Legal

The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) has appointed four new board members, it was announced on Monday 8 December.

The Department of Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decision to close the Independent Living Fund (ILF) for disabled people was ruled lawful by the High Court, on Monday 8 December. 

The Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act is on track to make savings but it is not clear whether the reforms have delivered better value for money, the National Audit Office (NAO) reported today.

Kevin Hyland was appointed as the UK’s first independent anti-slavery commissioner by Home Secretary Theresa May yesterday. 

The Home Office have backed a proposal to prevent 17-year-olds being detained in police custody overnight after being charged, it was announced yesterday.

Greater Manchester will gain significant decision-making powers from Whitehall after chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne and leaders of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) signed a devolution agreement today. 

HM Revenue and Customs will gain greater ability to clamp down on tax evaders following the signing of an international agreement on tax evasion at the Global Forum in Berlin today. 

CSW takes a look at the ins and outs of the Local Government (Independence) Bill 2014 - 2015

A six week government consultation published this week aims to strengthen the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) capacity to better deal with companies breaking the law over nuisance calls and texts. 

Phil Gormley, deputy director-general of the National Crime Agency (NCA), outlined the key crimes the UK recognise as falling under the tier two threat of ‘serious and organised crime’. 

The Department of Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decision to close the Independent Living Fund (ILF) for disabled people was challenged by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on 22 October. 

The threat of serious and organised crime should be given recognition when discussing national security, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA). 

A National Audit Office (NAO) report reveals the number of foreign national offenders (FNOs) deported from the UK remains broadly unchanged whilst the number of FNOs in prison has increased by 4% since 2006 despite a tenfold increase in Home Office staff working on FNO cases. 

A Cabinet Office report released on Tuesday 21, October shows that nearly nine in ten people in England and Wales have been successfully added to the electoral register automatically through IER. 

Three key legal bodies have branded Part 4 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill an attack on judicial review.

Civil servants from UK government departments and agencies as well as the Welsh government have today joined a national walk-out over pay.

The prime minister will be able to pick permanent secretaries out of a candidate shortlist from December this year, under new rules announced today – with the first competition to be held under the new process that to replace Sir Bob Kerslake in February as permanent secretary of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has denied telling its employees how to vote in the Scottish referendum, after its permanent secretary Robert Devereux issued department-wide guidance on the topic.

Civil servants responsible for running major projects will be able to tell parliament when ministers directed them to make particular decisions, under proposals published by the government.

A lack of clarity on pre-election rules are causing officials to “do things on the sly for ministers”, according to the Institute for Government (IfG), which has this week published a report into the final year of the coalition government.

Cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood (pictured) and Treasury permanent secretary Sir Nicholas Macpherson are to investigate whether the prime minister broke government rules by writing an official letter to nearly two million businesses on the eve of European elections.

Michael Barber, the former head of Tony Blair’s Delivery Unit, has told CSW he is “tempted” by the idea of a commission on civil service reform, as long as it’s able to build cross-party consensus.

The Serious Fraud Office has asked for emergency funding of £19m to pay for higher than expected expenditure on a series of big investigations.

The government seems to be presiding over the “creeping politicisation” of the civil service, a number of high-profile peers have warned. Speaking in a debate held today in the House of Lords, peers from all parties also called on the government to set up a parliamentary commission on the future of the civil service.