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Local Government - From: 2001 To: 2001

This page lists 66 cases, and was prepared on 02 April 2018.

 
Re M (Care: Challenging Decisions by Local Authority) [2001] 2 FLR 1300
2001
FD
Holman J
Children, Local Government, Human Rights
Local authorities involved in care proceedings will infringe the rights of parents and other individual parties to them under both Article 6 and Article 8 of the Convention unless they conduct themselves with integrity, transparency and inclusiveness so as to satisfy the family's rights, necessarily to be construed in a wide sense, to a fair hearing and to respect for their private and family life. Held: The mother's appeal against the care order was dismissed.
1 Citers



 
 Senbanjo v Brent London Borough Council; ChD 4-Jan-2001 - Times, 04 January 2001
 
Dinev and Others, Regina (on the Application Of) v City of Westminster Council [2001] EWCA Civ 80
25 Jan 2001
CA
Simon Brown VP CA LJ
Local Government, Licensing
Renewed application for permission to appeal against an order dismissing the applicants' judicial review challenge to the decision to introduce a temporary licensing scheme for portrait artists in Leicester Square
[ Bailii ]
 
Din v Cardiff County Council and others [2001] EWCA Civ 115
29 Jan 2001
CA

Local Government, Housing
Application for permission to appeal out of time after such permission had been refused on paper.
[ Bailii ]

 
 Regina v Broadlands District Council, Ex Parte Lashley; CA 7-Feb-2001 - Times, 20 March 2001; [2001] EWCA Civ 179

 
 Regina v Flintshire County Council, Ex Parte Armstrong-Braun; CA 20-Feb-2001 - Times, 08 March 2001; [2001] BLGR 344; [2001] LGR 344; [2001] EWCA Civ 345; (2001) 3 LGLR 34
 
Regina (on the application of K) v Camden and Islington Health Authority Gazette, 20 April 2001; Times, 15 March 2001; [2001] EWCA Civ 240; [2002] QB 198
21 Feb 2001
CA
Master of the Rolls (Lord Phillips) Lord Justice Buxton And Lord Justice Sedley
Health, Human Rights, Local Government
The duty of a local authority to seek to provide resources to care for a mental patient after release into the community, is not absolute, and is subject to the limitations of the availability of a sufficient budget. A continued detention in hospital of a patient because of the absence of such proper provision was not an infringement of his human rights. Section117 does not impose on health authorities an absolute obligation to implement the conditions for a patient's discharge from hospital required by a tribunal; the authorities' duty is, in general, to use reasonable endeavours to secure compliance with those conditions.
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers MR: "Putting on one side the question of compliance with article 5 of the Convention, I can see no justification for interpreting section 117 so as to impose on health authorities an absolute obligation to satisfy any conditions that a tribunal may specify as prerequisites to the discharge of a patient. The section does not expressly impose any such requirement, nor is it reasonable to imply such a requirement. The applicant's suggested interpretation would place upon health authorities a duty which, on occasion, would be impossible to perform. The applicant's skeleton argument suggested that there was more that the health authority could have done to persuade a forensic psychiatrist to provide the aftercare required by the tribunal. The decision of the judge was to the contrary, and there is no basis upon which that decision can be challenged. An interpretation of section 117 which imposed on health authorities absolute duties which they would not necessarily be able to perform would be manifestly unreasonable."
European Convention on Human Rights Art 5 - Mental Health Act 1983 37 41 117(2)
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Lidl UK Gmbh v Swale Borough Council and Another [2001] EWCA Civ 316
26 Feb 2001
CA

Local Government

[ Bailii ]
 
Westminster City Council v National Asylum Support Service [2001] EWHC Admin 138
27 Feb 2001
Admn
Stanley Burnton J
Benefits, Immigration, Local Government

National Assistance Act 1948 21
1 Citers

[ Bailii ]

 
 Alghile v Westminster City Council; CA 2-Mar-2001 - Times, 09 March 2001; [2001] EWCA Civ 363

 
 Corbett v Restormel Borough Council and Another; CA 2-Mar-2001 - [2001] EWCA Civ 330
 
