Featured documents
R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
Most recent News
In this issue: Public procurement Governance Children’s social care Highways Social housing Planning Healthcare Social care Education Licensing Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Latest Q& A Public procurement Cabinet Office clarifies Procurement Act 2023 guidance on pipeline notices Each procurement above £2m in a contracting authority’s pipeline will require its own pipeline notice. Under the Procurement Act 2023 ( PA 2023), the first of these must appear by 26 May 2025. The Cabinet Office’s updated guidance confirms this as a practical step, ensuring later notices for each procurement can be cross-referenced to the relevant pipeline entry on the central digital platform, Find a Tender. See: LNB News 14/05/2025 18. Cabinet Office seeks feedback on Procurement Act 2023 The Cabinet Office has launched a new stakeholder survey within its...
R (on the application of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) v NHS North West London Integrated Care Board [2025] EWHC 889 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The practical implications of this case for lawyers are as follows: an indication that children’s continuing care is separate to NHS continuing healthcare ( Care) for adults. Adult Care sits under The National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups ( Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012, SI 2012/2996; by contrast, children’s continuing care is not set out in statute but is directed by the ‘ National Framework for Children and Young People’s Continuing Care’. Consequently, the child’s age is a material consideration and will decide whether a statutory regime is engaged or not care that confers therapeutic benefit does not, without more, amount to...
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and another v Loveridge and others [2025] EWHC 738 ( KB) What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment is important for practitioners as it clarifies the correct approach to two novel questions arising after Wolverhampton: the court’s power when renewing a traveller injunction targeted at newcomer persons unknown, as distinct from orders against identified defendants and the broader class of persons unknown; and how the Wolverhampton guidance for making traveller injunctions interfaces with the precautionary relief test for persons unknown in Vastint [2019] 4 WLR 2. The renewal application was determined de novo. The court confirmed that the multifactorial approach in Vastint (see [31]) has not been disapproved by Wolverhampton and was applied in this case (at [83]). The decision also serves as a reminder of the importance of full and frank disclosure on without notice...
In this issue: Public procurement Governance Social housing Children's social care Planning Social care Local government finance Education Environmental law and climate change Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Latest Q& A Public procurement DBT confirms UK– India free trade pact delivering £25.5bn trade lift The UK government has wrapped up a landmark free trade pact with India after sustained talks led by Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds alongside India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. Heralded as the strongest agreement India has struck with the UK, it is expected to raise bilateral trade by £25.5bn, contribute around £4.8bn to the UK economy, and increase pay by roughly £2.2bn annually over the long run. The deal secures deep tariff cuts on 90% of UK exports to India, with notable gains for whisky,...
Trower v Elmbridge Borough Council [2025] EWHC 314 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The judgment offers a concise survey of the rules on lawful consultation and the central tenets of the public sector equality duty, but its core significance lies in its analysis of the legal framework for Public Spaces Protection Orders ( PSPOs) under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Police Act 2014 ( ABCPA 2014). ABCPA 2014 permits interested persons to pursue a statutory appeal against a PSPO on grounds largely mirroring those in judicial review. Consequently, PSPOs must satisfy public law standards, notably clarity sufficient to direct affected individuals who might face prosecution for contravening their terms. Where an order fails, on its face, to state when it applies and when it does not, it lacks the requisite certainty and is unlikely to meet the...
In this issue: Public procurement Children’s social care Social care Planning Governance Education Social housing Healthcare Prosecutions by local authorities Daily and weekly news alerts New precedent—template order approving instruction of an expert whose hours or rates exceed Legal Aid Agency limits—public law Public procurement Cabinet Office updates PPNs on data protection and payment spot checks The Cabinet Office has introduced two additional new Procurement Policy Notes within the refreshed set of PPNs republished alongside the Procurement Act 2023 ( PA 2023) go-live— PPN 020: Guidance on data protection legislation and PPN 021: Payment Spot Checks in Public Sub- Contracts. PPN 020: Guidance on data protection legislation offers revised direction on relevant and applicable data protection obligations under the UK GDPR and the UK International Data Transfer Agreement ( IDTA) that regulate the transfer of personal data from the UK. PPN 020 takes effect immediately. It supersedes PPN 03/22, which provided streamlined guidance and refreshed model clauses to...
Laidley (by his Litigation Friend the Official Solicitor) v Metropolitan Housing Trust Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 448 What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling concerns the relatively uncommon situation in which a trial judge, invoking CCA 1984, s 63, appoints an individual to serve as an assessor where a party to the proceedings has a mental health issue. It affirms that, in those circumstances, the judge retains a broad discretion over the manner and extent of the assessor’s involvement. As a general position, communications between the court and the assessor do not have to be disclosed, and the trial judge ought not to constrain that discretion by prescribing in advance exactly how the assessor will be utilised. That overarching approach is, however, capable of exception. For example, where the assessor themself supplies further material that amounts to evidence, or initiates a new line of...
