Updates

What’s New in Employment Law in 2024?

The year ahead is set to be one of considerable change in the world of Employment Law. Much of the legislative change is being driven by post-Brexit reforms which are only now starting to come into effect. In this article, we set out the key developments that all employers should be aware of. As ever, …
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Bates Wells advises Woodland Savers in £.7m seed investment round

Bates Wells has advised Woodland Savers, an organisation developing a new model of UK woodland ownership, in their recent investment round. The new venture focuses on building a national network of community initiatives. It will help them co-acquire and co-manage local woodlands and co-develop projects delivering nature recovery and enhancement. Revenues will be generated through …
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Eleonor Duhs published in PDP Journal: Fundamental changes to the UK GDPR – what they mean in practice

Our Head of Data & Privacy, Eleonor Duhs, has recently been published in the PDP Journal, one of the UK’s leading journals on practical data protection compliance issues. Her article explores the changes to data privacy legislation as a result of the coming into force of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 …
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Bates Wells welcomes new partner, Scott Leonard, to join corporate practice

We are very pleased to welcome Scott Leonard as a partner in our corporate practice. Bringing over 25 years’ experience, Scott joins Bates Wells from Russell-Cooke, where he advised on a broad range of corporate work. Scott advises on M&A transactions, equity investment, corporate real estate, corporate reorganisations and employee incentives. His clients include family-owned …
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Department for Education guidance on “gender questioning children”: call for responses

The Department for Education (DfE) is inviting responses to its long awaited draft non-statutory guidance for schools and colleges in England on “gender questioning children”. It states that the term transgender is not being used to describe children because under English law, children cannot obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate and therefore cannot change their legal …
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Supreme Court rules on employment status of Deliveroo riders in key case for the gig economy

After 7 years, the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (“the Union”) has lost the battle to provide greater protection for Deliveroo riders, as the Supreme Court has ruled that Deliveroo riders are not legally recognised “workers” within the meaning of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (“TULRCA”). Background On 7 November …
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Spotlight 2023: A summary of the key issues facing the charity workplace in 2024

These past few years have seen a dramatic shift in the look and feel of the workplace. Charities are experiencing new HR challenges, from competing needs and interests, through to managing a workforce that has mixed feelings about the value of the office and more active trade unions. At this year’s Spotlight conference, Paul Jennings, …
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The Rwanda policy – How can charities play a role in bringing legal challenges?

On Tuesday 12 December, the draft Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill passed the second reading stage in the House of Commons. The vote was not the start of the story in relation to the Government’s policy: since the Rwanda policy was announced in April 2022, it has been the subject of much legal …
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Recent immigration updates – what we know so far

They say a week is a long time in politics. When it comes to immigration, that has certainly rung true of late. Last Monday saw Home Secretary James Cleverly announce a new “five-point plan” to reduce legal migration to the UK. On Wednesday, the draft Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill was published, which …
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Assured Unitary Governance Model

The current governance model for large, complex charities is broken and unfit for the current regulatory environment in which volunteer trustees find themselves. In this article Philip Kirkpatrick outlines his alternative vision. Whenever anything goes wrong in a charity in a way that reaches the public ear, people freely express their views about what the …
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Practical tips for deploying AI

With AI integration becoming increasingly common, it is vital that businesses deploy AI systems in a way that complies with data protection law and ensures that outcomes are legal and ethical. Here are our top tips for responsible, lawful implementation:
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Data Protection and Digital Information Bill

Summary Ministers have set out a vision for the UK’s technology strategy.  The UK is to become a “tech superpower” by 2030.  This will be achieved by creating “world-leading pro-innovation regulation” and influencing global technical standards.[1]  However, the former Information Commissioner has pointed out that this kind of “digital growth” will only be possible if …
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