An interesting ditty for a Friday afternoon. The Police use Osman orders in a similar situation. The use of Osman orders came about precisely because in the claims in the domestic courts the claimants were not able to establish a duty of care (or at least an actionable breach of that duty) under the traditional common law head of negligence, the Court following the ruling in Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorks Police. The claimants appealed to the ECtHR who subsequently ruled that in some such circumstances a duty could be owed however.
If we were discussing a threat on the same level (where the authority had good reason to believe there was a threat to someone's life) then it's reasonable to infer the same arguments would apply. This doesn't sound as though it's approaching that threshold however, so on the basis that a duty of care was held not to exist even where there was a credible threat to life, it's difficult to see how it could be established when that threshold is not met.
Kind regards,
Andrew Powell
Information Management Officer
Corporate Information Management Team
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jane Holden
Sent: 21 September 2012 15:36
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [data-protection] Friday Question: Duty of Care?
The Council has concerns about a claimant who is showing becoming increasingly frustrated about his benefit payments and as a result has made irrational threats (in anger) regarding contractors (not the
Council's) going to his tenanted property to undertake works.
Does the Council have a duty of care to the landlord to inform the landlord that his tenant is a potential threat to the health and safety of the workmen he has employed? If so what is the legal basis to share this information?
Answers on a postcard please :)
Barrow Borough Council - Enhancing the economic and social future of the Borough.
Think - UK businesses use 2 million tonnes of paper each year - do you really need to print this e-mail?
This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any view or opinions presented are solely of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Barrow Borough Council.
If you are not the intended recipient you may not use, disclose, distribute, copy, print or rely on this e-mail. If you have received this e-mail in error please contact the sender.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask] All user commands can be found at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
Any queries about sending or receiving messages please send to the list owner
[log in to unmask]
Full help Desk - please email [log in to unmask] describing your needs
To receive these emails in HTML format send the command:
SET data-protection HTML to [log in to unmask]
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
IMPORTANT:
Confidentiality: This email and its attachments are intended for
the above named only and may be confidential. If they have come to
you in error you must take no action based on them, nor must you copy
or show them to anyone. Please reply to this email and highlight the
error.
Please visit the Council's website at: www.wandsworth.gov.uk