UKAJI July 2019 round-up

Here is UKAJI’s round-up of important administrative justice news and events for July 2019. If you have anything to add to this month’s round-up or any future round-ups, please contact Lee Marsons on lm17598@essex.ac.uk.

UKAJI blog posts:

• Rosa Morris (Independent Researcher), Michael Orton (University of Warwick), and Kate Summers (LSE) posted a blog entitled ‘Producing the next UK White Paper on Welfare Benefits: the Commission on Social Security, led by Experts by Experience’;
• Andrew Fagan (University of Essex) posted a blog entitled ‘Poverty and Inequality in the UK: Proud to be British?’ This related to Philip Alston’s report on extreme poverty and human rights in the UK;
• Della Reynolds (PHSO the Facts) posted a blog encouraging participation in a research proposal on the complainant experience with casework in the PHSO;
• Jaime Lindsey (University of Essex) posted a blog entitled ‘Researching mental capacity disputes: The role of mediation in improving participation in the Court of Protection’. In the blog she issued a call for participants in her survey on mental capacity disputes and mediation. The survey can be found here;
• Joe Tomlinson posted a blog entitled ‘Quick and uneasy justice: an administrative justice analysis of the EU Settlement Scheme’
• Sarah Craig (University of Glasgow) posted a blog entitled ‘Lowering or raising the language barrier? Reflections on interpretation, translation and the digitalisation of immigration tribunals’;
• Robert Thomas (University of Manchester) and Joe Tomlinson (University of York) published a blog entitled ‘How Immigration Judicial Review Works’. This related to their report (detailed below) on judicial review in immigration cases. This followed on from their initial UKAJI blog post in March 2017 on the same subject.

Research Publications and Reports:

• Public Law Project published a report entitled ‘Quick and uneasy justice: An administrative justice analysis of the EU settlement scheme’;
• Robert Thomas (Manchester) and Joe Tomlinson (York) published their report entitled ‘Immigration Judicial Reviews: An Empirical Study’ funded by the Nuffield Foundation;
• The UK Statistics Authority published its compliance checks of affordable housing provision in Wales;
• The UK Statistics Authority published a review of the quality and value of international migration statistics;
• The DWP published its official statistics on child tax credit and Universal Credit claimants and the policy related to providing support for a maximum of two children;
• Carolyn Hirst (Hirstworks) published a LinkedIn article concerning her key six themes in dispute resolution;
• Jennifer Cobbe published an article in Legal Studies entitled ‘Administrative law and the machines of government: judicial review of automated public sector decision making’;
• Nicola Glover-Thomas published an article in the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law entitled ‘Therapeutic Jurisprudence and mental health tribunals: changing patterns of demand and its impact’;
• Margaret Doyle (University of Essex) published a blog entitled ‘Can kindness shape a new citizen-state relationship? A word with the Man in Black’;
• The Independent Expert Advisory Committee published its first report into the ongoing review of the operation of justice in Wales.

Ombuds affairs:

• Northern Ireland Public Services Ombud released its annual statistics, showing a rise of complaints to the Ombud for the third successive year;
• The LGSCO determined that a teenager was prevented from attending school for fourteen months due to delays by Oxfordshire County Council;
• The LGSCO released a report concerning difficulties experienced by parents and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in obtaining a SEND statement from schools;
• The LGSCO released guidance for local authorities on how they should explain to parents who home educate their children the purposes of their visits;
• The PHSO released its annual report for 2018-19;
• The LGSCO determined that local authorities can review the complaints of parents without the consent of their children;
• The Office of the Independent Adjudicator published a series of case summaries for its 2019 casework;
• The Police Ombud for Northern Ireland published its annual report and statistics for 2018-19;
• The Police Ombud for Northern Ireland published its complainant satisfaction survey for 2018-19;
• The PHSO released its second report into the Care Quality Commission’s regulation of the Fit and Proper Person Requirement for being on the board of an NHS Trust;
• The LGSCO published its annual review of complaints for 2018-19;
• The LGSCO determined that an autistic man had missed most of his secondary education due to lack of support from Derbyshire Council;
• The SPSO reported the results of fifty-two investigations to the Scottish Parliament.

