This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes case analysis of Oxford Hotel Investments Ltd v Great Yarmouth BC on whether a microwave alone constitutes ‘cooking facilities’ for the purposes of the HMO test; Rehman v SSHSC concerning COVID-19 elements being struck out of nursing home fatal accident claims; and R (Coventry CC) v Home Secretary, in which the court dismissed a judicial review claim challenging the lawfulness of the Home Office’s actions in placing asylum seekers in accommodation in the claimant’s local authority area. Case reports include WM v Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, clarifying the jurisdiction of the First-tier Tribunal to make statutory recommendations for leave under section 72(3) of Mental Health Act 1983; Sex Matters v Mayor and Commonality and Citizens of the CoL, in which judicial review permission concerning a challenge to admission arrangements at pond facilities based on gender identity rather than biological sex was dismissed as premature; R (Spiropoulos) v LGO, clarifying the scope of the LGO’s jurisdiction under section 26 of Local Government Act 1974; Surrey CC v Persons Unknown concerning an injunction granted to prevent unauthorised encampments and fly-tipping in Chobham Common; Mayor and Commonality and Citizens of the CoL v RWHL regarding non-domestic rates liability despite CVA; R (CLT) v Hounslow LBC concerning a judicial review allowed recognising the claimant as a looked-after child; DBS v A Local Authority, clarifying that the DBS is entitled to disclosure of information regarding family court proceedings from a local authority; and R (CHO) v Governing Body of Lonsdale School, concerning a judicial review dismissed over special school hours. It includes expert analysis of the Local Government Funding Settlement and the government’s move towards a radical rebalancing of funding in favour of more deprived councils, to and further updates on Social housing, Adult social care, Judicial review, Governance, Local government finance, Children’s social care, Education, Public procurement, Licensing, Pensions and Planning.

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes expert analysis of Unipart Group Ltd v Supply Chain Coordination Ltd on the logistics of lifting the automatic suspension in procurement cases plus case reports including on A Local Authority v LB (acting by her Guardian), in which the court considered whether to grant a deprivation of liberty order for 15-year-old child under LA care; R (B) v North Central London ICB, in which the court made findings on the issues of non-disclosure, unjust enrichment, breach of statutory duty and admission of fresh evidence on appeal; and Ross v SSHCLG, in which the court dismissed a claim against the Inspector’s decision to allow the proposed development. News coverage includes the MHCLG policy paper summarising feedback on interim plans for local government re-organisation and DfE guidance on strategic school procurement. It also includes further updates on Public procurement, Governance, Education, Social care, Social housing and Environmental law and climate change.

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes the latest coverage on LGR, and expert analysis on PA 2023 one year on, highlighting latest details and developments with market insights and reflections. Case analysis includes A&P68 Ltd v Bradford MDC, in which the court confirmed that liability for business rates in rates mitigation schemes turns on a single purposive test of who enjoys the immediate right to possession; Medway Council v The Father, clarifying the meaning of confinement, the zone of parental responsibility and the required considerations for determining the child’s best interests in the context of a DOLS application; DSG Retail Ltd v ICO, clarifying that data remains ‘personal data’ from the controller’s perspective even if anonymised in the hands of a hacker; R (OAJ) v His Majesty’s Treasury, upholding the exclusion of NRPF applicants from childcare support schemes; and Wiltshire Council v SSHCLG, confirming that subsequent events cannot retrospectively invalidate a lawful planning permission. It includes case reports on R (Leighton Middle School) v IAP of Central Bedfordshire Council, granting permission for judicial review of a school admissions appeal decision for non-compliance with the Appeal Code, and R (East Riding of Yorkshire Council) v Bowers, in which the UT set aside golf and gym provision in an EHC plan for lack of nexus with SEN. This edition includes further updates on Local government reorganisation, Public procurement, Local government finance, Children’s social care, Governance, Planning, Environmental law and climate change, Education, Licensing and Adult social care.

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights leads with the Grenfell report with further analysis to follow. The weekly highlights also includes case reports on an appeal against the FTT's decision on a rent repayment order in favour of the respondents in Kumar v Kolev, and an appeal against an order of a judge’s refusal of the local authority’s application for a child’s placement order in Re M (A Child). Further updates are included on Social housing, Public procurement, Children’s social care, Social care and Healthcare.

