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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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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Home Office enforcement and licence revocations In recent years, compliance and enforcement activity has intensified, with more suspensions and revocations. According to the Home Office, last summer it recorded 1,948 sponsor licence revocations between July 2024 and June 2025—over twice the 937 in the prior year, and far above the 261 and 247 recorded in earlier years. This sharp rise is linked to the expansion of digital compliance checks, underpinned by broader data sharing with HMRC on PAYE records, which enables the Home Office to spot more swiftly and accurately when a sponsored worker is not being paid in line with their Co S. This information exchange is expected to scale up further, with revocations likely to climb as a result. Collaboration with other government departments has also enhanced the Home Office’s ability to oversee sponsor obligations remotely, reflected in the shift from...
In this issue: Key developments UK immigration control: how it works Business, investment and non-sponsored work Challenging immigration decisions and enforcement Preventing illegal working Citizenship applications Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Key developments Future developments— Immigration calendar and Immigration White Paper Our Immigration calendar highlights the principal forthcoming changes of interest to business immigration advisers. In addition, our Practice Note: Immigration White Paper 2025—summary, tracker and resources offers a refreshed, wide-angled overview of activity around the May 2025 White Paper, ‘ Restoring control over the immigration system’, including the ‘ Earned settlement’ plans. It sets out the headline reforms for business immigration practitioners, comments on their potential effects, and continuously monitors progress on delivery. You will also find links to supporting materials. UK immigration control: how it works House of Commons Library publishes research briefing on history of asylum appeals in the UK The House of Commons Library has released a research...
Akbars contends the Home Office ought to have identified which of four statutory bases it relied upon to impose the fine on the business. The grounds are: lack of permission for a worker to be in the UK invalid permission permission that has ceased to have effect permission that does not authorise the person to work there Counsel for Akbars, Sohail Mohammed of Kingston Law, told the UK Supreme Court that the authority can, and indeed should, set out the reason. But the Home Office maintains that saying the employee had 'no right to work' is enough. It says nothing indicates that being less specific would invalidate the civil penalty notice given to the restaurant. Zane Malik KC of 39 Essex Chambers argued for the government in the case before the court......
In this issue: Key developments UK immigration control: how it works Sponsored work Family routes EU law rights and EU Settlement Scheme Challenging immigration decisions and enforcement International Lex Talk®Immigration: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Key developments Future developments— Immigration calendar and Immigration White Paper Please note our Immigration calendar outlines key upcoming developments relevant to business immigration advisers. Separately, our Practice Note: Immigration White Paper 2025—summary, tracker and resources presents an updated, comprehensive overview of developments linked to the May 2025 White Paper ‘ Restoring control over the immigration system’, including the ‘ Earned settlement’ proposals. It distils the principal proposed changes for business immigration practitioners, offers commentary on their possible implications, and monitors their roll out on a continuing basis. It also signposts related resources. UK immigration control: how it works IAA publishes first annual report and accounts for 2024/25. The Immigration Advice Authority ( IAA) has...
In this issue: Key developments UK immigration control: how it works Business, investment and non-sponsored work Long residence, discretion and human rights Challenging immigration decisions and enforcement Citizenship applications Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Key developments Future developments— Immigration calendar and Immigration White Paper Our Immigration calendar highlights key forthcoming milestones of interest to business immigration practitioners. In addition, our Practice Note: Immigration White Paper 2025—summary, tracker and resources offers a refreshed and comprehensive overview of activity surrounding the May 2025 White Paper ‘ Restoring control over the immigration system’, with coverage of the ‘ Earned settlement’ plans. It distils the principal anticipated amendments for business immigration advisers, discusses possible effects, and continuously monitors delivery and implementation over time. Relevant resources are linked throughout for ease of access and ongoing reference. UK immigration control: how it works Home Affairs Committee publishes ' Routes to settlement' evidence The Home Affairs Committee has released the...
In this issue: Key developments UK immigration control: how it works Visitors Sponsored work Business, investment and non-sponsored work EU law rights and EU Settlement Scheme Challenging immigration decisions and enforcement Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Key developments Future developments— Immigration calendar Please note: our Immigration calendar highlights key forthcoming milestones of particular interest to business immigration advisers. UK immigration control: how it works Migration Observatory analyses Labour’s progress on migration pledges The Migration Observatory has also released an evaluation of Labour’s delivery against its migration promises after more than a year in office. It measures headway against six pledges: driving down net migration; reducing dependence on overseas labour; curbing small boat crossings; clearing the asylum backlog; stopping the use of asylum hotels; and speeding up removals of people with no lawful status in the UK. According to the report, estimated net migration fell to 204,000 in the year to June 2025—78% below the 2023 high of...
