Number of supervised offenders charged with violent crimes rises 21% – The Guardian

‘The number of offenders charged with serious crimes including murder, manslaughter and rape while they were being monitored in the community has jumped by more than a fifth in a year in England and Wales, the Guardian can reveal.’

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The Guardian, 14th October 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

NHS waste backlog: Criminal probe over body parts ‘pile up’ – BBC News

Posted October 5th, 2018 in contracting out, environmental health, hospitals, news, waste by tracey

‘A criminal investigation has been launched after a backlog of medical waste including body parts was allowed to build up at six UK disposal sites.’

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BBC News, 5th October 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Private probation firms ‘put victims of abuse at risk’ – The Guardian

Posted September 25th, 2018 in contracting out, domestic violence, news, probation, rehabilitation, victims by sally

‘Tens of thousands of victims of domestic abuse and children are being put at further risk of harm by privatised offender supervision companies whose staff lack the skills, experience and time to supervise perpetrators, according to a new report.’

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The Guardian, 25th September 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Vinci v Beumer: the case that keeps on giving (and giving) – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted September 6th, 2018 in appeals, arbitration, construction industry, contracting out, contracts, news by tracey

‘It is the start of autumn and July seems a long way off now, with the summer holidays all over and the World Cup just a distant memory. Consequently, it may be easy to have forgotten about Vinci Construction UK Ltd v Beumer Group UK Ltd, which had its latest outing in the TCC at the end of that month. This time it was Jonathan Acton Davis QC (sitting as a deputy High Court judge) who enforced the adjudicator’s decision and dismissed Beumer’s (the sub-contractor) arguments that the adjudicator was in breach of the rules of natural justice.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 4th September 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Birmingham is just one of 15 prisons of ‘serious concern’ – the charts that show the state of our prisons – Daily Telegraph

Posted August 22nd, 2018 in contracting out, news, prisons, statistics by sally

‘Prisons in England and Wales have come under renewed scrutiny this week, after it was announced that HMP Birmingham is becoming the first privately-run prison to be taken over by the Government.’

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Daily Telegraph, 21st August 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Birmingham Prison taken over from G4S by government – BBC News

Posted August 20th, 2018 in contracting out, news, prisons by sally

‘Birmingham Prison is being taken over by the government from the private firm G4S, after inspectors said it had fallen into a “state of crisis”.’

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BBC News, 20th August 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Council to re-evaluate bids for 0-19 public health services after High Court defeat – Local Government Lawyer

Posted August 17th, 2018 in contracting out, health, local government, news, tenders by sally

‘Lancashire County Council has announced that it will re-evaluate the two existing bids for public health services for 0 to 19 year olds from Virgin Health Care and a joint bid between Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust and Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 16th August 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Government to face IWGB union in landmark court case for outsourced workers’ rights – The Independent

‘The government is taking on a union in court in a landmark case that could have huge ramifications for the UK’s army of 3.3 million outsourced workers, many of whom have fewer rights and face worse pay and conditions than in-house colleagues doing the same jobs.’

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The Independent, 7th August 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Private probation companies to have contracts ended early – The Guardian

Posted July 27th, 2018 in contracting out, news, probation by sally

‘The monitoring of offenders in the community faces another shake-up after disastrous reforms introduced by Chris Grayling forced the government to bail out failing private probation companies by more than half a billion pounds.’

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The Guardian, 27th July 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Legal challenge to the new model of health and social care bodies – Community Care Blog

Posted July 13th, 2018 in community care, contracting out, contracts, health, news by tracey

‘In the recent case of R (Hutchinson & Anor) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care & Anor the Administrative Court considered a challenge to the creation of a new model for the provision of health and social care in England.’

