The Care & Support ( Charging & Assessment of Resources ) ( Amendment ) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/213, are made pursuant to the Care Act 2014, come into force on 6 April 2026, and extend to England an Wales. They amend 2014 regulations, SI 2014/2672. There are set out how local authorities calculate the amounts individuals can afford to and are required to contribute towards their care and support, both for those in care homes and those not in care homes.
SUBSIDY CONTROL
March 4th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Capital Finance and CompaniesA subsidy control challenge failed, including on the basis of DELAY, in NEW LOTTERY CO LTD v GAMBLING COMMISSION ( 2026 ) CAT 14. THE CAT held that there was NO SUBSIDY, because the COMMERCIAL MARKET OPERATOR ( CMO ) PRINCIPLE , developed in the State Aid era applied, referring at paras 67-92, to case law on the CMO Principle, including the Sky Blue Sports cases in the Court of Appeal and CJEU cases. There was consistency with normal market conditions. Bacon J gives guidance on how the CMO Principle applies in cases where a public authority is pursuing both public policy and commercial objectives, and where there is no actual market comparator.
WALES
March 4th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Environment, Highways and LeisureThe Senedd has enacted the Environment ( Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets ) ( Wales ) Act. The Act (1) establishes a NEW FRAMEWORK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN WALES, (2) Crates a new OFFICE in Wales of ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE, and (3) sets BIODIVERSITY TARGETS.
PUBLIC ORDER ACT SECTION 5
March 3rd, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Judicial Control, Liability and LitigationDPP v COSKUN ( 2026 ) EWHC 427 ( Admin ) holds that whether conduct (1) amounted to DISORDERLY BEHAVIOUR and (2) was “ likely” to cause a person HARASSMENT. ALARM or DISTRESS are SEPARATE AND DISTINCT QUESTIONS. Each is a question of fact, to be judged objectively. Moreover, a conviction may represent a necessary and proportionate interference with ECHR Article 10 freedom of expression rights, which extend beyond written or spoken words to “expressive acts”.
DATA PROTECTION
March 3rd, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Judicial Control, Liability and LitigationThe SECURITY DUTY in the 7th Data Protection Principle in DPA 1998 requires a DATA CONTROLLER to GUARD AGAINST THE RISK that data which relates to individuals who could be identified by the data controller would be subject to unauthorised/unlawful processing by a third party who could not identify those individuals. So held in INFORMATION COMMISSSIONER v DSG RETAIL LTD ( “)”^ ) EWCA Civ 140.
PUBLIC CONTRACTS
March 2nd, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Decision making and ContractsSection 70 of the Procurement Act 2023, in relation to information about payments under public contracts is brought into effect on 1 April 2026 in accordance with Commencement No 4 Regulations. Reporting is due every 6 months.
ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITS
February 23rd, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Planning and EnvironmentalFrom 28 February 2026, operators applying for an environmental permit will need to include, for certain new or substantially refurbished electricity generating combustion power plants, a DECARBONISATION READINESS ( DR ) REPORT, in relation to CARBON CAPTURE READINESS, pursuant to the Environmental Permitting ( Electricity Generating Stations ) ( England and Wales ) Regulations 2016, as expanded in 2025.
PUBLIC LAW DUTIES
February 20th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Decision making and ContractsR ( INTELLIGENT LAND INVESTMENTS GROUP PLC ) v GAS AND ELECTRICITY MARKETS AUTHIRITY ( 2026 ) EWHC 336 ( Admin ) addresses public law duties of PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS, at paras 43-46 & 51/52, and REASONABLE ENQUIRY ( Tameside ), at paras 47/48, in the context of a COMPETITIVE PROCESS for an AWARD by a public authority.
HIGHWAYS
February 18th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Environment, Highways and LeisureBy Section 41 of the HIGHWAYS ACT 1980, a highway authority is generally under a duty to maintain a highway maintainable at public expense. Section 58 however provides a special defence in an action against a highway authority for damages for non-repair of a public highway that the authority had taken such care “ in all the circumstances “ as was “ reasonably required “ to “ secure “ that the part of the highway to which the action relates was “ not dangerous for traffic “. In SAMMUT v KENT COUNTY COUNCIL (2026 ) 2 WLUK 254 Coppel J holds that the authority’s RESOURCES are an IRRELEVANT MATTER.
SUBSIDY CONTROL
February 17th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Capital Finance and CompaniesStreamlined routes may be made under Section 10 of the Subsidy Control Act 2022. They enable public authorities to award subsidies without the requirements to assess them against the Subsidy Control Principles and notify the Subsidy Advice Unit. There are currently streamlined routes for Research, Development and Innovation, Energy Usage, and Local Growth. The Department for Business and Trade has now published GUIDANCE on two new streamlined routes ARTS and CULTURE, and COMMUNITY and REGENERATION.