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Introduction to statutory interpretation The aim of statutory interpretation is to determine the legal meaning of a statute, that is, the sense that expresses the legislator’s intention. The clearest guide to that intention is the statutory wording itself, read in its context and with its overall purpose in mind, and its broader legislative setting. Courts should seek to fulfil the purpose of legislation by construing its language, so far as they can, in the manner that most effectively serves that purpose. Put differently, the courts’ default method is purposive, and every enactment is to be construed with that end in view. There is a starting presumption that the grammatical and ordinary sense of an enactment reflects the meaning intended by the legislator. Where an enactment reasonably bears only a single meaning, and no other interpretative tools or
This Practice Note addresses identifying a fiduciary, fiduciary duties and obligations, the no conflict rule, the no profit rule, a fiduciary's duty of confidence, and the remedies available for breach of fiduciary duty. Who is a fiduciary? There is no definitive catalogue of relationships that give rise to fiduciary obligations at common law in every situation universally. Certain relationships are inherently fiduciary, eg trustee and beneficiary, solicitor and client, principal and agent, business partner and co-partners, together with mortgagor and mortgagee. The obligations of some fiduciaries have been set out in statute; for instance, trustees owe a statutory duty of skill and care under section 1 of the Trustee Act 2000 (TrA 2000), and directors' relationships with their companies are addressed in the Companies Act 2006 too. For guidance on directors' fiduciary duties, see Practice Note: of directors for further detailed
Definition of ADR Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is defined in the CPR Glossary as a collective label for methods of settling disputes other than through the usual trial process. Some courts adopt the term ‘negotiated dispute resolution’ (NDR) to describe resolution by alternative means; for ease, this Practice Note uses ADR. For guidance on how ADR is addressed in the various court guides, see Practice Note: ADR and NDR in the court guides. In essence, ADR is a means of resolving a dispute outside the court system. It typically involves a neutral third party who either helps the parties reach a negotiated outcome, or issues a determination of the dispute that is legally binding. A binding result can follow where the agreement to refer the dispute to ADR so provides. There are multiple forms of ADR processes. For an outline of the different types and their
In brief The British constitution is uncodified, meaning it does not spring from a single constitutional document or code. It draws on a wide range of written and unwritten sources. Alongside the principal written sources of law in England and Wales—legislation (which has also introduced international and human rights principles into our constitution) and the common law—the constitution also rests on two further unwritten bases within this system: the prerogative, and non-legal constitutional conventions. In addition, on one view the basic or prevailing principle of our constitution, Parliamentary sovereignty, is ultimately grounded in political fact rather than in law. Legislation Legislation is the foremost source of constitutional law. Acts of Parliament may set out detailed constitutional rules, or even pass authority to create them to ministers or to others. Under the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty, legislation is traditionally regarded as taking precedence over any other form or kind of
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A local authority is under a duty to properly arrange a placement in an adult’s preferred accommodation for anyone assessed as having eligible care and support needs, provided specific qualifying conditions are satisfied. Where the authority does so, the adult may, following an assessment of their income and capital, have to contribute towards the overall ongoing placement costs. An individual can be accommodated in a setting that is a care home, whether either licensed or unlicensed. If an older or vulnerable person needs a high level of support from the local authority, a residential care home may be the most appropriate option. Definition of a local authority care home A local authority care home in England provides accommodation together with personal or nursing care, including emotional or psychiatric care, for people who: are or have been ill have or have had a mental...
This ‘how to’ guide considers how to serve a leaseholder deed of certificate ( LDC) under the Building Safety Act 2022 ( BSA 2022) The service charge protections in Schedule 8 apply solely to ‘qualifying leases’ under BSA 2022, section 119(2) (subject to one exception). An LDC verifies whether the lease meets section 119(2)(d). This ‘how to’ guide outlines the LDC’s format and service, the supporting evidence required, and any relevant deadlines. Under section 119(2) of the BSA 2022, a lease is ‘qualifying’ only if conditions (a) to (d) are all satisfied. Conditions (a) to (c) are relatively clear: broadly, it must be a long lease (over 21 years) of a dwelling, the tenant must be liable for a service charge, and the lease must have been granted before 14 February 2022 — see Practice Note: Building Safety Act...