Kempin T/A British Bulldog Ice Cream v Brighton and Hove Council Times, 13 March 2001; Gazette, 29 March 2001
13 Mar 2001
QBD

Licensing, Local Government
An ice cream salesman driving around an area was not a roundsman so as to be exempted from the need to obtain a street trader's licence, however regular his route. Though not defined in the Act, 'roundsman' meant activities delivering pre-ordered goods within a locality. This interpretation was required in order to give effect to the purpose of the Act.
Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982


 
 Regina v Liverpool City Council ex parte Barry; CA 21-Mar-2001 - [2001] EWCA Civ 384

 
 Unison v Westminster City Council; CA 21-Mar-2001 - Times, 03 April 2001; Gazette, 17 May 2001; [2001] EWCA Civ 443; [2001] IRLR 524
 
Long v Southwark London Borough Council Times, 16 April 2002; [2002] EWCA Civ 403
27 Mar 2001
CA
Lord Justice Ward, Lord Justice Chadwick and Lady Justice Arden
Housing, Local Government, Landlord and Tenant
The Council outsourced the collection of refuse from the block of council flats where the tenant applicant lived. He asserted that the Council were in breach of their covenants as landlords in failing to ensure that the refuse was collected properly. The tenancy agreement required the landlord to take 'reasonable steps' to ensure that the common parts were kept clean and tidy Held: That duty could be satisfied by delegation, but only if there was in addition an adequate system for monitoring the contractors' performance. It had been also a breach of the covenant for quiet enjoyment.
1 Cites

[ Bailii ]
 
J A Pye (Oxford) Ltd v South Gloucestershire District Council and Others Times, 02 April 2001; Gazette, 17 May 2001; [2001] EWCA Civ 450
29 Mar 2001
CA

Planning, Local Government
Where there was an agreement between an applicant and the planning authority under section 106 of the new Act, with respect the undertaking of work in return for the grant of planning permission, there was no requirement for there to be a direct link between the development and the works. If the agreement was entered into in order to restrict or regulate the development or use of land then it was vires.
Town and Country Planning Act 1990 106
1 Cites

[ Bailii ]
 
Westminster City Council v National Asylum Support Service [2001] EWCA Civ 512; (2001) 33 HLR 83; (2001) 4 CCL Rep 143
10 Apr 2001
CA

Immigration, Benefits, Local Government, Human Rights

National Assistance Act 1948 21
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Regina v Lloyd and the Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham [2001] EWCA Civ 533; [2002] 1 FCR 136; [2001] BLGR 421; (2001) 4 CCL Rep 196; [2001] 2 FLR 763
11 Apr 2001
CA
Schiemann, sedley, Arden LJJ
Local Government

[ Bailii ]
 
O'Byrne v Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and Regions and Another Times, 17 April 2001; Gazette, 20 April 2001; [2001] EWCA Civ 499; [2001] NPC 71; [2002] HLR 30; [2001] 16 EGCS 144
17 Apr 2001
CA
Thorpe, Buxton, Laws LJJ
Housing, Planning, Local Government, Housing, Local Government
A tenant sought to buy a flat under the right to buy scheme but the flat was in the green belt. The land was held under provisions in the 1938 Act making the sale of any part conditional on the consent of the respondent. The local authority objected, and an inquiry was held. The inspector refused the sale. Held: The applicant successfully appealed. Having examined in detail the operation of the two inconsistent statutes the majority of the Court of Appeal held that there had been an implied repeal. On the basis that the requirements of the Right to Buy scheme were inconsistent with an impliedly repealed the earlier Act. The later provisions were so inconsistent with an repugnant to the earlier Act that the two could not stand together.
Buxton LJ, dissenting said: "The court will not lightly find a case of implied repeal, and the test for it is a high one."
Laws LJ with whom Thorpe LJ agreed said that the contradiction between the two pieces of legislation must be 'inescapable' and that the construction of the later statute must be shown to be the only rational interpretation that is available.
Housing Act 1985 118 - Green Belt (London and Home Counties) Act 1938
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
O'Byrne v Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and Regions and Another Times, 17 April 2001; Gazette, 20 April 2001; [2001] EWCA Civ 499; [2001] NPC 71; [2002] HLR 30; [2001] 16 EGCS 144
17 Apr 2001
CA
Thorpe, Buxton, Laws LJJ
Housing, Planning, Local Government, Housing, Local Government
A tenant sought to buy a flat under the right to buy scheme but the flat was in the green belt. The land was held under provisions in the 1938 Act making the sale of any part conditional on the consent of the respondent. The local authority objected, and an inquiry was held. The inspector refused the sale. Held: The applicant successfully appealed. Having examined in detail the operation of the two inconsistent statutes the majority of the Court of Appeal held that there had been an implied repeal. On the basis that the requirements of the Right to Buy scheme were inconsistent with an impliedly repealed the earlier Act. The later provisions were so inconsistent with an repugnant to the earlier Act that the two could not stand together.
Buxton LJ, dissenting said: "The court will not lightly find a case of implied repeal, and the test for it is a high one."
Laws LJ with whom Thorpe LJ agreed said that the contradiction between the two pieces of legislation must be 'inescapable' and that the construction of the later statute must be shown to be the only rational interpretation that is available.
Housing Act 1985 118 - Green Belt (London and Home Counties) Act 1938
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Regina ex parte Ivy Phillips (By Her Daughter and Litigation Friend Margaret Smith) and Regina ex parte Evelyn Rowe (By Her Sister and Litigation Friend Sandra Hayes) v Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council [2001] EWHC Admin 789
26 Apr 2001
Admn

