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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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In this issue: Horizon scanning Status and worker categories Employment contract Protected characteristics Diversity and gender pay gap Maternity, parents and carers Whistleblowing Dates for your diary Trackers Employment resources on Lexis+® Lex Talk®Employment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Horizon scanning Ho C Library publishes briefing on progress of Employment Rights Bill 2024–25. The House of Commons ( Ho C) Library has issued a briefing tracking the Employment Rights Bill 2024–25 ( ERB) through its stages to date. It distils the main strands of debate, including unfair dismissal, flexible working, statutory sick pay, family leave, harassment protections, fire and rehire practices, sectoral collective bargaining in education and adult social care, trade union rules, and labour market enforcement. It also summarises amendments made so far. See: LNB News...
Islam- Wright v Arts Council England and C Ashcroft: 2408555/2022 In a decision dated 13 February 2025, Employment Judge Rhodri Mc Donald determined that the government-funded arts body undermined its employment relationship with the claimant, Islam- Wright, by summoning her to a disciplinary hearing prompted by hasty comments she made after a grant was controversially awarded to a gay rights organisation that excluded transgender people. He recorded that there was no solid basis for questioning the sincerity of her apology, despite it having been dismissed as not a genuine apology. Judge Mc Donald further concluded that notifying the claimant that she was required to attend a disciplinary hearing would have constituted a breach of the implied term. The circumstances of this case are connected to those considered in Fahmy v Arts Council England ET Case No 6000042/2022 (see News Analysis: Employee holding gender...
The Bill’s principal aims, as signalled by its long title, are to create an independent Office of the Whistleblower ( OWB) and to safeguard both whistleblowers and the practice of whistleblowing. The OWB would be empowered to set, oversee and enforce minimum standards for managing whistleblowing matters. This would encompass establishing protocols for handling protected disclosures, providing independent disclosure and advice services, undertaking whistleblowing investigations, and directing redress for any detriment suffered by whistleblowers. Should the OWB be established, it would represent a substantial shift for organisations in how whistleblowing is addressed, notably by offering individuals the option to report concerns to an independent third-party body with investigatory powers. To understand the Bill’s impetus, how we have reached this point, the case for changing perceptions of whistleblowing, and the treatment of whistleblowers and the response to their reports, it is useful first to...
Higgs v Farmor’s School and (1) the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England, (2) the Free Speech Union Ltd others as interveners), the Association of Christian Teachers, (4) Sex Matters, (5) the Equality and Human Rights Commission (as interveners) [2025] EWCA Civ 109 A school worker’s success is set to shape how employers and tribunals approach cases where staff spark outrage by airing an increasing range of legally protected views, commonly online. Justice Nicholas Underhill, writing for a unanimous panel, confirmed that employers carry the burden of proof to show any disciplinary step is “objectively justified”. Free speech supporters welcomed the judgment as a landmark in human rights law, granting employees broad room to use unrestrained and provocative language. Susan Kelly, partner at Winckworth Sherwood LLP, said it re‑emphasised the democratic importance of workers being able to say what they believe, “whether or not that...
In this issue: Recruitment Protected characteristics Data protection and employee information Business reorganisation Confidentiality, duties and restrictions: enforcement Immigration IRLR Highlights— March 2025 Dates for your diary Trackers Employment resources on Lexis+® Daily and weekly news alerts Recruitment Employee fairly dismissed for failing to disclose previous gross misconduct dismissal on application form employment history In Easton v Secretary of State for the Home Department ( Border Force) [2025] EAT 15, the claimant applied for a position with the respondent. The application’s free-text ‘ Employment History’ field listed only years, masking a three-month gap that followed his gross misconduct dismissal from another Home Office role. He did not disclose either the gap or the dismissal at interview. After he began work, the respondent discovered the prior dismissal and initiated a disciplinary...
Higgs v Farmor’s School and (1) the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England, (2) the Free Speech Union Ltd others as interveners), the Association of Christian Teachers, (4) Sex Matters, (5) the Equality and Human Rights Commission (as interveners), [2025] EWCA Civ 109 What are the practical implications of this judgment? This significant ruling addresses the difficult issue of where to set the boundary between lawful and unlawful disciplinary measures by an employer when an employee’s manifestation of belief is viewed as objectionable by others. It is expected to affect several appeals pending before the EAT, for example Randall v Trent College Ltd ( EA-2023-000298- LA) and University of Bristol v Miller ( EA-2024-000324- NU) (see Practice Note: Case tracker— Employment). Delivering the principal judgment, Underhill LJ provides a detailed account of the governing principles, encompassing the rights to freedom of thought and freedom of...
