Statutory scheme meaning

Legislation safeguards the pension entitlements of members of occupational pension schemes and other employment‑related benefit arrangements, including workplace personal pension schemes that receive employer contributions, while they are away from work on statutory family leave. Statutory family leave encompasses: maternity leave paternity leave adoption leave parental leave shared parental leave parental bereavement leave carer’s leave Maternity leave Occupational pension schemes are taken to include a maternity equality rule requiring periods when a member is on maternity leave to be treated in the same manner as periods when they are not on maternity leave. This maternity equality rule applies to both paid and unpaid ordinary maternity leave (OML), as well as to paid additional maternity leave (AML). As a result, under this rule, time spent on OML and paid AML in a defined benefit (DB) scheme is recognised as pensionable service...

The employer and its advisers ought to reflect on the following matters: Preparatory steps From the employer, gather: a copy of the departing employee’s latest employment contract and any other documents setting out contractual terms (note: these might sit within a staff handbook) particulars of the employee’s contractual benefits pertinent details about the employee’s pension entitlements information on any shares/share options held by the employee; review the Articles of Association, any relevant shareholder agreement, and share scheme documentation. See also Shares and share options below Status of negotiations Will discussions occur directly between the parties, or via their respective legal advisers? How robust is the employer’s bargaining position? How credible are the employee’s existing or potential claims? For any dismissal, is there a fair reason and has a fair procedure been followed? Is the employer in repudiatory breach? What is the employer initially...

Where a scheme of arrangement, restructuring plan, company voluntary arrangement or individual arrangement is put forward in respect of a regulated firm (defined below), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) should be engaged at the earliest possible stage. The FCA serves as the conduct regulator for both financial services firms and for the financial markets across the United Kingdom. Under section 1B of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000), it is tasked with pursuing specified objectives, including one centred on consumer protection in practice. The FCA states its statutory aims as securing an appropriate level of protection for consumers and safeguarding and strengthening the overall integrity of UK financial markets, with the intention of limiting the volume of proposed compromises it deems unsuitable (see FG22/4 para 1.2). On 5 July 2022, the FCA issued guidance on compromises by regulated firms (FCA Guidance FG22/4 July 2022, updated January 2024), prompted by serious concerns that these mechanisms were being advanced and deployed by firms to sidestep redress due to customers...

This flow diagram outlines the steps for submitting a compensation event claim seeking extra time to finish the works and/or extra payment under the NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract...

In this issue: Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental enforcement and prosecutions ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Latest Q&A Energy efficiency and buildings The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has issued its 2025 post‑implementation review (PIR) of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1643). Using Phase 3 compliance notifications from the Environment Agency, together with unpublished interim data from Phase 3 action plans, and building on the 2020 PIR, it recommends holding off any major amendments to the ESOS Regulations until a full evaluation ends in May 2026, after which a comprehensive PIR will be completed. The research evaluates how energy audits and reporting identify and deliver energy efficiency savings across organisations. See: LNB News 14/08/2025 6...

In this issue: Electricity and gas market regulation and licensing Networks and grid connections Renewable energy Capacity Market, balancing services and system flexibility Air emissions, efficiency and climate change International energy Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Energy resources on Lexis+® Electricity and gas market regulation and licensing DESNZ has opened a consultation to strengthen Energy Ombudsman (EO) powers. It will concentrate on complaints from domestic energy suppliers, small enterprise complaints against non-domestic suppliers, and heat network complaints. Electricity and gas networks and third-party intermediaries will instead be consulted on separately. The plans include shortening the escalation period for complaints from eight to four weeks, allowing automatic compensation where EO decisions are not put into effect promptly, and granting the EO a statutory designation. DESNZ has also stated that Ofgem will regulate third‑party intermediaries, including energy brokers and price comparison sites, which have previously operated...

In this issue: Electricity and gas market regulation and licensing Networks and network connections Renewable energy Capacity Market, balancing services and energy system flexibility International energy Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers Electricity and gas market regulation and licensing DESNZ launches consultation on regulating TPIs in the retail energy market The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has opened a consultation to bring Third Party Intermediaries in the retail energy market under regulation, bolstering consumer protection and aiding the shift to a cleaner energy system. Triggered by cases of consumers and businesses being targeted by unregulated rogue brokers and other TPIs, this forms part of the government’s ongoing support for Ofgem to develop an effective market for non-domestic customers, alongside implementing recommendations from Ofgem’s July 2023 non-domestic policy consultation. The consultation closes on 15 November 2024. See: LNB News 20/09/2024 36. Ofgem launches statutory consultation on SoLR Levy Offset...

This Practice Note examines the statutory bars to extradition from the UK contained in section 11 of the Extradition Act 2003 (EA 2003). There are numerous specific grounds that an individual may rely upon to resist extradition under EA 2003. Some of these grounds apply across both categories of request, while others are confined to EA 2003, Pt 1 or EA 2003, Pt 2 requests only. For an overview of the statutory scheme under EA 2003, see Practice Note: Extradition and the statutory framework—an introduction to extradition. For further guidance on the procedure applicable to EA 2003, Pt 1 and EA 2003, Pt 2, see Practice Note: Extradition under Parts 1 and 2 of the Extradition Act 2003—procedure. Statutory bars At the extradition hearing, the district judge will assess whether the request relates to an extradition offence and whether any of the statutory bars to extradition apply. The statutory grounds for opposing extradition are then considered in turn...