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Community Care Blog, 10th July 2018

Source: communitycare11kbw.com

Losing out on loss of bargain when terminating in reliance upon contractual rights – Practical Law: Construction Blog

‘In the wake of the Carillion insolvency, many sub-contractors are likely to be investigating their rights to terminate their contracts with a now defunct main contractor. Looking for a clean break, they may be tempted by the explicit termination rights that standard form building contracts often contain, and that may be deployed in the event of main contractor insolvency. On the surface, terminating appears as simple as writing to the liquidator citing the relevant provision, and declaring the contract to be at an end. However, a potential trap awaits the unwary. Unwitting sub-contractors may inadvertently forfeit any right to claim loss of bargain damages, that is, the loss of profits that would have been made had the contract carried through to completion. This is potentially a highly lucrative right, particularly if the sub-contractor is at the start of a multi-year project that was expected to generate significant future earnings. This result arises from the case of Phones 4U Ltd (in administration) v EE Ltd.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 4th July 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

People risk unjust prison sentences due to lack of court healthcare – The Guardian

Posted July 4th, 2018 in contracting out, courts, detention, health, news by sally

‘Innocent people are at risk of being given unjust prison sentences and suffering physical harm because of a lack of healthcare in courthouses, according to the outgoing head of the independent body charged with monitoring the care and welfare of those brought to court in England and Wales.’

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The Guardian, 4th July 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

NHS trusts win legal challenge over contract award by council to Virgin Care – Local Government Lawyer

Posted June 25th, 2018 in contracting out, health, hospitals, local government, news by sally

‘Two NHS foundation trusts have won a High Court challenge over Lancashire County Council’s decision to award a contract to Virgin Care for the provision of public health and nursing services to children and young people.’

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Local Government Lawyer, June 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Government must overhaul ‘mess’ of privatised probation system, inquiry finds – The Independent

Posted June 22nd, 2018 in contracting out, news, probation, select committees by tracey

‘The government must overhaul its “mess” of a botched programme to privatise probation that is failing against every measure and may threaten public safety, MPs have said.
An eight month inquiry by the Justice Committee found that the controversial Transforming Rehabilitation scheme had created a “two-tier” service seeing vital services outsourced to loss-making contractors.’

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The Independent, 22nd June 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Capita faces legal action after hitting graduates with bills for thousands when they try to leave – The Independent

Posted June 4th, 2018 in contracting out, fees, news, penalties by sally

‘Naive or desperate graduates subjected to ‘desperate unfairness’ under ‘astonishingly asymmetric’ contract, says barrister leading case.’

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The Independent, 2nd June 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Ex-offenders face bleak future after reforms fail, report says – The Guardian

Posted April 17th, 2018 in charities, contracting out, news, probation, reports, volunteers by tracey

‘Ex-offenders trying to turn their lives around face a bleak future, a probation inspector has warned, as ambitious government plans to boost the role of charities and volunteers in the probation service have failed to materialise.’

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The Guardian, 17th April 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

English court delivers landmark judgment on project insurance coverage – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 29th, 2018 in construction industry, contracting out, insurance, news by tracey

‘The High Court has handed down a judgment deciding that a sub-contractor on a construction project was not entitled to coverage from the project insurance policy.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 28th March 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Home Office subcontractors force asylum seekers to share bedrooms in breach of council policy – The Independent

Posted March 23rd, 2018 in asylum, contracting out, housing, news by tracey

‘A company subcontracted by the Home Office to run housing for asylum seekers is continuing to force residents to share bedrooms despite the local council banning the practice.
Newcastle City Council banned forced bedroom sharing, which sees unrelated asylum-seeking adults forced to share bedrooms with one another, in March 2017 following widespread public outcry.’

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The Independent, 23rd March 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Staff without security clearance monitor offenders – BBC News

Posted March 6th, 2018 in bail, contracting out, employment, news, prisons, probation, release on licence by sally

‘Staff without security clearance are being allowed to monitor high-risk offenders living in approved premises – commonly known as bail hostels or probation hostels – the BBC has learnt.’

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BBC News, 5th March 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Police outsource digital forensic work to unaccredited labs – The Guardian

Posted February 12th, 2018 in contracting out, forensic science, news, police by tracey

‘More than a dozen police forces have outsourced digital forensic investigative work to unaccredited private laboratories in the past year, at a time when a series of rape cases have been abandoned because of problems with digital evidence.’

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The Guardian, 12th February 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com