Local Government
Claim to prevent local authotity closing residential home.
[ Bailii ]
 
Regina on the Application of Doy v Commissioner for Local Administration [2001] EWHC Admin 361
27 Apr 2001
Admn

Local Government

[ Bailii ]

 
 Regina (On the Application of Lemon Land Ltd) v Hackney London Borough Council; Admn 11-May-2001 - Gazette, 24 May 2001; [2001] EWHC Admin 336
 
Meghnagi v London Borough of Hackney and Another [2001] EWCA Civ 723
16 May 2001
CA

Local Government
Appeal against refusal of judicial review of compulsory purchase order.
[ Bailii ]

 
 Regina (On the Application of Hughes and Others) v Commissioner for Local Administration; QBD 17-May-2001 - Gazette, 17 May 2001

 
 Patel v Jones; CA 24-May-2001 - Times, 29 May 2001; [2001] EWCA Civ 779
 
A v The London Borough of Lambeth [2001] EWHC Admin 376
25 May 2001
Admn

Children, Local Government, Housing
The applicant was mother of three children, two of whom were autistic. She sought re-housing from the defendant. It was claimed that s17 imposed a specific duty on the authority, having identified a child's needs, in this case for re-housing, to satisfy them. Held: The structure the section is general, and point very clearly to a discretion, rather than a duty, to provide accommodation in any individual case. The Act also provides a distinction between a duty to provide services and any duty to provide housing. The duties are target ones. The 1970 Act does not include a power to provide accommodation.
Children Act 1989 17 - Carer's Recognition and Services Act 1995 - Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970
1 Cites

[ Bailii ]
 
Regina (A) v Lambeth London Borough Council Times, 03 July 2001; CO/3698/2000; (2001) LGR 513
25 May 2001
QBD
Baker
Children, Local Government, Judicial Review
The duty imposed by section 17 of the Act on local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children is a general duty only, and is not capable of being enforced for the benefit of a particular child by way of judicial review. As a so called target duty decisions made by the local authority pursuant to it were not open to challenge by review. Other sections may give rise to specific duties which might be so challenged, but not the general obligation.
courtcommentary.com Duty placed on social services authority under Children Act 1989 s17 is a target duty owed to children in general and not justiciable by judicial review - no duty in law to meet assessed needs by providing alternative accommodation for the whole family
Children Act 1989 17 20
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ courtcommentary.com ]

 
 First Corporate Shipping Ltd (T/A Bristol Port Co) v North Somerset District Council; CA 15-Jun-2001 - Times, 15 June 2001

 
 Middlesborough Borough Council v Safeer; Same v Afzal; Same v Asghar; Same v Baxter; Same v Khaliq; Same v Ali; QBD 26-Jun-2001 - Times, 16 August 2001; Gazette, 26 July 2001
 
