The High Court has allowed four disabled individuals to bring a judicial review challenge of how the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Thérèse Coffey, conducted the consultation on a proposed new national strategy for people with disabilities.

Suez Recycling and Recovery Surrey has won a stay of proceedings in a dispute with Surrey County Council over the provision of waste infrastructure.

Leeds District Magistrates Court erred by deeming an application frivolous and refusing to state a case for the opinion of the High Court, a judge has ruled.

Hertfordshire County Council was wrong to withhold information on how an academy trust was chosen to provide schools in Bishop's Stortford and the Information Commissioner had been wrong to agree with the council’s arguments.

A Family Court judge has praised the London Borough of Bromley for its “brave but proper decision” to end care proceedings in case where a child was suspected to have suffered deliberate injury but was later found not to.

The London Borough of Croydon has won a High Court case brought against it by Birmingham City Council over how an asylum seeker’s age was calculated.

The Government should pause any further extensions of permitted development rights (PDRs) for change of use to residential and conduct a review of the role of such PDRs in the wider planning system, MPs have said.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, has chosen his preferred proposals for local government reorganisation in Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Somerset.

A parish councillor has won a High Court challenge over a decision by a Deputy Monitoring Officer (DMO) to uphold a complaint that he had breached its Code of Conduct for Members (PC Code).

The Judicial Review and Courts Bill has been introduced to Parliament today (21 July), with the Government claiming it would “equip judges with the tools to give more tailored solutions in judicial review cases”.

Sarah Salmon, a specialist in local government, housing and property law and chair of the Social Housing Law Association, has joined Cornerstone Barristers.

Buckinghamshire Council has been repaid £59,000 after its planning enforcement team secured the clear up of unsightly clutter and removal of an illegal extension in the garden of a property in High Wycombe.

Blackpool Council and its wholly owned company Blackpool Transport Services have been ordered to pay £109,000 in damages and costs to a religious organisation run by evangelist Franklin Graham after refusing to advertise a rally on buses.

A prosecution brought by Birmingham City Council has seen Vue Entertainment fined £750,000 for breaching health and safety legislation at its Star City theatre in Nechells which led to a cinema-goer’s death.

Cafcass has implemented a process to prioritise and manage high workloads in areas covering Birmingham, the Black Country, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Herefordshire family courts due to what it called "unsustainable pressures" on the family justice system in the area.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has issued a revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework and a new National Design Code.

Campaign group Big Brother Watch has hit out at councils’ use of algorithms, claiming that most of those it had uncovered were “secretive, unevidenced, incredibly invasive and likely discriminatory”.

A boy missed out on suitable schooling and support because his disabilities did not meet West Sussex County Council's criteria for an assessment, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has reported.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has launched an inquiry that will consider the effectiveness of existing methods of challenging local authority decisions about individuals’ entitlements to adult social care or support in England and Wales, including – but not limited to – complaints…

The parent of a child who attends a Special Educational Needs school has won a judicial review challenge over Thanet Council’s grant of planning permission for an adjacent site.

A series of “unpleasant, personally critical publications” by a blogger about a senior local government officer did not found a successful claim for harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, a High Court judge has ruled.

The time is right to consider a more radical review of local government finances, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has said.

The Local Government Association has published supporting guidance which is aimed to help understanding and consistency of approach towards the Model Councillor Code of Conduct.

Mohammed Farooq, Monitoring Officer and Head of the Law and Governance Division at Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, won the Inspirational Leader Award 2021 at the LLG Awards 2021 last night (15 July).

The government has announced a range of measures aimed at improving high streets including new powers for councils to compulsorily purchase empty properties, changes to licensing laws and a new permitted development right to enable retail premises to be converted into residential housing.

Not all of the safety measures employed in HMCTS' buildings will go on 19 July when the England moves to step four of the Government’s roadmap and social distancing is no longer required, its acting chief executive has said.

The chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life has said the watchdog remains concerned that the Government has not formally responded to its local government ethical standards report, some two and a half years after it was published.

A charity has threatened Coventry City Council with a judicial review challenge over its grant of planning permission for a 2,400-home development at Eastern Green.

