UKAJI November 2020 round-up

UKAJI November 2020 round-up

This is UKAJI’s round-up of important administrative justice news, events, publications, and cases for November 2020. If you have anything to add to this round-up or any future round-ups, please contact Lee Marsons on lm17598@essex.ac.uk.

UKAJI blog posts:

• Katie Boyle and Diana Camps (University of Stirling), (Lacking in) Methodological Rigour, Human Rights and Devolution: IRAL’s challenge is one of process as well as substance, available here.
• Robert Thomas (University of Manchester), Contracting Out and Administrative Justice, available here.
• Charlotte O’Brien and Alice Welsh (University of York), Out of the frying pan…? Legal action research into EEA nationals’ access to welfare support during the transition and beyond, available here.
• Jonathan Collinson (University of Huddersfield), The Post-Brexit Immigration Rules: Law Commission’s Simplification Recommendations Ignored, available here.
• UKAJI’s ongoing collection of responses to the Independent Review of Administrative Law is available here.
• Relaunch – UKAJI call for blogs and opinions on Covid-19 and administrative justice, available here.
• Joe Tomlinson (University of York), A Review of Reimagining Administrative Justice: Human Rights in Small Places by Margaret Doyle and Nick O’Brien, available here.
• Launch of the Administrative Justice Council Newsletter, available here.

Publications:

• Yvonne Field of the Ubele Project wrote a blog on her own personal experiences of racial injustice called ‘Racial Justice Under the Microscope’.
• Gregory Porumbescu, Suzanne Piotrowski and Vincent Mabillard, ‘Performance Information, Racial Bias, and Citizen Evaluations of Government: Evidence from Two Studies’ (Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory)
•  Nathan Favero and Minjung Kim, ‘Everything is Relative: How Citizens Form and Use Expectations in Evaluating Services’ (Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory)
• Carolyn Barnes, “It Takes a While to Get Used to”: The Costs of Redeeming Public Benefits’ (Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory)
• Imran Rasul, Daniel Rogger and Martin Williams, ‘Management, Organizational Performance, and Task Clarity: Evidence from Ghana’s Civil Service’ (Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory)
• Liam Thornton, ‘Augmenting social welfare for asylum seekers in Ireland’ (Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law)
• Rik van Berkel, Employer Engagement in Promoting the Labour-Market Participation of Jobseekers with Disabilities. An Employer Perspective (Social Policy and Society).
• Fiona Dukelow, Recommodification and the Welfare State in Re/Financialised Austerity Capitalism: Further Eroding Social Citizenship? (Social Policy and Society).
• Rasmus Lind Ravn and and Thomas Bredgaard, Relationships Matter – The Impact of Working Alliances in Employment Services (Social Policy and Society).
• Jodi Gardner, Mia Gray and Katharina Moser published a book entitled Debt and Austerity: Implications of the Financial Crisis.
• Laurens Lavrysen and Natasa Mavronicola published a book entitled Coercive Human Rights: Positive Duties to Mobilise the Criminal Law Under the ECHR.
• Anna Lawson, ‘Disability Law as an academic discipline: Towards cohesion and mainstreaming?’ (Journal of Law and Society).
• The JustEnergy  project led by Naomi Creutzfeldt (University of Westminster), Chris Gill (University of Glasgow), Marine Cornelis (Next Energy Consumer) and Rachel McPherson (University of Glasgow) provided an update into their findings.
• Sarah Nason and Huw Pritchard, ‘Administrative justice in Wales’ (Journal of Law and Society).
• Emily Benfer, David Vlahov, Marissa Long, Evan Walker-Wells, JL Pottenger, Danya Keene and Greg Gonsalves, Pandemic Housing Policy: Examining the Relationship Among Eviction, Housing Instability, Health Inequity, and COVID-19 Transmission (Journal of Urban Health).
• Jennifer Cobbe and Jatinder Singh, Reviewable automated decision making (Computer Law and Security Review).
• Rebecca Buxton, Justice in waiting: The harms and wrongs of temporary refugee protection (European Journal of Political Theory).

