Posts Tagged ‘government’
Friday, January 20th, 2012
A new ruling by the Court of Appeal has added to the caselaw setting out the differences between public service contracts and public service concessions. In this case, contracts for the provision of bailiff services with the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) were concessions, meaning that the EU procurement directives are not applicable.
The court held that even though the MoJ retained considerable control over how the contract was performed and the scope for exploiting the services further by the contractor was extremely limited the fact that the payment of fees under the contract came from third parties (the debtors) and the risks of management and operation of the service transferred to the contractor were enough to make it a service concession.
The court did acknowledge that the facts of this case didn’t fit neatly into the normal descriptions of either public service contracts or concessions meaning that future cases on the same point may end differently.
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 bodie.
Anja Beriro
0115 976 6589
aberiro@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 8.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: Court of Appeal, eu procurement directives, government, infrastructure, Ministry of Justice, Procurement, public service concessions, public service contracts, Public Services
Posted in Government bodies, Local Authorities, Procurement | No Comments »
Friday, December 23rd, 2011
Businesses which make consumers “pay for paying” using their card on the internet have been heavily criticised by consumer groups. Consumers find it unfair to be charged (a) more than the cost to the business of processing the transaction (b) per item purchased and (c) without being notified of the charge up front. Today it has been announced that the Government intends to ban this practice.
This is perhaps a non-story because last week, the EU Consumer Rights Directive came into force. This requires the UK to make a number of changes to consumer law (some positive, some negative) by December 2013 (including such a ban), so that consumer protection is fully harmonised across the EU. But the Government does propose to put a ban in place earlier, in 2012.
To get a PR advantage over slower competitors, businesses might want to make the changes to their terms and conditions and websites before they become mandatory. Consider it an early Christmas present to your customers!
Posted by Oliver Sweeney, who specialises in regulatory matters; including compliance, representation e.g. company prosecutions and public inquiries; transport issues; commercial litigation, including reputation management, contractual litigation and injunctions.
Oliver Sweeney
0115 976 6247
osweeney@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: charging for using cards, consumer law, consumers, eu consumer rights directive, government, Retail
Posted in Advertising & Marketing, Brands, Retail | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
The government has announced that changes to the curriculum in English, science, maths and I.T. have been pushed back a year – to autumn 2014. The reason is to allow more time for interested parties to give their views so that a “genuinely word-class education system” can be created.
Critics have pointed out that as more and more schools convert to academies the proposed changes may be pointless since academies have freedom over their curriculum.
There are currently 1,463 academies open (the majority of which are secondaries) and hundreds more academy conversions are in the pipeline. In addition, the government has made it clear that poorly performing schools will be forced to partner-up with outstanding schools and become academies.
If the pace of conversions keeps up, the number of schools affected by the change in curriculum will be few and far between. The government hopes academies will voluntarily adopt the changes come 2014, but will not be able to guarantee this will be the case.
Hayley Roberts
0115 908 4862
hroberts@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: academies, academy conversions, curriculum changes, Education, government, outstanding schools
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
Following the government announcing its intention to introduce fees in employment tribunals, today the Ministry of Justice has opened a consultation, inviting tribunal users to comment on the way those fees will be structured. The two options for consideration are:
- an initial fee of £150-£250 to bring a claim, with an additional fee of £250-1,250 if it goes to hearing, with no limit on the maximum award,or
- a single fee of £200-600 and a £30,000 limit on the maximum award (with the option to pay an additional £1,750 if an award over £30,000 is sought)
Last year the tribunal system cost the taxpayer £84 million to run. The primary aim of the fee is to ensure claimants make a contribution towards this cost. From an employer’s perspective, however, this should also discourage claimants from bringing claims and reduce their expectations of the maximum award that they may obtain if successful. This in turn should assist employers in recruiting without fear of such claims being brought.
Posted by Hayley Prescott, who specialises in employment law, both contentious and non-contentious, including tribunal claims, unfair dismissal, redundancy, policies and procedures, compromise agreements, contractual issues and general advisory work.
