Business Diary: UK Regulations - August 2016
Currently, two to three new Regulation entries are added to the Archive each day. Regulation Watch covers business related topics such as new legislation, changes in legislation, consultations and regulatory body announcements.
1st
EU Laws
EU Regulation: EU data protection authorities have signalled that they will not challenge the legitimacy of data transfer arrangements under the new EU-US Privacy Shield during the first year of its operation, which starts on August 1 2016.
Start Date: 1st August 2016
EU Laws
Regulator Activity: The revised Guidelines for Examination of European Union Trade Marks and Registered Community Designs at the EU Intellectual Property Office entered into force on 1 August 2016.
Start Date: 1st August 2016
Compliance Guidance
Food Law Guide: The Food and Drink Federation has published new guidance for food manufacturing SMEs which sets out the regulatory framework covering the reduction of sugars.
Published Date: 1st August 2016
2nd
Regulation Consultations
Regulator Consultation: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed it plans to push ahead with the package of proposals on payment protection insurance (PPI) complaint deadlines and rules laid out in its original consultation.
Published Date: 2nd August 2016
Regulation Consultations
Consultation Report: The Intellectual Property Office has published the outcome of the consultation on proposed amendments to the Patents Rules 2007 to simplify processes for customers, increase legal certainty, and take account of modern ways of working.
Published Date: 2nd August 2016
Regulation Consultations
EU Consultation: The EU Commission has launched a consultation on a Single Market Information Tool which would enable the Commission to improve the enforcement of existing Single Market rules and prepare proposals for effective policy intervention.
Response Deadline: 7th November 2016
Regulator Services
Legal Services: New data from the Bar Council's Direct Access Portal reveals that employment issues, commercial matters and EU law were amongst the most popular searches made by individuals and businesses between 1 January 2016 and 1 August 2016.
Published Date: 2nd August 2016
3rd
Court Rulings
Tribunal Ruling: The Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that for the purposes of TUPE, no service provision change occurred when a new contractor continued to provide a bus service for its own commercial purposes rather than on behalf of the original client.
Ruling Date: 3rd August 2016
Regulation Consultations
Apprenticeships Survey: The government has launched a short online survey for businesses, training organisations and members of the public to comment on all Expressions of Interest, draft apprenticeship standards and draft assessment plans submitted in the month of August.
Response Deadline: 14th August 2016
5th
Court Rulings
UK Ruling: A recent Court of Appeal ruling shows that in disputes over ‘the purpose’ of actions governed by commercial contracts, courts will only consider the “dominant purpose” of those actions, according to a litigation expert from Pinsent Masons.
Published Date: 5th August 2016
8th
Legal Statistics
Law Statistics: Just 3,000 new parents were taking advantage of the new rights to paid Shared Parental Leave in Q1 2016, according to commercial law firm EMW.
Published Date: 8th August 2016
9th
Regulation Consultations
Law Consultation: The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on how it will transpose the updated European environmental impact assessment (EIA) rules and procedures into domestic law.
Response Deadline: 31st October 2016
11th
Legal Statistics
Law Statistics: A new report from Acas reveals that over 90% of Acas conciliation agreements were fully implemented in the workplace and 70% of people were satisfied with the outcome of their case after conciliation.
Published Date: 11th August 2016
Business Laws
Regulator Activity: The government has published the names of 200 employers who failed to pay their workers the national minimum wage.
Published Date: 11th August 2016
12th
Business Laws
Regulator Activity: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) intends to use its new powers to "encourage and support" those firms that choose to go beyond their environmental compliance duties as well as punishing those that fail to comply, according to SEPA's new regulatory strategy.
Published Date: 12th August 2016
Business Laws
Regulator Activity: The government has unveiled proposals for a new funding model for apprenticeships, including a proposal that the government fund 90% of training for small employers, and published further details on how the apprenticeship levy, set to come into force on 6 April 2017, will work.
Published Date: 12th August 2016
Business Laws
Regulator Activity: The Competition and Markets Authority's decision to impose a £163,371 penalty on an online poster and picture frame seller for participation in a cartel highlights the regulator's willingness to pursue small companies as well as multinationals, according to a legal expert from Pinsent Masons.
Published Date: 12th August 2016
16th
Regulator Services
IP Services: The Intellectual Property Office has announced the availability of the details of all UK published patent applications and granted patents on the World Intellectual Property Organisation's Patent Scope database.
