Updates

The Modern Slavery Act

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 has recently been the focus of an independent government review. Oliver Scutt and Yvett Talas interviewed Andrew Wallis OBE (Chief Executive of leading anti-slavery charity Unseen) and Dr Anjali Mazumder (AI and Justice and Human Rights Theme Lead at The Alan Turing Institute), to find out what impact the Modern …
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Governance and Solvency: A Coronavirus Guide for Public Service Mutuals and Co-operatives

This is a quick guide for trustees and directors of public service mutuals and co-operatives concerned about solvency and wondering how to approach it in the immediate crisis caused by the coronavirus shutdown. Legal form matters –  insolvency and personal liability Mutuals usually fall into two broad types of legal structure:Charities such as charitable companies …
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Across the not-for-profit sector: latest responses to COVID-19 (23 March)

We’ve rounded up the latest news, guidance and notices relevant to the charity and not-for-profit sector. Sector news DCMS is working closely with the civil society sector – including National Emergencies Trust, the National Council of Voluntary Organisations and the British Red Cross – on how to galvanise volunteers and coordinate help to those who …
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Cabinet Office publishes new guidance on procurement

The Cabinet Office has published a new procurement policy note in response to the coronavirus situation. Procurement Policy Note 01/20: Responding to COVID-19 (PPN 01/20) reminds contracting authorities – and their suppliers – what flexibilities currently exist within the Public Procurement Regulations to act quickly, where necessary, to procure goods and services. It is not …
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Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: how it works

On 20 March 2020, the government announced that it would be implementing the “Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme” to help employers pay the salaries of staff who would otherwise have been laid off as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.  Please see our latest update on the scheme here. Please see our latest update on the …
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Coronavirus and the UK immigration system: what we know so far

The UK and many other parts of the world are entering a very difficult period due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the drastic measures it has provoked across the world. We recognise that this is an intensely stressful time for everyone, as we all try to adjust to a ‘new normal’ and keep ourselves …
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Transgender inclusion

Charities are looking to the law for clarity on how to be inclusive and respectful of all their beneficiaries. Single sex charities and those whose beneficiaries, members or service users are young people often have queries about transgender inclusion. In the first of a series of articles on transgender inclusion and the law, Mindy Jhittay …
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COVID-19: What does this mean for landlords and tenants of residential property?

This is clearly going to be a testing time for landlords and tenants alike and so last night the government announced that there will be emergency legislation implemented to try and alleviate some of the pressure on those landlords and tenants affected by coronavirus. In order to protect tenants who are experiencing financial difficulties due …
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Coronavirus: key questions for landlords and tenants

The coronavirus situation is ever-changing, with the government making announcements daily to assist people, businesses and the economy through this unprecedented period. We have focused this guide on the money situation from a commercial lease perspective – annual rent, service charge, insurance payments and business rates – with a re-cap on insurance policies. Most commercial …
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Protecting children’s data

Navigating the rules around protecting children’s data is not an easy task as the law struggles to keep pace with the seismic advances in information sharing in today’s online world. Mairead O’Reilly outlines some of the headline rules that apply to the processing of children’s data in the UK.
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IR35 – postponed to April 2021

The government has announced that the roll-out of IR35 to medium and large private-sector companies has been postponed by a year. The new deadline is 6 April 2021. that the roll-out of IR35 to medium and large private-sector companies has been postponed by a year. The new deadline is 6 April 2021. IR35 would have required …
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Coronavirus and the impact on court/tribunal hearings

With the recent protective measures introduced by the UK government, there is considerable uncertainty as to how the administration of justice can continue to function properly. Naturally, the situation is changing all the time with Government public health guidance updating regularly so it is important to keep up to speed. The Lord Chief Justice has, …
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