According to the Guradian, almost all of the investigations into alleged serious misconduct by Home Office staff relate to immigration matters. The Home Office’s professional standards unit (PSU) investigates only the most serious misconduct allegations against teams or individuals within the department, or contractors such as those working in detention centres. A general complaints procedure deals with more minor
A man who made a personal injury claim against Dyfed-Powys Police was awarded £40,000 in an out-of-court settlement. Richard Roberts received the settlement after it was claimed in a witness statement that he was shouting and swearing at the time of his arrest. Although he denied the allegations, the force proceeded to charge him.
A group of students in Leeds have been awarded thousands of pounds in compensation after their landlord failed to reconnect their gas supply. The students had no heating, hot water and no hob to cook for 11 days after a property firm failed to carry out repairs. When the landlord failed to address the fault,
Judges have been warned by the Court of Appeal not to adjourn final decisions in family cases simply to ‘press the pause button’. As reported by The Law Gazette, Lord Justice Peter Jackson said adjourning a decision ‘is a positive choice that requires proper weighing-up of the advantages and disadvantages and a lively awareness that
Homeowners, the UK’s leading comparison site for home move services has revealed rising stamp duty bills and conveyancing fees are the key factors leading to increased costs for homeowners, which can be attributed to a marginal 1% annual rise in house prices. As reported by insideconveyancing.co.uk stamp duty makes up almost half of the total
A landlord has been fined after he failed to provide information about one of his properties when asked to do so by a council. Tenants of a home in Colchester contacted Colchester Council in December last year with concerns about the property. The council launched an investigation into potential breaches of housing standards law and
It has been suggested that an overhaul of international student visa rules should apply to those due to graduate in the coming months. Current overseas students set to graduate next year are unlikely to benefit from major changes, announced by the Prime Minister, which will allow future students to stay in the UK for two
A mouldy and damp house in South Derbyshire was deemed “grossly unfit for human habitation” after children were forced to flush a broken toilet with a bucket of water. A single mother and her two children were living in the house since 2012. Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court heard the property had no hot water, the toilet
A 71 year old man is claiming personal injury compensation after being left paralysed by a freak wave while on holiday in Cape Verde. Mick Collier suffered neck and back injuries in the accident. He claims lifeguards at the five star hotel had raised an orange flag to indicate it was safe to enter the
Bracknell Forest Council spent almost £100,000 in compensation claims over the last five years. 105 personal injury claims were made to the Council by people who suffered trips, slips or falls in council-owned buildings or in public spaces. Out of the 105 claims, only 13 of these were successful. The largest payout from the last