Regina (S) v Swindon Borough Council and Another Times, 27 June 2001; [2001] EWHC Admin 334
27 Jun 2001
QBD

Children, Local Government
When considering the need for measures to protect a child, the local authority did not first require evidence to a standard which would satisfy a court even on the civil standard of the balance of probabilities. At the later stage where decisions might be taken by a court was the time when standards of evidence came to be applied. When deciding to begin an investigation, the words of the statute were enough. They had only to have reasonable cause to suspect that a child might suffer harm.
Children Act 1989 47
[ Bailii ]
 
Rahma Khana (By Her Litigation Friend, the Official Solicitor) v Mayor and Burgesses of London Borough of Southwark Gazette, 31 August 2001; Times, 25 September 2001; [2001] EWCA Civ 999
28 Jun 2001
CA
Henry, Mance LJJ, McKinnon J
Local Government, Health
The applicant was an elderly Iraqi lady with poor sight and mental illness. The local authority decided that she needed care in a residential home. She applied for a two bed-roomed ground floor flat, which would allow her to live with her extended family and among others who spoke her language. The court held that given that the conclusion and recommendation were not challenged as such, the court could not intervene. The authority had satisfied its statutory obligations, which did not require it to satisfy preferences.
National Assistance Act 1948 - National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990
[ Bailii ]
 
First Roodhill Leasing Limited v Gillingham Operating Company Limited, Medway Council, Her Majesty's Attorney General [2001] EWHC Ch 397
5 Jul 2001
ChD
The Hon Mr Justice Lightman
Local Government, Banking

[ Bailii ]
 
Regina on the Application of Alan Kathro; Michael Evans; Vivienne Evans; Patrick Grant and and Llantwit Fardre Community Council v Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council [2001] EWHC Admin 527
6 Jul 2001
Admn

Local Government, Planning

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
G G for Judicial Review of Decisions By Glasgow City Council To Refuse To Fund Transport Costs [2001] ScotCS 185
11 Jul 2001
SCS

Scotland, Education, Local Government

[ Bailii ]
 
Eastbourne Borough Council v James Foster Times, 17 August 2001; Gazette, 31 August 2001; [2001] EWCA Civ 1091; [2002] ICR 234; [2001] BLGR 529; (2001) 3 LGLR 53; [2001] Emp LR 1079
11 Jul 2001
CA
Aldous LJ, May LJ, Rix LJ
Employment, Local Government
An employee's job ceased, but he continued to be employed by the same employer on different tasks, but the new arrangement was void as ultra vires. The question arose as to whether his employment had been terminated at the time of the change in such a way as to affect his pension rights under the regulations. The facts were compatible only with a continuation of the relationship of employer and employee. The original contract had been repudiated, and the repudiation accepted. The employee remained entitled to notice, and he was, for the purposes of the Regulations, continued to be employed until that notice expired.
Local Government (Discretionary Payments) Regulations 1996 (1996 No 1680)
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]

 
 South Buckinghamshire District Council v Flanagan and Another; QBD 16-Jul-2001 - Gazette, 26 July 2001
 
Boardman v Portman [2001] EWCA Civ 1450
18 Jul 2001
CA
Schiemann LJ, Keene LJ
Local Government

Audit Commission Act 1998
[ Bailii ]
 
Ipswich Borough Council v Moore and Another Times, 25 October 2001; [2001] EWCA (Civ) 1273
25 Jul 2001
CA
Lord Justice Peter Gibson, Lord Justice Chadwick and Lord Justice Kay
Local Government, Land, Transport
A statute in 1950 granted to the port authority powers, inter alia, to grant licences for moorings on the foreshore. These powers overrode the ancient Royal Charter which vested the foreshore in the local authority. Accordingly licences issued by the port authority were effective and binding as against the local authority.
Ipswich Docks Act 1950 12 - Charter of Henry VIII of 1518/19
1 Cites