Cases of interest:

• Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants v President of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) [2020] EWHC 3103 (Admin), an important case on common law procedural fairness where Fordham J concluded that Upper Tribunal guidance normally requiring appeals to be heard on the papers during the Covid-19 pandemic was unlawful for violating the right to an oral hearing.
• London Borough of Bromley v Broderick [2020] EWCA Civ 152, on relevant dates for the assessment of when an offer for suitable housing is refused under s.193 of the Housing Act 1996.
• Test Claimants in the Franked Investment Income Group Litigation v Commissioners of Inland Revenue [2020] UKSC 47, a test case arguing that certain aspects of UK corporation tax law violated EU law and the consequences of the overpayment of this taxation.
• R (Maughan) v Her Majesty’s Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire [2020] UKSC 46, on the standard of proof in inquest proceedings in the case of suicide.
• R (Adams) v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2020] EWHC 3076 (Admin), a judicial review related to the refusal of a planning certificate by an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State.
• R (Alam) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 1527, on what is required to give notice in writing of a decision to curtail a person’s leave to remain in the United Kingdom under s.4(1) of the Immigration Act 1971.
• R (Clarke) v Birmingham City Council [2020] EWCA Civ 1466, a judicial review on whether Birmingham City Council failed to take into account legally relevant matters when it confirmed its decision in May 2018 to retrofit sprinklers in its tower blocks following the Grenfell Tower fire.
• R (Emiantor) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 1461, on whether the Home Secretary’s decision to deport the claimant as a foreign criminal was in breach of a substantive legitimate expectation.
• R (Hillside Parks) v Snowdonia National Park Authority [2020] EWCA Civ 1440, on the current status of planning permissions granted in 1967.
• R (Hussain) v London Borough of Waltham Forest [2020] EWCA Civ 1539, on whether a local housing authority is entitled to take into account a person’s spent convictions for the purposes of determining whether they are a fit and proper person to hold a licence for regulated housing.
• R (Sharif) v Birmingham City Council [2020] EWCA Civ 1488, on the Council’s decision to obtain a “persons unknown” injunction against street cruising for three years rather than using powers under Part 4 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
• R (XXX) v Camden London Borough Council [2020] EWCA Civ 1468, an appeal against the refusal of the High Court to anonymise the appellant in judicial review proceedings.
• R (Stanley) v Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council [2020] EWCA Civ 1458, an appeal against a decision of the County Court to strike out an appeal against the council’s decision to refuse homelessness support.
• R (Dunn) v Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2020] EWHC 3010, a judicial review related to a Public Interest Immunity (PII) certificate granted in relation to the death of Harry Dunn, a child killed by the wife of an American member of staff at RAF Croughton.
• R (DA) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2020] EWHC 3080, on the lawfulness of abridged asylum screening interviews pursuant to an unpublished policy.
• Dragut v Westminster Magistrates Court [2020] EWHC 3163, an application for a writ of habeas corpus in an extradition matter.
• R (Gill) v Cabinet Office [2020] EWHC 2931, an application for judicial review related to the refusal to include a Sikh tick-box in the forthcoming 2021 census.
• R (Independent Workers Union of Great Britain) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2020] EWHC 3050, a claim arguing that the UK had failed to transpose into domestic law two EU Directives on the protection of workers’ rights.
• R (Redston) v Director of Public Prosecutions [2020] EWHC 2962, a judicial review related to the decision of the DPP not to refer to the police for investigation Dominic Cummings’ potential breach of coronavirus regulations.
• R (Rights: Community: Action) v Secretary of State for Housing [2020] EWHC 3073, a claim for the quashing of three statutory instruments on the basis that an environmental assessment was not made prior to passing them, a failure to take into account the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), and failure to comply with the requirements for lawful consultation, including conscientiously considering responses.
• R (Seven Oaks District Court) v Secretary of State for Housing [2020] EWHC 3054, a judicial review concerning the duty to cooperate in s.33A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.
• R (Article 39) v Secretary of State for Education [2020] EWCA Civ 1577, where the Court of Appeal determined that the Education Secretary’s failure to consult the Children’s Commissioner prior to relaxing safeguards for children in care during the pandemic was unlawful.
• R (GR) v Director of Legal Aid Casework [2020] EWHC 3140, on the assessment of eligibility for legal aid of a domestic violence survivor.
• R (VIP Communications) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 1564, on the legality of a Direction granted by the Home Secretary ordering Ofcom not to comply with one of its statutory duties.
• R (Bullale) v City of Westminster Council [2020] EWCA Civ 1587, where the Court of Appeal quashed the decision of a review officer under s.191 of the Housing Act 1996 that the claimant was intentionally homeless.
• R (SSP Health) v National Health Service Litigation Authority [2020] EWCA Civ 1574, on the legality of the decision of an adjudicator not to award interest pursuant to a contract dispute between the claimant and the NHS.