Hayley Prescott
0115 976 6116
hprescott@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: costs, employment, employment tribunal fees, government, Ministry of Justice
Posted in Employment | No Comments »
Monday, November 21st, 2011
A report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) says that though plans to implement a single national funding formula for schools will create winners and losers, the system needs to be more consistent, transparent and responsive. The IFS acknowledges that at present “formulae can be myriad and complex: different local authorities take into account different factors and fund particular types of schools differently”.
The formula must be carefully thought out, with a fair adjustment of secondary to primary school funding, recognition that current deprivation funding (i.e. the pupil premium) is geared strongly towards secondary schools and recognise that some of the most deprived parts of the country ought to receive extra funds.
IFS asserts that any transitional period of less than a decade will involve significant, sustained losses for some schools. With the coalition’s reputation for rapid change in the education system it will be interesting to see whether they follow the IFS’s recommendations on the transitional period.
Hayley Roberts
0115 908 4862
hroberts@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: coalition government, coalition reform of education funding, Education, government, ifs, institute of fiscal studies, school funding, schools
Posted in Education, Government bodies | No Comments »
Monday, November 21st, 2011
Social Care Practitioners and adopters have been invited to share their views about the Treasury’s “rapid review” of adoption services. It certainly is rapid. Some may think the deadline is too short to allow for sufficiently broad range of feedback.
The letter is dated 14 November 2011, and asks for feedback on its 24 questions by Monday 28 November 2011. We are also saddened to see how little publicity this has received.
When there are changes we hope to see them introduced after widespread training, and led by experienced practitioners. If that doesn’t happen we can expect to see more litigation from adopters, children and their birth families in the future as those Social Workers who have to spearhead changes break new ground.
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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Tags: adoption, adoption services, government, Social Care, social care practitioners, social workers, treasury
Posted in Social Care | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
The Department of Health reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to increasing openness within the NHS by launching a consultation which aims to explore how it might impose a contractual ‘duty of candour’ on providers.
The consultation proposes to introduce obligations for providers to always be open with patients about incidents where things go wrong into the NHS Standard Contracts for acute, community, ambulance and mental health services.
Sanctions could include, amongst others, a deduction in the annual contract value, independent investigation or a written apology to the patient from the organisation’s Chief Executive.
The duty is purported to have the potential to support the development of stronger commissioner-provider relationships and to improve quality. However, it isn’t yet clear how the duty would interact with or improve upon existing duties to let patients know when things go wrong or whether patients would gain any additional support or direct benefit from the existence of a statutory, as opposed to a non-statutory, duty.
If you would like to contribute to the consultation click here.
Posted by Emily Birkett, who specialises in advice to NHS bodies ; their local authority partners and related organisations in commercial law, contracting, procurement , competition governance and all aspects of primary care.
Emily Birkett
0121 237 3934
ebirkett@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 7.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: acute trusts, ambulance services, browne jacobson, Duty of candour, Emily Birkett, government, Government consultation, health, health consultation, mental health services, NHS, NHS standard contracts, patient relationship, patient well being
Posted in Health, NHS | No Comments »
Monday, October 10th, 2011
According to the government, more than 1.2 million pupils are now in education in academies. The 1000th academy to choose academy status has just opened and joins more than 1,300 academies that are already in operation across the country. The pace of change seems to be surpassing even the Department for Education’s expectations.
This week the government also announced its plans for stepping up funding into setting up free schools in areas where there are shortages of pupil places.
Pupils in the new models of educational establishments are able to benefit from greater freedoms, the ability to innovate and to raise standards. Ministers hope that the range of schools available now to parents, such as academies, Free Schools and Studio Schools, will help transform the attainment and achievement of pupils in England.
Laura Richards
0115 976 6249
lrichards@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: academies, browne jacobson, Education, education in England, education standards, free schools, government, Laura Richards, schools, student achievement, student attainment Government education initiative, studio schools
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
The Government has announced that the length of service needed for the right to bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim will increase from one year to two, from April 2012. It claims the move will reduce the number of unfair dismissal claims brought against employers each year by 2,000. The move has been welcomed by the CBI, but are unfair dismissal claims by employees with between one and two year’s service really the problem for employers? Of more concern to employers must surely be unfounded allegations of discrimination (for which there is no service requirement), which often require long and costly employment tribunal hearings to defend.