1 Citers


 
Regina v London Underground Ltd and Another, ex parte Transport for London Times, 02 August 2001
30 Jul 2001
QBD
Sullivan J
Transport, Local Government
The Act gave the power to the government to override the policy of the Mayor of London and the Transport for London authority, and to enter into private partnerships for the management of the underground system by the private sector. Although the Mayor had an obligation to publish, review and implement a strategy for the management of the underground, and TFL had an obligation to run the Underground to a safe and adequate standard, it was for the Secretary of State, and not the Mayor to approve principles behind the contracts, and to direct that they be entered into.
Greater London Authority Act 1999 210
1 Cites

1 Citers



 
 Kind v Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Council; Admn 31-Jul-2001 - Gazette, 23 August 2001; [2001] EWHC Admin 616
 
Nottingham City Council v Zain (a Minor) Times, 29 August 2001; Gazette, 11 October 2001; Gazette, 15 November 2001; [2001] EWCA Civ 1248; [2002] 1 WLR 607; [2003] HLR 16
31 Jul 2001
CA
Lord Justice Mance, Lord Justice Schiemann, Lord Justice Keene
Local Government, Litigation Practice
The council had power under the Act to seek, in its own name, an injunction to prevent an alleged drug-dealer minor to enter a housing estate, and put an end to public nuisances. The authority was not acting outside its powers if it considered the action expedient for the protection of the inhabitants of its area. The fact that the acts complained of were also criminal acts, could not prevent the authority pursuing its case. Even so, it should be recognised that there were arguments against such actions by local authorities, and courts had in the past refused such applications.
Local Government Act 1972 222
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council v United Utilities Water Ltd [2001] EWCA Civ 1284
31 Jul 2001
CA
Robert Walker LJ
Utilities, Local Government
Maghull Brook passed under a densely populated part of Merseyside, in an enclosed culvert constructed in about 1958. The question was whether this part had become a sewer before 1 April 1974, because of the culverting work. The parties discussed which was responsible for its maintenance, being successors to the authorities who had orginally constructed it and shared its maintenance. This depended on whather it had been construced under 1936 Act. The trial judge had held that it had always been a watercourse, and had not changed its character as such. Sefton appealed, focussing on the evidence as to the basis on which the culverting work had been undertaken in 1958. Held: The work had been undertaken under Part XI of the 1936 Act, under general local authority powers, and not under Part II, under powers conferred on a local authority in respect of sewerage. Construction work done in relation to a channel may make a difference, depending on who did it and in what capacity.
Public Health Act 1936 Part II
1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
West Devon Borough Council v Commissioners of Customs and Excise Gazette, 04 October 2001
31 Jul 2001
ChD
Patten J
VAT, Construction, Local Government
The local authority had reclaimed input tax against invoices it received from builders. They were disallowed because the building constructed was an exempt supply. Although the section allowed the authority to set off VAT against invoices for supplies not made for any business of the taxpayer. The arrangements suggested that they had acted on terms applicable to traders generally rather than any special situation applicable to local authorities, which was the purpose of the section as it derived from the Directive.
Value Added Tax Act 1994 33

 
Regina (Wahid) v The London Borough of Tower Hamlets [2001] EWHC Admin 641; (2001) 4 CCLR 455; [2002] LGR 545
23 Aug 2001
Admn
The Honourable Mr Justice Stanley Burton
Housing, Local Government
The applicant sought assistance under the National Assistance Act, in the form of housing. He suffered mental illness and was vulnerable. It was argued that the Act imposed a duty on the authority which was regardless of its budgetary limitations. The Act sought to satisfy a need for care with housing provision. It is a safety net provision for urgent cases. In this case no sufficient need for care had been shown to require the Authority to act under the section.
National Assistance Act 1948 21 - Housing Act 1996
1 Citers

[ Bailii ]

 
 London Regional Transport, London Underground Limited v Mayor of London Transport for London; CA 24-Aug-2001 - [2003] EMLR 4; [2001] EWCA Civ 1491
 
Leakey, Regina (on the Application of) v North Yorkshire County Council [2001] EWCA Civ 1409
29 Aug 2001
CA

Local Government, Land

[ Bailii ]
 
S, Regina (On the Application of) v Plymouth City Council [2001] EWHC Admin 750
7 Sep 2001
Admn

Local Government, Health

[ Bailii ]