In this issue: Key developments UK immigration control: how it works Sponsored work Family routes Long residence, discretion and human rights EU law rights and EU Settlement Scheme Challenging immigration decisions and enforcement Preventing illegal working Citizenship applications Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Latest Q& As Key developments Future developments— Immigration calendar Our Immigration calendar highlights key upcoming developments for business immigration advisers. UK immigration control: how it works Home Office confirms e Visas will replace all vignettes in 2026 The Home Office has amended its e Visa guidance to state that from 12 January 2026, most recipients of visit visas and some other routes will get both an e Visa and a vignette. Those issued a valid UK vignette before that date will be able to retrieve their e Visa through their UK Visas and Immigration account. The guidance also confirms that later in 2026, vignettes will be discontinued entirely, with all successful...
What are the practical implications of this case? Under the non-fettering principle, Home Office caseworkers must remain open to exercising discretion when deciding immigration applications, even where an applicant does not satisfy the Immigration Rules or sit within a policy concession. Where exceptional circumstances arise, applicants should include detailed representations and supporting evidence, make a clear request for the use of discretion, and remind the Home Office of its duty not to fetter that discretion. Any decision should explicitly show that the possibility of exercising discretion was properly and sufficiently considered; failure to do so may provide a platform for challenging a refusal. However, the obligation is to consider discretion, not to deploy it. After genuine consideration, the decision-maker may still lawfully refuse the application. If a refusal does not confirm that discretion was taken into account, or if it...
R ( Kone) v SSHD [2025] EWCA Civ 1653 What was the background? Large sections of Part 8 of the Immigration Rules have been replaced by Appendix FM. Yet the provisions governing settlement for a child of a British or settled parent, or where a parent is being granted settlement at the same time, remain operative under the Immigration Rules, Part 8, paragraph 297. The Secretary of State for the Home Department ( SSHD) has, in practice, required children of a parent with limited leave to remain to apply under Appendix FM and to receive limited leave in step with that parent, even where the child also has a British or settled parent......
Article 8 and adults—doubling down on dependency In the Immigration White Paper and other recent policy announcements, the Government has indicated it intends to enshrine in primary legislation a definition of family life for the purposes of Article 8 ECHR. In IA & others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 1516 (26 November 2025), a senior Court of Appeal panel has stepped in, giving guidance on the proper approach to Article 8 family life between adult siblings. The appeal related to a six-strong family living in Gaza who had applied to join the sponsor in the UK. The sponsor was the lead appellant’s younger brother. It was accepted that the appellants could not satisfy the Immigration Rules. The Upper Tribunal ( Immigration and Asylum Chamber) upheld the First-tier Tribunal’s finding that family life existed and, after...
In this issue: Key developments UK immigration control: how it works Sponsored work Family routes Long residence, discretion and human rights Challenging immigration decisions and enforcement International Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Immigration Highlights 2025/2026 Key developments Future developments— Immigration calendar Note that our Immigration calendar outlines key upcoming developments of interest to business immigration advisers. UK immigration control: how it works What is changing under the Border, Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 ( BSAIA 2025) was enacted on 2 December 2025. The legislation places strong emphasis on new criminal offences concerning unlawful arrival by asylum seekers, expands powers to search electronic devices taken from illegal entrants, and adds further offences linked to serious crime. Alongside these, the Act includes a range of...
The Employment Appeal Tribunal, in a judgment issued on 3 December 2025, ruled that claimant T. Tamponi could not resurrect his race discrimination claim against Medequip Assistive Technology Ltd. The tribunal concluded that Medequip’s actions were prompted by a change to his immigration status, not by his nationality. Judge Simon Auerbach explained that, although the change applied to a specific cohort of nationals and might be described as a ‘but for’ cause of the employer’s response, nationality itself did not operate as a material reason; the conduct was entirely driven by the shift in immigration status and the new scheme. Tamponi joined Medequip in 2017 as a warehouse operative and device cleaner. The business supplies medical equipment to help disabled people live at home. Medequip asked him to provide proof......
In this issue: Key developments UK immigration control: how it works Long residence, discretion and human rights EU law rights and EU Settlement Scheme Challenging immigration decisions and enforcement Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Key developments Future developments— Immigration calendar Please note, the Immigration calendar highlights key forthcoming developments of interest to business immigration advisers. UK immigration control: how it works Exploring the earned settlement proposals In the Home Office’s description, the earned settlement plans amount to ‘the biggest shake-up of the legal migration system in nearly half a century’. The Government’s White Paper, ‘ Restoring control over the immigration system’, released on 12 May 2025, flagged a shift to an ‘earned settlement’ model, proposing to lengthen the qualifying residence from five to ten years, with possible reductions where there is...
