Unjust enrichment?
Housing authorities should take care when relying upon valuations that will feed into section 125 notices, says Amy Rogers, of the disputes team at Cripps.
Vicarious liability
02/04/2019 Helen Snow, senior associate in the employment team at Geldards LLP, looks at how to mitigate against the rogue employee. |
Councils must finalise air quality plans or face legal action, lawyers say
27/03/2019 Environmental campaigners have written to 38 local authorities warning them to finalise their air quality plans or face legal action. |
Black Country ban on 'car cruising' upheld in court
25/02/2019 Wolverhampton council has welcomed a decision by the High Court to uphold the local authority’s injunction banning car cruising in the Black Country. |
Bristol council misses second deadline for clean air plan
22/02/2019 Bristol City Council has missed its second deadline for publishing its clean air plan due to concerns it would have an ‘adverse impact’ on low income groups. |
Council to take legal action over Storm Doris death
22/02/2019 A West Midlands council has confirmed that it will pursue legal action against the building management company of the Mander Centre for the death of Tahnie Martin. |
Birmingham's winter of discontent
15/02/2019 With a series of one-day strikes to go ahead in Birmingham, Mark Whitehead explores what led to this long-running dispute over waste collection. |
Union refused an injunction over ongoing bin dispute
15/02/2019 A series of one-day strikes by refuse collectors in Birmingham is set to go ahead next week after a legal challenge by the Unite union failed. |
Carers win right to appeal in £400m sleep-in shift battle
14/02/2019 The Supreme Court has granted carers the right to appeal in the ongoing sleep-in shift legal battle with a the mental health charity Mencap. |
Union seeks injunction against Birmingham in long-running bin dispute
07/02/2019 Unite is taking high court legal action against Birmingham City Council for operating refuse vehicles without safety critical role. |
Council considers selling off venues to fund equal pay settlement
04/02/2019 Glasgow city councillors are expected to rubber stamp a multi-million pound package this week to settle the long-running dispute over equal pay for women employees. |
Stevenage Borough Council seeks judicial review of delayed local plan
01/02/2019 Stevenage Borough Council has decided to take legal action over the Government’s decision to delay the authority’s local plan for over a year. |
Call for power to ban councillors
30/01/2019 Council standards boards should have the power to ban councillors for up to six months without allowances, the Committee on Standards in Public Life has recommended. |
Third district joins legal action against Bucks unitary plan
28/01/2019 A third council has announced it will be taking legal action against the proposed new unitary council for Buckinghamshire. |
Buckinghamshire districts threaten legal action over unitary plan
21/01/2019 Two Buckinghamshire districts have written to the Government warning they could launch legal proceedings over plans to create a single county unitary. |
Glasgow agrees equal pay deal to end long-running dispute
17/01/2019 Glasgow City Council has struck an agreement in principle to resolve historical claims for unequal pay. |
DWP’s interpretation of Universal Credit regulations ‘unlawful’, court rules
11/01/2019 The High Court today has ruled that the way the Department for Work and Pensions interprets Universal Credit regulations is ‘unlawful’. |
Roles and responsibilities
08/01/2019 Tiffany Cloynes and Martyn Davies explore how councils can best manage roles in local authority companies. |
Campaigners continue legal battle over two-child benefits
19/12/2018 Poverty campaigners are continuing their legal battle over the Government's two-child benefits policy in the Court of Appeal this week. |
Brokenshire proposes specialist housing court
13/11/2018 The communities secretary has announced he is considering establishing a specialist housing court to deal with disputes between landlords and tenants. |
Council prosecuted over Legionella case
08/11/2018 Tendring District Council has confirmed it is being prosecuted for failing to manage the risk of Legionella at its leisure centre sites. |
Council's 'core offer' still leaves £33m deficit
05/11/2018 East Sussex CC’s chief executive Becky Shaw has laid out a ‘core offer’ that could risk the council’s ‘ability to meet statutory guidance and deadlines’. |
Council hits back at 'illegitimate' loan claim
31/10/2018 Newham LBC has denied claims that decisions to enter into controversial high-interest loans were illegitimate. |
Liberty to bring legal challenge against Legal Aid Agency
23/10/2018 A civil liberties group will take the Government to court over its refusal to provide legal aid to those wishing to challenge councils over their use of anti-social behaviour legislation. |
A missed opportunity?
