between the highest and lowest earners will reduce.
The policy must be applied from 1 April 2012 and it will be interesting to see if the government’s wish to effectively “cap” the pay of the most senior officers will come true.
Posted by Anja Beriro, who specialises in : local authority law, public sector procurements, commercial agreements, projects and shared services; clients: local authority and private sector bodies
Anja Beriro
0115 976 6589
aberiro@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 7.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: fire and rescue authorities, government bodies, local authorities, local tax payers, localism act 2011, Localism Bill, pay policy statement, Tax
Posted in Commercial Litigation, Government bodies, Local Authorities, Public Sector, Tax | No Comments »
Friday, January 13th, 2012
Following the second reading of the Local Government Finance Bill in the Commons opinions remain divided. While councils have been told that they will be able to keep certain parts of new business rates rather than give it all straight to central government, the amount that they will get to keep is not yet clear and some critics are saying that it will be at best trivial.
The amounts will be based on the actions that an authority has taken to boost business within its area and this will not always be an easy calculation to make, the proposed system being a complex one.
Mr Pickles has been quick to respond to criticism that the main benefits will lie in the south-east saying that certain authorities in the middle and north of the country could have been benefitting already if these provisions were in place.
Posted by Anja Beriro, who specialises in : local authority law, public sector procurements, commercial agreements, projects and shared services; clients: local authority and private sector bodies
Anja Beriro
0115 976 6589
aberiro@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: central government, councils, local government finance bill, Procurement
Posted in Procurement, Public Sector | No Comments »
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
Ofsted’s new chief has announced the current two day notice before an inspection is set to be replaced with a no notice system for inspections for all schools in England from autumn.
Some schools believe these changes are a result of recent claims that schools attempt to portray a stronger impression during Ofsted inspections by sending “bad” pupils home or drafting in staff from other schools. There are also concerns that shorter or no notice inspections may stop schools properly engaging with the inspection process.
Ofsted has carried out 1,500 no notice inspections over the last 18 months and defends the new system by assuring that the sole aim is to provide a true picture of school performance. Schools should be able to trust the inspection process but no notice inspections may just aggravate the feeling that Ofsted is trying to catch them out.
Laura Richards
0115 908 4886
lrichards@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 8.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: Education, Ofsted, ofsted inspection, primary education, Public Sector, schools, secondary education
Posted in Employment, Public Sector | No Comments »
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
We’ve seen a lot of publicity recently about the Government’s intention to make the adoption process easier and faster, but for the most part the focus has been on placing babies and young children.
This week brings news that the needs of older children are being forgotten and that it is a concern that deserves to be taken seriously.
Since 1999 it has be possible for children to bring claims against local authorities for failing to secure appropriate arrangements which are in Looked After Children’s short and long term best interests. Failure to do so could be the subject of long, expensive and protracted litigation – something which we are seeing a lot more of.
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 9.3/10 (3 votes cast)
Tags: adoption, adoption system, childrens social care, Education, fostercare, local authority children's services, Social Care
Posted in Education, Litigation, Public Sector, Social Care | No Comments »
Monday, January 9th, 2012
The risk of evaluating “irrelevant” information has been emphasised in the recent case of Resource v Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) [2011] a tender for security and other services. The unsuccessful bidder claimed that NICTS had evaluated the part of G4S’ proposal which was different from the criteria set out in the Statement of Requirements instead of disregarding it as “irrelevant”.
The court agreed with the applicant. Firstly, NICTS did not have good evidence recording their evaluation process which in general is very important. Secondly, it was clear that G4S’ alternative proposals were taken into account which meant G4S received preferential treatment. By giving weight to “irrelevant” information the panel had committed a serious and manifest error.
The court set the award procedure aside. This case highlights once again the importance of evaluation based solely on the information available to all potential bidders and to record clearly the manner in which the evaluation criteria were applied.
