Court Updates: Q2 Round Up
08/11/2021
Welcome to our quarterly roundup of news and articles for April to July 2021.
Summer (albeit a rather wet one so far) is here and around the country, gardens are in full bloom. The incredible performance of the English football team in getting into the Euro 2020 finals brought the nation together throughout June and July, and once again we could enjoyed the excitement of Wimbledon and the return of crowds at the British Grand Prix.
Strawberries anyone?
As always, we are focused on helping you stay abreast of new developments. Below you will find news pieces plus details and links to some of our articles published between April and July. These include discussions on the new Domestic Abuse Act 2021, compulsory vaccinations for care home workers, several Scottish negligence appeals, and many others.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support. If there is anything you would like to see published in our News & Insights section, then please do not hesitate to let us know, we’d love to hear from you.
Recent Developments
Record £90 million fine handed down to Southern Water
A Crown Court has fined Southern Water £90 million for breaches of permitting requirements relating to sewage discharges under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.
The company pleaded guilty to 51 offences of breaching its environmental permits under the said Regulations between 2010 and 2015. The Court heard how Southern Water failed to comply with environmental permitting requirements for the treatment of sewage discharges. This led to thousands of non-compliant discharges and the pervasive pollution of rivers and coastal waters in Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire.
The Court commented that Southern Water's offences were "aggravated by its previous persistent pollution of the environment over very many years".
In 2014, the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by Southern Water against a £200,000 fine for allowing sewage to settle on protected beaches in Kent.
Lord Thomas told Southern Water:
"Looked at as a whole, there is a persistent record of criminality and offending by this company."
"In the absence of any explanation as to what the board of the company has done to deal with reforming itself - to eliminate its offending behaviour, to explain its conduct in detail in dealing with the incident in question - there is very little mitigation that can be put forward."
Following Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson’s decision on 9 July 2021, Southern Water's Chief Executive, Ian McAulay said in a statement:
"I am deeply sorry for the historic incidents which have led to today’s sentencing and fine. I know that the people who rely on us to be custodians of the precious environment in southern England must be able to trust us. What happened historically was completely unacceptable and Southern Water pleaded guilty to the charges in recognition of that fact."
"We have heard what the judge has said today and will reflect closely on the sentence and his remarks. He has rightly put the environment front and centre which is what matters to all of us."
"These events happened between 2010 and 2015. I joined Southern Water in 2017 and am passionately committed to the environment. We have changed the way we operate. My expectation is that Southern Water is fully transparent and operates in the right way. We continue to transform across the areas of risk and compliance, measurement and self-reporting. We have made much progress and are continuing to invest to protect the environment and deliver our services safely and at a fair price for our customers"
"Today’s fine will not impact customers’ bills and investment in our transformation will not be reduced. Our shareholders are bearing the cost of the fine."
Non-statutory guidance for local authorities regarding transport to schools published on 7 July 2021
The Department of Education has published new non-statutory guidance for local authorities on transport to school and other places of education, which came into force 19 July 2021, the date Step 4 of the roadmap out of the COVID-19 pandemic commenced.
Under the guidance:
- Recommendations that social distancing should be maximised, and children and young people aged 11 and over should wear face coverings will end.
- Local authorities are provided with a series of measures they should take to reduce infection risk, including maintaining appropriate cleaning regimes on transport systems, allowing fresh air into occupied vehicles, and following public health advice on testing, self-isolation and managing confirmed cases of COVID-19.
- Transport operators must regularly update their risk assessments as circumstances and public health advice change.
You can read the full guidance here.
Open letter sent to the Government urging it to incentivise job-sharing
MPs including Caroline Nokes, Margaret Hodge, and Caroline Lucas have joined Empower, a group campaigning for gender equality, by signing an open letter calling on the government to incentivise job sharing.
The letter states:
“Globally, women’s job losses due to the coronavirus pandemic are 1.8 times greater than men’s. Working mothers were three times more likely than men to reduce their hours due to a lack of childcare during lockdown."