12/10/2018 The Mental Health (Amendment) Bill should soften financial and operational pressure on local authorities, but it will still leave them open to legal exposure, argues Morris Hill. |
Government acted ‘unlawfully’ over Dubs Amendment
04/10/2018 The Court of Appeal ruled yesterday that the Government acted ‘unlawfully’ in not giving reasons to children refused entry to Britain under the Dubs Amendment. |
Welfare support has 'collapsed' for many in England
19/09/2018 One in six top-tier councils are not providing vital welfare services devolved to them just as the sector’s budget cuts hit hard. |
Court rules bereavement benefit restrictions breaches human rights
30/08/2018 Denying bereavement benefits to unmarried, cohabiting partners with children is incompatible with human rights law, court rules. |
Council recovers housing benefit payments from rogue landlord
30/08/2018 In a landmark case, Thurrock council has successfully recovered housing benefit from a landlord who forced a tenant to live in appalling conditions. |
Council first to use new legal powers to demand Brexit clarity
29/08/2018 The leader of Plymouth City Council is hoping to force the Government to reveal the impact Brexit will have on the city through the use of new legal powers. |
Council secures injunction against travellers
17/08/2018 Bromley Council has been granted an interim High Court injunction to prevent illegal travellers from setting up in the borough. |
Northamptonshire library closures ruled ‘unlawful’
15/08/2018 The decision to close 21 council-run libraries in Northamptonshire was made unlawfully, a court has ruled. |
Christchurch refused permission to appeal reorganisation judgement
13/08/2018 Christchurch Borough Council has been refused leave to appeal the judgement about local government reorganisation. |
Council faces legal action over pothole death
10/08/2018 Warwickshire County Council is facing possible legal action after delays in repairing a pothole led to the death of a cyclist. |
Unison appeals against reversal of £400m sleep-in shift ruling
08/08/2018 Unison has lodged an official appeal against the ruling that social care providers will no longer be required to pay £400m in backpay to carers doing sleep-in shifts. |
Warning that more councils could cut services to bare minimum
07/08/2018 An increasing number of councils could be forced to cut services to the legal minimum, financial experts have warned. |
Councils begin judicial review against Heathrow expansion
07/08/2018 Five London councils, Greenpeace and the mayor of London have started judicial review proceedings against the expansion of Heathrow airport. |
Christchurch reorganisation challenge defeated
07/08/2018 Christchurch BC may launch an appeal after a High Court judge today refused its challenge to local government reorganisation plans. |
Court rules £5m of special needs cuts ‘illegal’
06/08/2018 Bristol City Council has said it is ‘disappointed’ by a court ruling that found the authority had acted illegally by cutting £5m from the budget for children with special needs. |
Councils seek judicial review of Heathrow runway decision
20/07/2018 London councils have notified the secretary of state for transport they will be seeking a judicial review of the decision to support third Heathrow runway. |
Councils sue Barclays over controversial LOBO loans
16/07/2018 Barclays are being sued by 14 local authorities over allegations it committed fraud over loans to councils. |
Court reverses £400m sleep-in shift ruling
13/07/2018 Council leaders have welcomed the Court of Appeal ruling that social care providers will no longer be required to pay £400m in backpay to carers doing sleep-in shifts. |
Councils sue one in six businesses over rate arrears figures reveal
13/07/2018 Nearly 190,000 companies were taken to court last year by councils over non-payment of business rates, a new investigation has revealed. |
Council’s boycott of illegal Israeli settlements ‘legitimate’, court rules
05/07/2018 The Court of Appeal has ruled that Leicester City Council’s decision to boycott illegal Israeli settlements is both ‘temperate and legitimate’. |
Court upholds abortion clinic safe zone
03/07/2018 Ealing Council has welcomed what it described as a ‘landmark decision’ by the High Court to uphold its right to establish a safe zone around abortion clinic. |
Council staff drop multi-million legal claims against Birmingham City Council
26/06/2018 A multi-million pound raft of legal claims over sex discrimination have been dropped by Birmingham City Council workers without explanation. |
Council facing £5m equal pay bill
26/06/2018 Fife Council has been warned it could face a £5m bill from a new round of equal pay claims. |
Council’s legal challenge to Dorset reorganisation to proceed to High Court
22/06/2018 Christchurch Borough Council has been given permission to take its case against local government reorganisation in Dorset to the High Court. |
Council fines 'try before you buy’ sex toy shop
19/06/2018 A local authority in the north east has fined a sex doll company £10,000 for operating without a licence. |
London council to take legal action over fortnightly newsletter
06/06/2018 Waltham Forest council has confirmed it will launch a legal battle over a government instruction to stop publishing its fortnightly newsletter. |
Councils take over 1,000 people to court for ‘social care debt’
04/06/2018 Local authorities have taken more than 1,000 people to court for social care debt over the past two years, according to GMB. |
Fitzgerald resigns from Liverpool ahead of crunch meeting
