Judge quashes planning permission for gypsy caravan development – Local Government Lawyer

Posted June 23rd, 2016 in local government, news, planning, travellers by sally

‘A Deputy High Court judge has quashed a council’s grant of planning permission for a change of use of land from grazing to residential for a gypsy caravan and a touring caravan.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 22nd June 2016

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Public interest report calls for all legal advice to be commissioned by legal team – Local Government Lawyer

‘Derby City Council should ensure that all legal advice is commissioned through its chief legal officer or her staff, and departments should not commission legal advice direct, auditors Grant Thornton have recommended in a public interest report.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 21st June 2016

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Ellie Butler judge ‘took unwarranted steps’ to reunite her with violent parents – The Guardian

‘A senior judge in the family court took “unwarranted” extra steps in reuniting a man with a violent and criminal past with his young daughter 11 months before he beat her to death, the author of a serious case review has said.’

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The Guardian, 22nd June 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Driver beats council in legal battle over 30-year-old unlawful ‘No Entry’ sign – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 21st, 2016 in costs, local government, news, road traffic offences by sally

‘A motorist has beaten a council in a court battle over an illegal ‘No Entry’ sign which has been catching motorists out for 30 years.’

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Daily Telegraph, 21st June 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Home Office loses test case on asylum seekers ‘who look 18 or older’ – The Guardian

Posted June 20th, 2016 in asylum, children, detention, evidence, immigration, local government, news, statistics by sally

‘A test case judgment has been handed down in the high court preventing the Home Office from detaining child asylum seekers just because officials think they look 18 or older.’

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The Guardian, 20th June 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Landlord sentenced after admitting conspiring to defraud council – Local Government Lawyer

‘A landlord has been sentenced to 17 months in prison suspended for 12 months after she admitted conspiring to defraud a district council.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 17th June 2016

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

High Court quashes appointment of social worker to supervise sex offender – Local Government Lawyer

Posted June 15th, 2016 in child abuse, local government, news, social services, supervision orders by sally

‘City and County of Swansea Council has succeeded in having a court order quashed that would have made an inexperienced and unwilling social worker the supervisor of a child sex offender.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 15th June 2016

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

High Court: community benefits from wind farm ‘did not serve planning purpose’ – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 15th, 2016 in energy, local government, news, planning by sally

‘A local planning authority in England was not entitled to take into account the fact that a portion of the profits from a new wind turbine would be donated to local good causes when deciding whether to grant planning permission, the High Court has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 15th June 2016

Source: www.out-law.com

Disabled claimant given green light to challenge cuts to care package – Local Government Lawyer

Posted June 15th, 2016 in community care, disabled persons, local government, news by sally

‘A High Court judge has given a disabled man permission to bring a legal challenge against a county council after it decided to reduce his care package.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 14th June 2016

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Supreme Court to hear appeal by council on compensation after pier closure – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Supreme Court will next week (23 June) hear a borough council’s appeal over an order that it should pay more than £2m in compensation plus legal costs to the operators of a business on a seaside pier it temporarily shut down.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 13th June 2016

Source: www.localgovernment.co.uk

Private hire operator loses licence for running taxi business outside district – Local Government Lawyer

Posted June 14th, 2016 in licensing, local government, news, taxis by sally

‘A district council has revoked the licence of a private hire operator, as well as hackney carriage licences for five of his vehicles, after he was found to be running his taxi business outside of the district.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 13th June 2016

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

For child asylum seekers turning 18 is a time of fear not celebration – The Guardian

Posted June 14th, 2016 in asylum, care orders, children, immigration, local government, news by sally

‘When unaccompanied asylum-seeking children turn 18 their support can be completely cut off – no matter how long they have been in the UK.’

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The Guardian, 14th June 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

From the County Courts – deposits, evictions and introductory tenancies – Nearly Legal

‘Some county court cases reported in the indispensable ‘Housing: Recent Developments’ in Legal Action for May 2016. Cases involve introductory tenancies, deposits, harassment and illegal eviction.’

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Nearly Legal, 12th June 2016

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Council to challenge term-time holiday decision – BBC News

‘A court decision not to fine a father who took his daughter on an unauthorised term-time holiday is set to be challenged.’