Parliamentary affairs:

• The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) released a report entitled ‘Governance of official statistics: redefining the dual role of the UK Statistics Authority; and re-evaluating the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007’;
• The Commons Justice Committee heard evidence from the Lord Chief Justice, the Senior President of Tribunals, the Master of the Rolls, and the Lord Chancellor on court and tribunal reforms;
• The Communities and Local Government Committee published a report concerning the appointment of the 2019 Housing Ombud;
• The Women and Equalities Committee published a report entitled ‘Enforcing the Equality Act: the law and the role of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’;
• The Chair of the Welsh Public Accounts Committee, Nick Ramsay AM, issued a statement on the Integrated Care Fund. This followed a report from the Wales Audit Office arguing that the Fund was not reaching its full potential for service users;
• The Welsh Communities and Local Government Committee reported that statutory guidance was needed to end inconsistent practices surrounding blue badges for the disabled in Wales;
• The Scottish Health and Sport Committee issued a call for evidence on whether social prescribing should play a role in tackling health and wellbeing challenges in Scotland;
• The Scottish Health and Sport Committee issued a call for evidence from health professionals into its inquiry into the future of Primary Care;
• Holyrood’s Social Security Committee called on the DWP to halt its rollout of Universal Credit in Scotland.

Events:

• Joe Tomlinson (York) was interviewed by Carol Harlow at Middle Temple for a discussion on automated administrative justice;
• The Public Services Ombud for Wales, Nick Bennett, gave a public lecture entitled ‘The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales Act 2019: An Innovation in Welsh Administrative Justice;
• Aberystwyth University held a seminar entitled ‘New Powers and Possibilities: The Ombudsman and improving public service delivery’.

Cases:

• The Scottish Human Rights Commission was granted leave to intervene in an Inner House (Court of Session) case regarding the decision of housing provider, Serco, to change the locks to properties housing refugees;
• In R (AB) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2019] EWHC 1969 (Admin), the Administrative Court determined that the Home Office can ignore a grant of bail by the First-tier Tribunal if there is a material change of circumstances before the detainee is released. Importantly, this case was not about re-detention of the detainee, as the Home Office had yet to comply with the initial order of the Tribunal. An analysis of this controversial judgment can be found here via the Free Movement Blog;
• In Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Gubeladze [2019] UKSC 31 the Supreme Court determined the eligibility of EU nationals from the 2003 Accession States (here, Lithuania) to receive Pension Credit;
• In Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Appellant) v MM (Respondent) (Scotland) [2019] UKSC 34 the Supreme Court decided a case regarding the eligibility of claimants to receive Personal Independence Payments (PIPs);
• In Samuels (Appellant) v Birmingham City Council (Respondent) [2019] UKSC 28 the Supreme Court decided a case regarding the meaning of ‘voluntarily homeless’ under the Housing Act 1996.

News items:

• The Guardian published a story regarding the increasing cost for immigrants of making leave to remain applications with the Home Office;
• The BBC reported that the Prime Minister is to create a new public body with the task of protecting and promoting the rights of army veterans;
• The BBC reported that money received from the European Union in order to tackle child poverty in the UK had been returned unspent;
• The BBC reported on the educational attainment gap between pupils and noted that poorer children tend to be held back in attainment by around eighteen months in comparison to wealthier peers;
• The BBC reported that ex-Prime Minister, Theresa May, had decided to establish a public body known as the Office for Tackling Injustices. Given the change of Prime Minister, its future is unclear;
• Bloomberg reported on activities by the Singaporean Government to advance its role as an international centre for mediation given the ongoing trade-war between the US and China;
• The Guardian reported the criticisms of Universal Credit by Frank Field MP and Heidi Allen MP;
• The British Medical Journal published a blog arguing that patient narratives and experiences should have a central transformative role in healthcare education;
• Special Needs Jungle reported that the number of children with SEND in schools had increased to 14.9% of the total school population in 2019 from 14.6% in 2018;
• Health and Safety Journal reported that the investigation of serious safety incidents in the NHS was to be reformed.

Upcoming UKAJI posts:

• Natalie Byrom (Director of Research, Legal Education Foundation) will post a piece about her research into the Government’s court and tribunal reform programme;
• 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;
• 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.