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes the latest developments on local government reorganisation (LGR), with MHCLG publishing implementation letters for 13 LGR areas and guidance on selecting new Local Government Pension Scheme administering authorities where councils are undergoing LGR. Public procurement updates include the Cabinet Office publishing Procurement Policy Note 026: The Social Value Model, introducing a new Social Value Model for central government procurement under the Procurement Act 2023 and the latest update of the Public Procurement Review Service referrals and case resolutions, covering cases from January 2018 to June 2026. Case analysis includes G v Barking and Dagenham LBC, on the lawful discharge of homelessness duties under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996; Barclay v SoST, on development consent for Gatwick airport expansion; and Staunch Campaign v North Northamptonshire Council, on treating replacement habitat as mitigation rather than compensation under the Habitats Regulations. Case reports include Manaquel v Lambeth LBC, in which the Court of Appeal held that the validity of improvement notices must be assessed at the date of service and City of London v 48th Street Holdings, in which the Court of Appeal held that a ‘box-shifting’ business rates mitigation scheme did not amount to beneficial occupation. It also covers the latest on fiscal devolution reforms for mayors across England and the new approach to adult social care reform and includes further updates on Local government reorganisation, Public procurement, Social housing, Planning, Local government finance, Governance, Adult social care, Education and Healthcare.

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes expert analysis of the decisions in One Tickle & Summers v BBC and others, which in the Court of Appeal reversed the anonymisation of family court judges; Medicare v NHS Northamptonshire ICB, concerning an application by a contracting authority to lift the automatic suspension under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, focusing on the balance between damages and convenience, with compelling factors favoring the suspension's removal; the Divisional Court’s ruling that rent is not payable by contract-holders in Wales unless and until landlords provide them with a copy of Electrical Condition Reports (ECRs) for their homes, in Coastal Housing Group v Mitchell; and Re Purity Ltd, where the Administrative Court heard a company's request for stay denied in HMRC winding up case under the Finance Act 2022. Case reports include Re Recognition of Nigerian Adoption, where the court ruled in favour of the recognition of Nigerian adoption in England; Gregory v JCIO, which in the court determined that the claimants' complaints about a judicial decision and case management; the court’s Court denial of a Deprivation of Liberty Order in Rochdale BC v The Mother; and Vanhove v SSE, where the court upheld the TRA panel's decision on unauthorized school fund use. The weekly highlights includes further updates on Social care, Healthcare and Environmental law and climate change.

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes: the latest updates on public procurement and case reports on R (on the application of Wendy Smith) v SSHD (Friends, Families and Travellers and another intervening) which found amendments to certain provisions of CJPOA 1994 and PCSCA 2022 incompatible with ECHR; ADL and others v SSHD which found the SSHD acted unlawfully in failing to consider whether imposing a monitoring device was contrary to ECHR; Boohene and others v The Royal Parks Ltd dismissing an appeal claiming indirect racial discrimination contrary to EqA 2010 for failure to pay contract workers the London Living Wage; and Bhogal (Aka Mr Paramjeet Bhogal) v National Education Union dismissing an application for an interim injunction seeking a stay of disciplinary proceedings pending a trial of claim seeking declaratory relief that the claimant was entitled to legal representation. It also includes further updates on Governance, Social care, Healthcare and Social housing.

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes expert analyses on the decisions in Working on Wellbeing Ltd trading as Optima Health v (1) Secretary State for Work and Pensions (2) Department for Work and Pension in which the Court of Appeal has ruled on the duty to clarify tender submissions with bidders in UK public procurement; R (Bano) v Waltham Forrest in which the Court of Appeal held that the LA’s housing duty under section 193(2) of the Housing Act 1996 ended on refusal of an offer of private accommodation; Khan v D’Aubigny clarifying answers to questions on service of documents, application of deemed service provisions and the importance of the common law presumption about service by post; R (BLZ) v Leeds CC clarifying that LA’s must disregard Home Office Bail Accommodation for Foreign National Offenders when assessing their duties under the Care Act 2014; and Paton and Paton v SoSLUHC, where the court addressed a planning appeal involving two parties who contested the refusal of planning permission for their development. Case reports include LS88 Ltd v Tower Hamlets LBC, where the Tribunal upheld financial penalties for consumer rights breaches; R (TZA) v A Secondary School, where the Court of Appeal upheld a school’s decision to permanently exclude a pupil as it found that the school properly reconsidered the decision and provided adequate reasons in compliance with PSED and guidance; Bruce v Secretary of State for Education in which the court upheld a teacher's prohibition for misconduct despite alleged procedural irregularities; RP v Barnsley MDC, where the court found two errors of law in both the procedural irregularity in the differing pagination of bundles and the FTT’s failure to order the necessary changes to the children’s EHC Plans from the start of their placement; and Murray v Information Commissioner in which the FTT dismissed an appeal under EIR 2004 as it was unanimously decided that the information requested was not held by the public authority at time of request. This week's highlights include further updates on Social housing, Social care, Education, Children’s social care, Healthcare, Licensing, Environmental law and climate change and Planning.

