Housing

July 31st, 2017 by James Goudie KC in Housing

The appeal in Ealing LBC v R (H) (2017) EWCA 1127 concerned the lawfulness of the Council’s housing allocation policy insofar as it set aside a small but not insignificant proportion of letting for working households and model tenants. It had been alleged that the former unjustifiably discriminated, indirectly, against women, the elderly and the disabled, and that the letter discriminated, directly, against non- council tenants. The claim was based on ss 19,29 and 149 of EA 2010, Arts 8 & 14 of ECHR and s 11 of CA 2004. The Court of Appeal allowed the Council’s appeal.

 

 

Stay on entering into contract

July 24th, 2017 by James Goudie KC in Decision making and Contracts

In Sysmex (UK) Ltd v Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (2017) EWHC 1824 (TCC) Coulson J reiterated the principles of law applicable to lifting the automatic suspension of a contracting authority’s ability to enter into a contract covered by the public procurement regime, as follows:- Read more »

 

Town and Village Greens

July 19th, 2017 by James Goudie KC in Environment, Highways and Leisure

In R (St John’s College, Cambridge) v Cambridgeshire County Council (2017) EWHC 1753 (Admin) the College sought permission to apply for judicial review of two decisions of the Council in its capacity as commons registration authority for the area under the Commons Act 2006.  The decisions challenged related to an application on behalf of a Residents Association to register land belonging to the College as a town or village green under Section 15 of the 2006 Act. The case raised, apparently for the first time, the question whether the correction of defective applications to ensure that they are duly made under the 2006 Act is limited to one occasion only. Read more »

 

Sex shop licensing

July 19th, 2017 by James Goudie KC in Environment, Highways and Leisure

In R (Hemming) v Westminster City Council (2017) UKSC 50, Supreme Court Judgment on 19 July 2017, is a sequel to the Supreme Court’s previous judgment dated 29 April [2015] UKSC 25; [2015] AC 1600. It is written with the benefit of the Court of Justice’s answer dated 16 November 2016 ((Case C-316/15) [2017] PTSR 325) to the question which that judgment referred to the Court of Justice. The appeal concerns fees which were charged to the respondents on applying to Westminster City Council for sex shop licences for the three years ended 31 January 2011, 2012 and 2013 and which included the Council’s costs of enforcing the licensing scheme against unlicensed third parties running sex shops (“enforcement costs”). The respondents’ applications all in the event succeeded. Read more »

 

Social Care

July 10th, 2017 by James Goudie KC in Social Care

Individuals claim to be an unaccompanied child asylum seeker.  The local authority assesses their ages.  It decides that they are not children, they are not under 18.  On that basis it has no functions in relation to them under the Children Act 1989 (“CA 1989”). However, pursuant to CA 1989, the authority had been providing services pending its assessment.  At the same time that the authority provided reasons for its age assessment decision it stopped providing their services.  That was in accordance with its policy or practice.  Is that policy or practice of simultaneous over 18 age assessment decision and withdrawal of services under CA 1989 unlawful, as being procedurally unfair and contrary to ECHR Article 8?  Read more »

 

Intentional Homelessness

July 7th, 2017 by James Goudie KC in Housing

 

The case of Alfonso-da-Trindade v Hackney LBC (2017) EWCA Civ 942 concerns becoming becoming homeless intentionally and Section 191 of the Housing Act 1996, which provides (emphasis added):-

“(1)     A person becomes homeless intentionally if he deliberately does or fails to do anything in consequence of which he ceases to occupy accommodation which is available for his occupation and which it would have been reasonable for him to continue to occupy. Read more »

 

Rejection of Tenderer’s bid

July 5th, 2017 by James Goudie KC in Decision making and Contracts

In Case T-392/15, European Dynamics v European Union Agency for Railways, the applicants alleged that the Agency had failed to fulfil its obligations to state reasons for its decision.  The applicants’ case was that the rejection decision, and the Report of the Evaluation Committee leading to that decision, were vitiated by a failure to give reasons why the applicants’ tenders were abnormally low tenders (“ALTs”). The General Court dealt with the linked issues of the scope of the duty of a contracting authority to state reasons and the scope of the rules governing ALTs. Read more »

 

Unfair Contract Terms

June 29th, 2017 by James Goudie KC in Decision making and Contracts

The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 applies not only in favour of consumers but also “between contracting parties when one of them deals … on the other’s written standard terms of business”: Section 3. What is meant by “deals … on the other’s written standard terms of business”?  That was the main issue in African Export-Import Bank v Shebah Exploration & Production Company Limited (2017) EWCA Civ 845.  Longmore LJ gave guidance as to the correct approach.  He observed that before the Act can be held to apply and require an inquiry into the reasonableness of any particular term, the party relying on the Act must establish (the onus of proof being on that party) that:- Read more »

 

Investigations

June 29th, 2017 by James Goudie KC in Standards

In Hussain v Sandwell MBC (2017) EWHC 1641 (Admin) the Council had conducted a “pre-formal investigation”, i.e. an investigation not conducted under the “arrangements” put in place under the Localism Act 2011 (“LA 2011”) for the formal investigation of breaches under the Code of Conduct applicable to elected Members. Read more »

 

Lifting Automatic Suspension

June 28th, 2017 by James Goudie KC in Decision making and Contracts

In yet another Alstom Transport UK Limited v London Underground Ltd (2017) EWHC 1521 (TCC) the Defendants applied to lift an automatic suspension on contract making imposed by the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2006.

The present dispute arose out of a procurement for the provision of AC traction motors for the Defendants’ fleet of Central Line trains. The outcome of the procurement was that the Defendants decided that Bombardier should be the winning bidder, with Alstom coming second. By these proceedings Alstom challenged the validity of the procurement and its outcome. It opposed the lifting of the automatic suspension. Read more »

 

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