Further education meaning

In this issue Social care Social housing Public procurement Planning Judicial review Education Healthcare Governance Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Social care Direct payments representative not a standard authorisation of property and affairs deputyship—Lumb (SSB) v NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB Managing direct payments from a personal health budget as a ‘representative’ under the National Health Service (Direct Payments) Regulations 2013 does not sit within the usual authorisations of a property and affairs deputyship. A health body may appoint a property and affairs deputy as ‘representative’ under regulation 5(4), yet that role extends beyond the remit of a standard deputyship appointment. Likewise, the functions of a ‘nominee’ under the 2013 Regulations are not encompassed by standard deputyship powers. The Court of Protection can, however, make a targeted appointment granting a deputy authority specifically to oversee direct payments in line with the 2013 Regulations. A case manager is an...

In this issue: Public procurement Children's social care Social care Planning Healthcare Education Governance Local government finance Social housing Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Latest Q&A Public procurement Procurement Act 2023 coming into force postponed until February 2025 Parliament has published a written ministerial statement from Georgia Gould, Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office, proposing a brief deferral to the start date of the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023), previously expected to begin in October 2024. She confirmed the government will lay regulations to move commencement to 24 February 2025. She observed the former administration’s National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) fell short of realising the full potential of public procurement, and a fresh NPPS is being drafted to articulate the new Labour government’s priorities. The extra time is intended to support a more seamless transition into the new framework. Ministers in the Welsh Government and the Northern...

The University of Bristol v Dr Robert Abrahart (Administrator of the estate of Natasha Abrahart, deceased) (Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening) [2024] EWHC 299 (KB) What are the practical implications of this case? Although the duty of care issue was not determined, the court’s ruling unmistakably aligns with the arguments advanced by Natasha’s family. It acts as a clear prompt for universities to revisit their policies and procedures, ensuring they are rigorous and genuinely effective, particularly where students have identified mental health conditions. Mr Justice Linden’s judgment invites further debate about the scope of universities’ obligations—potentially reaching into how investigations are conducted and the safeguarding of those involved. The case has also energised a campaign urging government to introduce a statutory duty of care owed by universities to their students. Yet, unless and until such a measure is enacted, this High Court decision carries significant, wide-ranging consequences in its own right—encouraging more students with a relevant diagnosis to consider their rights...

This Practice Note reviews the principal issues and risks that routinely arise on major construction for education providers, spanning higher education, further education, academies and independent schools. See also Practice Note: Building Schools for the Future/Priority School Building Programme [Archived]. Typical procurement routes While any conventional procurement route can be used on an education project, three factors usually drive the route selected by education clients for their construction programmes: Nature of client Education clients seldom commission large capital schemes. It is not their core activity and, except for sizeable university estates teams, they rarely possess the in-house expertise to procure major works successfully. They are regarded as inexperienced construction clients. Funding Funding is often capped and time limited. As a result, works are commonly let on a fixed-price contract, typically at a higher cost, to secure the level of certainty and control sought by funders (public or private investment) and governors. See Funding below. Risk management Site risks on education schemes are generally...

This Practice Note examines the legal framework governing a student’s relationship with their higher education provider in the context of discipline. It reviews the contractual position, its interface with public law, statutory obligations and criminal law. It also outlines categories of misconduct that may prompt disciplinary proceedings, and the factors to assess before any action is initiated. What power does a higher education institution have to discipline a student? Although a student’s dealings with their university are regulated by several areas of law, including: public law, including discrimination law (as set out in the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010)) statutory duties relating to freedom of speech on campus, human rights law data protection laws tort law, in respect of negligence claims, and property law concerning student accommodation the institution’s relationship with the student is predominantly contractual (Clark v University of Lincolnshire and Humberside). An institution’s authority to impose discipline therefore derives from that contract. See Practice Note: Higher...

This Practice Note explores which provisions of the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) bring into force the prohibitions on discrimination in schools, the various forms of discrimination—sex, race, religion or belief, age, marriage or civil partnership, and disability—and any relevant exceptions that may apply. It further explains that the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017, SI 2017/353, oblige education-function public authorities to publish yearly information showing compliance with the public sector equality duty (PSED) in EqA 2010, s 149... The public sector equality duty Under the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017, SI 2017/353, specific obligations apply to public authorities with education responsibilities. Those bodies must publish material evidencing adherence to the PSED under EqA 2010, s 149, at annual intervals. This must be done every year. See Practice Notes: Specific public sector equality duties—England and Specific public sector equality duties—Wales...

1.1 The Company considers that job-sharing, alongside the appropriate use of part-time roles, brings advantages to both: 1.1.1 individual employees who, owing to family responsibilities, further education, other interests, or other reasons, prefer not to work full time; and 1.1.2 the business, through preserving and retaining skills and experience that might otherwise be lost to the Company. 1.2 Job-sharing is distinct from part-time work. A part-time role is a complete job carried out for fewer hours each week than a full-time post. Job-sharing involves two people sharing one full-time job. All functions are split and allocated between two employees. Each person holds the same breadth of duties as the full-time position, but performs them at different times from their job-share partner. Accordingly, job-sharing is fundamentally a partnership or collaboration between the two people sharing the role, and it can succeed only when they work well together. 1.3 Job-sharing can be introduced in three ways. First, the Company...

Insert in para 6.1 of response form ET3: The Respondent accepts that, when assessing candidates for the English teacher post at their school, they applied a requirement that every applicant must speak and write English clearly and accurately to an acceptable standard for the role in question. The Respondent denies that this requirement placed individuals of the same [ enter details, eg race/ethnic/national origins ] as the Claimant [ specify ] at a particular disadvantage compared with others, though it is accepted that the Claimant personally was put at that disadvantage. In any case, the Respondent maintains that applying this requirement was a proportionate means of pursuing a legitimate aim, namely ensuring that pupils at the school received a good and effective education from teachers who were properly and fully competent to teach them well. Accordingly, it is denied that the Respondent indirectly discriminated against the Claimant because of his [ enter details, eg race/ethnic/national origins ]. It is denied that the Claimant...

For further information on this topic in general, see: National minimum wage—Eligibility Employment-related statutory rates and limits table Minimum wage compliance checklist Deductions from wages Some of the statutory exceptions to the right to receive the national minimum wage are outlined below. This response concentrates on the scenarios where the point most commonly arises. Workers only Only ‘workers’ are entitled to be paid the national minimum wage—see our Practice Note: Worker status—Definition of ‘worker’. Agency workers who would otherwise fall outside the definition of a ‘worker’ because they have no contract with either the supplier or the recipient of their services are nevertheless entitled to the national minimum wage. Home workers who might not otherwise be ‘workers’ owing to an absence of any personal obligation in the contract to carry out the work themselves are likewise entitled to be paid the national minimum wage. The genuinely self-employed are not entitled to be paid the national minimum...

Duty to participate in education and training until age 18 in England Sections 1 and 2 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 (ESA 2008) impose a duty on individuals in England to take part in education or training where they: are beyond compulsory school age have not yet turned 18, and have not achieved a ‘level three qualification’ (two A-levels, or other broadly comparable qualifications) Accordingly, anyone whose highest attainment is at level 2 must remain in education or training until they reach 18. This duty can be satisfied by the person choosing to: be in suitable full-time education or training participate in training under a contract of apprenticeship or an apprenticeship agreement, or be in full-time employment and undertake sufficient relevant education or training during each relevant period (as defined) Note that ESA 2008, ss 19–39, which would place specific obligations on employers of employees to whom the participation duty...