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Codification and expansion of the rules limiting confidentiality provisions in Non-Disclosure Agreements for victims of crime

The Government has announced that it will be codifying and expanding the rules limiting the application of confidentiality provisions in Non-Disclosure Agreements (“NDAs”) to victims of crime, in order to give the latter greater protections.  Section 17 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 will come into force on 1 October 2025, and will clarify …
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Employment Status: Tribunal finds exam invigilator was worker not self employed: Lessons from Shanks v Scottish Qualifications Authority

In Shanks v Scottish Qualifications Authority, the Employment Tribunal ruled an exam invigilator was a worker under employment law and entitled to holiday pay. This case highlights the importance of aligning contractual terms with actual working practices and serves as a warning to employers about the importance of correctly assessing the employment status of those …
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Bates Wells advises investors on joint venture of PSS Global Ltd

Bates Wells has advised investors on joint venture between PSS Global Ltd and Officine Maccaferri. The joint venture between PSS Global Ltd and Officine Maccaferri, a global leader in environmental engineering solutions, aims to combine both companies’ expertise, engineering capabilities, and complementary technologies. The new venture, Prime Synthetic Solutions, will advance the offshore energy, transportation, …
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Purpose & Impact: your roundup | June

Welcome to your roundup – a monthly selection of news hand-picked to keep you up to date with what’s going on for businesses and investors working to create positive impact. In this roundup you can find out what’s new in the B Corp, social enterprise, and impact investing spaces, amongst others, collated under helpful headings. …
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Briefing for Charities & Social Enterprises | 3 June

Our weekly round up of news and updates from across the sector. To help you navigate this week’s content, the links below will take you straight to content by topic. Sanctions To strengthen the sanctions regime, the government is proposing changes to help sanctions whistleblowers qualify for statutory whistleblowing protection when disclosing information about breaches …
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Kids Company judicial review – winners or losers?

Philip Kirkpatrick reflects on the recent High Court decision on the judicial review case brought against the Charity Commission in relation to its 2022 inquiry report into Kids Company. Many people will have thought that the Kids Company case was all over long ago. Well, it is now, following a recent High Court judgment in …
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The implications of the For Women Scotland judgment in the world of sport

Women’s sport is the latest sphere to feel the ripple effects of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in the For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers case (discussed here). In For Women Scotland, the Supreme Court held that transgender people retain their biological sex for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 (EqA) even if …
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The Equality and Human Rights Commission Consults on an Updated Statutory Code of Practice following For Women Scotland

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (“EHRC”) “Interim Update on the Practical Implications”, the EHRC has launched a consultation on an updated Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations (“Code of Practice”) (“Consultation”). The purpose of …
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Indirectly discriminatory redundancy selection criteria: Lessons from Norman v Lidl

A key aspect of a fair redundancy process is having fair, reasonable, objective selection criteria which are applied consistently and are not discriminatory in any way. However, this can sometimes be difficult to achieve in practice and getting it wrong can have costly financial and reputational consequences for organisations. The recent case of Wayne Norman …
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Demystifying investigations webinar series

Organisations are undertaking an increasing number of investigations, ranging from inquiries into individual actions such as misconduct to reviews into institutional dysfunctionalities. But investigations can be complex.   We are hosting a series of webinars where we will be exploring investigations. These sessions will provide you with the know-how to navigate this difficult territory successfully, and equip …
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Immigration White Paper to reduce net migration – what does this mean for employers?

The government released its White Paper on legal migration entitled ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration system’ on 12 May with a wide range of proposed reforms. These include restoring the Skilled Worker minimum skill level to degree level and increasing minimum salaries, restricting permission on the Graduate route to 18 months, raising the Immigration Skills Charge …
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Bates Wells advises ONE Campaign on challenging Government’s overseas aid cuts

The charity ONE Campaign has sent a judicial review pre-action protocol letter to the government in relation to its decision to cut spending on overseas aid to 0.3% – a further departure from the statutory target of 0.7% – in order to fund an increase in defence spending. ONE – represented by Bates Wells’ Helen …
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