Public authorities and the state

Liability of public authorities

Public authorities can include:

•
central government
•
police and emergency services
•
local authorities
•
local education authorities
•
housing authorities
•
the Ministry of Defence (MOD)
•
NHS bodies

Public authorities undertake a number of public functions which can give rise to public liability. When services are provided to members of the public, such as maintaining a highway, the public authority owes the public a duty of care.

The public authority can also be exposed to a private liability, for example when employing an individual.

Public authorities therefore owe both a private and public liability. By way of example, if a public authority breaches health and safety regulations at its premises and one of its employees is injured as a result, then, at the material time, it was carrying out what was essentially a private, rather than public, act. In these circumstances, although the defendant is a public authority, its status as such is unlikely to be of any real significance to the conduct of the claim. The cause of action will be the same as for a private body.

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