Wint v Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council ( ET Case No 1306321/2023). Carl Wint failed in his case against Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council, in the West Midlands, which operates the Rivers House site for vulnerable young people. The judgment, issued on 5 February 2025, found this was because nobody, Wint included, appeared truly offended by the comment at the material time. A three-member panel chaired by Judge Kate Edmonds held that Voodooism is a protected religion—a legal first in the UK. The panel said that after speaking with his family did he decide he wished to contest the conversation that had occurred. The tribunal stated the council, which runs the Rivers House site, ought to have considered handling the racial abuse complaint more formally. It noted that Wint's colleague was never asked about the remark, despite it being 'the crucial point to...
Eddie Stobart v Graham [2025] EAT 14 What are the practical implication of this case? This ruling offers guidance in practice to parties on how discrimination experienced links to the extent of injury, and on the evidence needed to place an award within a Vento band where proof of harm is thin. It clarifies the connection between the treatment endured and the likely severity of impact, assisting tribunals when evidence of injury is sparse. The EAT analysed how the claimant’s discriminatory treatment may indicate the level of injury suffered. Clarke J observed that overt discrimination, and conduct acted out before colleagues, is liable to inflict greater harm and better justify an inference of serious damage. He then identified four matters a claimant ought to address when presenting evidence to a tribunal about the harm they have sustained. This decision will give Employment Tribunal ( ET) judges firmer...
Oni and others v London Borough of Waltham Forest and others ( Case Nos 3204635/2021, 2300852/2022 and 3302687/2022) Judge John Crosfill held that stopping three women— Pauline Oni, Paulette Dawkins and Angela Reid—from suing the London councils that placed children with them for alleged discrimination is “an unjustified interference” with their rights to freedom of expression and privacy. In a judgment dated 2 January 2025 and released on 29 January 2025, he determined that foster carers cannot invoke European case law to secure daily respite or annual leave from their responsibilities. He ruled that the 24/7 nature of the role is incompatible with much of the protection in the 2003 Working Time Directive. Bound by the Court of Appeal authority W v Essex County Council [1998] 3 All ER 111, he concluded foster carers do not serve under a contract of...
The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs report Released on 7 January 2025, the report aggregates responses from 1,000+ employers worldwide, covering 14 million-plus workers across 55 economies, and concludes that uptake of DEI (also known as EDI) keeps climbing. For observers tracking the political turbulence—after a polarising US election and strident anti‑ DEI commentary from high‑profile politicians, corporate figures and Wall Street leaders—this may seem unexpected. Only months ago, Bloomberg News characterised DEI efforts on Wall Street as 'anxious, fraught and changing fast', while Subha Barry, ex‑diversity chief at Merrill Lynch, declared, ' We're past the peak'. Yet the WEF now reports 83% of employers have DEI measures in place, a sharp rise from 67% in 2023. It further notes that accessing diverse talent pools ranks within the top five most effective business practices for boosting talent...
Background On 10 October 2024, the Labour government unveiled the Employment Rights Bill ( ERB). The ERB consolidated a series of individual and manifesto pledges made by the Labour party during its election campaign, promised for delivery within the first 100 days of a Labour administration. After completing the First and Second Readings in the House of Commons ( Ho C), the Bill advanced to the Committee stage for detailed examination. The Committee phase for the Bill, in the Commons, which entails tabling, presenting and debating a range of proposed amendments by government and non-government organisations, commenced on 26 November 2024. On 27 November 2024, the Ho C issued the Employment Rights Bill ( Amendment Paper) ( ERB Amendment Paper) setting out the various proposed amendments to the Bill. On 27 January 2025, following the conclusion of the Ho C Committee stage on 17...
In this issue Horizon scanning ESG and sustainability: employment issues Status and worker categories Pay Pensions Tax Prohibited conduct protection at work Diversity and gender pay gap Data protection and employee information Financial services and banking: employment issues Employment Tribunals Employment Appeal Tribunal Immigration IRLR Highlights— February 2025 Dates for your diary Trackers Employment resources on Lexis+® Daily and weekly news alerts Horizon scanning Parliament publishes updated Employment Rights Bill Parliament has issued the latest version of the Employment Rights Bill, capturing amendments agreed at the committee stage. Key updates comprise: new Statutory Sick Pay provisions applicable in Northern Ireland the addition of a chapter concerning seafarers a longer period for bringing employment tribunal claims, and revised circumstances for an employer’s duty to offer...
Afshar and others v Addison Lee Ltd and others, Case nos 3306435/2020 The issues The claimants’ proceedings followed three earlier claims issued by Mr M Lange together with two further AL drivers (the ' Lange claimants'). Those proceedings were upheld in September 2017 by an employment tribunal chaired by Employment Judge Pearl (the ' Pearl Tribunal'). AL sought to overturn the Pearl Tribunal’s determination, but the EAT dismissed its appeal and the Court of Appeal refused permission to appeal, finding that there was no reasonable prospect of the challenge succeeding in light of the Supreme Court’s judgment in Uber BV v Aslam and others [2021] ICR 657. Notwithstanding those outcomes, AL declined to accept that the Afshar claimants were workers at any time during the periods when they performed services for AL, or at any material time. In the alternative, AL asserted that, even if the...