FORTHCOMING CHANGE: The Charities Act 2022 ( CA 2022) obtained Royal Assent on 24 February 2022, and, as outlined in Charities Act 2022: implementation plan document, its measures are scheduled to commence in three specified and defined tranches across three phases, on 31 October 2022, on 14 June 2023 and in early 2024, respectively. For an overview of the CA 2022 provisions already brought into effect to date, see Charities Act 2022: information about the changes being introduced. The CA 2022 delivers the majority of the proposals from the Law Commission’s 2017 report, ‘ Technical Issues in Charity Law’. For a synopsis (as at 9 April 2021) of the recommendations that have been accepted, see News Analysis: Government response to Law Commission report ‘ Technical Issues in Charity Law’. This Practice Note is relevant solely to England, as such; there are no...
This Practice Note explores the risks that can sometimes occur where individuals are permitted to enter, or to remain, in occupation of residential premises in England without a formal tenancy. It also considers scenarios involving lodgers, holiday lets, family or friendly arrangements, and cohabiting partners. Lodgers A homeowner might accept a lodger and later on seek to have them leave. The route to achieving this turns on whether the lodger holds a lease or merely a licence. Typically, in practice, where the lodger uses the household spaces and a personal bedroom, with the landlord supplying bedding and cleaning, the arrangement amounts to a licence. This is because the lodger lacks exclusive possession of any area. Conversely, if no services are furnished for the room and the lodger enjoys exclusive possession, a tenancy of that room will be created. The absence of a written...
Insolvency of private not-for-profit registered providers of social housing The social housing landscape in England is often labelled a ‘no default’ market, reflecting that no English private not-for-profit registered provider of social housing ( NFPRP) of meaningful scale has ever been wound up through insolvency. When providers have encountered financial stress, the regulator of social housing (under its various historic incarnations) (the Regulator) has, thus far, leveraged regulatory intervention and sector-wide influence, including with the principal funder, to broker rescues by ‘white knights’—typically larger NFPRPs operating in the same locality as the faltering body or organisations with the requisite specialist know-how. This approach has to date avoided insolvent winding-up for significant NFPRPs, with takeovers arranged to steady distressed entities by suitable counterparts. The current housing administration framework was created by Part 4, Chapter 5 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 ( HPA 2016) and...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and is not maintained. It reviews the Building Schools for the Future government initiative together with the current Priority School Building Programme, and examines the construction contracts adopted as well as the negotiation issues commonly encountered in practice... Building Schools for the Future Building Schools for the Future ( BSF) was a Labour-led programme announced in 2003 by the Department for Education and Skills (which later became the Department for Education, or DFE), and it launched in 2004. Its purpose included, among other objectives, delivering a step change in children’s education by upgrading facilities, property and learning environments across local secondary schools. BSF was intended to be financed by a £55bn investment to improve schools over a 15–20-year period. Delivery was co‑ordinated nationally by Partnerships for Schools, set up by the DFE as both a company and a...
As set out in Practice Note: Building Safety Act 2022—key provisions and issues, the BSA 2022 brought in a stringent system of building control and allied legal obligations for ‘higher-risk’ buildings ( HRBs). For guidance on which assets are HRBs, see Practice Note: Building Safety Act 2022—what is a higher-risk building? Much of the operational detail is contained in the Building ( Higher- Risk Buildings Procedures) ( England) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/909 (the HRB Regulations). In tandem, the Building Regulations etc. ( Amendment) ( England) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/911, made under the BSA 2022, insert a new Part 2A into the Building Regulations 2010, titled ‘ Dutyholders and Competence’. Part 2A establishes defined dutyholder roles on construction schemes, prescribes the obligations they must observe, and sets competence standards for individuals and organisations eligible to act. Those obligations are directed at ensuring that, once...
This Practice Note summarises aspects of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 ( HPA 2016), which grants local housing authorities ( LHAs) powers to address rogue landlords and property agents, including making banning orders and creating a register of rogue landlords and property agents. These provisions apply solely in England. Part 2 of HPA 2016 introduces measures to improve housing management, strengthening LHAs’ ability to detect and tackle rogue landlords and property agents in the private rented sector. They allow LHAs to seek a banning order that prohibits a landlord or property agent from letting or managing properties for a minimum of 12 months, and establish a database of rogue landlords and property agents. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 ( RRA 2025) likewise brings in extensive regulation of private sector landlords. For guidance on those provisions, see the following Practice Notes, which provide...
ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note sets out the different versions of coronavirus ( COVID-19) guidance issued by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy ( BEIS) from 14 July 2021 onwards. It also supplies versions with tracked changes, highlighting amendments from one edition to the next, enabling practitioners to identify swiftly which iteration of the guidance was in force on any particular date. It is not maintained and is for background information only. For the iterations published up to 13 July 2021, refer to Practice Note: Coronavirus ( COVID-19)—guidance tracker for employment ( BEIS working safely guidance to 18 July 2021) [ Archived]. In each instance, the guidance versions are presented in reverse chronological order, with the latest first. For a tracker covering: the various versions of current guidance and advice from Acas, the Cabinet Office, HMRC, the UK Health Security Agency ( UKHSA)...
Overview On 27 August 2024, a fresh Clinical Negligence Claims Agreement (the Agreement) was entered into by NHS Resolution, the Society of Clinical Injury Lawyers ( SCIL), and the patient safety charity Action against Medical Accidents ( Av MA) together. The Agreement took immediate effect upon signature on that day, when it was finalised. It superseded and replaced the earlier Covid-19 Clinical Negligence Protocol 2020 (the Protocol), which had allowed claims to progress efficiently during the coronavirus pandemic. The Agreement applies to civil claims under English domestic law (including claims under the Human Rights Act 1998) and to claims under the European Convention on Human Rights. It develops the success of the earlier Protocol in refining working practices in clinical negligence litigation and seeks to continue fostering constructive behaviours and positive cooperation by claimant and defendant solicitors, and to promote a...
This Practice Note explores the principal legal terms typical of social housing finance and what distinguishes them from financing in other sectors. It focuses on standard financial covenants and other sector‑specific provisions, including events of default, together with terms linked to the availability of long‑term fixed rate interest options. For more on social housing finance transactions, see Practice Notes: Social housing entities entering into finance transactions Key deal structures in social housing finance Taking and enforcing security from social housing entities This Practice Note concentrates solely on private not‑for‑profit providers of social housing registered in England (referred to as ‘ RPs’), as they comprise the vast majority of private debt finance raised by housing associations to date. It does not cover providers registered in Wales. Financial covenants—introduction The principal financial covenants in social housing finance are: loan to...
Practice Note This Practice Note outlines that all children of compulsory school age in England are required to take part in full-time education, identifies the organisations initially in charge of school admissions, and summarises matters concerning the publication of admissions numbers. It further addresses oversubscription criteria and the application process for pre- and post-16 schooling. Every child of compulsory school age must receive suitable full-time education, and parents are obliged to ensure this is provided, whether at school or otherwise. In most instances a child is placed on a school roll to meet this duty. Entry to a school roll is usually straightforward, though difficulties can occur where applications outnumber the school’s capacity. Academies, while legally independent schools, are state-funded and follow the same admissions framework as maintained schools. During the normal admission round (ie when most children are admitted), the local authority...
The Planning case tracker is a compilation of key judgments from 2023 relevant to planning lawyers, presented in reverse chronological order. See also: Planning case tracker—2021 and Planning case tracker—2022. December 2023 20 December 2023 — R (on the application of Together Against Sizewell C Ltd) v Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero [2023] EWCA Civ 1517 Development consent orders: The Court of Appeal succinctly examined two recurring questions arising in appropriate assessment under the Habitats Regulations. The first concerned whether infrastructure for a utilities connection, essential to a development’s operation, could lawfully be treated as a separate project. The court held this was fact-specific and a matter for the decision maker’s judgment, and it upheld the Secretary of State’s view that the provision of potable water did not form part of the...
This flow chart outlines the planning application process, spanning pre-application, filing the application, LPA publicity and consultation, approval/refusal of permission, and the appeal to the Secretary of State......
