Resources

Expertise, events, news and updates –
what interests you?

What’s still to come in 2024? Upcoming immigration changes

2024 has already been a year of rapid change for the UK’s most-used immigration routes. The rest of the year looks set to be no less eventful and in particular, important changes to both the Skilled Worker and partner routes will be coming into force in early April.   Common themes of the new measures …
Read more

New government approach to ‘extremism’

On Monday 11 March, the government announced that it had updated its definition of ‘extremism’, specifically stating that this is in response to ‘increased extremist threat since the October 7th attacks in Israel’. This definition will apply across government’s funding of and interaction with third parties under its new engagement principles. The definition of extremism …
Read more

Weaving the threads together: key insights from our panel discussion on sustainable fashion

On the 5 March, we were joined by Kresse Wessling (co-founder of Elvis & Kresse), Thea Cooper (Senior Business Manager of anti-slavery charity Unseen UK) and Safia Minney (founder of Fashion Declares) at our panel discussion exploring the potential for the fashion industry to be more sustainable as part of our B Corp month celebrations. …
Read more

Office for Students consultations on the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023: our headline recommendations

The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 is implementing new and more rigidly enforceable duties on students’ unions (SUs). They require, among other things, relevant SUs to take “reasonably practicable steps” to secure “freedom of speech within the law” for groups, including students and visiting speakers. The Act also expands the requirements applying to …
Read more

The tax treatment of settlement agreement payments for discrimination and the (expensive) dangers of getting it wrong

The recent Tax Tribunal judgment in Mathur v HMRC serves as a stark reminder for employers of the importance of getting things right when it comes to the tax treatment of termination payments in settlement agreements, in particular in circumstances where those payments are intended (in full or in part) as compensation for injury to …
Read more

General Election 2024 campaigning resources: catch up on the full series

What do you need to know to campaign effectively within the law in the next few weeks in the run up to the general election on 4 July? Explore our resources on campaigning and get to grips with key rules for charities and other campaigners around spending on campaigning, publishing political statements, and wider political …
Read more

New Charity Commission guidance on Accepting, refusing and returning donations | Bates Wells’ briefing

The Charity Commission’s long-awaited guidance on Accepting, refusing and returning donations was published yesterday (Monday 4 March 2024). There was no consultation on the draft guidance with the sector, which we think would have been a helpful exercise. Accepting, refusing and returning donations is a really tricky area for charities to get to grips with. …
Read more

Setting our science-based target

We have been working hard to reduce our carbon footprint for over a decade now. As a city-based professional services firm, our direct emissions are relatively low, but we are determined to do our bit to reduce any negative impact that we have on the planet and to encourage others to do the same. In …
Read more

Charities Act 2022 – the third phase is here!

A number of significant changes to the Charities Act 2011 will come into force this Thursday (7 March) in the third instalment of the Charities Act 2022’s implementation. The Charities Act 2022 makes technical changes across many areas of charity law and is being implemented in phases, primarily to allow the Charity Commission to prepare …
Read more

B Corp Month UK: Our B Corp journey so far

Happy B Corp month! Next year will mark our 10th anniversary as a B Corp and we’re delighted to see how the movement in the UK has grown from the 60 founding B Corps in 2015 to more than 1,900 with over 81,000 employees. This year the theme is this way forward, highlighting the fact …
Read more

Bates Wells’ LGBT+ history month roundup 2024

This February, we joined in the UK’s celebration of LGBT+ history month. History month is an opportunity for us to reflect, and to take steps to continue to build inclusion for our people. It also enables us to look outwards, to our work with clients and with the wider legal and professional community. This LGBT+ …
Read more

Supervising Solicitor Services

Executing a search order can be challenging and unpredictable. Our experience as supervising solicitors is second to none. Download the file below to find out more.
Read more