Restrictions on the placement of High in Fat, Salt and Sugar (HFSS) food in prominent locations (in store and online) are now in force with restrictions on volume price promotions delayed until October 2023. What is in force? We discussed the new measures on HFSS food including restrictions on volume offers and new rules on placement and promotion in our previous article ‘Further restrictions on HFSS (high in fat, salt or sugar) foods are coming’ ...
On 22 September 2022, the UK Government published the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (‘the Bill’). Under the Bill, all retained EU law will be revoked on 31 December 2023 (or at a later date prior to 23 June 2026 if a consensus to delay is reached) unless Members of Parliament take steps to codify it into UK law. The potential regulatory effect of the Bill is seismic ...
Today is World Menopause Day! Whilst it may feel like ‘just another day’, it is an important day for raising awareness of something that has, historically, not been on most people’s radars (other than those going thought it, of course) ...
With an ingrained focus on community, connectivity and sustainability, the build to rent (BTR) sector is helping to transform modern living habits in the UK. With the total number of BTR homes completed, under construction or in planning at Q2 2022 up 13% from 2021 to 237,000, and with regional cities growing at double the pace of London, the sector has a huge opportunity to act as a flagbearer for the ESG agenda ...
With the government’s widely publicised plan to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK by the end of the decade comes a secondary issue – the need for an extensive electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure to support an exponential increase in the number of EV cars on the road. Rollout of EV chargepoints is significantly behind what is needed to meet the predicted demand from 2030 ...
As a part of conversations with clients webinar series, Jonathan Lipman, Group General Counsel of Mercedes-Benz UK, joined Sebastian Price to discuss what IHL team can do to help deliver ESG goals. What does environmental, social and governance (ESG) mean? ESG is about in-house lawyers (IHLs) wanting to do the right thing, together whilst driving the wider goals of the business ...
That’s the question Shoosmiths and Cornwall Insight’s recent report sought to answer, investigating the role the Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model could play as part of the UK’s electric vehicle charging network. In a new video, Jonathan Smart, partner and head of mobility at Shoosmiths, discusses the BaaS model, which enables electric vehicle owners and business fleets to swap out depleted batteries for fully charged ones at a service station via a subscription service ...
A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal (‘EAT’) decision provides a cautionary tale for employers on compensation awards but all is not lost. We examine Dafiaghor-Olomu v Community Integrated Care and outline key steps employers can take to protect themselves against inflated liability ...
The recent decision of an Inspector not to confirm a compulsory purchase order (CPO) sought by the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham is a key reminder of the need to fully justify the use of CPO powers and provide appropriate supporting evidence. The decision On 4 October 2022 an Inspector decided not to confirm a compulsory purchase order (CPO) sought by the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (Borough) ...
The past two years have accelerated the pace of change in the workplace, not just in terms of a more positive approach towards flexible and hybrid working and an increased use of technology but also in terms of skills shortages and a strain on the current labour market. The past two years have also highlighted a continued need for employers to do even more to support and nurture their disabled workforce, with more proactive recruitment and retention strategies ...
An increasing number of cases highlighting potential clashes between employees holding gender critical beliefs and the rights of other employees protected by the Equality Act 2010, leave employers having to carefully perform a balancing act of rights ...
President Biden’s Executive Order on US data transfers came at the end of last week, signalling a “dramatic step” for EU-US data relations, with knock on consequences for the UK expected. The superlatives can’t get strong enough for US data lawyers commenting on its impact. The problem Under the EU and UK GDPR an international transfer requires “adequate safeguards” to be in place ...
Hybrid working is now an accepted way of working for many employees who relish the balance it brings to their lives. The approach has challenges for employers; not least performance management of remote employees and how to deal with issues that arise. Hybrid working certainly has its benefits, with many surveys reporting that employees who work from home for part of the week feel more productive and can maintain a better work / life balance ...
‘Coming out’, whether as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, absolutely still matters. With changing societal attitudes and the recent courageous public announcements of two professional footballers, it is hoped that it is getting easier. Nonetheless, workplace statistics still show that LGBTQ+ employees do not openly voice their sexuality and/or gender identity at work through fear of discrimination and harassment ...
This article focuses on the key aspects of the New Homes Quality Code (NHQC), which developers must consider and implement at the reservation and pre-contract stages ...
The passing of Her Late Majesty marks the end of an era, the sudden absence of a reassuring figure who has been with most of us for all of our lives, but it is only the latest in a series of seismic events to remind us of constant change and of our need to continually adapt. With rising inflation and increasing energy costs and an anticipated fall in donations, charities face meeting more demand from fewer resources and the question of what they should be doing at this time ...
Separate ownership of mines and minerals poses a risk for developers that must be assessed and mitigated as appropriate. The basic rule of property ownership is that the owner of land owns up to the heavens and down to the centre of the earth. Following this common law presumption, mines and minerals are presumed to be owned by the surface landowner, unless it is shown that they have been severed and therefore in separate ownership ...
Levelling up was barely mentioned in the recent “mini budget”, reports say barely any of the levelling up funds have actually been spent and figures show that since the first time then PM Boris Johnson uttered those two words “levelling up” in 2020, our regional cities continue to lag behind the capital. Investment is 23% lower, take up 12% lower and average rents a whopping 54% lower ...
During the mini-Budget on 23 September 2022, the Chancellor of the Exchequer made a significant (and unexpected!) announcement that reforms previously made to the IR35 off payroll working regulations will be repealed from 6 April 2023. Quick recap Reforms were made to the IR35 regulations in both 2017 (for the public sector) and in 2021 (for the private sector) ...
With the COVID-19 Inquiry (“the Inquiry”) now open, and applications for Core Participant status for Modules 1 and 2 currently being assessed, potential applicants will need to consider how their participation in the Inquiry will be funded. Section 40 of the Inquiries Act 2005 provides that funding for legal representation can be awarded out of the Inquiry budget. As the Inquiry will be funded by the government this is, in effect, public funding ...
As part of the UK Government’s review of the UK funds regime it has included in the Finance Act 2022, (the Act) a new regime for qualifying asset-holding companies (QAHCs). This regime came into effect on 1 April 2022. The QAHC regime provides a tax efficient, UK resident vehicle through which certain types of institutional investors and funds can hold investments ...
Lauren Bowkett is a fraud and financial crime expert in the Business Crime and Compliance Team at Shoosmiths. She is an expert in confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (‘POCA’) and has successfully intervened in numerous POCA cases to assert her clients third party interest rights ...
A webinar hosted by Shoosmiths in collaboration with Asset Reality. Scroll down the page to watch the webinar. Intro poll According to a recent survey, what percentage of millennial millionaires own cryptocurrency? According to a recent study conducted by CNBC, 83% percent of millennial millionaires own cryptocurrency with over half having at least 50% of their wealth in cryptocurrencies. https://cointelegraph ...
With all the changes to the world of work that we have recently experienced and are continuing to experience, our webinar programme this year is focused on the future of work and in particular the hot topics that HR teams are having to handle now in order to future-proof their organisations. Our latest seminar focused on effective performance management in a hybrid working world ...
