Public Law analysis: RMBC was required to comply with a Substituted Decision Notice (SDN) under section 58(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FIA 2000). The SDN directed it to respond to the claimant’s request for information without relying on FIA 2000, s 14 (vexatious or repeated requests). RMBC issued a fresh response. The claimant argued this response was inadequate and sought a finding of contempt. The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) held RMBC was not in contempt, as it had complied with the terms of the notice. The Upper Tribunal agreed. Contempt is a narrow jurisdiction, limited to breaches of a Tribunal order. An SDN remains a part of the general freedom of information request process, so disputes about the adequacy of a response or its compliance with FIA 2000 must instead be pursued through a complaint to the Information Commissioner (‘IC’) under FIA 2000, s 50. Written by Kyran Kanda, barrister at St Philips Chambers.

This is a Practice Note for lawyers working in, or for, Children’s Services departments within local authorities in Wales. It deals exclusively with the law that relates to Wales. For the law as it stands in England, regard should be had generally to: Local authority duties to children—overview. It is the second of three Practice Notes covering Children’s social care in Wales. For guidance on child protection in Wales, see Practice Note: Local authority duties to children in Wales—child protection [Archived] and for information on a Welsh local authority’s duties to looked after children, see Practice Note: Local authority duties to looked after children in Wales. For information on the duties of local authorities in England, see the Practice Notes referred to below. Provision of accommodation for children by a Welsh Local Authority Community care/adult social care practitioners will undoubtedly be familiar with section 20 of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989). Those looking for information on section 20 should consult Practice Note: Section 20

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) introduced new provisions in relation to trading and charging, but to understand the application and scope of the new powers it is important to first understand the statutory powers that preceded it. LGA 2003 powers draw a broad distinction between charging (ie cost recovery only) and trading (which allows the authority to make a profit). Crucially, the new powers do not apply where a specific power already exists. Therefore, when considering charging or trading, the first thing an authority should do is establish whether the project fits within one of the specific powers. Assuming it does not, the authority should consider whether the project is charging or trading. The key differences between the two are: • charging only relates to services, whereas the power to trade is for all services, works and supplies functions • all authorities can use the power to charge whereas

Byelaws are local laws or local statutory provision that have the force of law within the areas to which they apply. They generally require something to be done or not to be done in a particular location and are accompanied by some sanction or penalty for their non-observance. Local authorities in England create byelaws to ensure something is or is not done within part or all of its area. To ensure such orders are complied with requires the byelaw to be enforceable by law. This requires the byelaw to be: • created within the local authority powers • made by the correct decision-maker • created by a transparent process • written in clear and certain terms Local authority powers The power to create a byelaw is conferred by statute, either specifically or more generally. Specific powers confer certain powers to regulate certain activities, eg: • public walks and pleasure grounds • the regulation of open spaces • public bathing • pleasure fairs or roller skating rinks • market places Alternatively,

This Practice Note explains the civil powers available to a local highway authority for dealing with highway obstructions. It covers what an obstruction is and what the highway authority’s statutory power and duties are to deal with obstructions. It does not deal with criminal powers which are addressed by Practice Note: Local authority powers to manage highway obstructions—criminal offences. This Practice Note will be appropriate for use by local authorities outside of London. Most of the Practice Note will also be relevant for London authorities, but they should be aware that certain powers addressed below (such as sections 130A–130D of the Highways Act 1980 (HiA 1980)) do not apply in London. London authorities should separately confirm whether the powers set out below are available to them. What is an obstruction? There is no closed list or single statutory definition of an obstruction. A broad level definition may be that it is: ‘…something which permanently or temporarily removes the whole or part of a highway from the public use altogether.’ as

This Practice Note explains the criminal offences which a local highway authority could consider prosecuting under when dealing with highway obstructions. It does not deal with civil powers which are addressed in Practice Note: Local authority powers to manage highway obstructions—civil remedies. What is an obstruction? There is no closed list or single statutory definition of an obstruction. A broad level definition may be that it is: ‘…something which permanently or temporarily removes the whole or part of a highway from the public use altogether.’ as set out by Lord Evershed in Trevett v Lee. However, an additional element can be added to Lord Evershed’s broad definition which is ‘without lawful authority’. There are several ways in which a highway authority can permit or licence an otherwise unlawful obstruction of the highway. This can include permits for builders’ skips, scaffolding or the temporary deposit of building materials. See Practice Note: Highways obstructions—building works, scaffolding and skips. While it can be useful to bear a high-level definition in

