Module 6 of the UK’s Covid-19 Public Inquiry opened on 12 December 2023, with public hearings set to begin in Spring 2025. This article explores what Module 6 will examine and explains how and why members of the Care Sector may want to become involved ...
This article explores the reasons why sickness absence and mental health issues may rise among employees during the festive period and what employers can do to support their employees during this time. Christmas is traditionally an exciting time of year, but the colder weather and shorter nights can cause lower mood for a lot of people. When feeling low, people can also be more susceptible to illness, picking up unwanted coughs and colds which leaves them feeling even lower ...
Last week, Shoosmiths hosted an event by The Fashion Network titled ‘AI in Fashion Retail: Mastering the Future of the Style business’. During this event we heard from fashion industry leaders on how the retail sector is seeking to revolutionise their businesses using cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technologies ...
Shoosmiths’ AI lead and partner Alex Kirkhope attended the Data Ethics Summit, focused on exploring the fundamental principles of ethical technology, the agenda evolved to delve into the practical applications of ethics, spanning from private sector strategies to policy and regulatory development, many of which are now being put into practice ...
Winter can be a hectic time of year, with stress levels heightened by frantic planning for the festive season and employers may be overwhelmed by annual leave requests. How can employers keep employees happy while balancing the needs of the workplace? Annual leave requests Most employees are likely to request time off during the winter months to spend time with family and friends, especially where this aligns with school holiday periods, religious festivals and national bank holidays ...
A summary of the key takeaways from a recent webinar on the spectre of personal criminal liability for charity trustees. During the recent Trustees’ Week the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission said that one of the week’s aims is to inspire more people to come forward to serve as trustees, to prepare a pipeline of able and passionate people, willing to take on the mantle of trusteeship, ensuring the good work of charities is sustainable ...
A summary of the key takeaways from a recent webinar on The Covid-19 Public Inquiry - Spotlight on the Care Sector. What is a Public Inquiry? A public inquiry is a state sponsored investigation into areas of public concern. Inquiries are set up and sponsored by the government, but they operate independently of the government. All inquiries have powers to compel the attendance of witnesses or provision of evidence ...
Shoosmiths hosts a roundtable covering the partnerships model in the UK's living sector, as part of the UKAA’s Annual Build to Rent Conference 2023. As the UK’s residential market navigates economic challenges, including the impact of elevated interest rates and borrowing costs, many real estate businesses are now exploring partnerships ...
The new Home Secretary, James Cleverly, announced a five-point plan aimed at reducing the recently announced record high net-migration figures. The planned changes will have a big impact on many employers’ ability to sponsor workers from overseas. The changes will be brought into force in the Spring, although an exact date has yet to be confirmed. The Government estimate that these changes will reduce net migration by 300,000 (based on estimations of new entrants to the UK last year) ...
The Environment Agency has been found in breach of the Regulators’ Code by failing to provide a proper appeal mechanism for challenging Compliance Assessment Reports. It must now decide how to provide permit holders with a new appeal mechanism ...
The much-anticipated judgment in the Court of Appeal case of Churchill v Merthr Tydfil County Borough Council [2023] EWCA Civ 1416 has now been handed down. The case concerns a claimant that alleges the Council allowed Japanese knotweed to spread from its land onto the claimant’s private property ...
A judgment has been handed down in the Supreme Court case of Wolverhampton City Council and others v London Gypsies and Travellers and others [2023] UKSC 47. The case considered whether the court had the jurisdiction to make injunctions against not only ‘persons unknown’, but also against unidentified and unknown persons that have not yet performed, or even threatened to perform, the acts which the injunction prohibits. Such persons are known as “newcomers” ...
Episode 7 of the Journey Through a Contract series highlights the key considerations when a business is entering into a contract with a consumer. Felicity Forward, Ayesha Chandegra and Joel Murphie provide guidance on how to identify a consumer contract, what additional protections consumers have and how the law is set to enhance consumer rights through the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill. Listen to the podcast and send us your feedback to [email protected] ...
Bringing together leading developers, agents, operators, design specialists, as well as policy and legal experts, Shoosmiths hosts a roundtable discussion on meeting the real estate demands of the UK’s life sciences sector ...
The recent Autumn Statement contained little support for charities as the sector continues to face increased demand, higher costs and reduced funding ...
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently published revised figures showing that net migration figures for the year ending 2022 were in fact much higher than initially expected. You may remember our previous article published in June 2023 regarding increases to net migration figures released by the ONS; Net migration figures continue to increase, according to ONS ...
'He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice, he’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice’...but is Santa doing so in compliance with the GDPR? As the first Christmas trees and advent calendars go up in stores and homes across the UK, our thoughts may turn towards the joys – and pressures – of the festive season ...
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered the Autumn Statement on 22 November 2023. In total, it contained 110 proposed measures for delivering UK growth. From a pensions perspective, the focus was on consolidation of the UK pensions industry through: Taking forward the Mansion House reforms, starting with steps to increase consolidation within the UK pensions industry ...
Christmas parties are designed to be fun, but a few festive drinks can quickly get out of hand if not managed correctly. A sobering thought is that employers can be vicariously liable for the action of employees during work events such as Christmas parties. In order to minimise the risks, we explore the steps employers can take before and after any work social event ...
Given the current economic climate, many employers are reformulating their businesses or are aiming to cut costs, which may give rise to more cases of proposed redundancies. We discuss how affected employees can best navigate these uncertain times. A redundancy situation is rarely welcomed by both employers and employees; they can represent financial hardship, both for employers struggling with profitability, and the inevitable direct impact on individual employees and their families ...
The UK data protection regulator, the Information Commissioners’ Office (ICO) has recently published a blog containing a quick guide to help retailers assess the lawfulness of sharing criminal offence data ...
On 21 November, Waters Technology published an opinion piece on the use by cloud providers of hardware which, under previous policies, would have been retired. They are doing this due to exponential growth in the demand for their services – not profits. On the same day, it published an article highlighting the work the DTCC has been undertaking with AWS to produce technical standards “to enhance multi-region resiliency”, which were published on 20 November ...
Discussions in Brussels over the finalisation of the EU’s AI Act appear to have faltered, as the parties involved in its current ‘trilogue’ phase (involving agreement between the Commission, Council and Parliament on a final form text for the legislation) have struggled to reach a consensus on how to approach the regulation of foundation models ...
Collaboration took centre stage at the recent Transport and Energy (TE) Forum event, which brought together industry leaders both in the public and private sectors to explore the crucial need for increased cooperation across the landscape. The forum, marked by the tagline 'Further & Faster,' acknowledged the strides the UK has made in achieving new charge point milestones but underscored the imperative for continued progress ...
Watch the webinar video and study our key takeaway points from our latest seminar focused on attendance. Our 2023 webinar programme is focused on supporting HR teams to improve the effectiveness and productivity of the organisations they work for, equipping them to best handle key issues and improve their business through reducing their risk, developing their talent and future proofing their organisation #HRImprove ...
