Woodland (Appellant) v Essex County Council (Respondent) – Supreme Court
Woodland (Appellant) v Essex County Council (Respondent) [2013] UKSC 66 | UKSC 2012/0093 (YouTube)
Supreme Court, 23rd October 2013
Category: contracting out
Woodland v Swimming Teachers Association and others – WLR Daily
Woodland v Swimming Teachers Association and others [2013] UKSC 66; [2013] WLR (D) 403
“The essential feature of a non-delegable duty of reasonable care was that a defendant had control over a vulnerable claimant for the purpose of performing a function for which the defendant had assumed responsibility.”
WLR Daily, 23rd October 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
The Supreme Court ruling in Woodland v Essex County Council: the reaction – Local Government Lawyer
“The relationship between public bodies and independent contractors has been thrown into sharp relief by yesterday’s Supreme Court judgment in the Woodland case. Local Government Lawyer looks at the reaction to the ruling.”
Local Government Lawyer, 24th October 2013
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Probation officers vote to strike in protest at privatisation – The Guardian
“Probation officers have voted by an overwhelming majority to go on strike in protest at government plans to privatise the service.”
The Guardian, 18th October 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Privatisation of probation service will ‘put public at risk’ – The Independent
“Thousands of probation workers will join nationwide protests today to claim that public safety will be jeopardised by the Government’s plans to transfer the community supervision of most former offenders to private companies.”
The Independent, 19th September 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Council wins appeal over job titles of attendees at law firm meeting – Local Government Lawyer
“A council has won an appeal over whether it was required – following an FOI request – to disclose the job titles of junior officers attending a meeting at a law firm to discuss a major outsourcing project.”
Local Government Lawyer, 13th September 2013
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Robbing Peter to Profit Paul – CrimeLine
“In December 2010 the government announced plans to close the Forensic Science Service (FSS). The FSS was the primary source of forensic expertise to prosecution authorities, and a major provider of expertise to defence lawyers – demonstrating a world class position as provider of impartial evidence to the criminal justice system. Whilst at the time of closure there was already an increasing move to outsourcing services to private forensic providers, the bulk of market share was taken by the FSS, meaning that private providers had little commercial clout. Since the demise of the FSS the position has shifted and power is split between the buyers of services (primarily the police) and the private providers. One matter of grave concern at the moment is in relation to accessing forensic material.”
CrimeLine, 9th September 2013
Source: www.crimeline.info
TUPE reforms “eliminate unnecessary gold plating”, says expert, but service provision change rules remain – OUT-LAW.com
“Changes to the regime governing protections for employees whose contracts are transferred to a new employer ‘go a long way towards eliminating the unnecessary gold plating’ that has made the rules such a headache for employers, an expert has said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 6th September 2013
Source: www.out-law.com
No time to lose: Delay and challenges to public procurement – Hardwicke Chambers
“If you want to challenge a decision to do with public procurement, time is of the essence. The Court of Appeal has reiterated this warning in one of its last decisions of the term: R (Nash) v Barnet LBC [2013] EWCA Civ 1004.”
Hardwicke Chambers, 8th August 2013
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
Jimmy Mubenga coroner issues damning report on deportations – The Guardian
“A coroner who oversaw the inquest into the death of the Angolan deportee Jimmy Mubenga has issued a highly critical report that raises a series of concerns about the way the government and private contractors deport people from the UK.”
The Guardian, 4th August 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Jimmy Mubenga: Home Office official makes qualified apology to family – The Guardian
“David Wood, the head of the Home Office’s immigration enforcement, has given a qualified apology to the family of Jimmy Mubenga, the Angolan asylum seeker who an inquest jury last week ruled was unlawfully killed by three G4S escort guards.”
The Guardian, 16th July 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Michael Gove strips council of child protection powers – The Guardian
“A council has been stripped of its powers to provide child protection by the education secretary, Michael Gove, after the latest in a series of damning reports found its services could not overcome a persistent culture of ‘failure and disillusion’.”
The Guardian, 16th July 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Privatising the courts: if anyone needs advice, it’s the judiciary – The Guardian
“The judges have nothing to gain and everything to lose by negotiating with Chris Grayling in private.”
The Guardian, 25th June 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Lord chief justice warns Chris Grayling on courts privatisation plans – The Guardian
“The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, has been warned by the lord chief justice, Lord Judge, not to undermine the independence of the judiciary through plans to privatise parts of the court service or make it self-financing.”
The Guardian, 24th June 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Privatising probation service will put public at risk, officials tell Grayling – The Guardian
“The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, has been warned by his most senior officials that plans to privatise 70% of the probation service lack support, are being pushed through on an aggressive timetable and potentially endanger public safety, leaked documents show.”
The Guardian, 24th June 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Justice ministry outsourcing could lead to ‘train crash’, says watchdog – The Guardian
“The contracting out of key services by the Ministry of Justice could end in a ‘multiple train crash’ because the department displays naivety and lacks the capacity to understand what it is doing, according to a parliamentary watchdog.”
The Guardian, 20th June 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Do NHS commissioners invest enough in contract management? – No. 5 Chambers
“The NHS is in the middle of the transition from a publicly funded and publicly provided health service towards a publicly funded but increasingly privately provided service. It is thus following the course adopted in social care, with the closure of local authority owned care homes and the contracting out of service provision to commercial, charity, and other voluntary sector providers.”
No. 5 Chambers, 17th June 2013
Source: www.no5chambers.com
Roundtable: immigration – Law Society’s Gazette
“Immigration has proved a toxic issue for recent Home Office ministers. In 2004 home secretary David Blunkett resigned following revelations that a visa application had been fast-tracked. Immigration minister Beverley Hughes resigned after admitting she ‘unwittingly’ misled people about a suspected visa ‘scam’. Charles Clarke resigned as home secretary in 2006 after intense pressure over the release of foreign prisoners who could have been deported at the end of their custodial term.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 20th May 2013
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
High court rejects legal challenge to Barnet’s ‘easyCouncil’ plans – The Guardian
“Campaigners against Barnet council’s radical plan to outsource hundreds of millions of pounds worth of services, dubbed easyCouncil, are to take their case to the appeal court after a judge ruled their objection to a £320m contract had come too late.”
The Guardian, 29th April 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
The Dynamic Do-over: The Advocate General’s opinion in Alemo-Herron – Employment Law Blog
“What’s the point of the TUPE? Other than terrorising HR professionals and inspiring books as good as this one, that is? Its essential function is simple: to protect the employment and the terms and conditions of employees affected by a change in the ownership of the undertaking they work in or (for now at least) by a change in the identity of the provider of a service. The eye-popping complexity for which TUPE disputes are famous arises from trying to apply that simple principle to the messy business that is real life employment. The CJEU is presently pondering one example of the conceptual difficulties that can be thrown up in Alemo-Herron and others v Parkwood Leisure Limited C-426/11 and Advocate General Cruz Villalon has just delivered his opinion.”
Employment Law Blog, 22nd February 2013
Source: www.employment11kbw.com