The qualifying period of service for claiming unfair dismissal used to be two years, before it was successfully challenged in Europe in the late 1990’s as being indirectly discriminatory against women. It will be interesting to see if such a challenge is brought following this latest announcement, and whether such a challenge would stand up.
Posted by Tom McLaughlin, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including; contractual issues, unfair dismissal, redundancy and all areas of discrimination.
Tom McLaughlin
020 7337 1033
tmclaughlin@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: browne jacobson, CBI, Claims, discrimination, employment, employment tirbunal, government, length of service, qualifying service, Tom McLaughlin, unfair dismissal, unfair dismissal claim
Posted in Employment, Health, Retail | No Comments »
Friday, September 30th, 2011
From 1 October 2011 shoppers in Wales will have to pay 5p for each ‘single use carrier bag’ used in shops. The Welsh Government hopes to match the 90% reduction in single use carrier bags that has been seen in Ireland, which introduced a similar rule 9 years ago.
Shopkeepers who do not enforce the charge or fail to keep records face financial penalties. Welsh Environment Minister John Griffiths says the aim is not to penalise shopkeepers but it is about “changing the way people behave and having less of a throwaway society.”
However, the British Retail Consortium thinks the Welsh Government needs to iron out anomalies in the law whilst the Federation of Small Businesses has said not all of its members have received information packs with guidance on compliance with the rules.
This change only applies to Wales, but if successful then it could encourage the other parliaments to follow suit. David Cameron has warned supermarkets to do more to reduce carrier bag use, otherwise they may be banned or a charge implemented.
Kassra Powles
0115 908 6200
kpowles@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: British Retail Consortium, browne jacobson, David Cameron, environment, environmental impact, federation of small businesses, government, john griffiths, kassra powles, plastic carrier bags, supermarket carrier bags, welsh assembly, welsh environment, welsh environment minister
Posted in Government bodies, Retail, Waste & Environmental | No Comments »
Friday, September 16th, 2011
As Mary Portas squares up to David Cameron over planning reform and its effects on town centres, Mr Pickles should note that it is not planning which is holding up town centre developments but the credit crunch. It is rare to see those “well heeled solicitors” he refers to fighting over town centre schemes, unless it involves competition between the likes of Sainsbury and Tesco as at Wolverhampton.
Even so, in one sense the Government is right; more councils need to engage in the process of positive planning rather than being on the defensive against the supermarkets, which is what will happen once the National Planning Policy Framework comes into place early next year. However Mary has a point and I believe that in respect of retail planning a transition period is required to enable councils to move swiftly to put new plans and policies into place for town centres.
Posted by Steve Coult, who specialises in Planning consultancy – expert witness services and compulsory purchase management based upon extensive experience as Chartered Town Planner and Surveyor.
Steve Coult
0115 976 6152
scoult@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: David Cameron, government, Mary Portas, Mr Pickles, national planning policy framework, planning, Sainsbury, Tesco, town centre developments
Posted in Planning, Retail | No Comments »
Friday, September 16th, 2011
A series of strikes are scheduled as a result of the proposals to increase member contributions to public sector pension schemes
The publication of the final Hutton report earlier this year brought with it rumblings of discontentment amongst recipients and future recipients of the various public sector schemes to which it outlined reforms including the NHS pension scheme
The Government clarified that although it accepted all of Hutton’s 27 recommendations for reform, implementation would only occur following consultation with unions and members. The first consultations have been opened for a number of public sector pension schemes and they relate to increasing member contributions with effect from April 2012.
This consultation is only the first issued in respect of the 27 recommendations and the reaction amongst unions and members to these initial consultations signifies that there could be a lot more strikes ahead. It remains to be seen whether the Government determine that financial pressures and the “need” for reform of the public sector schemes will outweigh the upheaval to public services as a result of the planned strikes.
Posted by Victoria Leybourn, who specialises in advising companies and trustees in all aspects of pensions law and local authorities and contractors on their obligations regarding public sector pension schemes.
