Karen Collins

Changes in the use classes for property

As part of the Government’s policy to help the country recover and provide businesses with flexibility (the ‘Build Back Better’ initiative), the classification of the use classes for property in England have been amended significantly. To bring about these changes, the Government enacted the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020, which …
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Personnel Today: Chetal Patel on UK firm’s ability to attract ‘brightest and best’ in doubt

Chetal Patel, partner in our Immigration team has been featured in a recent Personnel Today article. The piece focuses on new figures recently published showing that the number of UK businesses applying for permission to employ skilled overseas workers has remained static since the start of the year and that only 2% of private sector …
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Bates Wells signs up to Race at Work Charter

We’re showing our commitment to racial equality by signing up to the Race at Work Charter. We are pleased to announce we are now a signatory of the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter. The Charter is an initiative designed to improve outcomes for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) employees in the …
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What’s going on with Capital Gains Tax?

Considering the sale of assets or currently involved in a sale process?  Here are our thoughts on possible changes to Capital Gains Tax (“CGT”). A review and the resulting speculation In July this year, the Chancellor asked the Office of Tax Simplification to review CGT. Rishi Sunak’s request came at a time when it was …
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Victoria Hordern writes for Privacy Laws & Business: The breadth and complexities of health data

Victoria Hordern, Partner and Head of our Data Privacy team has recently written an article for Privacy Laws & Business. In this article, Victoria discusses the conditions most likely to be relevant for the processing of health data, and any additional safeguards needed.
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Legacies: holding the line in 1975 Act cases and why charities shouldn’t feel pressurised into settling

Charities play a crucial role in our society. Yet they have never been under so much pressure, facing both reduced income and increased public scrutiny all at a time when their services and support are more needed than ever. We act for many charities, which come to us for help when they find themselves involved …
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Alex Jameson writes on the EDPB’s updated guidance on consent under GDPR

Alex Jameson, Associate in our Data Privacy team has written an article for September 2020’s Privacy & Data Protection Journal . In the article, Alex takes a look at the latest guidance from the European Data Protection Board, and in particular the regulators’ approach to ‘cookie walls’ and ‘scrolling and swiping’ as methods of obtaining …
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5 top tips for navigating the UK’s new ‘quarantine’ rules

As of yesterday, 8 June, most travellers arriving in the UK are required to provide contact information before travelling and self-isolate for 14 days on arrival. Below are our top tips for navigating these new rules, for those travelling to the UK and those supporting employees or others to come to the UK. Work out …
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Philanthropy Impact: Oliver Scutt and Phillippa Holland on COVID-19 – a catalyst for investing in stakeholder capitalism?

Oliver Scutt and Phillippa Holland have recently written for Philanthropy Impact on how the impact of COVID-19 has led to an unprecedented global shutdown as governments raced to halt the spread of the virus, save lives and keep their economies afloat. As the pandemic shockwaves will have a myriad of consequences for years to come, …
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Charity payments overseas – HMRC investigates

Over the past few months, we have seen an increase in the number of investigations being carried out by HMRC in relation to charities making payments overseas. Augustus Della-Porta and Stephanie Biden draw on their experience of advising on HMRC investigations to explain what is involved.
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Victoria Hordern contributes to Global Data Review analysis of European Data Protection Board (EDPB) report

Following the publication of the EDPB’s latest report on the GDPR, Victoria Hordern, Partner & Head of Data Privacy, provided her thoughts to Global Data Review on the key insights that can be drawn from the report’s conclusions. Nothing how it is “perhaps unsurprising” that the EDPB has assumed such a positive view of the …
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Brexit – what’s next for charities and social enterprises?

On 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union finally came to an end. So, what happens now? Abbie Rumbold explores the certainties and uncertainties for charities and social enterprises.
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