R (on the application of YVR, (a protected party, by his litigation friend YUL)) v Birmingham City Council [2025] EWCA Civ 393 What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling offers significant direction on how the public sector equality duty ( PSED) should operate inside local authority governance and decision frameworks. It confirms that the person or body genuinely empowered by the authority’s constitution must give due regard to the section 149 Equality Act 2010 ( EA 2010) needs, rather than those who would have taken the decision had a different route been pursued. Accordingly, officers acting under delegated powers may lawfully opt to keep existing policies in place without escalating the matter (for instance) to Cabinet, even where any alteration to those policies would have needed Cabinet approval. The judgment also gives a measure of assurance to local...
On the morning of 17 April 2025, EHRC chair Kishwer Falkner said the regulator is ‘working at pace’ to deliver a refreshed code of conduct this summer, following the Supreme Court’s ruling that clarified transgender people do not have a legal entitlement to enter single‑sex spaces that match their chosen gender. In response to the judgment, legislators and employers have similarly been urged to revisit existing legal guidance and related policies. Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, stated that the Equality Act 2010 ( Eq A 2010) — the principal anti‑discrimination statute — and the Gender Recognition Act 2004 ought to be examined to ensure they prevent discrimination and do not enable ‘social engineering’. ‘ These laws were written more than 20 years ago, when the world was different. A lot of people are trying to change what the law means,’...
R (on the application of The Spitalfields Historic Building Trust) ( Appellant) v London Borough of Tower Hamlets and another ( Respondents) [2025] UKSC 11 What are the practical implications of this case? Many planning applications placed before a local authority are complex and, in practice, involve continuing discussions between the developer and the local planning authority that lead to alterations to the scheme. In such circumstances, it is commonplace for planning committees to defer determination to allow further negotiations to occur, with a revised scheme returning to committee for consideration at a later date. Those amendments arise from the ongoing dialogue. This judgment confirms that a local authority may lawfully include in its constitution standing orders that restrict the right to vote on an application deferred from an earlier meeting to councillors who were present at that earlier session. In effect, a...
High Court confirms parents can consent to child’s deprivation of liberty ( Blackburn With Darwen BC v BM and others) Blackburn With Darwen Borough Council v BM and others [2025] EWHC 745 ( Fam) What are the practical implications of this case? In practice, this decision carries the following implications: The case involved a fifteen-year-old who was not Gillick competent. Had Q been 16, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 would have applied, triggering a different jurisdictional basis for consent. Accordingly, a child’s age and Gillick competence are central considerations for practitioners to weigh carefully The holders of PR supported the local authority’s plan, and the Court was not invited to examine alternative routes that might have left PR in place under a care order. As a result, the judgment is chiefly pertinent to cases presenting a closely comparable factual matrix......
The Julie Richardson Ltd and another v Oxfordshire County Council [2024] EWHC 3233 ( KB) What are the practical implications of this case? A local authority’s obligation to secure an adult’s care and support under CA 2014 may turn on the adult’s financial means. Accordingly, the charges for residential nursing care will, in some instances, be payable by the individual, and in others by the authority. The scenario presented in this dispute is unlikely to be exceptional. Residents at the nursing homes had been meeting fees privately until their resources fell to a threshold at which the authority’s duty to meet need arose. During that transition, the homes continued to deliver care while the authority undertook the required financial assessments. In consequence, there were intervals for which no fees were settled. The providers were left carrying the cost of care already supplied. To obtain...
In this issue: Governance Healthcare Social housing Public procurement Planning Education Children's social care Highways Local Government finance Social care Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content No Weekly Highlights on 24 April 2025 Governance Supreme Court holds that Eq A 2010 terms ‘man’, ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ refer to biological sex ( For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers) The UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled that, for the Equality Act 2010, the terms ‘man’, ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ denote biological sex rather than ‘certificated sex’. It held that holders of Gender Recognition Certificates ( GRCs) are not within the Eq A 2010 definition of their acquired gender. The judgment confirms that trans people remain protected from discrimination via the gender reassignment provisions, and may claim sex...