Victoria Leybourn
0115 976 6160
vleybourn@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: browne jacobson, government, Hutton report, NHS, NHS pension scheme, pension schemes, Pensions, Public Sector, public sector pensions, public sector strike, public sector strike action, Victoria Leybourn
Posted in Employment, Health, Pensions, Public Sector | No Comments »
Thursday, September 15th, 2011
The Government has issued new guidance for the food industry on the use of food label dates amid growing concerns at the amount of food that is wasted each year by UK households.
According to the Local Government Association UK consumers threw away £14bn worth of food in 2010.
The guidance places greater emphasis on ‘use by’ or ‘best before’ dates and discourages the use of “sell by” and “display until” labels which are primarily used for stock control purposes.
The guidance reflects draft EU food regulations which provide only for mandatory use-by dates and omits the requirement for a best before date to be displayed. UK food labelling laws could be much simpler. This guidance is long overdue and over time it will be reflected in UK law. Any measure that reduces red tape for manufacturers and retailers will be welcomed by the industry but companies will have to continue to ensure customers are provided with any relevant details to ensure that the food they consume is safe.
Posted by Nina Best, who specialises in regulatory matters; entertainment licensing; advertising and marketing law; advice and representation on infringement of Food Safety Manufacturing Product Regulations.
Nina Best
0115 976 6529
nbest@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: best before dates, food, food industry, food label dates, government, local government association, Retail, use by dates
Posted in Brands, Food & drink, Manufacturing, Retail, Waste & Environmental | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
Earlier this week (6 September 2011) the chancellor, George Osborne, announced that he will make his autumn statement on 29 November 2011.
From 1997 to 2009 this statement took the form of a pre-Budget report – almost a “mini-Budget” -under which initial details of proposed changes to the tax regime were often released ahead of the main Spring Budget.
The government is currently under pressure to make tax cuts, with some arguing that the standard rate of VAT should be reduced and others pushing for the 50% “super rate” of income tax to be abolished.
However, in contrast to the pre-Budget reports, the Coalition’s autumn statements focus more on the economy’s current performance and respond to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts and so Mr Osborne is unlikely to be giving us a taster of the 2012 Spring Budget in November.
For now, therefore, speculation over future tax changes will continue. Watch this space…
Posted by Beth Dowson, who specialises in taxation aspects of a wide range of property, corporate and commercial matters; provides taxation support to other internal departments.
Beth Dowson
0115 976 6186
bdowson@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: 50% tax rate, coalition, Edd Balls, George Osborne, government, pre-budget report, spring budget, Tax, vat
Posted in Tax | No Comments »
Friday, September 9th, 2011
The Government today confirmed that it will ban referral fees in Personal Injury Claims, though no details have been given regarding implementation. Jack Straw is expected to place a bill proposing a ban before parliament next week, or the Government may choose to act through amendment to The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill.
The Government hopes to reduce the cost of claims to the public, by curbing the ability of companies to profit from injury claims. Measures which move profits to another point in the claims process or which can be circumvented by new business models will be ineffective. The challenge will be to ensure the measures are comprehensive and robust.
Ultimately, profiteering from injury claims can only be addressed by government and the Ccourts taking control of conduct and the costs awarded to parties in personal injury litigation.
Posted by James Arrowsmith, who specialises in high value personal injury claims, extensive experience of claims relating to head injuries and serious bodily injury, psychiatric damage and injuries to children.
James Arrowsmith
0121 237 3981
jarrowsmith@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: government, personal injury claims, referral fees, the legal aid sentencing and punishment of offenders bill
Posted in Insurance | No Comments »
Friday, September 2nd, 2011
On 1 September 2011 the Government announced that the number of employment tribunal claims had fallen by 8 per cent this year compared to 2010.
This will be welcomed by employers, who have seen the amount of claims rise dramatically during the recent economic downturn (claims rose by 56 per cent in 2010).
However, it is not all good news.
Age discrimination claims have risen by 32 per cent. This may be as a result of employers struggling with changes to how and when employees can be retired and is something all employers need to handle with care and claims by part-time workers claiming less favourable treatment have nearly tripled. This is a stark reminder that part-time workers are entitled to the same benefits (pro rata) as full time employees.
Employers should also note that the number of claims is still significantly above 2009 levels, indicating that employees are very aware of their rights and are not afraid to involve the tribunal to enforce them.