Posted by Anja Beriro, who specialises in : local authority law, public sector procurements, commercial agreements, projects and shared services; clients: local authority and private sector bodies
Anja Beriro
0115 976 6589
aberiro@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 9.5/10 (2 votes cast)
Tags: g4s, Procurement, resource v northern ireland courts and tribunal service, ststement of requirements
Posted in Procurement, Public Sector | No Comments »
Monday, January 9th, 2012
Just before Christmas the UK Government requested input from various bodies across the UK on the EU Commission’s legislative proposals for a reform of public procurement. Both the Commission and the Government have stated that procurement reform is a priority in 2012 so we are hoping to see some progress made over the next 12 months. EU reform is a time consuming process however, so don’t expect to see any legislative changes trickle down to the UK in the next year or two.
The Commission produced a green paper proposing reform which the Government responded to in July last year. Some of the responses made have clearly been incorporated into the current proposals and the Government has stated its intention to continue negotiations throughout 2012 with a view to protecting the UK’s position. If the Government can continue to push for simpler, more flexible procurement regulations then this will be welcomed by both the public and private sectors.
Alex Kynoch
0115 976 6528
akynoch@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 9.0/10 (2 votes cast)
Tags: eu commision, green paper, private sector, Procurement, public procurement, Public Sector, reform
Posted in Procurement, Public Sector | No Comments »
Friday, January 6th, 2012
Around half of public sector senior leaders have expressed concerns over growing public-private sector collaborations according to a recent report by global management consulting firm the Hay Group.
The report, Relationship Counselling, surveyed around 200 senior leaders from local government, healthcare, uniformed services and universities.
The report highlights growing opposition and resentment to closer ties with the public sector amid increasing concerns over risks to service delivery.
This is an issue that is clearly taxing the minds of public sector managers as was evidenced at our December Claims Club session on shared services, outsourcing and private sector delivery of local government services.
With the report predicting public-private sector collaborations will double over the next three years these are unsettling findings.
Then again following the very public failure of private sector providers of care services in 2011 perhaps we ought not to be that surprised by the research findings.
Posted by Bridget Tatham, specialising in: high value complex litigation relating to disease and stress and bullying at work; experienced in regulatory matters including advocacy, investigations and inquests.
Bridget Tatham
0121 237 3916
btatham@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: hay group, healthcare services, local government, private sector, Public Sector, relationship counselling, service delivery, uniformed services, universities
Posted in Government bodies, Health, Litigation, Public Sector | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
The updated public procurement thresholds came into force on 1 January 2012. As the first working day of the New Year for many, today is likely to be the first day of their practical application. Whilst the Regulation sets out the thresholds in Euros the equivalent in Sterling has also been published.
The limit for supply and services and design contracts has increased to £173,934 and the limit for works contracts is now £4,348,350.
Whilst any rise in the thresholds will be welcomed by most public bodies, the increase of approximately 3% is unlikely to have a significant impact on the nature of works or services which trigger the requirement to conduct a public procurement exercise. Current UK inflation stands at 4.8% meaning that even a 3% increase may equate to a reduction in ‘real terms’ here in the UK, but public bodies can at least take comfort in the fact that the thresholds have not been decreased as was the case in January 2008.
Alex Kynoch
0115 976 6528
akynoch@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: euros, inflation, public procurement, public procurement exercises, Public Sector
Posted in Procurement, Public Sector | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
First there was ECJ decision in Akzo Nobel suggesting that advice from in house counsel on competition issues would not be subject to legal advice privilege (creating a practical problem for in house lawyers advising their employer on competition issues).
Then in May the first instance court of the European Union took the view that in house counsel should not be able to plead proceedings before it – a judgement that was appealed in August.
Last week The Law Society published its letter to Ken Clarke, urging him to intervene in the appeal – but could an intervention really prevent the erosion of the in house lawyer’s role before the European Courts, now that Akzo Nobel has set a precedent? Should the appeal fail its likely to have profound consequences for in house lawyers.
Posted by Richard Nicholas, who specialises in commercial, IT and outsourcing agreements, complex projects for private and public sector clients, collaboration, distribution & agency contracts, e-commerce and consumer law.
Richard Nicholas
0121 237 3992
rnicholas@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: akzo nobel, ECJ, European Court, in house lawyers, Kenneth Clarke, law society
Posted in Commercial contracts, Consumer contracts, In-house Lawyers, Public Sector | No Comments »