 
 Cowl and others v Plymouth City Council; Admn 14-Sep-2001 - [2001] EWHC Admin 734
 
Regina (Stewart) v Wandsworth London Borough Council and Others Times, 15 November 2001
17 Sep 2001
QBD
Mr Jack Beatson, QC
Housing, Local Government
The words 'within their area' in the section had to be read consistently with other parts of the Act, and therefore, the duty to carry out an assessment if a child had a physical connection with the area. A temporary housing in a homeless hostel within the authority district was sufficient.
Children Act 1989 17(1)(a) - Housing Act 1996 190
1 Cites


 
Regina (L and Others) v Manchester City Council, Regina (R and Another) v Same Times, 10 December 2001; [2002] Fam Law 13; [2001] EWHC 707 (Admin); [2002] 1 FLR 43; [2002] ACD 45; (2002) 5 CCL Rep 268
28 Sep 2001
QBD
Mr Justice Munby
Family, Children, Local Government, Human Rights, Local Government
The council had a policy under which the financial assistance it gave to short term foster carers who were relatives of the children involved was rather less than would be given to non-family carers. The policy was challenged as unreasonable. Held: The policy which imposed arbitrary financial limits was unreasonable, and would inevitably conflict with the duty to look to the child's welfare. The policy operated to discriminate against family members and therefore infringed their human rights under the convention
Children Act 1989 22(3)(a) - European Convention on Human Rights 8 14
[ Bailii ]
 
Regina (L and Others) v Manchester City Council, Regina (R and Another) v Same Times, 10 December 2001; [2002] Fam Law 13; [2001] EWHC 707 (Admin); [2002] 1 FLR 43; [2002] ACD 45; (2002) 5 CCL Rep 268
28 Sep 2001
QBD
Mr Justice Munby
Family, Children, Local Government, Human Rights, Local Government
The council had a policy under which the financial assistance it gave to short term foster carers who were relatives of the children involved was rather less than would be given to non-family carers. The policy was challenged as unreasonable. Held: The policy which imposed arbitrary financial limits was unreasonable, and would inevitably conflict with the duty to look to the child's welfare. The policy operated to discriminate against family members and therefore infringed their human rights under the convention
Children Act 1989 22(3)(a) - European Convention on Human Rights 8 14
[ Bailii ]
 
Bradford Metropolitan District Council v Yorkshire Water Services Ltd [2001] EWHC Admin 803
19 Oct 2001
Admn

Costs, Local Government
After a finding in favour of the respondents, the applicants sought to argue that they should not be ordered to pay the costs, since they had been following a statutory duty in bringing the claim. They had made an administrative decision acting honestly, properly and on grounds that reasonably appeared to be sound, in the exercise of its public duty. Held: Whether the council could seek assistance from some other party for clarifying an obscure point of law was not for the court. They had lost their case and should pay the other party's costs.
[ Bailii ]
 
Davies and Another v Crawley Borough Council Gazette, 15 November 2001; [2001] EWHC Admin 854
1 Nov 2001
Admn
Goldring J
Local Government, Land
The council adopted schemes licensing on street trading. The applicants had established uses on streets where such activity was now prohibited. The council offered alternative trading sites on payment of annual fees. The applicants asserted the scheme was Wednesbury unreasonable, having not made allowance for existing uses permitted by law. The authority should have made discontinuance orders which would have allowed a claim for compensation. Held: the applicants' interests in the land was tenuous, and they had no rights in land which could be affected. The Act gave the authority a wide discretion in such schemes, and their choice was not disproportionate.
Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 3
[ Bailii ]
 