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes case analysis of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust v HMRC, in which the Supreme Court ruled that hospital car parking charges are subject to VAT; Wandsworth LBC v Young, clarifying notification duties on discharge of the main housing duty and public law defences to possession claims for temporary accommodation; CKT and DGT v Twyford CE Academies Trust, in which the High Court considered whether school faith-based over-subscription criteria amounts to race discrimination; Turner v SSHCLG, in which the court confirmed that an enforcement notice can be validly served by fixing it to main entrance of multi-occupier site; and Wealden DC v Devall, in which a Planning injunction was granted to restrain unlawful rebuilding and hardstanding on sensitive land. Case reports include R (Hassen) v Westminster CC, in which the court ordered the council to house the homeless applicant after breach of a Tomlin order and awarded damages; Daniah v SSE, in which the court dismissed an appeal against teaching prohibition orders for operating an unregistered independent educational institution; and R (Margery Kempe Trust) v Norfolk CC, in which the Administrative Court rejected a challenge against a local authority property disposal. It includes further updates on Social housing, Education, Planning, Governance, Public procurement, Children's social care, Social care, Pensions, Licensing and Environmental law and climate change.

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes: case analysis of Cetin v Epping Forest DC, in which the UT found that a residential letting agent instructed on a ‘let only’ basis to let a room in an HMO and no further involvement after the first instalment of rent on the day of letting is not a ‘person managing’ the HMO under section 263(3) of the Housing Act 2004. Case reports include R (Anisa Begum) v LBTH Shelter, in which the Court of Appeal rejected an indirect discrimination claim over temporary housing allocation; Abdelrahman v Mayor and Burgesses of LB of Islington, in which the Court of Appeal upheld the council’s succession policy finding its interpretation of ‘stepchild’ valid and ECHR compliant; Westminster CC v Gems House Residences Chiltern Street Ltd, in which the court found that Westminster CC was not entitled to enforce an affordable housing covenant and A & E Baines v North Yorkshire CC, in which the High Court upheld the lawfulness of the council’s consultation and decision-making process for four TRO’s in the Harrogate Station Gateway Scheme. It also includes coverage of updates to the Affordable Homes Programme 2021–2026 guidance, reflecting a new £1.2bn bridge fund allocation; the introduction of new legal duties for English universities to promote academic freedom and protect free speech, enforceable by the OfS from 1 August 2025; the DfE improvement notice issued to Reading Borough Council following Ofsted’s findings of weaknesses in multi-agency support for children affected by domestic abuse and CQC enforcement action against seven adult social care providers. It includes further updates on Social housing, Education, Children’s social care, Social care and Environmental law and climate change.

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes coverage of the Spring Budget 2024 and its impact on local government practitioners. Case reports include Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust v Revenue and Customs Commissioners in which the Court of Appeal confirmed that the NHS Trust’s provision of car parking on a hospital site was not subject to VAT; Marks and Spencer Plc v Secretary of State for Levelling Up Housing and Communities and others concerning an application to quash a decision to refuse planning permission of a nine-storey building; and Lisle-Mainwaring v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea which dismissed a judicial review application regarding an order to quash a decision to approve a construction traffic management plan. The weekly highlights also includes further updates on Public procurement, Social housing, Education, Healthcare and Planning.

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes the latest developments on local government reorganisation and public procurement, including Institute for Government commentary recommending a national system of all-out council elections and transitional regulations under the new English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026, and a case report on Parkingeye v Velindre University NHS Trust, the first challenge under Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) in which the High Court refused to lift the automatic suspension under PA 2023, s 102(2). Case analysis includes Re T on the use of the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction to authorise a child’s deprivation of liberty where no secure accommodation is available, CYK v Kent CC on young asylum seekers and the interaction between local authority duties and asylum support and Heart of Wales Care v Swansea on Welsh local authorities’ duties to care home providers when setting fees. Case reports include University of Sussex v OfS, in which the High Court quashed the OfS decision on freedom of speech and academic freedom. It also includes further updates on Local government reorganisation, Public procurement, Children’s social care, Adult social care, Education, Social housing, Local authority prosecutions, Planning and Environmental law and climate change.