“Not all flexible working practices will support women in the workplace, promote a healthy work/life balance and close the gender pay gap gulf that has widened due to the pandemic. The solution is job sharing."
“Campaign group Empower believes it’s time to make job sharing a mainstream working practice for the good of working women, men, parents, carers and their employers. We agree. That’s why today we’re calling on the government to incentivise job sharing by introducing a reduction on employers’ national insurance contributions for employees in job shares.”
Published articles
Below are details and links to articles we published in Quarter Two.
In the Scottish case of Prior v Forth Boat Tours [2021] 3 WLUK 314, we had an opportunity to examine a negligence claim that failed because the Defender had complied 100% with its duty of care responsibilities. Scottish Pleasure Cruise Business Not Liable For Personal Injury shows how the Defender put in place adequate risk assessments and staff training and was, therefore, found not liable for the Pursuer’s workplace accident.
In Care Workers Not Entitled To Be Paid Whilst Sleeping, we looked at the Supreme Court’s decision in Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake which dismissed an employee’s claim that she was entitled to be paid the National Minimum Wage for time not spent performing some specific work-related activity while undertaking night shifts. Should the Supreme Court have found for the Claimant, care home providers may have become liable for thousands of pounds in back pay.
In Pleading Fundamental Dishonesty – Mustard v Flower the High Court clarified the issue of pleading fundamental dishonesty.
Historic Mesothelioma claims are still proceeding through the Courts. In the recent decision of Scarborough College v Winter [2021] 4 WLUK 352, the High Court provided a useful summary of the law concerning ‘show cause’ trials. You can read about the decision in Private School Loses ‘Show Cause’ Proceeding Concerning Mesothelioma Claim.
In The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 – The Changes You Need To Know, we outline this landmark piece of legislation and set out the provisions most applicable to local authorities and NGOs.
Local authorities are intensely busy at the best of times. Add in a global pandemic and it is little wonder that misunderstandings around complex legal principles occur. In R (on the application of Nur and another) v Birmingham City Council, David Lock QC, sitting as a deputy High Court judge, reminded Birmingham City Council about the correct response when handling a Judicial Review matter. We summarise his decision in Council Misunderstood The Terms Of Its Housing Allocation Scheme.
The doctrine of illegality in contract law is notoriously complex. In June, we examined this issue in Court Re-States Test For Defence Of Illegality In Unfair Dismissal Claims Here, the Court of Appeal in Robinson v His Highness Sheikh Khalid Bin Saqr Al Qasim [2021] EWCA Civ 862 re-stated the correct test for common law illegality as a defence to claims for unfair dismissal in employment law. The Court also set out the statutory interim relief regime in the context of alleged automatic unfair dismissal. A must read for your HR department.
Our article, Careless Driving - Court Of Sessions Examines Reverse Onus Of Proof talks about the civil case of Cameron v Swan [2021] 6 WLUK 131 where, because the onus of proof had shifted to the Defender thanks to an earlier guilty plea of careless driving, it was held that such Defenders would have to provide strong, consistent evidence to persuade the Court that they were not negligent.
In a case concerning the tragedy involving the Glasgow bin lorry crash, the Court in Weddle v Glasgow City Council considered the position of Pursuers who suffered a stand-alone psychiatric injury as a result of witnessing the accident. In our commentary in Appeal Regarding Claim For Psychiatric Injury Fails, we considered whether the law relating to stand-alone psychiatric injury in secondary victims needs to be updated in light of technologies such as live-streaming on social media.
Finally, in Compulsory Vaccinations For Care Home Workers, we discuss the recent mandatory vaccination decree for care home workers in England.
We hope you have found the articles published in Quarter One interesting and information. If there is anything you would like to see published on our News and Insights hub going forward, please do not hesitate to let us know – info@zurichmunicipal.com. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of these court updates, these articles are intended as a general overview and not intended, and should not be used, as a substitute for taking legal advice in any specific situation. Neither Zurich Municipal, nor any member of the Zurich group of companies, will accept any responsibility for any actions taken or not taken on the basis of these articles.