The President of the Family Division has ruled out issuing firm guidance on how the family courts and the Court of Protection should approach their work after 19 July – dubbed ‘Freedom Day’ – when coronavirus restrictions are lifted by the Government.

Some coronavirus restrictions in England may need to be retained after 19 July to allow courts to run safely and efficiently, the Law Society has warned.

Fiona Scolding QC and Samantha Broadfoot QC have been named as joint heads of Landmark Chambers’ Public Law Group, succeeding David Lock QC.

Without urgent action from government, the audit system for local authorities in England may soon reach breaking point, an influential committee of MPs has warned.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is engaging on a ‘Pathfinder’ initiative with the Planning Inspectorate to review its current enforcement workload to identify which appeals could be referred to mediation.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is to offer boroughs funding to purchase homes previously sold through the Right to Buy.

The London Borough of Lambeth has secured an order for possession against occupiers camping on Clapham Common.

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal by a council over a judge’s order that effectively rejected the local authority’s care plan for adoption for an 18-month-old child (A).

The Good Law Project has launched a judicial review challenge against five local authorities over the placement of children in care outside their local area and against the Education Secretary over the failure to force the councils to comply with their obligations.

The High Court has thrown out a judicial review challenge over the lawfulness of a decision by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care during the pandemic to award a £102.6m contract to a company for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), after finding the claim form was not…

Bedford Borough Council has issued a prior information notice on its plans to procure a barristers framework contract worth up to £3m.

The Government has launched an operational review of the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) regime with the aim of some projects going through the process in up to half the time than at present.

Historic England has chosen eight barristers’ chambers to provide planning related advice as part of a legal services contract worth an estimated £650k.

Mandatory alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is lawful and should be encouraged, a report published today (12 July 2021) by the Civil Justice Council has concluded.

A High Court judge has – despite expressing "considerable reservations” – extended an order authorising the deprivation of liberty of a child who is being cared for in an unregulated placement considered ill-equipped to meet his behavioural and emotional needs.

City of Wolverhampton Council has agreed to ensure its adoption recruitment procedure adheres to statutory guidance after an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found a woman was wrongly screened out of the adoption process.

The London Councils group has backed amendments to the Environment Bill which would give local authorities new powers to control air pollution where World Health Organisation (WHO) limits are exceeded.

The First Tier Tribunal (FTT) was wrong to ignore a landlord’s claim that she had a reasonable excuse for failing to apply for a licence for a house in multiple occupation (HMO), the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has ruled.

A mother and daughter have been reunited under the rarely used ‘Resolutions Model’ by the Family Court.

Private landlords have complained that there will be 168 pieces of legislation governing their relations with tenants once the new Building Safety Bill passes through Parliament.

A claimant supplier can call on expert witnesses in a procurement dispute with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Mr Justice Fraser has ruled in a case management hearing.

England is to be divided into integrated care boards and partnerships responsible for bringing together local NHS and local government, such as social care, mental health and public health advice.

The self-build exemption from the community infrastructure levy (CIL) does not apply where a development lacks planning permission, the High Court has found.

The Supreme Court has refused permission to appeal a Court of Appeal ruling that meant a housing association could take possession of a property despite the social landlord not undertaking an assessment under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) before issuing the claim for possession, it has…

Simon Strelitz, a housing and property practitioner with 20 years’ experience in the work undertaken by the Property Division, has joined Five Paper.

Law firm DAC Beachcroft has announced the promotion of 16 partners and seven legal directors, effective from 1 May 2021.

Online retailer Ocado has applied to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal the High Court’s rejection of its judicial review challenge over Islington Council’s decision to revoke a certificate of lawfulness of an existing use or development (CLEUD) for a site on an industrial estate and near…

The Housing Ombudsman has issued new guidance on the effective involvement of board members and councillors in the promotion of a positive complaints culture within their organisations.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has launched an investigation into the use of private correspondence channels at the Department of Health and Social Care.

A case management conference will be held tomorrow for the High Court claims being brought by victims of the Grenfell fire.

The Welsh Government has confirmed that its next legislative programme will include the introduction of its first consolidation Bill, which is aimed at making the law in Wales more accessible.

A couple have successfully claimed rectification and damages from a local authority for their personal data being processed unfairly after a safeguarding inquiry.