All lawyers using the Civil Courts in England & Wales ought to be aware of changes to the Civil Procedure Rules that take effect next week. In particular, amendments to CPR 22 revise the form of Statements of Truth.
Public law / local government related news
How should local authorities deal with the setting aside of their duties to provide care and support to adults with eligible needs during the Coronavirus crisis? The UK government’s emergency Coronavirus legislation, which takes effect shortly, temporarily suspends local authorities’ duties under the Care Act 2014.
Public law barrister Francis Hoar appeared before a House of Lords Select Committee today to give his views on the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013.
Upper Tribunal Judge Coker oversaw some interesting discussions during the Age Assessment Forum we held in partnership with Doughty Street Chambers earlier this week. Applicant and respondent representatives gave their views on current practice and procedure in local authority age assessment cases in the Upper Tribunal and suggested improvements. The event was attended by more […]
Mark Baumohl is representing the local authority today in the Court of Appeal case of Al Ahmed v the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The case concerns what constitutes a ‘good reason’ for extending the time limit to file a s. 204 appeal notice under the Housing Act 1996.
Alexander Campbell examines the law and requirements around hung parliaments in the UK, recalling the Liberal Democrat-Conservative coalition of 2010, in a Q&A with LexisNexis.
The Supreme Court has allowed an appeal, upholding an order of the Upper Tribunal that the Appellant’s Housing Benefit should be calculated without deduction of the “bedroom tax”.
In R(AB) v LB Ealing [2019] EWHC 3351 (Admin) Joshua Swirsky represented the London Borough of Ealing in a challenge to its decision not to treat a young person as a ‘former relevant child’.
Reviewing a decision under section 202 of the Housing Act 1996 has become more onerous for local authorities. They now need to re-evaluate their available housing at the date of review to see if properties within or closer to their district are available as well as the allocation of such properties. Following the case of London Borough of Waltham Forest v Saleh [2019] EWHC CIV 1944, this has to be factored into a suitability assessment.
Joshua Swirsky acted for the local authority in R(F) v Manchester City Council. The council had carried out an age assessment on a young man from Guinea and concluded he was 20 years old rather than his claimed age of 17.