Three Articles on Academies – 11 KBW
Academies – Land Transfers (PDF)
The Staffing, SEN and Admissions Issues for Local Authorities of Academy Creation (PDF)
The Process for Opening a Free School (PDF)
11 KBW, 13th March 2012
Source: www.11kbw.com
Category: education
Is it legal to teach gay hate in schools? – UK Human Rights Blog
“Following the news recently it would seem that the UK is convulsed by a raging battle between religious observers and, in the words of Baroness Warsi, militant secularists. On the same day, the High Court ruled that Christian prayers held before a council meeting were unlawful, and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the High Court that two Christian hotel owners had discriminated against gay clients by not offering them a double room.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 19th February 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Tuition fees ruling could question legality of university charges – The Guardian
“The high court is to rule on whether ministers acted legally in allowing universities to charge tuition fees of up to £9,000 a year from this autumn.”
The Guardian, 17th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Regina (New London College Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily
“The suspension or withdrawal of a general (student) sponsor licence granted to a United Kingdom college to sponsor and enrol students from non-European Economic Area countries on point based immigration control, to study in the college, was not an infringement of the college’s Convention right to its possessions within the meaning of article 1 of the First Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, so as to be protected under that article.”
WLR Daily, 2nd February 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Michael Gove faces legal action as rebel primary battles his academy plan – The Guardian
“Michael Gove, the education secretary, is facing legal action by the primary school whose supporters he branded as ‘ideologues’ last week for fighting his plans to turn it into an academy. Lawyers for the governing body of Downhills primary in Haringey, north London, have escalated the row by accusing Gove of illegally trying to force the school to become independent of its local authority and be taken over by a sponsor. The Tory cabinet minister has been given less than two weeks to respond to a ‘statement of claim’ against him or face a judicial review over his conduct, which parents at the school say has been unfair and politically motivated.”
The Guardian, 7th January 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
The Education Act 2011 – Hardwicke Chambers
“The Education Act 2011 heralds significant changes in respect of school governance and beyond, all of which will impact directly upon parents, pupils, schools, local authorities and of course, the public law practitioner.”
Hardwicke Chambers, 7th December 2011
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
A – Z Update on the Coalition Government’s Education Policies and Law – Hardwicke Chambers
“David Lawson and Amelia Walker recently spoke at the Education Lawyers Association Annual Conference on ‘Education in the Big Society’. You can find Amelia’s A-Z Update on the Coalition Government’s Education Policies and Law by clicking here.”
Hardwicke Chambers, 8th December 2011
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
Private school charity rules scrapped after legal challenge – Daily Telegraph
“Controversial guidance requiring private schools to provide free places for poor pupils is to be scrapped after a landmark court ruling.”
Daily Telegraph, 5th December 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Independent Schools, the contract for Education and some litigation issues – 11 KBW
“There are numerous cases about the duties of care in tort which schools, whether independent or maintained, owe to their pupils. Most of them – though not all, as we will see – concern physical injury in the playground, during sports or on school trips.”
Full story (PDF)
11 KBW, 16th November 2011
Source: www.11kbw.com
Education Act 2011: teachers given powers to search pupils – Daily Telegraph
“Teachers are being given new powers to discipline pupils as part of sweeping Government reforms designed to restore order to the classroom.”
Daily Telegraph, 15th November 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Teenagers begin high court challenge against tuition fee rise – The Guardian
“Two teenagers have begun a case in the high court against the government’s decision to let universities almost treble tuition fees next year.”
The Guardian, 1st November 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Regina (Maxwell) v Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education – WLR Daily
“Although a complaint of disability discrimination was an eligible complaint to be made to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (“OIA”) under the Higher Education Act 2004, the task and duty of the OIA on a complaint of disability discrimination against a higher education institution was confined to whether the conduct of the university was reasonable or not and what recommendation should be made in response to the complaint and the office was not obliged to rule whether there had been a disability discrimination.”
WLR Daily, 27th October 2011
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Regina (Independent Schools Council) v Charity Commission for England and Wales (National Council for Voluntary Organisations and another intervening); Attorney General v Charity Commission for England and Wales and another – WLR Daily
“Guidance issued by the Charity Commission for England and Wales included errors of law in respect of the public benefit requirement contained in the Charities Act 2006 on independent schools which charged fees. Whether the public benefit requirement was satisfied depended on the facts of each case. The correct approach was to look at what a trustee, acting in the interests of the community as a whole, would do in all the circumstances of the particular school under consideration and to ask what provision ought to be made once the threshold of benefit going beyond the de minimis or token level had been met. There was no reason why the provision of scholarships or bursaries to students who could pay some, but not all, of the fees should not be seen as for the public benefit. Provided that the operation of the school was seen as being for the public benefit, with an appropriate level of benefit for the poor, a subsidy to the not so well off was to be taken account of in the public benefit.”
WLR Daily, 13th October 2011
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Down’s Syndrome daughter ‘should stay in school until she’s 25’ – Daily Telegraph
“The father of a Down’s Syndrome woman is attempting to force a council to let her stay in school until 25, in a case which could see thousands of special needs adults taught alongside children.”
Daily Telegraph, 24th October 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Independent schools can decide charitable status, says Tribunal – UK Human Rights Blog
” It is not for the Charity Commission or the courts to impose on trustees of a school their own idea of what is for the ‘public benefit’ so as to qualify for charitable status, the Upper Tribunal has ruled. In a detailed assessment of the law on charitable status both before and after the Charities Act, the Tribunal has indicated that the Act has not introduced any legal requirement to act in a way prescribed by the Charity Commission or anyone else. Provided they run their charity to ensure that the poor are able to benefit in a way that is more than minimal or tokenistic, they should be free to make their own considered assessment of what is for the ‘public benefit’ in the circumstances pertaining to their own institution.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 18th October 2011
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Independent schools win Charity Commission fight – BBC News
“Independent schools have won a long-running legal battle with the Charity Commission on what schools must do to justify their charitable status.”
BBC News, 14th October 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Local authorities will not be breaking law by continuing academy PFI payments, QC says – OUT-LAW.com
“Continuing to make payments towards a school rebuilt through a project finance initiative (PFI) arrangement once that school has converted to academy status will not cause local authorities to break the law, an expert has told the Government.”
OUT-LAW.com, 7th October 2011
Source: www.out-law.com
Teenager caught with crack cocaine and heroin in bra freed early to go to university – Daily Telegraph
“A teenage girl caught with £800 of crack cocaine and heroin in her bra has been freed from prison 15 months early so she can go to university in time for freshers’ week.”
Daily Telegraph, 14th September 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Data protection laws give students the right to access examiner comments, ICO says – OUT-LAW.com
“Students have the right to access information detailing what assessors thought of their exam answers under UK data protection laws, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 19th August 2011
Source: www.out-law.com
