Public and Regulatory

A safer life online for children: Ofcom’s call to action

If your organisation hosts online forums or other communities where users can interact online, you may need to take action under Ofcom’s new codes on child safety. Charities advocating for online safety for children and women will also be interested in the implications of these codes, as well as Ofcom’s current consultation on protecting women …
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Bates Wells and Fair Game drive key improvements in Football Governance Bill as it advances in Parliament

The Football Governance Bill has received its first reading in the House of Commons, having passed through the House of Lords with its key provisions intact. The Bill will introduce an Independent Football Regulator to oversee the licensing of clubs in the top five tiers of the men’s game, with three main objectives: protecting individual …
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Regulating for growth – a new approach to an old idea?

“We’ve got to look at regulation across the piece, and where it is needlessly holding back investment… mark my words, we will get rid of it”. This was Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s bold commitment at the International Investment Summit in October 2024. Two months later, on Christmas eve 2024, the PM wrote to 17 regulators, …
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A new approach to enforcement? Ofqual consults on its Taking Regulatory Action policy

On 20 February 2025, Ofqual opened a consultation on updates to its enforcement policy, “Taking Regulatory Action”, which it proposes to rename “Supporting Compliance and Taking Regulatory Action”. The consultation will close on 15 May 2025. This refresh of Ofqual’s enforcement policy has been long awaited by awarding organisations (“AOs”). Since the existing policy was …
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Is your charity ready for the Online Safety Act?

The Online Safety Act (the “OSA”) imposes a range of duties on in-scope online services, aiming in particular to protect children from harmful content and to protect all users from illegal online content and activity. While the OSA received Royal Assent in 2023, the majority of its provisions will come into force in 2025 with …
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The Southport murders – will a non-statutory inquiry be enough?

The government has announced a public inquiry into the murders of Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King and Alice DaSilva Aguiar in Southport in July 2024. The inquiry will look at the murders in the context of rising youth violence, online radicalisation, and extremism. As with all inquiries, the aim will be to work out what …
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Strategic litigation and the water crisis

A few weeks ago, the March for Clean Water swept through London, with thousands demanding action on water pollution. The scale of the crisis is undeniable; only 14% of English rivers are ranked as having “good” or better ecological status, and over 10% of our freshwater and wetland species are threatened with extinction.[1] The Labour …
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Groundbreaking cases and positive impact: Bates Wells recognised by The Times Best Law Firms 2025

We’ve been recognised by The Times Best Law Firms 2025 for our work for charities, employment, immigration, and administrative & public law. Stand out work was recognised on a ground-breaking employment case against Uber Eats, and with the RSPCA on animal welfare regulation in the UK, highlighted in our latest impact report. And also our …
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Strategic litigation roundtable: the present and the future, the threats and the opportunities

On 6 November 2024, we hosted a group of experts and leaders from charities, campaign groups and funding organisations to discuss the current strategic litigation landscape in the UK and the opportunities (and challenges) it presents for claimants. We reflected on the huge recent successes claimants have had, both domestically and in the international courts. …
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“Distorted and fragmented responsibility”: the role of public law and regulation in ensuring accountability after the Grenfell Tower Inquiry

Seven years since the Grenfell Tower fire in North Kensington, a disaster which brought into devastating focus decades of institutional failings in fire safety and construction standards, and in which 72 people lost their lives, Chair of the Public Inquiry Sir Martin Moore-Bick this month published his 1,700-page report (“the Grenfell Report”) into the tragedy. …
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Landmark climate judgment: R (Finch on behalf of the Weald Action Group & Others) v. Surrey County Council (& Others)

A recent judgment by the Supreme Court has been hailed as groundbreaking by climate campaigners, fighting for recognition of the true environmental impacts of fossil fuel projects in the UK. The much-awaited decision held that the decision of Surrey County Council (the “Council”) to grant planning permission for an oil production project was unlawful. This …
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Lessons learned from the judgment on the Michaela School’s “prayer ban”

The Michaela Community Schools Trust has successfully defended its decision to ban prayer rituals for all its pupils as lawful in the High Court. Following this high-profile judgment, the Bates Wells’ Public Law team reflect on the wider implications of the case for pupils, parents and schools. Background R (TTT) v Michaela Community Schools Trust …
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