UKAJI June 2019 round-up

UKAJI June 2019 round-up

Here is UKAJI’s round-up of important administrative justice events, research, and publications in June 2019. If you have anything to add to this round-up or any future round-ups, please contact Lee Marsons at lm17598@essex.ac.uk.

UKAJI posts:

• Stergios Aidinlis (University of Oxford) posted a piece entitled, ‘The Administrative Justice of Government Data Sharing for Research: a Primer’;
• Charlotte May (Solicitor, Wiltshire Council and independent mediator) posted a piece entitled, ‘Court of Protection mediation research – Where are we in the UK?’
• Paulien de Winter (University of Groningen) posted a piece entitled, ‘Between the rules: Administrative justice and the enforcement of social security law in the Netherlands’;
• Nick O’Brien posted a piece entitled, ‘Administrative Justice: Orwell, Crick and the Political Quarterly’ following his award of the Bernard Crick prize for Best Piece of 2018 in Political Quarterly;
• Paulien de Winter (University of Groningen) posted a UKAJI research profile concerning her work into the administration of social security rules in the Netherlands.

Research and reports:

• Joe Tomlinson published a new book entitled, ‘Justice in the Digital State: Assessing the next revolution in administrative justice’ (1 June 2019);
• Scottish Mediation published a report entitled, ‘Bringing mediation into the mainstream in civil justice in Scotland’ (28 June 2019);
• The think-tank, Reform, published a report entitled, ‘Reformer Thoughts – Delivering Digital Courts’, which included pieces by Richard Cornes (University of Essex) and Tania Sourdin (University of Newcastle, Australia);
• The Social Market Foundation released a report into whether and how government can use tax and regulation policy to promote wage progression and career progression among low-paid workers;
• Lankelly Chase, Heriot-Watt University, and The Robertson Trust published a report entitled, ‘Hard Edges Scotland’ on the challenges and complexities of the lives of people facing multiple disadvantages in Scotland;
• David Allen Larson (Hamline School of Law) published an article entitled, ‘Digital accessibility and disability accommodations in online dispute resolution: ODR for everyone’;
• Derick Wade (Oxford Brookes University) & Celia Kitzinger (Cardiff University) published an article entitled, ‘Making healthcare decisions in a person’s best interests when they lack capacity: clinical guidance based on a review of evidence’;
• LGiU, a local democracy think tank, published a briefing on Local Enterprise Partnerships;
• The UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health published a report on the role of social determinants of health in advancing the realisation of mental health;
• The National Audit Office published a report entitled, ‘Challenges in using data across government’;
• The Litigants in Person Network published an article entitled, ‘Using the law to address unfair systems, A case study on the Personal Independence Payments legal challenge’;
• The APPG on Dementia published a report on how people with dementia can be assisted to assert their legal rights and attain services;
• Sara Lomri (Public Law Project) published an article on the cost of access to justice in judicial review;
• Joe Tomlinson (KCL) and Robert Thomas (University of Manchester) published an article entitled, ‘A different tale of judicial power: administrative review as a problematic response to the judicialization of tribunals’;
• Hazel Genn published an article entitled, ‘When Law is Good for Your Health: Mitigating the social determinants of health through access to justice’;
• The Centre for Research in Education Inclusion and Diversity published a report entitled, ‘Is the child’s and young person’s view shaping decisions on SEND/ASN provision in England and Scotland?’;
• The Police Ombud for Northern Ireland released its annual report and accounts.

Cases:

• Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Hockley [2019] EWCA Civ 1080 on the identification of a spare room for the purposes of Rule B13(5) in the Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (aka ‘the bedroom tax’);
• Samuels v Birmingham City Council [2019] UKSC 28 on the definition of ‘intentional homelessness’ in Part VII of the Housing Act 1996.

Events

• The Administrative Justice Council held an event on 19 June 2019 which included presentations on mapping administrative justice from Sarah Nason (Bangor University), Ann Sherlock (Bangor University), and Huw Pritchard (Cardiff University), as well as an afternoon discussion on administrative justice research by the Academic Panel of the Council. This meeting will be the subject of a UKAJI blog post;
• Margaret Doyle (University of Essex and independent mediator) launched her report, A Place at the Table: A report on young people’s participation in resolving disputes about special educational needs and disabilities, on 4 June 2019 at Garden Court Chambers alongside Charlotte May’s (Solicitor, Wiltshire Council) research on mediation in the Court of Protection;
• Nick O’Brien (University of Liverpool) was awarded the Bernard Crick Prize for Best Piece in Political Quarterly of 2018 for his piece, ‘Administrative Justice in the Wake of I, Daniel Blake’;
• Joe Tomlinson (KCL) presented his research into the partially automated model of administrative justice underpinning the EU settlement scheme to the House of Commons Library. The full report will be published next month via Public Law Project and will feature in a UKAJI blog post (28 June 2019);
• Jonathan Crowe (Bond University) spoke at the University of Sydney on The Idea of Small Justice, which he contends is a way of reimagining distributive justice in contrast to institutional distributive thinking (27 June 2019);
• The Ulster Law Clinic held a drop-in session in Belfast to conduct participatory research into the Northern Irish experience of Universal Credit (28 June 2019);
• The Centre for International Legal Studies held an international mediation symposium in Salzburg entitled, ‘Mediation in a changing climate – from consensus to confrontation?’;
• The Public Services Ombud for Wales, the Ombudsman Association, and the International Ombudsman Institute held a seminar on public accountability and strengthening the powers of the Welsh Ombud. The slides from the presentations are available here;
• The Joseph Rowntree Foundation held a framing conference in Glasgow on how to build public support to resolve issues of poverty in the UK;
• The Northern Ireland Public Services Ombud held a seminar on 25 June 2019 in Parliament Buildings, Belfast entitled, ‘Complaining about a public service: an equalities and human rights perspective’;
• Carolyn Hirst (Hirstworks Mediation) spoke at the College of Mediators on her research entitled ‘Being Complained About’;
• The Disability Benefits Consortium wrote to the Advertising Standards Authority to challenge advertising by the Department for Work and Pensions which purported to reveal untruths in public understanding of Universal Credit;
• The Scottish Parliament voted to extend the use of mediation in the planning system;
• The Ombudsman Association published a speech given by Sir Ernest Ryder, Senior President of Tribunals and Chair of the Administrative Justice Council, at the Association’s conference in May 2019. Sir Ernest’s speech was entitled, ‘Driving improvements: Collaboration and learning’;
• The Justice Committee held an oral evidence session on 25 June 2019 on court and tribunal reforms, hearing from Jodie Blackstock (JUSTICE), Penelope Gibbs (Transform Justice), Professor Richard Susskind, and Lisa Wintersteiger (Law for Life);
• The Justice Committee held an oral evidence session on 11 June 2019 on court and tribunal reforms, hearing from Frances Judd QC (Family Law Bar Association), Jo Edwards (Resolution), Jenny Birchall (Women’s Aid), Sara Lomri (Public Law Project), Ken Butler (Disability Rights UK), Wendy Rainbow (independent provider of SEND advice).