Ben Standing
0121 237 4563
bstanding@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: age discrimination claims, Claims, employers, employment tribunal, government, part-time workers
Posted in Employment | No Comments »
Thursday, August 18th, 2011
Following the publication of two strategy documents in November 2010, the government has this week (16 August 2011) launched three consultation papers setting out the next phase of FE reform.
This consultation process is seeking views on how best to implement the governments latest proposals, including; proposals to develop the shape of the sector, provide greater freedom and flexibilities, implement FE loans to encourage shared responsibility, simplify the funding system and review and improve literacy and numeracy provision for adults.
Business Secretary Vince Cable, said “With better informed, more empowered learners and providers freed from petty bureaucracy, post-school adult learning will take its rightful place at the heart of our communities.” The consultation closes on Friday 21 October so whether this noble statement becomes reality once feedback has been collated remains to be seen.
Posted by Richard Cox, who specialises in corporate transactions and advises colleges on numerous matters including joint ventures and partnerships, college mergers and funding disputes.
Richard Cox
0115 976 6135
rcox@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: Business secretary Vince Cable, FE loans, further education, further education reforms, government
Posted in Education, Further Education | No Comments »
Friday, July 29th, 2011
Yesterday the Business Secretary Vince Cable announced proposals in relation to the first results from the Red Tape Challenge. The Government plans to scrap or simplify around 160 out of the 257 regulations reviewed in relation to retail firms.
The proposals include:
- removing the requirement of alcohol licences to sell chocolate liqueurs
- reducing the age limit to buy Christmas crackers from 16 to 12
- removing rules relating to the safety of pencils, prams and hood cords
- removing various pieces of antiquated legislation
- removing various specific burdens identified by businesses such as the requirement on retailers to notify TV Licensing about TV sales
The Governments efforts to reduce the regulatory burden should be applauded. However a lot of the changes announced are relatively minor and will have little tangible impact on many firms. This is not an invitation to businesses to be any less vigilant in their regulatory compliance.
Posted by Fiona Carter, who specialises in commercial regulation, compliance advice and investigations; is head of Browne Jacobson’s advertising and marketing team and food and drink group.
Fiona Carter
0115 976 6224
fcarter@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: government, Red Tape Challenge, regulations, Retail, Vince Cable
Posted in Brands, Regulatory, Retail | No Comments »
Friday, July 29th, 2011
The Department for Education (“DfE”) yesterday published statistics for 2009/2010 in relation to the number of pupil exclusions. The statistics show that 5,740 pupils were excluded permanently from primary, secondary and special schools during this period with there being as many as 331,380 fixed period exclusions. The DfE calculate that 900 children a day are suspended from school for abuse and assault.
The Coalition government has pledged to improve behaviour and academic standards and in response to the statistics, Nick Gibb has expressed concern that weak discipline remains a significant problem in schools. However, in light of the Education Bill, which will make it easier for head teachers to exclude disruptive students and give teachers increased powers to search students, we are likely to see a spike in these statistics come 2011/2012.
Posted by Dai Durbridge, who specialises safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults in 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: Department for Education, DFE, Education, education bill, government, Nick Gibb, pupil exclusions, schools, teachers
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Monday, July 11th, 2011
The landlords of Southern Cross have refused to re-negotiate rent commitments, effectively pulling the plug on the company. The private sector’s reputation as a reliable provider of healthcare services takes another blow.
The timing is ironic, with the government unveiling today its Open Public Services White Paper. The talk is all about giving more choice to the consumer. The focus will be on where the alternative providers will come from to make such choices a reality. The government is highlighting the role of the Big Society, and playing up the opportunities for the voluntary sector.
However, for many these reforms need the private sector too, even though that will bring with it a need to make profit. In turn that needs the private sector to showcase its ability to provide efficient and reliable services. The government must be wishing ardently for an orderly transfer of Southern Cross’ homes, with minimal closures and a clear maintenance of quality standards. The future of public services needs it.
Laura Richards
0115 976 6249
lrichards@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: big society, care homes, government, healthcare services, open public services white paper, private sector, Southern Cross, voluntary sector
Posted in Social Care | No Comments »