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BBC News, 9th June 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Staffordshire County Council v K and others – WLR Daily

Staffordshire County Council v K and others [2016] EWCOP 27

‘An incapacitated adult (“K”), who had been severely injured in a road traffic accident, was awarded substantial damages in court proceedings which were used by his property and affairs deputy, a private trust corporation, to provide a specially adapted residence and to fund the regime of care and support provided by private sector providers. The local authority, having been informed of the arrangements for K’s care and the arrangements having been registered with the Care Quality Commission, applied to the Court of Protection for a welfare order under section 16 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The parties accepted that the arrangements constituted a deprivation of liberty satisfying two of three components of a deprivation of liberty within article 5 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, but the Secretary of State contended that the third component, namely the attribution of responsibility to the state, did not apply to the privately funded and arranged care regime (and to others in an equivalent position), so that the care regime could lawfully be put in place without a welfare order being made under the Act.’

WLR Daily, 25th May 2016

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Father who won High Court school holidays case eyes group litigation – Local Government Lawyer

‘The man who defeated Isle of Wight Council in a high-profile court battle over the enforcement of a fine imposed for taking his daughter to Florida during term time has unveiled plans to take forward group litigation.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 8th June 2016

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Is there a human right to the city? Rethinking the politics of rights – OUP Blog

Posted June 9th, 2016 in housing, human rights, local government, news, rent by sally

‘What gives you the right? We are familiar with rights claiming, it comes easily to our lips when we believe we are entitled to something—to respect, to our fair share. Rights are fighting words. We invoke them when we have been wronged, when a situation has become intolerable. Rights claims are a way of fighting for control.’

Full story

OUP Blog, 9th June 2016

Source: www.blog.oup.com

Council to refund tenants £28.6m after High Court water overcharging ruling – Local Government Lawyer

Posted June 9th, 2016 in compensation, local government, news, water by sally

‘The London Borough of Southwark has decided to repay 48,000 current and former tenants £28.6m following a High Court ruling earlier this year that it had overcharged for water and sewerage for 12 years.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 9th June 2016

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Refusnik rev: the vicar ​whose council tax protest could put him in jail – The Guardian

‘Retired clergyman Paul Nicolson, who is refusing to pay council tax in solidarity with those hit by benefit cuts, explains why he’s happy to take the consequences.’

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The Guardian, 8th June 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

In re A (A Child) (Baby Relinquished for Adoption: Case Management)

In re A (A Child) (Baby Relinquished for Adoption: Case Management) [2016] EWFC 25

‘A, a baby born in England to Latvian parents, was relinquished at birth for adoption and quickly placed with foster parents who were approved to adopt. On the understanding that there was no one within the extended natural family, either in England or in Latvia, in a position to care for A, and with the consent of the birth parents given in accordance with sections 19 and 20 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, the local authority proceeded to convert A’s short-term arrangements to an adoptive placement and notified the Latvian central authority of A’s situation. The foster parents, with whom A had lived for much of his life, applied to adopt him. The Latvian central authority, having made its own enquiries of relatives in Latvia, identified the maternal grandmother as a potential long-term carer for A, had completed a favourable preliminary suitability assessment and commissioned a full suitability assessment. The central authority opposed the adoption of A in England and submitted its concerns that the approach of the English courts towards adoption cases placed insufficient weight on the rights of a child to grow up in his inherited culture and was therefore potentially contrary to articles 36 and 37 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963 and a breach of articles 8 and 20 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989. The birth mother, who had deliberately not informed her wider family in Latvia of the proposed adoption, continued to support adoption by the foster parents, maintaining her opinion that an education and upbringing in England would be in A’s best interests and that her mother would find it difficult physically and financially to care for A. At a case management hearing, the children’s guardian appointed for A recommended an adjournment to enable completion of the grandmother’s assessment. In circumstances where the prospective adopters, the birth parents and the local authority all supported the adoption, where factors from the welfare checklist in section 1(4) of the 2002 Act pointed towards adoption, and where a delay in making a decision was likely to prejudice A’s welfare, the issue before the judge was whether he should make an adoption order without having considered the substantial assessment of the suitability of the maternal grandmother in Latvia as A’s long-term carer.’

WLR Daily, 6th May 2016

Source: www.iclr.co.uk