Government to outlaw legal referral fees – Ministry of Justice

‘A new statutory ban on referral fees in criminal cases is among proposals announced by the Legal Aid Minister Shailesh Vara today.’

Full press release

Ministry of Justice, 1st Ocotber 2015

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

Regulators issue consultation on minor changes to QASA – Bar Standards Board

Posted October 2nd, 2015 in advocacy, barristers, consultations, quality assurance, solicitors by sally

‘Legal regulators Bar Standards Board (BSB), Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and CILEx Regulation, the three also known as the Joint Advocacy Group (JAG), are preparing for the implementation of the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) by launching a new consultation today.’

Full consultation

Bar Standards Board, 1st October 2015

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Broadmoor Hospital inspection reveals ‘urgent’ changes required – BBC News

‘Broadmoor Hospital has been told to make urgent changes after a report which highlighted the “overuse” of face-down restraints on patients. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated the high-security hospital in Berkshire “inadequate” after an inspection.’

Full story

BBC News, 16th September 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

NHS hospital trust put in special measures over serious care failings – The Guardian

Posted September 10th, 2015 in health, hospitals, news, quality assurance, reports by sally

‘An NHS hospital trust has been put into special measures after inspectors found serious failings in the safety and quality of its care for patients, including untrained receptionists assessing how seriously unwell new arrivals at A&E were. West Hertfordshire Hospitals trust became the latest trust to be ordered to make big improvements after the Care Quality Commission watchdog rated its services overall as “inadequate”.’

Full story

The Guardian, 10th September 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

David Bedenham Discusses HMRC’s Alcohol Wholesalers Registration Scheme that Commences on 1 October 2015 – 11 KBW

‘Alcohol duty fraud costs the treasury an estimated £1 billion per annum. HMRC has stated that
‘the wholesale sector is the major point where illicit alcohol is diverted by organised criminals into retail supply chains…this link in the supply chain is vulnerable because it is the only activity not required to be authorised by HMRC…Introducing a requirement for wholesalers to register with HMRC will address this and reduce opportunities for fraud.’’

Full story

11 KBW, 4th September 2015

Source: www.11kbw.com

Shipman reforms ‘could have saved Furness General Hospital babies’ – BBC News

‘Baby deaths at an NHS hospital could have been prevented if reforms recommended after the Harold Shipman case were made, it has been claimed.’

Full story

BBC News, 5th September 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Regina (Lumsdon and others) v Legal Services Board – WLR Daily

Regina (Lumsdon and others) v Legal Services Board [2015] UKSC 41; [2015] WLR (D) 270

‘The decision of the Legal Services Board to approve the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (“QASA”), introduced by the regulators to assess the performance of criminal advocates in England and Wales, complied with the requirements of article 9 of Parliament and Council Directive 2006/123/EC and regulation 14 of the Provision of Services Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2999), and was proportionate and lawful.’

WLR Daily, 24th June 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Supreme Court on EU and ECHR proportionality – back to basics – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The Supreme Court has reminded us, in a tour de force by Lord Reed, that there is no such thing as one-stop proportionality. It varies between ECHR and EU law, and the tests of EU proportionality then vary according to the nature of the EU issue in play.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 27th June 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

NHS patient safety fears as health watchdog scraps staffing guidelines – The Guardian

‘The NHS has been accused of backtracking on improvements to patient safety brought in after the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal in an effort to tackle its escalating financial problems. The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) watchdog has unexpectedly scrapped work to set out how many nurses are needed in different parts of hospitals to ensure safe patient care.’

Full story

The Guardian, 4th June 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Keep legal executives out of the Crown Court, Rivlin report demands – Legal Futures

‘A report for the Bar Council on the future of criminal justice and advocacy has recommended that legal executives are kept out of the Crown Courts, while solicitors should only be granted rights of audience if they have undergone the same level of training as barristers.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 31st March 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Barristers’ regulator asks QCA to consider QC re-accreditation – Bar Standards Board

Posted March 24th, 2015 in barristers, criminal justice, news, quality assurance, queen's counsel by sally

‘The barristers’ regulator, the Bar Standards Board (BSB), has today formally asked that Queen’s Counsel Appointments (QCA) considers developing a system of re-accrediting criminal silks.’

Full story

Bar Standards Board, 23rd March 2015

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Barristers’ regulator lobbies for QC re-accreditation – Legal Futures

Posted March 24th, 2015 in barristers, criminal justice, news, quality assurance, queen's counsel by sally

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has issued a formal request to Queen’s Counsel Appointments (QCA) – the body which runs the annual silk round – to consider developing a system of re-accrediting criminal QCs as “it is not in the public interest to exempt QCs from quality assurance”.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 24th March 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Some CPS barristers ‘lack flair’, says inspection report – BBC News

‘Too many Crown Prosecution Service barristers lack “presence, self-confidence and flair” in Crown Court trials, a report has said. The CPS Inspectorate found that CPS barristers in England and Wales were in danger of “losing” the jury because of how they presented cases. Standards of CPS advocacy had taken a “step backwards” over the past three years, the report said.’

Full story

Full report

BBC News, 19th March 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

QC status “should be extended” beyond barristers and solicitors – Legal Futures

‘QC status should be available to all advocates appearing in the higher courts, whether or not they are barristers or solicitors, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 18th March 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Largest NHS trust put in special measures after damning CQC report – The Guardian

Posted March 17th, 2015 in hospitals, news, quality assurance, reports by sally

‘The NHS’s largest hospital trust in England is being put into special measures after inspectors uncovered an array of serious problems at one of its hospitals, including poor A&E care, a lack of staff, poor morale and a culture of bullying and harassment.’

Full story

The Guardian, 17th March 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Baby deaths inquiry: NHS criticism expected – BBC News

Posted March 3rd, 2015 in birth, doctors, health, hospitals, midwives, news, quality assurance, reports by sally

‘Failures at a maternity unit where a number of newborn babies and mothers died are expected to be exposed later.’

Full story

BBC News, 3rd March 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Supreme Court to hear QASA appeal – but rejects claim of threat to advocate independence – Legal Futures

Posted February 13th, 2015 in advocacy, appeals, barristers, news, proportionality, public interest, quality assurance by sally

‘The barristers challenging the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates have today been granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court declined permission to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s finding that the principle of independence of the advocate was not infringed by QASA, saying it did not have a real prospect of success.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 12th February 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Whistleblowing: ‘It’s still not safe for us to speak out’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 12th, 2015 in doctors, health, news, nurses, quality assurance, reports, whistleblowers by sally

‘Whistle-blowers say Sir Robert Francis’s report fails to offer enough protection to staff to who speak out and will not encourage others to come forward.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 11th February 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Pledge to end locking up mentally ill in police cells – BBC News

Posted January 19th, 2015 in detention, hospitals, mental health, news, police, quality assurance, statistics by sally

‘Authorities in England have pledged to bring an end to the practice of detaining people with mental health problems in police cells. The NHS, councils and police are now set to come up with plans for how they will achieve this, the government said.’

Full story

BBC News, 18th January 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Bar Council warns on potential “cost to quality” from CPD move – Legal Futures

Posted December 4th, 2014 in barristers, continuing professional development, news, quality assurance by sally

‘The Bar Council has warned of a potential “cost to quality”, following an announcement from the Bar Standards Board (BSB) that from next month it will only accredit CPD providers, and not individual courses.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 4th December 2014

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk