Posts Tagged ‘Public Sector’
Wednesday, November 14th, 2012
Dedham Primary School, Essex has recently been mocked for an activity involving reception class children being sent to risk assess their outdoor play area. The school is accused of “killing the joys of childhood” and other offences generally prefaced with “what is the world coming to…”
Whether we believe that children of four and five should be introduced to health and safety that way, is it really fair to blame the school? We live in a culture of constant complaint and schools rank high amongst the institutions that suffer. When accidents occur, teachers, schools and education authorities are condemned. When schools react with activities of this sort, they are criticised.
OFSTED praised the school for it’s commitment to health and safety, which might leave schools feeling aggrieved – ‘damned if they do, damned if they don’t’. This school is playing by our rules – if society doesn’t like it, society needs to change the rules.
Posted by Mark Fowles, who specialises in catastrophic claims particularly occupational stress, OLA, abuse, social services, and significant claims against public and local authorities.
Mark Fowles
01392 288 328
mark.fowles@brownejacobson.com
Tags: Browne Jacobson, education, health and safety, litigation, Mark Fowles, Ofsted, Public Sector, risk assessments
Posted in Education, Health & Safety, Litigation, Public Sector | No Comments »
Monday, October 22nd, 2012
The Government have given the go ahead to begin revalidation over a decade after the system was first recommended. GPs and other doctors will begin to be revalidated in December with the majority being completed by April 2016.
The designated responsible officers, usually the medical director, will be revalidated first and they in turn will be responsible for the revalidation of others within their organisation. The first wave will be revalidated using an appraisal and feedback questionnaire but in the future doctors will be required to collect feedback from colleagues and thirty five patients over a five year period.
The aim is to identify poor performance that wouldn’t normally warrant a referral to the GMC. But concerns remain that not only will it add another layer of bureaucracy, it won’t adequately address poor performance and will become a ‘tick box’ exercise.
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
Tags: General Medical Council, GMC, government, GPs, Public Sector, Regulatory
Posted in Government bodies, Health, NHS, Public Sector, Regulatory | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
In last week’s budget the Government confirmed its intention to move away from National Pay & Conditions for teachers and make public sector salaries ‘market-facing’ in local areas, arguing that the quality of services would increase if salaries were locally responsive.
The Cabinet Office Workforce Reform team is working with departments to develop an agreed view of market rates for different locations, and the effect of this upon teachers remains to be seen. Dr Mary Bousted, from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, predicts that this will mean a pay cut for teachers and inevitably lead to industrial action. At the very least the Government will become embroiled in Trade Union debates.
Regional pay has been discussed for some time, it is now clear that this is on the immediate agenda. Mr Gove continues to take steps to devolve power to individual schools, however, whether he will go so far as to scrap government set pay scales completely remains to be seen.
Posted by Heather Mitchell, who specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment matters including; contractual issues, unfair dismissal, redundancy and all areas of discrimination.
Heather Mitchell
0115 976 6553
heather.mitchell@brownejacobson.com
Tags: Association of Teachers and Lecturers, Budget, Cabinet Office Workforce Reform, employment, Mary Bousted, mr grove, National Pay & Conditions, Public Sector
Posted in Education, Employment, Further Education | No Comments »
Thursday, March 15th, 2012
A park warden slipped on ice while erecting a “keep off the ice” warning sign. Needless to say, he has claimed for compensation and the council has felt obliged to settle out of court.
In my opinion, until the court’s start to heed the general public’s perception that “health and safety laws have gone mad”, then claims like this will have to be settled as the risks of going to court are too high, with enhanced legal costs that follow an unsuccessful defence.
On a positive note, to install the tracking devices on its gritting lorries to show precisely when a particular highway treated is an excellent idea to show that an authority has complied with Section 41(1A) Highways Act.
Posted by Jonathan Cook, who specialises in defendant public liability work including employers’, occupiers’ and highways liability cases from initial instruction to trial. Including small claims, fast and multi track work.
Jonathan Cook
0115 976 6150
jcook@brownejacobson.com
Tags: Claims, councils, health and safety, Highways Act, legal costs, local authorities, local authority, park warden slips on ice, Public Sector, risk
Posted in Employers & Public Liability, Insurance, Local Authorities | 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
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
Tags: Commissioning, NHS, 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
Tags: cloud computing, Commercial contracts, European Commission, government, 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 »
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
The current examination system is said to encourage schools to focus their teaching towards the actual exam, rather than providing a general overview of the subject.