This Practice Note summarises the statutory powers that enable local authorities to instigate commissioning arrangements for services, or Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). It also considers the basis for participation in external arrangements such as through Strategic Partnerships to deliver some of its functions. The Practice Note also deals with local authority powers and duties when collaborating with other local authorities through shared services arrangements; when working with other public bodies, such as the NHS; and when there is a statutory duty to co-operate in the delivery of services. It further identifies the constraints that may apply or limit their capacity to do so. Collaborating with external organisations is not a new concept in local government. In recent years, it has become increasingly necessary for local authorities to engage in a wide variety of different partnership arrangements. It is difficult to summarise these succinctly but they include the following: • shared services and commissioning models (including the ‘Commissioning Council’)—where two or more local authorities collaborate to deliver functions jointly (shared services) and where a

Local authorities must not publish any material appearing to be designed to affect public support for a political party (see section 2 Local Government Act 1986 and section 6(2) for 'local authority').

Sections 191–218 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (LURA 2023) (Part 10) contain provisions enabling local authorities (LAs) to hold rental auctions of vacant high street and town centre premises and then let them without the consent of the owner (landlord),and any superior landlord or mortgagee. The provisions of Part 10 apply only to England. They came into force on 2 December 2024 and are supplemented by the Local Authorities (Rental Auctions) (England) and Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/1139 (LA(RA) 2024 Regs) The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has also issued non-statutory Guidance on high street rental auctions (Guidance) which contains a useful flowchart of the process from start to finish and template forms, letters, tenancy contract and tenancy. Background—the high street vacancy problem In the Build Back Better High Streets Strategy published in July 2021, and the Levelling up white paper the government set out the intention to explore policy solutions which might address the issue of empty shops and offices

Types of debts to be recovered by local authorities A local authority debt recovery team deals in the collection either by the in-house team or through monitoring of out-sourced services of a number of liabilities owed to them including the following: • council tax—a tax levied on households by local authorities in Britain, based on the estimated value of a property and the number of people living in it. See Practice Notes: Council tax and Council Tax Enforcement • non-domestic rates—non-domestic rates, or business rates, are collected by billing authorities towards local services. See Practice Note: National non-domestic rates—billing recovery, exemptions and reliefs. • parking fines—unauthorised parking (eg parking in disabled bays, on double yellow lines, etc), exceeding parking time limits and parking without a ticket • sundry debts—relatively small debts relating to unpaid rents, former tenants’ arrears, funeral costs and overpayments of housing benefit • adult social care debt—where a financial assessment has determined that a person is liable for all or part of the cost of their care and support

This Practice Note identifies the framework of local authority duties in relation to the arrangement and funding of social care in England set out in the Care Act 2014 (CA 2014). It covers the general duties which have a substantial impact on local authorities’ general obligations in relation to the commissioning of health and social care provision. CA 2014, Pt 1 sets out the framework of local authority duties in relation to the arrangement and funding of social care. It contains a number of general duties which have a substantial impact on local authorities' general obligations in relation to the commissioning of health and social care provision. This Practice Note focuses on the key requirements of CA 2014, Pt 1. In this Practice Note, 'local authority' means a county council in England, a district council for an area in England for which there is no county council, a London borough council, or the Common Council of the City of London. Interpreting the social care framework in Part 1 CA

This Practice Note explains the statutory duties imposed on local authorities in relation to health services under the National Health Service Act 2006 (NHSA 2006), as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (HSCA 2012) and later legislation. It covers local authorities’ duties in terms of: • the scope of the services which they are responsible for commissioning or arranging, and • obligations to promote integration of services across local authority and NHS boundaries NB: On 13 March 2025, the Health Secretary announced that NHS England was to be abolished and many of its functions brought back into the Department of Health and Social Care. The reforms will reverse the 2012 re-organisation of the NHS but will take time to implement. They may well affect the arrangements described in this note. Public health services duty arising from HSCA 2012 The re-organisation of the health sector which was carried out by HSCA 2012 was based on the premise