Mohamed v Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council Times, 02 November 2001; Gazette, 22 November 2001; [2001] UKHL 57; [2002 1 AC 547; [2002] 1 All ER 176; [2002] HLR 7; [2001] 3 WLR 1339; [2002] 1 FCR 183; [2001] NPC 154
1 Nov 2001
HL
Lord Slynn of Hadley, Lord Steyn, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Hutton and Lord Hobhouse of Woodborough
Housing, Local Government
Mrs M came to England in 1994 living first in Ealing and then Hammersmith. Mr M came later and lived elsewhere in Hammersmith. Hammersmith gave them jointly temporary accommodation, first in a hotel and then in a flat. They then applied under section 193. The authority told Mrs M that they accepted a duty to arrange accommodation for her but that, although she had a local connection with Ealing where she had lived, she had no connection with Hammersmith, so the applications of both husband and wife were referred to Ealing on the basis that they appeared to have a local connection with Ealing but not with Hammersmith. The decision to refer was upheld on review and in the county court on the basis that the husband's residence in Hammersmith was not normal residence under 199(1)(a). Hammersmith argued that the occupation of interim accommodation pending a decision on the husband's application under section 193 could not amount to normal residence. This argument was rejected by the Court of Appeal. Held: The appeal failed. When testing the decision of a local authority to refer an applicant for housing to another local authority, on the basis that the applicant had no local connection, the authority must make allowance for an interim residence in the area. The prima facie meaning of 'normal residence,' was a place where, at the relevant time, the person in fact resided. So long as that place where he eat and slept was voluntarily accepted by him, the reason why he was there rather than somewhere else did not prevent that place from being his normal residence. The date at which the connection was to be tested was the date at which the review was carried out, and the review could include matters arising after the initial decision.
The occupation by a homeless person of interim accommodation provided under section 188 of the 1996 Act could be "normal residence" for the purpose of establishing a local connection under section 199.
Lord Slynn of Hadley stated that words like "ordinary residence" and "normal residence" take their precise meaning from the context of the legislation in which they appear. He suggested that the place that a person voluntarily accepts and in which he eats and sleeps is for the relevant time where he normally resides. The fact that the local authority had given him interim accommodation in performance of its statutory duty under section 188 of the 1996 Act did not prevent that accommodation from being the place where he was for the time normally resident.
Housing Act 1996 198 199(1)(a)
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ House of Lords ] - [ Bailii ]
 
Regina (on the Application of Carlton-Conway) v London Borough of Harrow [2001] EWHC Admin 873
7 Nov 2001
Admn

Planning, Local Government
The applicant objected to an application for planning permission by a neighbour. The authority authorised officers to exercise delegated powers to grant permission where no objection had been received. Even then the officer could exercise the power only where the development sought complied with all relevant policies. Here an objection was made. The officer mistakenly viewed that plan as complying with the policies and granted the application Held: It was for the planning officer to interpret planning policies and to decide whether there was a conflict, so long as he acted reasonably and in good faith. It was a subjective test as to whether the officer viewed the application as complying with the policies.
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Akumah v London Borough of Hackney [2001] EWCA Civ 1946
27 Nov 2001
CA

Local Government
Application for leave to appeal. The council had introduced a parking scheme for its housing estates. The resident challenged its validity saying it had been introduced by council resolution not by byelaw. Leave granted
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Jindal, Regina (on the Application Of) v Birmingham City Council [2001] EWCA Civ 1889
27 Nov 2001
CA

Local Government, Land
Application for leave to appeal - judicial review of compulsory purchase order
[ Bailii ]
 
Ashfield District Council v Commissioners of Customs and Excise [2001] EWHC Ch 462
30 Nov 2001
ChD
The Vice-Chancellor
VAT, Local Government
The council were liable to pay grants for building works. They wished to set the VAT element as an input tax. The Commissioners refused. Did the builders supply their services to the house owners, or to the council who paid the bill. The Act allowed the council to pay the sum direct to the builder. Grants might be repayable except where they were paid direct. It is not uncommon for one payment to satisfy two obligations. That is what happened here. The council was not entitled to reclaim the VAT.
Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 - Value Added Tax Act 1994 33
1 Cites

[ Bailii ]
 
Reynolds v Brent London Borough Council Times, 18 December 2001; Gazette, 06 February 2002; [2001] EWCA Civ 1843
4 Dec 2001
CA
Lord Woolf, Lord Chief Justice, Lord Justice Mummery and Lord Justice Buxton
Housing, Licensing, Local Government
When a local authority was considering the fitness of a proposed licensee for the purposes of managing a house in multiple occupation, it was not under an obligation first to consider whether conditions proposed by the manager, would adequately meet any objections. The clause which allowed the court to attach conditions was free standing and separate. The authority was entitled to refuse registration without considering the imposition of restrictions.
Housing Act 1985 348
[ Bailii ]