Ombuds affairs

• The LGSCO published its reports into three separate investigations into London councils relating to their procedures to avoid disadvantaging people with hidden disabilities (28 June 2019);
• The PHSO released a Radio Ombudsman podcast involving a discussion between the PHSO, Rob Behrens, and the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombud, Marie Anderson, about own initiative powers and how to take a human rights approach to investigation;
• The Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland, Bruce Adamson, responded to the Scottish Government’s Ministerial Statement on tackling child poverty;
• The Northern Ireland Public Services Ombud confirmed that it would be launching an own initiative powers investigation into the administration of Personal Independence Payments (PIPs);
• The PHSO released its report into the deaths of two vulnerable young men who committed suicide while in NHS care;
• The LGSCO criticised councillors in West Sussex after they debate and voted on the incorrect LGSCO report which provided recommendations for change at the council;
• The LGSCO found that Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council significantly reduced the care package of a disabled woman without adequately assessing her needs;
• The LGSCO asked Yorkshire Council to apologise to a foster couple after it removed two vulnerable children who they hoped to adopt from their care;
• The LGSCO asked Somerset County Council to complete its assessment of the needs of a disabled women after they failed to act on a previous complaint;
• The Scottish Public Services Ombud published its findings into 37 cases before the Scottish Parliament.

News items

• The BBC reported that a group of families whose children have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are pursuing a judicial review arguing that inadequate funding of SEND violates the children’s human rights (26 June 2019);
• The BBC reported that hundreds of children continue to wait years for decisions on their asylum to be taken by the Home Office (27 June 2019);
• The Telegraph reported that NHS patients will soon be able to log anonymous complaints via smartphones under new safety plans (29 June 2019);
• The Guardian reported that Child Poverty Action Group and the Church of England released a report into the effects of the two child limit in Child Benefit;
• The BBC reported that NHS Wales set out its intention to create a new citizen’s voice body to champion the rights of patients;
• The Guardian reported on the ‘disappearance’ of asylum seekers in immigration detention centres in the UK due to indefinite detention

Upcoming UKAJI blog posts

• Michael Orton (University of Warwick), Kate Summers (LSE), and Rosa Morris (University of Leeds) will post a piece about their work in the recently established Commission for Social Security Led by Experts by Experience which seeks to produce a White Paper of reform proposals for UK social security;
• Sarah Craig (University of Glasgow) will post a piece concerning the problem of mistranslation in immigration and asylum tribunals;
• Natalie Byrom (Director of Research, Legal Education Foundation) will post a piece about her research into the Government’s court and tribunal reform programme;
• Jaime Lindsey (University of Essex) will post a piece about her forthcoming research into the use of mediation in the Court of Protection;
• Katie Boyle (University of Stirling) will post a piece about her Nuffield-funded study into the protection of social rights in each of the UK jurisdictions;
• Charlotte O’Brien (University of York) will post a piece about her work into the discriminatory impact of the ‘two child rule’ for Child Benefit claimants;
• Maurice Sunkin (University of Essex) will post a review of Marc Hertogh & Richard Kirkham’s 2018 book The Research Handbook on The Ombudsman;
• Sarah Nason (University of Bangor) will post a piece concerning the system of administrative justice for education in Wales;
• Hideo Horasawa (Professor at University of Nanzan and visiting scholar at University of Essex) will post a blog about his comparative research into public inquiries in the UK and Japan;
• Andrew Fagan (University of Essex) will post a piece reflecting on the UK Government’s response to the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights report on extreme poverty in the UK;
• Joe Tomlinson (KCL) will post a piece introducing his new Public Law Project report on the partially automated model of administrative justice underpinning the EU settlement scheme;
• Lee Marsons (University of Essex) will post a piece concerning the need for caseworkers at the PHSO to be trained in emotional intelligence competencies;
• Grainne McKeever (University of Ulster) will post a piece about her research on litigants in person funded by the Nuffield Foundation.