Events:

• JUSTICE held its annual Tom Sargant Memorial Lecture on 10 November with a keynote speech by Dame Vera Baird QC entitled ‘From Bystander to Participant? Victims and Witnesses in the Criminal Justice System’
• Lord Evans, the Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, gave a speech entitled ‘Are we in a post-Nolan age?’ on 12 November 2020.
• Institute of Advanced Legal Studies held its annual conference on AI and the Rule of Law: Regulation and Ethics on 19-20 November.
• International Society of Public Law held an event on 19 November entitled ‘Constituent Power and the Law’.
• On 18 November, the House of Lords Constitution Committee held an evidence session on emergency powers and Covid-19, available here.
• Richard Susskind delivered the Sir Henry Brooke Lecture 2020 on the future of courts on 28 November.
• Scottish Mediation held its Mediate 2020 conference on 16-17 November.
• On 18 November, the Lord Chancellor appeared before the Joint Committee on Human Rights, available here.
• Four new Equality and Human Rights Commissioners were appointed by the Minister for Women and Equalities, details available here.
• On 18 November, the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Bill passed the Senedd.
• Human Rights in the Picture held an event on 27-29 November entitled The Long Haul: Threats to Human Rights in the UK Today.
• RebLaw UK held an event related to strategic litigation and climate justice.
• On 19 November, the Society of Editors held a discussion with the Lord Chief Justice on the law and the media.
• Public Law Project held an event entitled Rise of the Robots: Challenging automated decision-making in government.
• Audit Wales held a webinar to explain to Welsh local authorities how its future auditing practices and code would work.
• On 27 November, the Centre for Global Law and Innovation and the Centre for Law, Regulation and Governance of the Global Economy hosted a book launch for Serena Natile’s The Exclusionary Politics of Digital Financial Inclusion. Mobile Money, Gendered Walls (Routledge 2020).
• On 27 November, the Commons’ Health and Social Care and Science and Technology Committees held a joint evidence session on the UK’s response to Covid-19, available here.
• The Government initiated an Independent Faith Engagement Review to assess how the government engages with faith organisations.
• The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2020 passed the Scottish Parliament on 24 November.
• Centre for Economic Performance held an event on 25 November entitled The Labour Market, Education and Social Mobility in the Crisis.
• On 25 November, the UK Data Service held a webinar on accessing and using health data from the Service.
• Doughty Street Chambers held its annual children’s rights lecture on 19 November, available here.
• The Nuffield Foundation began a series of the changing nature of family life and childhood, available here.

Reports and policy papers:

• The Joseph Rowntree Foundation published a report on poverty in Wales, available here.
• The Law Society of England and Wales published a report on the impact of Covid-19 on solicitors with disabilities, available here.
• The Racial Disparity Unit in the Government Equalities Office produced a report summarising the work done by the Minister for Equalities and government departments on Covid-19 disparities, available here. The Minister’s correspondence to the Prime Minister and Health Secretary is available here.
• The Joint Committee on Human Rights produced its 8^th Report of Session 2020-21 on Legislative Scrutiny: The United Kingdom Internal Market Bill, available here.
• A group of campaign organisations related to child rights produced a report on racially disparate exclusions from schools in the black community, available here.
• Unchecked UK published a report regarding the loss of the UK’s regulatory enforcement capacity in food, the environment, health and safety, consumer protection, employee rights, and local spaces. The report is available here.
• Carers UK produced a report concerning the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on unpaid carers, available here.
• Centenary Action Group produced a report related to data and diversity in politics, available here.
• The National Audit Office produced a report on government procurement during the Covid-19 pandemic, available here.
• The National Audit Office produced a report on government funding to charities during the Covid-19 pandemic, available here.
• The National Audit Office produced a report on the capacity of government to achieve its long-term environmental sustainability goals, available here.
• The National Audit Office produced a report on the Administration of Welsh Income Tax in 2019-20, available here.
• The National Audit Office produced a report on the Administration of Scottish Income Tax in 2019-20, available here.
• The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government released its annual report and accounts for 2019-20, available here.
• The National Audit Office produced a report on the preparedness of the UK border post the Brexit transition period, available here.
• HMRC released its annual report for 2019-20, available here.
• National Audit Office released a report on preparedness for the Covid-19 pandemic in government, available here.
• The Social Security Advisory Committee published a review of temporary social security measures resulting from Covid-19, available here.
• The Commission for Smart Government published a case study on public service reform in New Zealand, available here.
• The Care Quality Commission published its findings for a report on inpatient experience during the Covid-19 pandemic, available here.
• The Equality and Human Rights Commission produced a briefing on human rights education in Great Britain, available here.
• The Joint Committee on Human Rights produced a report entitled Black people, racism and human rights.
• The Equality and Human Rights Commission published a report into pay discrimination at the BBC, available here.
• The Commission for Equality in Mental Health released a report on disparities in mental health provision, available here.
• The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government produced its new Charter for Social Housing Residents – Social Housing White Paper. The Housing Ombudsman published its response here.
• Article 39 released a report on children in mental health inpatient care, available here.
• The Public Accounts Committee released a report on the provision of housing and support to asylum seekers and refugees by the Home Office, available here.
• Audit Wales released its Code for Audit Practice, available here.
• The Welsh Auditor General released some observations on the end of the Brexit transition period for Wales, available here.
• Audit Wales released a report on teacher absence and the use of supply teachers in Wales, available here.
• National Audit Office released a report entitled Lessons Learned from Major Programmes.
• Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee released its report on the draft Building Safety Bill.
• The Early Intervention Foundation released a report on children’s centres and hubs, available here.
• The EHRC determined that the Home Office had failed to satisfy its Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) when developing, implementing, and monitoring hostile environment immigration policies.
• The Ada Lovelace Foundation released a report on the UK National Data Strategy, available here.
• The DWP released statistics on the number of households subject to the benefit cap up to August 2020, available here.
• The Home Office released statistics on the number of asylum applications up to September 2020, available here.

Ombuds affairs:

• The PHSO, Rob Behrens, posted a blog entitled ‘Continuing Healthcare: Getting it right first time’. This followed a report by the PHSO regarding incorrect and delayed decisions about NHS-funded care packages.
• The LGSCO upheld a complaint against Sheffield City Council for failing to provide adequate alternative education to a child with Asperger Syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Pathological Demand Avoidance. These failures meant that the child missed most of his secondary education.
• The NIPSO published its quarterly bulletin, available here.
• The LGSCO found that the housing allocations policy of East Lindsay District Council did not comply with the public sector equality duty (PSED).
• The PHSO released a new Radio Ombudsman podcast with Dame Jackie Daniel on the challenges of being a senior leader in the NHS.
• The PSOW published a proposal for its first own initiative investigation into homelessness in Wales, available here.
• The NIPSO released an update into its investigation into the administration of Personal Independence Payments by the Northern Ireland Department for Communities.
• The Housing Ombudsman released a statement on the Government’s new Social Housing White Paper.
• The Housing Ombudsman released its November newsletter, available here.
• The LGSCO found that Brighton and Hove Council told a woman with dementia that she would have to leave her care home for financial reasons without assessing whether moving her would harm her.

News items:

• George Peretz QC posted an article in Prospect Magazine about the changing role of the Competition and Markets Authority post-Brexit, available here.
• Sharon Wright, Alasdair Stewart and Anna Gawlewicz, ‘The welfare system is failing those with mental health problems’ (The Independent, 16 November 2020).
• May Bulman, Asylum seekers forced to travel miles to sign on with Home Office during lockdown (The Independent, 17 November 2020).
• Amelia Gentleman, ‘Black official quit racist Windrush compensation scheme’ (The Guardian, 19 November 2020).
• Karen Bradley MP, While Boris Johnson takes questions on Zoom, many MPs are still excluded (The Times, 19 November 2020).
• Jamie Grierson, Home Office accused of cover up at camp for asylum seekers (The Guardian, 23 November 2020).
• Caroline Waters, The rights of people in care (Care Management Matters, 24 November 2020).