This Archived Practice Note This Archived Practice Note sets out the legal measures brought in to tackle the Omicron strain of coronavirus ( COVID 19) from 8 December 2021 to 26 January 2022. It is archived and not maintained, and is no longer being updated or revised. It addresses compulsory face coverings in public settings and on public transport, together with limits on gatherings during this period while the country operated under ‘ Plan B’, noted below. The nation shifted back to ‘ Plan A’ on 27 January 2021, and further revocation of restrictions is expected before the Coronavirus Act 2020 lapses in March 2020. After Omicron was identified in the UK, the government raised the COVID alert level and confirmed that England would move to ‘ Plan B’ measures to curb the spread of the Omicron variant shortly thereafter. From 13 December 2021, people were...
This Practice Note This Practice Note sets out a range of local authority strategic roles concerning health and social care services, covering obligations to discharge the following duties: establish and run Health and Wellbeing Boards ( HWBs) for health and social care establish Local Healthwatch organisations to speak for people who use health and social care examine and oversee health services across their areas put in place processes for complaints from health service users and feedback handling create an Integrated Care Partnership ( ICP) with the Integrated Care Board ( ICB) whose footprint aligns wholly or partly with the local authority area draw up an integrated care strategy setting out how local needs will be addressed through the functions of the ICB in the area, NHS England, or the pertinent local authorities Note: on 13 March 2025, the Health Secretary stated that NHS England would be abolished, with many...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and not kept under review. The design and construction phase duties under the higher-risk building ( HRB) regime took effect on 1 October 2023, following a suite of secondary legislation laid by the government in August 2023. That legislation sets out transitional provisions identifying which HRB-related construction schemes must comply with the HRB regime’s regulatory requirements, and which continue under the previous building control regime and building regulations. A central element of these transitional rules is that, where parties notified a building control authority of proposals for HRB works before 1 October 2023 and then confirmed the works had ‘sufficiently progressed’ before 6 April 2024, those works are excluded from the HRB regime’s design and construction phase obligations. This Practice Note provides direction on the transitional provisions and the points parties need to assess when deciding whether their...
Introduction GPs working in the NHS typically practise in partnerships, or within NHS out-of-hours or walk-in centres. Private GPs can be self-employed or employed by larger organisations, such as health insurance providers. Until 1 April 2019, GPs were required to secure their own professional indemnity insurance. Historically, cover came from one of the three principal Medical Defence Organisations ( MDOs): the Medical Defence Union ( MDU), the Medical Protection Society ( MPS) and the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland ( MDDUS), each ensuring the legal obligation was satisfied. In 2019 and 2020, two new government schemes were launched to deliver state-backed indemnity for GPs and practice staff, removing the need for them to arrange and pay for their own cover in respect of liability for clinical negligence linked to the provision of NHS services. The National Health Service ()...
UPDATE (29/3/21): On 29 March 2021, the Cabinet Office issued fresh guidance on permitted and prohibited activities, detailing the changes effective in England that day. The earlier Cabinet Office: National lockdown: Stay at Home guidance has been withdrawn. See: LNB News 29/03/2021 43. This Practice Note will be revised shortly to incorporate these developments. UPDATE (29/3/21): On 28 March 2021, the Department of Health and Social Care confirmed that, within its free workplace coronavirus ( COVID-19) testing programme, employers may offer rapid home tests to staff. Further details on the employer testing duty are available here. See: LNB News 29/03/2021 34. This Practice Note will be updated shortly to capture these changes. UPDATE (23/3/21): On 22 March 2021, the Department of Health and Social Care announced the Health Protection ( Coronavirus, Restrictions) ( Steps) ( England) Regulations 2021, SI 2021/364. The Regulations outline the staged...
This Practice Note examines the application, scope and limits of the legislative and practical changes affecting businesses operating under licensing regimes, brought in as part of the Government’s response to coronavirus ( COVID-19). These measures arose under the Coronavirus Act 2020 ( CA 2020) and the Health Protection ( Coronavirus, Restrictions) ( England) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/350, together with later amendments made between 26 March 2020 and 3 July 2020. On 4 July 2020, the Health Protection ( Coronavirus, Restrictions) ( No 2) ( England) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/684, took effect and revoked the Health Protection ( Coronavirus, Restrictions) ( England) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/350 and subsequent amendments, save as preserved by regulation 2(2) for any offence committed under those provisions before 4 July 2020. As a result, this material remains relevant as a reference point for such offences. These temporary measures were...
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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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