Base rate meaning

In this issue: Key PI and Clinical negligence developments Civil procedure rule committee minutes Psychiatric and occupational stress Injuries caused by animals Claims involving a child Claims involving a fatality Costs and funding Other PI and Clinical negligence news LexTalk® PI & Clinical Negligence: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts LexisNexis® Webinars Useful information Key PI and Clinical negligence developments MoJ announces reduction in CFO’s interest rates The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed reduced interest rates for the Courts Funds Office (CFO) special and basic accounts. The special account rate moves from 4.75% to 4.50%, while the basic account rate shifts from 3.56% to 3.38%. Effective from 3 March 2025, the revision follows the Bank of England’s base rate cut on 6 February 2025 and is intended to ensure the CFO Service can continue to cover operational costs. See: LNB News 04/03/2025 38...

In this issue: Payment Building safety Scots law Consultants on construction projects Guarantees Construction industry news Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Construction trackers Payment Late payments—Tackling poor payment practices—government response Tim Wright, Partner in technology, outsourcing and commercial at Fladgate LLP, reviews the government’s reply to the late payment consultation ‘Time to Pay Up’, issued on 24 March 2026, setting out the most far‑reaching measures to deal with overdue payments in more than a quarter of a century. Government figures suggest overdue invoices drain £11bn annually from the UK economy and push 38 firms out of business each day. The reform bundle would grant the Small Business Commissioner (SBC) stronger authority to probe, determine and penalise firms; impose a hard ceiling of 60 days on payment terms; mandate statutory interest at 8% over the Bank of England base rate; fix a legal cut‑off for challenging invoices; and float a prohibition...

In this issue: Tax treatment Corporate governance HMRC Manuals tracker Useful information Weekly highlights from other practice areas Tax treatment HMRC confirms that its official rate of interest will remain at 2.25% HMRC has stated that its official interest rate for beneficial loan arrangements will stay at 2.25% from 6 April 2024, notwithstanding the Bank of England’s base rate of 5.25%. This rate applies when assessing the tax position of employment-related beneficial loans, and for notional loans under Chapter 3C of Part 7 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 where employment-related securities are obtained for less than market value. The 2.25% figure has applied since 6 April 2023 (previously 2.00%). For a comprehensive schedule of relevant tax and other rates, see Practice Note: Tax and other rates which are relevant to share incentives. For more on the beneficial loan charge, see Practice Note: Tax issues on the provision of loans to employees or directors. For...

The policy background In 2012, the first edition of the National Planning Policy Framework (2012 NPPF) took effect in England. It obliged local planning authorities (LPAs), among other things, to plan to meet the full, objectively assessed requirement for both market and affordable homes within their boundaries. They were expected to use their evidence base so the Local Plan met the full, objectively assessed housing need across the housing market area, insofar as this aligned with the Framework’s policies, and to identify key sites critical to delivering the housing strategy over the plan period. This represented a significant change in policy—previously there was no obligation to assess needs objectively with a view to planning to meet them. The purpose of this shift was to boost significantly the supply of housing (para 47 of the 2012 NPPF). For further detail on the treatment of housing needs in the 2012 NPPF, see the archived Practice Note: Objectively assessed need and housing land supply in the 2012 NPPF [Archived]...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE relating to the tax treatment of carried interest: After a call for evidence on the taxation of carried interest conducted over summer 2024, the Autumn Budget 2024 formally confirmed plans to bring in a redesigned regime for carried interest from 6 April 2026, positioned within the income tax system and accompanied by tailored provisions to reflect the reward’s distinctive attributes. A consultation then explored possible new qualifying criteria for entry to the regime, and the government published its response in June 2025. Draft legislation setting out the new carried interest rules was released on 21 July 2025, intended for inclusion in Finance Bill 2026. The regime is to apply to carried interest arising on or after 6 April 2026. These measures were reaffirmed at the 26 November 2025 Budget, which also noted that revisions had been made to the draft legislation following stakeholder input. In the meantime, ahead of commencement of the new framework, the capital gains tax rate applicable to carried interest was increased to 32%...

General principles For capital gains tax (CGT) purposes, trustees are regarded as a single chargeable person in their own right, distinct from the individual trustees. Although people often speak of trusts as if they, like a company, had their own separate legal personality, it is crucial to remember they do not. The process for working out a chargeable gain arising to trustees is largely the same as that used for an individual. Trustees may choose to sell trust assets where, acting in line with their duties as trustees (see Practice Note: Trustees—duties), they believe this best serves the beneficiaries’ interests. Where trust property is in fact disposed of by an arm’s length sale to an unconnected third party, the computational rules use the consideration received for the disposal to calculate the chargeable gain. Besides actual disposals of trust property, trustees can be deemed to make a disposal for CGT purposes. For instance, a deemed disposal occurs when a beneficiary becomes absolutely entitled to the trust property...

1 Interest on late payment If a party does not make payment in accordance with this Agreement, the other party may claim, in addition to any sum that ought properly to have been settled, and recover, [ simple OR compound ] interest on that sum (accruing on a daily basis from the final date for payment until the date payment is in fact made, whether before or after judgment). Such interest will be computed at a rate of [ insert figure ]% per annum above the [ insert name of financial institution eg Bank of England ] base rate then prevailing at the time the amount immediately became overdue under this Agreement. [ The parties agree that the provisions of this clause constitute a substantial remedy for the purposes of section 9(1) of the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. ]...

DATE Parties [ [ name ] of [ address ] [ and [ name ] of [ address ] ] OR [ name ] and [ name ] both of [ address ] ] ( Lender [ s ] ) [ [ name ] of [ address ] [ and [ name ] of [ address ] ] OR [ name ] and [ name ] both of [ address ] ] ( Borrower [ s ] ) 1 Definitions For the purposes of this Agreement, the terms below shall have the following meanings: Charge • the security created pursuant to clause 7.1; Default • means: any failure by the Borrower [ s ] to fulfil any of their obligations under this Agreement; or the Borrower [ s or one of them ] [ dying, or ] becoming insolvent, or entering into any form of composition or arrangement with their...

date [ date ] Parties [ name of (first) Seller ] [ and [ name of second Seller ] both ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Seller) [ name of Buyer ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) whose registered office is at [ address ] ] (Buyer) 1 Definitions For this Agreement, the terms below shall have these meanings: Buyer’s Solicitors – [ name ] of [ address ] (reference [ details ]) or any other solicitors the Buyer notifies to the Seller; Deposit – £[ amount in figures ] ([ amount in words ] pounds); [ Independent Surveyor – an independent chartered surveyor with at least [ 10 ] years’ experience in valuing property of a comparable type and in a comparable location to the Property; ]...

What is a DCFA? Most practitioners know the ‘pure’ CFA, commonly referred to as a ‘no win, no fee’ agreement. Working under a pure CFA, the lawyer or legal representative is remunerated only upon a win, as the CFA expressly defines it. If that outcome is not achieved, no fee is payable for the professional work undertaken on the matter. For additional detail, see the subtopic: CFAs and DBAs for further information. A DCFA is often described as a ‘no win, lower fee’ arrangement in contrast to the pure CFA. Under a DCFA, the client agrees to meet the lawyer’s fees in full on success; if the case fails, a reduced fee is payable to the representative. The role of success fees Success fees exist to ensure a solicitor’s portfolio of CFA-backed litigation can operate at nil net loss overall. Put differently, the success uplifts on winning matters are designed to meet the base costs that cannot be recovered on losing matters within that portfolio...