This Practice Note explains the powers available to deal with anti-social behaviour in an environmental context, in particular those introduced by the Anti-social...
Any consultation exercise carried out by a public authority in relation to a proposed decision must be conducted at a time when proposals are at a sufficiently formative...
ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note provides information on the data protection regime before 25 May 2018 and reflects the position under the Data Protection Act 1998...
The fluency duty With effect from 21 November 2016 there is a statutory requirement for workers in customer-facing roles in public authorities to be fluent in the English...
ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note provides information on the data protection regime before 25 May 2018 and reflects the position under the Data Protection Act 1998...
The freedom of information regime in the UK came fully into force in 2005, and is governed by the following key pieces of legislation: • Freedom of Information Act 2000...
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FIA 2000) confers a general right of access to information that is held by a public authority. By virtue of this right, any person...
The freedom of information regime in the United Kingdom is governed by the following key pieces of legislation: • Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FIA 2000) • Freedom of...
Local authority is a creature of statute As Lord Templeman famously indicated in Hazell v Hammersmith and Fulham LBC [1991] 1 All ER 545, a ‘local authority, although...
What does effective governance mean in the public sector? The function of governance is to ensure that an organisation or partnership fulfils its overall purpose,...
FORTHCOMING CHANGE: With effect from 6 April 2020, the special rules applying IR35 to off-payroll workers in the public sector are being extended to such workers when...
Legal status of local authorities Superficially, those elected to run a local authority will take decisions as they see fit, according to their electoral mandate, and...
ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note provides information on the data protection regime before 25 May 2018 and reflects the position under the Data Protection Act 1998...
The power for a local authority to charge and trade has existed for some time, but its legal basis has never been entirely clear. The Local Government Act 2003 (LGA 2003)...
Overview Collaborating with external organisations is not a new concept in local government. However, in recent years, it has become increasingly...
This Practice Note states the law as understood in England. Local authorities and other public bodies have a general duty to act fairly. This applies both to procedure...
Since the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR 2004), SI 2004/3391, there have been arguments that...
The public sector equality duty (PSED) as defined and set out in Part 11 of the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) comprises: • a general equality duty—the over-arching...
The public sector equality duty (PSED) as defined and set out in Part 11 of the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) comprises: • a general equality duty—the over-arching...
The public sector equality duty (PSED) as defined and set out in Part 11 of the Equality Act 2010 (sections 149–159) (EqA 2010) is made up of a ‘general equality duty’...
Statutory user rights—background Statutory user rights arose to assist local councils after the 1974 reorganisation of local government. Before the reorganisation, there...
The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA 2016) received Royal Assent on 29 November 2016 and its provisions are in the process of coming into force. When brought into force...
Background to the Future Generations Act When first introduced in 2012, the Bill which became the Well-Being of Future Generations Act 2015 (Future Generations Act)...
What is the community right to bid? The community right to bid was introduced by sections 87–108 of the Localism Act 2011 (LA 2011) to enable local community groups to...
Since 2015, certain ‘specified authorities’ have been under a statutory duty, in the exercise of their functions, to have due regard to the need to prevent...
In brief The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FIA 2000) grants a right of access to information held by public authorities. Under this right, any person making a valid...