In this issue: Key developments UK immigration control: how it works Sponsored work EU law rights and EU Settlement Scheme Challenging immigration decisions and enforcement Lex Talk®Immigration: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Key developments Future developments— Immigration calendar Note that our Immigration calendar highlights significant upcoming changes for business immigration advisers. UK immigration control: how it works Home Office issues tender for remote English language testing services The Home Office has released a tender notice under the Procurement Act 2023 for Home Office English Language Testing ( HOELT) services, with an estimated contract value of £680m before VAT. The purchase seeks a fully managed, remote testing solution delivering secure English language assessment at any customer-chosen venue, where specified security requirements are satisfied. A...
R (on the application of Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London) and another v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 1843 What was the background? This was an appeal brought by the SSHD against a decision of Mr Justice Cavanagh. Sitting in the High Court, Cavanagh J held that the failure to provide e-visa documentation to migrants with section 3C leave was irrational (see our summary here). He further decided that this omission did not run counter to the purposes of the IA 1971 and therefore did not offend the Padfield principle, with the consequence that the claimant failed on that ground. However, he concluded it infringed the ‘best interest of children’ principle under BCIA 2009, s 55, and the claimant succeeded on that basis. The SSHD subsequently lodged an appeal against that decision. Crucially, Lady Justice Laing had...
In this issue: Key developments UK immigration control: how it works Sponsored work Business, investment and non-sponsored work Family routes Challenging immigration decisions and enforcement International Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Latest Q& A Key developments Future developments— Immigration calendar Note that our Immigration calendar sets out key forthcoming developments relevant to business immigration advisers. UK immigration control: how it works Government consultation on earned settlement reforms The UK Government has launched a consultation on wide-ranging proposals to reshape the rules for settlement in the UK, replacing them with an ‘earned settlement’ approach. The standard five-year route would be withdrawn, with substantive revisions to eligibility criteria, the qualifying period, and the terms under which migrants could secure indefinite leave to remain. This preliminary overview highlights the principal planned changes. See News...
Proposed reforms unveiled by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on 20 November 2025 Shabana Mahmood’s plans introduce a new ‘baseline’ of ten years’ residency for settlement, doubling the current five-year requirement across most settlement routes. She has also floated an accelerated route for high earners, reducing the wait. Migrants with taxable income above £125,140 per year for three consecutive years would be eligible to settle in as little as three years. Meanwhile, keeping taxable income at £50,270 over the same three-year period would cut five years from the ten-year route, according to proposals set out in a consultation document published on 20 November 2025 and detailed within that paper. The consultation closes at 11:59 pm on 12 February 2026. To qualify at all, applicants must earn at least £12,570 per year—the threshold that triggers National Insurance...
R (on the application of) Prestige Social Care Services Ltd v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 2860 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? Prestige Social Care Services Ltd now stands as the leading first‑instance ruling on what counts as a ‘non‑genuine role’ under Annex C1(z), in the wake of Prestwick Care Ltd. First, the court confirms that Ground (z) proceeds via two routes: an ‘examples route’ ( Ground (z) and paras C1.46– C1.47), under which conclusions of pretence, overstatement, fabrication, or posts contrived to facilitate immigration require dishonesty or other blameworthy conduct, and the Balajigari/ R ( SCL Social Care) procedural fairness protections apply [51]–[53]; and a ‘ C1.44 route’, where—by ‘focussing on the role not the worker’— UKVI may treat a role as non‑genuine if it reasonably finds the vacancy, as...
In this issue: Major developments UK immigration control: how it works Long residence, discretion and human rights EU law rights and the EU Settlement Scheme Contesting immigration decisions and enforcement International Daily and weekly news alerts New and revised content Major developments Upcoming developments— Immigration calendar Our Immigration calendar highlights the key forthcoming changes of interest to business immigration advisers. UK immigration control: how it works ONS revises UK migration estimates using new administrative data The Office for National Statistics ( ONS) has refreshed the UK’s long-term international migration figures, adopting methodologies grounded in administrative sources from the Department for Work and Pensions’ Registration and Population Interaction Database ( RAPID) and the Home Office’s Borders and Immigration ( HOBI) system. These supersede the long‑used International Passenger Survey, which the ONS notes had been stretched beyond its...
What is the statement/consultation about? The UK Government has issued a policy paper detailing a major redesign of the framework and route to settlement in the UK as a whole, stating that permanent residence will hinge on compliance, integration, and a demonstrable contribution to national life. The 60‑page paper, laid before Parliament on 20 November 2025, sets out a consultation on reforms that would shift the current settlement rules towards an ‘earned settlement’ approach and model. First trailed in the May 2025 Immigration White Paper, the consultation has been widely anticipated. The paper proposes notable changes to the eligibility criteria, qualifying period, and conditions under which migrants may obtain indefinite leave to remain. The consultation is open for twelve weeks and welcomes submissions and evidence from individuals and organisations. The reforms leave untouched grants of settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, the...
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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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