A You Gov poll for the Sutton Trust, a social mobility charity, published on 23 January 2025, makes clear that the legal profession ranks joint third among 12 sectors paying interns nothing, or less than the national minimum wage of £11.44 per hour for people aged 21 and over. Only real estate and construction are positioned below the legal industry. Nick Harrison, the Sutton Trust’s chief executive, said it is shocking that, in this day and age, so many employers still pay interns under the minimum wage, or worse, nothing at all, and that they should be ashamed. The charity has called for an outright ban on unpaid internships lasting more than four weeks, alongside tougher enforcement of current minimum wage legislation. As outlined clearly by the survey, In......
Bryan Robson Ltd v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 56 ( TC) Bryan Robson Ltd functioned as the personal service company for the former Manchester United and England footballer, Bryan Robson. For many years he served as club ambassador under a succession of agreements. It was accepted before the FTT that the only issue in dispute concerned the 2019 agreement between the club and the company; earlier deals had been made between the club and Mr Robson personally. Under the 2019 agreement, the club was granted a licence to use and exploit Mr Robson’s image worldwide, for any purpose. The agreement also obliged the company to ensure that Mr Robson undertook personal appearances on no fewer than 35 days in each six‑month period. These duties covered hosting at matches and attending events held by the club’s sponsors. The company was paid a flat fee. The...
Presidential Guidance: Taking Oral Evidence by Video of Telephone from Persons Located Abroad ( England and Wales) Presidential Guidance: Taking Oral Evidence by Video of Telephone from Persons Located Abroad ( Scotland) What are the practical implications? There is a change of emphasis and procedure in the revised guidance for England and Wales. The guidance documents are significant both for the reforms they introduce and for the growing procedural divergence between employment tribunals in England and Wales and those in Scotland when oral evidence is taken from witnesses overseas. The onus now lies with the parties—rather than the tribunals or HMCTS—to investigate a foreign state’s stance on permitting evidence to be given from within its territory, and the guidance differentiates between states that are parties to the 1970 Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters (the Hague...
SM& CR MLex understands that the UK finance ministry is holding back the release of its review of the SM& CR, even though regulators have cleared the next steps. The regime has been on supervisors’ agendas for months, and the industry had expected movement on a planned consultation around the time of the Mansion House Speech in November 2024. That consultation is intended to ease the framework, reflecting its costs and administrative burdens. People familiar with the situation told MLex that regulators are set to publish a commitment to consult on softening the regime. The ministry’s pause may stem from a need to check whether the proposals align with the government’s growth plan. The SM& CR is a set of regulations designed to......
Main v Spadental Ltd and another [2024] EAT 200 What are the practical implications of this case? The decision will interest practitioners working in insolvency and employment. On the vesting of claims, it confirms the broad scope of section 436 of the Insolvency Act 1986 regarding what counts as property. A chose in action can pass to a trustee in bankruptcy even where, at that point or in those circumstances, the bankrupt is not yet able to enforce it. The EAT also indicated that the nature of the remedy pursued is pivotal in deciding whether a claim is personal or proprietary, and that the legislative policy aims behind the cause of action carry less weight than the character of the remedy itself. Trustees of bankrupt estates will be reassured that employment claims where the cause of action includes at least a failure to pay wages, and where the...
In this issue: Pay Pensions Maternity, parents and carers Data protection and employee information Individual rights arising from union membership Employment Tribunals Europe— EU New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers New Q& As Employment resources on Lexis+® Daily and weekly news alerts Pay Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2025 SI 2025/ Draft Under the draft Order, the following changes are set out: Statutory Sick Pay increases from £116.75 to £118.75 per week, effective 6 April 2025. Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay rise from £184.03 to £187.18 per week from 6 April 2025. Maternity Allowance moves from £184.03 to £187.18 per week with effect from 7 April 2025. See: LNB News...
Rules, policy or guidance about NFM New rules, policy or guidance on NFM are expected sometime in 2025, following the FCA’s NFM survey report issued in the final quarter of 2024. That report indicated marked rises in NFM between 2021 and 2023 in bullying and harassment. Oversight of NFM by the FCA, the PRA, the Bo E and other financial services regulators prompts philosophical and jurisprudential debate about how far the state can and should, as principal, delegate the stewardship, governance and enforcement of wide societal ethical matters, such as the treatment of women at work. Questions prompted by regulatory involvement in NFM within financial services include: is it truly the remit of a financial services regulator to monitor general conduct, for example, behaviour at an office party, that does not squarely sit within the scope of providing financial services?...
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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