This Practice Note sets out the principal steps for properly bringing to an end a defined contribution (DC) occupational pension scheme—also described as a money purchase occupational pension arrangement or a trust-based defined contribution plan. Throughout this Practice Note, this type of arrangement is termed a ‘DC scheme’. The guidance applies across a range of DC schemes, including trusts that sit outside the authorised master trust framework and small self-administered pension schemes (SSASs), although the latter may, in certain cases, be excluded from particular statutory obligations or requirements. This Practice Note does not cover the winding-up of any: an ‘authorised master trust’ under the Pension Schemes Act 2017 (PSA 2017)—for further detailed information, please see Practice Note: The authorisation and supervisory regime for master trusts, contract-based DC arrangements (eg group personal pension arrangements)—for further details and guidance, see Practice Note: Winding up of personal pension schemes Statute makes distinct and specific provision for hybrid schemes (combining defined benefit (DB) and DC...

The company establishing a SIP The company setting up a share incentive plan (SIP) does not need to be the same entity whose shares are allocated. However, both: the shares to be granted, and the connection between the SIP-establishing entity and the company whose shares are issued must satisfy the relevant legislative conditions. A SIP can be created either: solely for employees of the company that establishes it; or for those employees and for employees of other companies it controls (a group plan)—see Constituent companies below. In a group where the parent company’s shares are to be awarded, there are two options: the parent company may establish the SIP and extend it to the appropriate subsidiaries; or each subsidiary may establish its own SIP, provided the other statutory requirements concerning the shares under award are met—see Requirements for the shares. The advantage of each subsidiary operating its...

This Agreement is made on [ insert date ] Parties [ Insert Employer’s name ], whose registered office is at [ insert Employer’s address ], company registration number [ insert Employer’s company number ] (Employer); [ Insert Employee’s name ] of [ insert Employee’s address ] (you). The parties agree: Termination of employment 1.1 Your employment with the Employer [ will terminate OR terminated ] owing to [ insert reason for termination ] on [ insert date ] (Termination Date). 1.2 For the period up to and including the Termination Date, you [ will be OR have been ] paid your accrued basic salary (less deductions for income tax and primary class 1 (employee) National Insurance contributions ( PAYE Deductions )) and [ will have OR have ] received your contractual benefits [ , including a payment of £[ insert amount ] in respect of [ insert number ] days’ accrued but untaken holiday entitlement ] [...

These notes and specimen documents make up an automatic enrolment (AE) pack created to assist employers—including small and micro-employers—in meeting the duty to enrol employees into an AE scheme... (A) Notes about AE (i) the statutory obligation (ii) financial thresholds and limits (iii) the statutory and other key terms (B) Documents (i) letters (ii) notices (iii) the employment contract—sample pension clauses AE scheme providers generally issue the core letters and notices, though not always everything required in every relevant situation, and typically none where an employer fulfils the AE duty by using a qualifying pension scheme that is not an automatic enrolment pension scheme... (A) Notes about AE 1 The statutory obligation The primary legal provisions are found in Part 1 of the Pensions Act 2008 (PenA 2008) and the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Automatic Enrolment) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/772, as later...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: On 26 November 2025, as part of Budget 2025, it was confirmed that from April 2029, only the first £2,000 in each year of pension saving arranged via salary sacrifice will be exempt from National Insurance contributions (NICs). Any employee amounts channelled through salary sacrifice above £2,000 annually will attract both employer and employee NICs, meaning any sum beyond £2,000 will, for NICs, be handled in the same manner as other staff workplace pension payments. Employer contributions remain unchanged, and income tax relief is also preserved. Employers must report the value of salary surrendered using existing payroll systems, with HMRC pledging to consult stakeholders. HMRC intends to issue additional guidance ‘before April 2029’, ahead of the April 2029 start date...

Employment Rights Act 1996 (Coronavirus, Calculation of a Week’s Pay) Regulations 2020 (Week’s Pay Amendment Regs 2020), SI 2020/814 For broader guidance on SI 2020/814, see Practice Note: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme—right to statutory redundancy and other termination payments [Archived]. This resource provides general context on the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Coronavirus, Calculation of a Week’s Pay) Regulations 2020 and their application... The Week’s Pay Amendment Regs 2020, SI 2020/814, prescribe how to determine a week’s pay for an employee who is, or has previously been, furloughed under the CJRS. The rules apply when calculating specified payments, including an employee’s entitlement to payment under section 88 or 89 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996). In effect, the instrument clarifies the approach to weekly pay where furlough is relevant, ensuring the correct basis is used for these statutory sums linked to notice or other termination-related payments as identified under the ERA 1996...

Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) Part II of the LTA 1954 confers security of tenure on business tenants unless its requirements have been contracted out. As a result, a commercial lease does not lapse by effluxion of time; instead it continues as a statutory tenancy until it is brought to an end in accordance with the LTA 1954, or when the court grants a new lease on the application of either the landlord or the tenant, or when the lease is terminated by surrender or by forfeiture under the scheme set out therein in full...

This Q&A This Q&A considers how the Housing Act 2004 (HA 2004) applies to assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) governed by the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988). In brief, when a landlord takes a deposit for an AST, two actions are required within 30 days of receiving the funds. First, the initial requirements of an authorised tenancy deposit scheme must be satisfied in full (HA 2004, s 213(3)). Secondly, the tenant must be provided with specified prescribed information (HA 2004, s 213(5)(6)). The relevant prescribed information is set out in the Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007, SI 2007/797. Failure to comply limits the landlord’s entitlement to serve a notice under HA 1988, s 21, and entitles the tenant to apply for an order for the return of the deposit or for its payment into an authorised scheme (HA 2004, s 214(3)), together with a financial award of not less than one, and not more than three, times the deposit’s value (HA 2004, s 214(4))...