The purpose of new league tables, due out next week, is to incentivise schools to raise standards and teaching for all pupils, instead of encouraging them to jump through hoops to avoid intervention. The revised tables will show more accurate and detailed statistics of grades, offering a comparison between the schools that take on high achievers and those that started at a lower base. They will carefully monitor the improvements made in each school.
It is hoped that this will further the government’s agenda to close the attainment gap between different backgrounds. This is coupled with the extra Pupil Premium funding to support poorer children. The theory is that in return schools should deliver the same level of achievement for all children, regardless of background.
Laura Richards
0115 908 4886
lrichards@brownejacobson.com
Tags: further education, Laura Richards, Public Sector, pupil premium, school league tables, schools, teaching standards
Posted in Education, Further Education | 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
Tags: Ofsted, primary schools, Public Sector, schools, secondary education
Posted in Employment, 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
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
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
Tags: euros, inflation, public procurement, Public Sector
Posted in Procurement, Public Sector | No Comments »
Friday, November 18th, 2011
Munir Yakub Patel, an administrative clerk, made legal history today after being handed a three-year prison term for bribery and ordered to serve six years concurrently for misconduct in a public office.
Patel pled guilty on October 14 this year to requesting and receiving a bribe intending to improperly perform his functions, contrary to Section 2 of the Bribery Act. Patel was charged in relation to his employment at Redbridge Magistrates Court and was the first person charged since the Act came into force.
The imposition of a prison sentence for a relatively minor instance of bribery shows very clearly that the Act will not just be used against big corporates and sends a powerful message to individuals and smaller businesses. If businesses have not yet put in place suitable procedures to ensure compliance with the Act then this case should serve as a reminder as to why they need to so. The threat of unlimited corporate fines and prison for employees is very real.
Matthew Woodford
0121 237 3965
mwoodford@brownejacobson.com
Tags: bribery, criminal proceedings, employment, Public Sector, Regulatory
Posted in Commercial contracts, Competition, In-house Lawyers, Public Sector, Regulatory | No Comments »
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
Over the last six months more than 470 UK colleges have been banned from accepting non European students with some 302 colleges having had their licences cancelled it has emerged.
Tighter restrictions for student visa applicants already mean tougher English language requirements and students at public sector FE colleges are now limited to 10 hours of work per week during term time. Students at privately funded FE colleges or language schools are not permitted to work at any time during their studies.
Further changes due to take effect from April 2012 include:
- courses offering work placements will have to have a study:work ratio of 66:33 (except at HE institutions)
- Tier 1 Post Study Work Route will be closed (but switching to Tier 2 will be allowed in certain circumstances)
The concern for the education sector is that the tighter restrictions could mean that less international students can apply to study in the UK, and those that can apply, are deterred from doing so as result if the restrictions in the opportunities to work.
Posted by Dawn Lobley, who specialises in employment law, acting for clients on matters including unfair dismissal, redundancy, restructure, TUPE, contractual issues and discrimination, plus immigration and data protection.
Dawn Lobley
0115 976 6185
dlobley@brownejacobson.com
Tags: education sector, FE colleges, further education, immigration, non European students, Public Sector, student visa
Posted in Education, Employment, Further Education, Public Sector | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) have recently commissioned a new survey which reveals that due to the continuing economic downturn, 50% of employers in the public sector have noted that there has been an increase in stress related absence last year. The report says “stress is a particular challenge in the public sector where the sheer amount of major change and restructuring would appear to be the root cause”.
An employer is usually entitled to assume that the employee can withstand the normal pressures of the job unless he knows of some particular problem or vulnerability. However, given the continuing uncertainty and changes in the workplace that are being forced upon employers due to budget restraints, it is important for employers to revisit their strategies and policies in place (to possibly include counselling) to deal with employees who are not handling the changes in the workplace.
Posted by Jonathan Cook, who specialises in defendant public liability work including employers’, occupiers’ and highways liability cases from initial instruction to trial. Including small claims, fast and multi track work.