 
 Porter and Weeks v Magill; HL 13-Dec-2001 - Times, 13 December 2001; [2001] UKHL 67; [2002] 2 WLR 37; [2002] 2 AC 357; [2002] 1 All ER 465; [2001] NPC 184; [2002] HRLR 16; [2002] BLGR 51; FA 4
 
Starr v Local Commissioner for Administration [2001] EWCA Civ 2024
13 Dec 2001
CA

Administrative, Local Government

[ Bailii ]
 
Cowl and Others v Plymouth City Council Times, 08 January 2002; Gazette, 27 February 2002; [2001] EWCA Civ 1935; (2002) 5 CCL Rep 42; [2002] ACD 11; [2002] CP Rep 18; [2002] 1 WLR 803; [2002] Fam Law 265
14 Dec 2001
CA
The Lord Chief Justice Of England And Wales, Lord Justice Mummery, And, Lord Justice Buxton
Local Government, Civil Procedure Rules
It remains of overriding importance for parties to seek to avoid litigation wherever possible. In this case, a dispute between a local authority and some of the inhabitants of one of its residential homes. The courts now have ample power within the rules to find other ways forward. In this case, the court might of its own initiative, hold an inter partes hearing for the parties to explain what they had done to resolve the dispute without involving the courts. The parties should be asked why a complaints procedure or some other form of alternative dispute resolution had not been used or adapted to resolve or reduce the issues in dispute. Enough is now known about alternative dispute resolution to make the failure to adopt it, in particular when public money was involved, indefensible.
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Regina (on the Application of Wainwright) v Richmond Upon Thames London Borough Council Times, 16 January 2002; Gazette, 27 February 2002; [2001] EWHC Admin 1090; [2001] EWCA Civ 2062
20 Dec 2001
CA
Lord Justice Henry, Lord Justice Clarke and Mr Justice Wall
Local Government, Road Traffic
A local authority was under a statutory duty to consult before undertaking road improvements. Because of the chaotic mail administration systems, the consultation had been ruled unlawful. The council appealed. Held: The council had in fact failed in its duty to consult, but there was no possibility that its decision would have differed even if the consultation had been effective, and the plan was restored.
Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 23
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South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee v National Assembly for Wales [2001] EWHC Admin 1162
21 Dec 2001
Admn
The Honourable Mr Justice Richards
Administrative, Agriculture, Local Government, Wales
The committee sought a review of the 2001 Order made under the 1966 Act to revise the contributions to be made by participating members of the committee to the costs of its administration. They contended that the only power over its costs was to order for the employment of fishery officers. By fixing the amounts payable it removed from the Committee its discretion as to how much to collect. Held: There was no power to impose an obligation on the member councils to pay a contribution, and that was one basis of the order, which had therefore been made under a mistake of law. The court's discretion should be exercised to overrule the order.
South Wales Sea Fisheries (Variation) Order 2001 - Sea Fisheries Regulation Act 1966 - Local Government Reorganisation (Wales) (Committees for Sea Fisheries Districts) (Amendment) Order 1996 - South Wales Sea Fisheries (Levies) Regulations 2001
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Beard and Natwest Bank v Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council ACQ/72/2001
31 Dec 2001
LT
P H Clarke FRICS
Land, Damages, Local Government
LT COMPENSATION - compulsory acquisition of long leasehold house in poor condition - mortgage - value of unencumbered long leasehold interest determined at £7,600 - no deduction of charges when determining market value - lack of evidence regarding mortgage - no determination of amounts payable to claimants
An order had been made for the compulsory purchase of a dwelling to make it fit for habitation. It was held on a long lease at a low rent, and was subject to a charge. The property was valued at £7,000 by the council 's expert, but he had deducted the seller's costs which would not normally be borne by a purchaser. Held: Neither the local authority's costs nor the value of any of the local authority's land charges registered against the property should reduce the valuation. Those were matters between the council and the respondent, and not for the valuation.
Housing Act 1985 - Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations) Act 1981
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