Local Government - March and April 2008

Welcome to the March and April edition of our e-Bulletin for local and public authorities. We highlight some changes in the law over the last month of interest to local authorities....

... In this edition we focus on social housing.  We look at the cases of Accent Peerless v Kingsdon, Sandwell MBC v Hensley and Birmingham City Council v Aweys & Others, the Housing and Regeneration Bill, anti-social behaviour, and equal pay.  We also include an update on children’s and adult services law, our regular ethical standards clinic and our digest of case law and new legislation.

Housing – disability discrimination

The case of  Accent  Peerless Ltd  v Kingsdon, which was decided recently, considered the legal principles which have to be taken into account when deciding whether a possession order is made in a case where a tenant has a mental disability. Sian Evans considers the recent case of Accent Peerless Ltd v Kingsdon.

Housing – Housing and Regeneration Bill

In this issue consideration is given to the recent bill which was published on 16 November 2007 being the Housing and Regeneration Bill which deals with the New Homes and Communities Agency and The Office for Tenants and Social Landlords. Karen Neald provides an overview of the Housing and Regeneration Bill which was recently published.

Housing – possession proceedings

The Court of Appeal in Sandwell MBC v Hensley [2007] EWCA Civ 1425 re-visited the position dealing with criminal convictions. Andrew Logan considers the recent case of Sandwell MBC v Hensley where the Court considered whether it was reasonable to make an outright possession order when a tenant had been convicted of various offences relating to cannabis.

Homelessness

What happens if you have a duty to rehouse a family living in overcrowded  conditions but can never find suitable accommodation because “street homeless” applicants take priority?   Peter Wake examines the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Birmingham City Council v Aweys & Others.

Anti Social Behaviour

Is this a legal first?  Belinda Moore looks at a case where a man who breached a restraining order received an Anti-Social Behaviour Order banning him from living and sleeping in his own home.

Ethical Standards Clinic

More questions and answers about Standards Committee hearings.  Claire Lefort considers requests to film proceedings, framing the committee’s decision, and preparing for an appeal to the APE..

Children’s and adult services

Update on children and adult services.   Catriona Sangster reports on court fees in care proceedings, new Public Law Outline forms, implementing the Mental Health Act 2007, a CSCI review of the ‘Fair Access to Care Services’ system, pilots to integrate social care records with the NHS’s Personal Demographics Service, CRB checks taken over by the Independent Safeguarding Authority and a major Department of Health consultation exercise.

Equal pay

The EAT has held that a bonus scheme designed to reward police officers working at night was an appropriate and necessary means of achieving the legitimate aim of rewarding working anti-social hours, despite the scheme adversely effecting women.  Jawaid Rehman, the head of the Weightmans Equal Pay Forum, introduces the Forum and Ashley Irving, a Paralegal at Weightmans London office, looks at the recent decision in Chief Constable of West Midlands Police v. Blackburn and another.

Cases and legislation

We highlight new cases and legislation of interest to local authorities in February and March 2008.

We hope that you find our bulletin informative and practical and we would welcome feedback on ways in which we can ensure that the bulletin best meets your needs.  The Bulletin’s editor is Graeme Creer, Partner.

This update does not attempt to provide a full analysis of those matters with which it deals and is provided for general information purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice and should not be treated as a substitute for legal advice. Weightmans LLP accepts no responsibility for any loss that may arise from reliance on the information in this update. The copyright in this update is owned by Weightmans.