Jonathan Cook
0115 976 6150
jcook@brownejacobson.com
Tags: CIPD, Public Sector, stress related absence, The Charted Institute of Personal Development
Posted in Employment, Local Authorities | No Comments »
Friday, September 30th, 2011
Hot on the heels of yesterday’s announcement (29 September 2011) that only 60 babies were adopted last year, comes the news that the number of children in care in England has increased to 65,520.
Monitoring these placements is not easy, it involves social workers working with multidisciplinary teams and families to try and work out what is best for each child. We are seeing an increasing number of claims arising out of such placements (and indeed failure to make such placements). To defend each claim we have to read lots of paper and electronic documents. We also need to spend valuable hours with practitioners so that we can explain what Social Work Practice means on the ground, and why decision making is not simple. The amount of time this involves is breathtaking yet quite often the value of the claim relatively low.
Sadly my view is that Social Workers may, like health professionals, have to become used to the idea that giving evidence in professional negligence claims is simply part of the job. Employers can make that change of culture easier by providing regular training and support.
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
Tags: adult safeguarding, child protection, children in care, Claims, local authorities, professional negligence, professional negligence claims, Public Sector, Sarah Erwin-Jones, Social Care, social workers, training social workers
Posted in Professional Indemnity, Public Sector, Social Care | 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
Tags: government, Hutton report, NHS, NHS pension scheme, pension schemes, Pensions, Public Sector, Victoria Leybourn
Posted in Employment, Health, Pensions, Public Sector | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
The government has recently announced specific proposals regarding the public sector pensions’ arena.
Danny Alexander confirmed in a speech on 16th June that the government’s proposals for members of public sector pension schemes at present comprise an increase in member contributions, an increase in members’ normal retirement ages and a career average structure for public sector schemes going forwards.
Although Alexander’s speech is consistent with some of Hutton’s 27 recommendations in his final report published earlier this year, it does not seem to be consistent with the government’s announcement in this year’s budget which confirmed that although the government endorsed Hutton’s recommendations there would be a period of consultation in order to establish how Hutton’s proposals would be implemented.
It seems, for the moment, that we are still waiting for the flesh to be put on the bones of Hutton’s recommendations.
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
Tags: Danny Alexander, government, Hutton report, pension reforms, Public Sector
Posted in Employment, Pensions | No Comments »
Friday, March 11th, 2011
Lord Hutton has published 27 recommendations in his new report on public sector pensions. This follows his interim report in October 2010 which concluded that public service pension schemes were too expensive and unsustainable. The proposed changes are intended to simplify the schemes, be fairer to those on low and moderate earnings, and address socio-economic changes.
Hutton advises that final salary public sector pensions should be phased out by 2015 and replaced by a new career average scheme to make the cost of providing those pensions more affordable. He also proposes increasing the normal retirement age for public sector schemes to 65, rising eventually to 68, in line with proposed reforms to state pension age, and building ‘automatic stabilisers’ into new schemes so members either increase their contributions, or take a smaller pension.
There have been warnings that if the proposals are implemented, the lowest paid civil servants will drop out of public sector pension schemes and there will be wide-spread industrial action. It is uncertain at present whether Hutton’s proposals will be adopted by the government; what is certain is that many people will be keeping a close, critical eye on what happens next.
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
Tags: Lord Hutton, pension report, Public Sector
Posted in Employment, Pensions | No Comments »
Thursday, February 10th, 2011
It is rare that a judicial decision is so timely – given current economic and political pressures on the public sector to reduce costs and procure collaboratively, the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn LAML will be warmly welcomed. The Court of Appeal had held that several London Boroughs had acted unlawfully by setting up a company with the intention to generate savings on insurance costs. Amongst other things, the court found they should have gone through a procurement process.
In overturning this ruling, the Supreme Court has given comfort to public bodies seeking to share services. This comes at a time when case law in Europe is moving in the same direction – holding that public to public arrangements, with no profit or private involvement, are less likely to be covered by the procurement regulations.
Shared services can take a number of forms, and the Supreme Court has just removed one of the biggest risks to councils taking an enterprising approach to protect front line services.
Posted by Craig Elder, who specialises in project finance; Projects; PFI/PPP ; commercial contracts ; waste and defence sectors; long term/complex service arrangements;public sector procurements
Craig Elder
0115 976 6089
celder@brownejacobson.com
Tags: Procurement, Public Sector, shared services
Posted in Local Authorities, Procurement | No Comments »
