Nicholas Hancox

This Practice Note mentions that children are often injured at school without any fault on the part of any person, and goes on to discuss case law illustrating the factors that may distinguish a successful claim against a school or its owners from an unsuccessful claim. These factors are a duty of care, vicarious liability, contributory negligence, foreseeable consequences, causation and proximity, the age, disposition and mental capacity of the child, the level of supervision expected in a school, and the extent to which the child was at the material time under the care or control of the school.

This Practice Note identifies the main highways law issues concerning bridges and tunnels as the rights of the public to pass and re-pass across bridges or through tunnels, and maintenance liability for them. It describes the four types of highway bridge and discusses who is responsible for the maintenance of the bridge in each case, referring in particular to the Highways Act 1980 and the Transport Act 1968. It summarises relevant legislation specific to toll bridges and tolled tunnels, new bridges across navigable water, bridges across boundaries, and footbridges.

This Practice Note explains that the main rights of a child in school are the right to an education and the right to receive the level of care and protection which a reasonable parent would give, and that these rights are recognised in statute and common law respectively. It discusses relevant provisions in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 and the Human Rights Act 1998, as well as a number of related issues including the right to change a child’s name, free school meals and the provision of uniform and other clothing, and summarises the case law on taking photographs of children at school.

This Practice Note summarises the public’s statutory right to roam under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, including the basic definition of access land, the 13 general exceptions where the right to roam does not apply, the restrictions on the use of access land, and the duty of the Natural England and Natural Resources Wales to review the maps at roughly ten-yearly intervals. It notes that the access authorities, which are the National Park Authorities, the highway authorities and the Broads Authority, may construct means of access to access land, and make byelaws regulating the use of access land.

This Practice Note considers the common law and statutory ways in which a highway may be created without express agreement between the landowner and the public.

This Practice Note refers to people’s legal right to use vehicular transport, ride a horse or drive animals along most highways. It explains that the most frequent classifications of highways into types are by permitted traffic (for example, a footpath or bridleway) and maintenance authority (for example, a classified road or GLA road). There is also an alphabetical list with description of the major highway types in England and Wales.

This Practice Note summarises the statutory basis, nature and function of the definitive map and statement that a highway authority must keep of the public rights of way in its area, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA 1981). It explains the highway authority’s duty to keep the map and statement under constant review and to update and modify them where necessary, and the events and orders that will require modification of the map and statement. It sets out the procedures for making a modification order, both for when it is initiated by the authority, and for when it is initiated by an application to the authority from another party.

This Practice Note highlights the relevant authorities duty under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA 1981) to keep the Definitive Map (DM) under review. It identifies the events that may lead to a modification, and who is likely to apply for a modification order. The procedure for making a Definitive Map Modification Order (DMMO) is explained, pointing out the correct format, the accompanying information needed and the decision making process followed by the Definitive Map authority. The formalities that follow a DMMO are explained, stating the authority that is responsible for each action.

This Practice Note explains that the width of a highway is primarily a question of fact, at common law requiring evidence amounting to proof of the minimum width required to take the traffic entitled to use it. It notes that in the absence of proof, the Highways Act 1980 provides minimum and maximum widths. It also describes the different types of boundaries, explaining that there is often physical evidence of the lateral boundaries of a highway but that it is a question of fact in each case, and notes that highway authorities may widen a highway or erect new bridges or footbridges under the Highways Act 1980.

This Practice Note explains the procedure for statutory undertakers and those with street work licences to use the highway for utility works and apparatus through the statutory provisions in the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 and other enabling legislation. It explains who are statutory undertakers. It sets out the duty of care owed both statutory and in common law to other highway users.

This Practice Note summarises Schedule 1 to the Academies Act 2010, which provides powers for the Secretary of State to provide land for academies and to control their use and disposal. It highlights some of the more important clauses from the Department for Education’s free school model funding agreement on land and property issues.

This Practice Note outlines the basic funding arrangements of an academy school, highlighting who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the academy and the maintenance of the grounds and buildings. The need for a land transfer arises as an academy will often utilise premises that have been vacated by a previous state-funded school. It explains the process and the issues that arise during the transfer of land from a community school, a voluntary aided school, a voluntary combined school and a foundation school to an academy. This Practice Note applies only in England; there are no academies in Wales.

This Practice Note explains the law of nuisance in relation to highways, noting that the common law on this issue is expressly preserved by section 333 of the Highways Act 1980. It discusses the circumstances in which builders’ works, scaffolding and skips, racing and unsuitable traffic, stationary traffic, and bridges and beams across the highway may be a nuisance, referring to common law and statute. It also provides an overview of potential nuisances from adjoining property, including domestic or farm animals, pigeons, smoke and fumes, and trees.

This Practice Note sets out the legislative sources of Ofsted’s administrative arrangements and areas of endeavour, the frequency and nature of school inspections, the different categories of unsatisfactory schools in England, and the steps that a local authority may have to follow under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 if one of its schools is found to be unsatisfactory.

This Practice Note discusses the difference between highway land merely vested in the highway authority and highway land belonging completely to the authority. It summarises key cases and legislation including the Highways Act 1980 (HiA 1980) and the Local Government Act 1929, and explains that where the highway land is merely vested, the highway authority’s ownership extends physically to the top two spade-depths of the relevant land or as far down as is necessary for the construction and maintenance of the highway, including its drains. While such a vested ownership is usually sufficient, highway authorities may buy freehold estates in land under HiA 1980 for the construction of new or improved highways.

This Practice Note explains the definition of a traffic sign under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, the powers and duties of a local traffic authority regarding putting traffic signs up on a highway, and the prohibition on putting up traffic signs for most other organisations and people. It provides an overview of central government controls aimed at achieving uniformity, referring extensively to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016, SI 2016/362.

This Practice Note summarises what constitutes compulsory school age. It explains that under the Education Act 1996, a child of compulsory school age must either be registered at a school or be suitably educated otherwise than at school. It also covers school attendance orders; and that it is a criminal offence for a parent to fail to comply with a school attendance order. It notes that police officers and community support officers are authorised to carry out truancy sweeps.

This Practice Note explains that every English local authority must develop for approval a school travel scheme under the Education Act 1996, s 508E for children of compulsory school age, and that unless and until an approved school travel scheme has been implemented, the local authority must provide other travel arrangements for every eligible child. Each school travel scheme must include a policy on charging the parents (or their children) for home-to-school travel, although protected children must travel free of charge. It also discusses case law relating to school transport, and legislation on out-of-school trips.

This Practice Note explains that the quality of highway maintenance required depends on the expected ordinary traffic on the highway in question. It also explains that individuals who sustain injury from danger on a highway can sue the highway authority for negligence and that if the highway authority can prove it took reasonable care it has a statutory defence under the Highways Act 1980. It also notes that at common law, the duty is to keep the highway in reasonable condition, not improve it. The authority must conduct routine inspections of the highway surface and have a system for incoming reports of damage, but the duty to keep the highway in repair does not extend to the damage done by extraordinary traffic.