First-tier Tribunal Local Government Standards in England meaning

In this issue: Social housing Education Planning Local government finance Public procurement Governance Healthcare Social care Licensing Environmental law and climate change LexTalk®Local Government: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Social housing Local authority successful in Court of Appeal on suitability of accommodation offered in performance of prevention duty (Fatolahzadeh v LB of Barnet) Fatolahzadeh v LB of Barnet saw Genevieve Screeche-Powell represent the council, which prevailed in resisting a Housing Act 1996 (HA 1996), section 204 appeal pursued by a homeless applicant. Two central issues of principle arose: (i) whether Parliament intended that an alleged non-compliance with the ‘new’ HA 1996, s 189A duties should automatically vitiate any later decision taken to meet the duty to secure suitable accommodation; and (ii) the extent to which the section 202 review procedure can rectify asserted shortcomings. This marks the first occasion on which the Court...

In this issue: Local government reorganisation Education Children's social care Adult social care Social housing Planning Judicial review Public procurement Local government finance Licensing Pensions Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Local government reorganisation IPPR report recommends democratic reforms for English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill IPPR North released analysis exploring the democratic effects of the government’s push to create unitary councils under the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. The study reviews plans to scrap the remaining two-tier county and district councils—covering roughly 29% of England—and replace them with larger unitary bodies. Ministers contend that unitarisation will streamline administration, raise efficiency and support mayoral devolution, yet it flags democratic downsides: fewer councillors, less frequent elections, and a wider gap between communities and decision-makers. Evidence is cited that bigger councils can erode trust, suppress participation and blunt citizens’ sense of political efficacy, but it also argues that...

In this issue: Social housing Adult social care Judicial review Governance Local government finance Children's social care Education Public procurement Licensing Pensions Planning LexTalk®Local Government: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Social housing Microwave alone insufficient to amount to ‘cooking facilities’ in HMO test (Oxford Hotel Investments Ltd v Great Yarmouth BC) In Oxford Hotel Investments Ltd v Great Yarmouth Borough Council, the Upper Tribunal (UT) assessed the meaning of cooking facilities within the section 254 Housing Act 2004 (HA 2004) HMO test, specifically whether a single microwave fulfilled that requirement. The property had no other means for preparing food. The UT determined that a microwave on its own does not constitute cooking facilities capable of excluding the premises from the definition of an HMO, and consequently found the property formed part of an HMO and was subject to the HA 2004 regime....