14/05/2018 Liverpool City Council’s chief executive, Ged Fitzgerald, is understood to have resigned days before an independent panel was due to consider his future. |
London council secures £1.6m fine against Tesco over safety failings
11/05/2018 Tesco has been fined £1.6m for health and safety failures following a successful prosecution by Ealing Council. |
Council to take pay dispute to Supreme Court
10/05/2018 Nottingham City Council is to take a dispute with its staff over incremental pay rises to the Supreme Court. |
Council's pay freeze is ruled unlawful by Court of Appeal
23/04/2018 Nottingham City Council was wrong to impose a freeze on incremental pay rises, the Court of Appeal has ruled. |
Scrutinising care provision
03/04/2018 The Court of Appeal has ruled that personal injury awards cannot be considered in the provision of after-care services. Morris Hill and Ken Slade explore what impact this judgement will have on local authorities. |
North Yorkshire launches council-owned law firm
21/03/2018 North Yorkshire County Council has become the first local authority in the North to trade its legal services. |
Court grants council powers to tackle ‘unauthorised’ traveller encampments
22/02/2018 The High Court has granted a council powers to help it crack down on ‘unauthorised’ traveller encampments. |
Court rules councils cannot use selective licensing to impose safety standards
22/02/2018 The Court of Appeal has today ruled councils cannot use selective licensing conditions to impose new standards on private rented homes. |
Care England wins right to intervene in sleep-in care case
20/02/2018 Care England has been granted the right to intervene in the Court of Appeal’s sleep-in-shift case raising hopes the care sector’s impending £400m financial crisis can be averted. |
Council to sue Highways England for £7m in bypass costs
16/02/2018 A Yorkshire council is planning on suing Highways England in an effort to recover Selby bypass repair costs. |
Council faces legal action over outstanding equal pay awards
13/02/2018 Fife Council is facing fresh legal proceedings over the non-payment of equal pay awards, a trade union has warned. |
Powers of local authority lawyers
12/02/2018 Tiffany Cloynes argues that new guidance from the Solicitors Regulation Authority will not stop local authorities from sharing legal services. |
EXCLUSIVE: Funding red flags raised
06/02/2018 One in 10 council bosses fear their local authority will not have enough funding to fulfil their statutory duties in 2018/19, an exclusive survey has found today. |
Rogue landlords forced to pay back ‘racketeering’ proceeds
02/02/2018 Brent has become the first council in the country to use the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) against slum landlords for breaches of licensing conditions. |
Help for under-pressure local authority deputyship teams
11/01/2018 Latest figures estimate that over 130,000 people living in the community aged 65+ have suffered financial abuse at some point since turning 65. This, it would appear, is only the tip of a largely unreported financial abuse iceberg. |
Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2017
13/12/2017 From council pay to the Housing White Paper, here is a run-down of the 100 most popular stories on LocalGov during 2017. |
Counting the cost of foster care abuse
12/12/2017 Ceri Sian Williams warns local authorities could face a significant increase in foster care abuse claims following a recent court ruling. |
Government faces more legal action over air quality plans
06/12/2017 Ministers face yet another challenge to their plans to cut illegal levels of air pollution from road traffic after a judge ordered a High Court hearing in the new year. |
Councils face child sex abuse compensation claims
28/11/2017 Two local authorities are facing a string of compensation claims following the exposure of historical sexual abuse linked to staff at council-run care homes. |
Using local authority powers effectively
10/11/2017 Recent case law has shown the importance of local authorities acting within their powers and meeting any associated requirements. Tiffany Cloynes reports. |
Council leader warns of legal action over dual carriageway decision
24/10/2017 The leader of Sefton Council has called for a judicial review into the decision by Highways England to build a £200m dual carriageway through Rimrose Valley. |
Council liable for foster care abuse, judge rules
19/10/2017 Local authorities could face a big increase in claims by foster children over historic or recent child abuse after a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court. |
The sleep-in care crisis
13/10/2017 William Eichler explores the impact backdated payments for sleep-in shifts could have on the future of social care. |
Developers avoid building 700 social homes in borough thanks to loophole
28/09/2017 A legal loophole has allowed big developers in Kensington and Chelsea to avoid building over 700 social homes - enough to house those made homeless by the Grenfell fire. |
Dealing with large-scale abuse claims
11/09/2017 In the first of a two part review of claims against local authority social services departments, Kella Bowers and Andrew Ellis consider the effects of claims alleging a failure to protect children from child sexual exploitation and abuse in care. |
Councils win right for hearing over Horton Hospital changes
07/09/2017 Four Oxfordshire councils have won the right to a fresh hearing over proposals to downgrade services at Horton General Hospital. |
A third of equal pay claims still not settled by Scottish councils
07/09/2017 Councils in Scotland have spent £750m settling equal pay claims since 2004, with 27,000 claims still outstanding, a public spending watchdog has revealed. |
Council prosecutes letting agent for issuing ‘sham licences’
22/08/2017 Islington Council has successfully prosecuted a letting agent for issuing ‘sham licences’ in the first prosecution of its kind. |
Thousands of council staff in Glasgow win equal pay ruling
22/08/2017 Glasgow City Council will look into making payments to potentially thousands of women workers after a court ruling suggested that the council might have been paying them less than their male colleagues. |
Sheffield City Council secures injunctions in tree-felling row
16/08/2017 Sheffield City Council has won a court battle against people protesting about its tree-felling programme. |
Councils win legal battle over nursing care fees
03/08/2017 Health boards in Wales ‘misinterpreted’ the law regarding who is responsible for paying for nurses to deliver social care in residential homes, a court has ruled. |
The risk of litigation
28/07/2017 Richard Clayton QC and Lee Parkhill outline the legal implications facing councils due to the community care crisis |
Council wins court case to recoup £1.3m licensing costs
20/07/2017 Westminster City Council has won a long-running Supreme Court case over the licensing fee it had charged sex shops. |
Back pay ruling could lead to social care crisis, warns charity
19/07/2017 The learning disabilities sector faces a funding crisis after a tribunal ruled support workers must be paid six years of back pay, a charity has warned today. |
Care providers take council to court over ‘inadequate’ fee rates
19/07/2017 The largest representative of private social care providers has announced the date it is taking Essex County Council to court over ‘inadequate’ fee rates paid to providers. |
Council loses legal challenge over 'duty to cooperate' in local plan
13/07/2017 A judge has rejected a council’s bid to overturn an inspector’s decision that it should withdraw its Strategic Local Plan (SLP). |
CHP: The common pitfalls
12/07/2017 Ruth Barnes outlines the common pitfalls local authorities and their development partners face when embarking on Combined Heat and Power (CHP) projects. |
Cutting services: a false economy?
11/07/2017 Tiffany Cloynes explains how councils can differentiate between essential and discretionary services. |
Attempt to restrict council pension boycotts is ruled 'unlawful'
23/06/2017 A court ruled yesterday the Government’s attempt to prevent councils boycotting Israel through their pension schemes is ‘unlawful’. |
Benefit cap for lone parents with toddlers is 'unlawful'
23/06/2017 The government’s cap on benefits lone parents with children under two can receive has been dismissed by a high court judge as unlawful and discriminatory. |
Campaigners take council pension boycott to high court
14/06/2017 Campaigners are challenging a government ban on council pension schemes withdrawing investment from companies associated with Israel. |
Campaigners win right to appeal fracking decision
08/06/2017 Campaigners have been granted permission to appeal against the decision to allow fracking in Lancashire. |
Essex councils apply to extend injunction banning illegal traveller sites
02/06/2017 Harlow Council and Essex County Council have applied to the High Court to extend an injunction banning travellers from setting up unauthorised camps. |
Council fined £150,000 for publishing personal data about family
01/06/2017 An Essex council has been fined £150,000 for publishing sensitive personal information in an online planning application document. |
Court delivers landmark ruling strengthening hand of local planners
11/05/2017 A council in Cheshire has secured a ‘landmark ruling’ from the Supreme Court that will better protect green areas from speculative housing developments. |
Essex council taken to court over care home fee rates
11/04/2017 The country’s largest representative body for providers of adult social care has accused Essex council of ‘unlawful’ practices with regards to how much it pays care home providers. |
Activists to challenge council pension boycott restrictions in High Court
16/03/2017 Pro-Palestine campaigners have been granted permission to take the Government to the High Court over law preventing councils from boycotting companies involved in Israel’s human rights violations. |
County agrees to refund 'unclear' bus lane fines
13/03/2017 Lancashire County Council has agreed to refund motorists who were fined for driving in a new bus lane that had not been labelled clearly enough. |
Council to pay £570,000 for fatal fire at Lakanal House
28/02/2017 Southwark Council has been fined £570,000 over fire safety failings in a tower block that led to the death of six people, including three children. |
Japanese knotweed: debunking the myths
28/02/2017 Although the damage caused by Japanese Knotweed is often exaggerated in the press, Dr Paul Beckett explains what councils should do to avoid being caught up in the knotweed litigation market. |
The March issue of Local Government News explores alternative funding channels that are available to councils beyond the Public Works Loan Board, what hurdles merging councils face in coming together, and how local government is handling GDPR.
This issue also has a special highways and street lighting section exploring how councils can use lighting to embark on their smart city journey and using IoT technology to weather the storm.
