Legislation / Legal

DfE: Lord Carlile has submitted a review of the Edlington Case.  This review was commissioned by the Secretary of State in March 2012 following full publication of the Edlington Serious Case Review.  He was concerned that although the SCR documented key events in the case of the J brothers there was insufficient scrutiny of what could have been done differently.
Press release & Links
 
OFT: The OFT has opened formal investigations into several Payday Lenders over aggressive debt collection practices. It has also written to all 240 payday lenders highlighting its emerging concerns over poor practices in the sector. These actions are set out in a progress report published as part of the OFT's compliance review of the payday lending sector.
Press release & links
 
MoJ: The problem of costly & spurious review cases clogging up the courts will be tackled by new plans announced by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.  The proposals would reduce the number of ill-founded judicial review applications so that others can be dealt with more swiftly & effectively.
 
The number of applications has rocketed in the past 3 decades, from 160 in 1974 to 11,200 last year but the proportion of successful applications is very low.  In 2011 only 1 in 6 applications determined were granted permission to be heard.
Press release & links
 
ScotGovNew Snaring legislation has come into force and the changes apply to all snares & snaring operators who currently use snares as a means of pest & predator control including farmers, crofters, gamekeepers, and greenkeepers on golf courses.
 
Snare operators have been able to undergo training courses, which are run by Scottish Government approved bodies, since 2010.  Since last week, a snaring operator who has successfully completed the training course can apply to their local police station for a unique identification number which must be attached to all snares set from 1 April 2013
Press release & links
 
ScotGov: The Scottish Parliament has voted to approve secondary legislation so that all tenant charges, other than rent and a refundable deposit, will not be permitted.  From 30 November 2012, the law will now also allow any charges in relation to the UK Government’s Green Deal that may be attached to a privately rented property.
 
The current legislation, the Rent (Scotland Act) 1984, has not been explicit enough about additional charges such as reference checks, credit checks and inventory fees.  The move follows a consultation launched earlier this year on how to deal with unfair and illegal premiums.
Press release & links
 
ICO: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has served a monetary penalty of £60,000 to Plymouth City Council for a serious breach of the Data Protection Act where the details of a child neglect case were sent to the wrong recipient.  The report included highly sensitive personal information about 2 parents and 4 children, notably allegations of child neglect resulting in ongoing care proceedings.
 
An investigation by the ICO found that the council had no secure system in place for printing reports containing sensitive personal data, and had failed to take reasonable steps to ensure reports were checked before they were sent out.
Press release & links
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