What does the Guidance cover? The Guidance covers the following topic: Core principles of anonymisation and pseudonymisation The Guidance opens by affirming the core legal position: anonymised information lies beyond the reach of the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation, Assimilated Regulation ( EU) 2016/679 ( UK GDPR), whereas pseudonymised information does not. The ICO then explains how this plays out in practice and the advantages linked to each category of data. It frames anonymisation as a personal data minimisation exercise, and pseudonymisation as a means of mitigating risk. Anonymisation involves transforming data so that the individuals to whom it pertains are not, or are no longer, identifiable. Under the UK GDPR, the standard is ‘effective’ anonymisation—reducing the chance of a person being identified to a sufficiently remote level, thereby severing any link between the information and the individual. Merely removing direct...
Glasgow City Council ( Respondent) v X ( Appellant) [2025] UKSC 13 Background This appeal addresses the extent of the interim obligation placed on local authorities in Scotland to arrange temporary housing for qualifying homeless persons. After asylum and refugee status were granted, the appellant and her family lost eligibility for Home Office accommodation. They thereby became homeless, and the duty to house them transferred to the respondent as the relevant local authority. The household comprises the appellant, her husband, and four children, including a son with autism and additional needs. In February 2021 the respondent secured temporary lodgings for the family under the mandatory interim duty in H( S) A 1987, s 29(1). The placement was a four-apartment dwelling (three bedrooms and a sitting room). Their permanent housing needs were later assessed as a five-apartment property to meet their son’s additional support needs. The...
In this issue: Public procurement Social housing Education Social care Highways Children's social care Local government finance Planning Pensions Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Public procurement Cabinet Office publishes Public Procurement Review Service Progress Report 2023–2024 The Cabinet Office has released the Public Procurement Review Service ( PPRS) Progress Report 2023–2024, charting trends between 6 April 2023 and 5 April 2024. The service’s five recurring themes were payment, evaluation, use of frameworks, feedback and communication. Over the period, the service handled 119 cases, a 30.8% increase on the prior year, with more than half coming from new users. The Cabinet Office confirmed that 100% of recorded case outcomes were assessed as ‘positive’. Focus areas included greater operational transparency, stronger engagement with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, active support for the Small...
R (on the application of Amalgamated Smart Metering Ltd) v Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council [2025] EWHC 97 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The court underscored that allowing extra time to bring a late judicial review is exceptional, not routine. Such extensions are seldom permitted. The court emphasised that any delay must be rigorously justified. Clear, prompt steps and proof of urgency are essential. Equilibrium between private rights and orderly public administration is central. This framework directs the court’s discretion in planning claims. The ruling also distilled two key points for planning judicial reviews issued after the six weeks challenge period. First, it reaffirmed the court’s approach to extensions set out in Thornton Hill Hotel: the claimant must demonstrate they acted with the greatest possible celerity in issuing a claim; and the court must strike a fair balance between the...
R (on the application of LW, by her litigation friend) v Islington London Borough Council [2025] EWHC 703 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? Practitioners in this area will recognise the significant backlogs in the FTT, with some final hearings not listed until a year after registration (despite an intended 12-week timetable). Comparable postponements arise in disability discrimination matters as well. Frequently, the children and young people central to these disputes are going without the special educational provision required to meet their needs, or are entirely out of education, so it is unsurprising that parents look for swifter alternative routes, including Judicial Review. This judgement offers helpful direction on the lawfulness of commencing a Judicial Review where the FTT appeal route has not been completed. It also clarifies the kinds of situations a court may treat as...
In this issue: Children's social care Education Governance Local government finance Social housing Social care Healthcare Planning Environmental law and climate change New and updated content Latest Q& A Children's social care Court rejects application for deprivation of liberty order ( Blackburn With Darwen Borough Council v BM) In Blackburn With Darwen Borough Council v BM [2025] EWHC 745 ( Fam), the Family Division refused the local authority’s inherent jurisdiction application to authorise a child’s deprivation of liberty. The court determined that consent from those holding parental responsibility amounted to sufficient authorisation. The matter concerned a 15-year-old autistic child with significant learning disabilities. It was held that, where a child is accommodated under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 with parental agreement, and the parents take a child-focused approach to the care plan and work...
R (on the application of The Ramblers’ Association) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and others [2025] EWHC 537 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling carries weight whenever reliance is placed on the statutory presumption of highway dedication in section 31(1) of the Highways Act 1980. In considering whether the public has actually enjoyed a route for a complete 20-year term, the enquiry is not confined to literal, physical passage; it extends to the public having the benefit of being able to use the way. Accordingly, proof of uninterrupted, day-to-day use throughout the whole period is unnecessary. A mere lack of seamless continuity, or pauses in use, does not, of itself, displace the presumption. The proper test is whether, looked at across the entire 20 years, the level and nature of use would put a...
Popular documents
When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
Discover more from LexisNexis