Published Date: 16th August 2016
Regulation Consultations
Consultation Report: The Environment Agency has published the outcome of the consultation on the costings of a proposal to update the standard rules on the authorisation of landspreading of waste on land for recovery, as well as standard rules on the storage of waste for landspreading.
Published Date: 16th August 2016
Compliance Guidance
Internet Law Guide: According to Pinsent Masons, a new code of practice on ports cybersecurity published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology offers useful compliance guidance to all organisations likely to fall under the scope of the Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive.
Published Date: 16th August 2016
17th
Court Rulings
Property Ruling: The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks is warning letting agents and landlords to take tenants' complaints about damp seriously after a St Helens Landlord was ordered to pay over £3,500 in penalties for failure to investigate and remedy damp problems in his property.
Published Date: 17th August 2016
Court Rulings
UK Ruling: A county court has ruled that development work which restricts sunlight to a property can in principle be considered a violation of a 'quiet enjoyment' covenant in a lease, even where no formal right to light exists.
Published Date: 17th August 2016
Compliance Guidance
Law Guide: The Competition and Markets Authority has published new guidance on how it uses its consumer protection powers to address market-wide problems.
Published Date: 17th August 2016
19th
Regulator Services
Visa Services: The Home Office's Access UK visit visa service, which allows customers to make quicker visa applications and apply from mobile devices, has been made available to customers in over 180 countries and will be rolled out to a further 13 lower volume locations over the coming weeks.
Published Date: 19th August 2016
Business Laws
Regulation Update: Mixtures that were classified, labelled and packaged in line with the CHIP Regulations before 1 June 2015 do not need to be relabelled in accordance with the new CLP regulations until 1 June 2017.
Legislation Ending: 1st June 2017
22nd
Legal Statistics - Risks
Contract Law Statistics: Over half (52%) of small businesses have been hit by unfair contract terms with suppliers, costing nearly £4 billion in the last three years, according to the Federation of Small Businesses.
Published Date: 22nd August 2016
Regulation Consultations
Property Consultation: The Department for Communities and Local Government has launched a consultation on how Client Money Protection operates in the private rented sector and on whether to make it compulsory for lettings and management agents.
Response Deadline: 3rd October 2016
Business Laws
New Regulation: A commencement order which will enable the government to legislate to require employers with more than 250 employees to publish information about the differences in pay between men and women will come into force on 22 August 2016.
Start Date: 22nd August 2016
23rd
Court Rulings
UK Ruling: A Scottish court has ruled that a clause in a company director's contract allowing the other directors to buy out his shares at subscription value in the event that he was a 'bad leaver' was not a penalty clause, and therefore was not unenforceable.
Ruling Date: 23rd August 2016
Legal Statistics
Landlord Statistics: Over half (54%) of landlords are unaware of government plans to scrap the fees payable by tenants when signing rental contracts with letting agents, according to new research from Upad.
Published Date: 23rd August 2016
24th
Legal Statistics
Property Statistics: Nearly three quarters (70%) of tenants are concerned that their deposit has not been placed in a tenancy protection scheme and just 50% have received confirmation that their deposit is in a protection scheme, according to a new survey from PropertyLetByUs.com.
Published Date: 24th August 2016
25th
Compliance Guidance
Medical Devices Guide: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has updated its guidance on when health applications are considered to be a medical device and how to comply with the legal requirements.
Published Date: 25th August 2016
26th
EU Laws
Data Protection: London law firms are planning to create a market for litigation arising from the data protection laws introduced by the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, according to an expert from PwC.
Published Date: 26th August 2016
Court Rulings
Employee Law Ruling: The Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that the duty to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled employee under the 2010 Equality Act can in principle include continuing to pay a higher salary when that employee is moved to a lower grade role.
Ruling Date: 26th August 2016
Court Rulings
Construction Law Ruling: The High Court has ruled that a development agreement for the regeneration of an industrial estate was not a public contract and therefore should not fall within the scope of the EU's procurement rules.
Ruling Date: 26th August 2016
30th
Compliance Guidance
Internet Law Guide: Internet service providers that allow users to access certain applications but not others when applying caps on data use on internet access services will breach EU net neutrality rules, according to new guidance published by the Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications.
Published Date: 30th August 2016
Court Rulings
Data Protection Ruling: A recent ruling from the information rights tribunal suggests that, under new EU data protection laws, UK businesses may have to make multiple notifications to the Information Commissioner's Office where a data breach has occurred, an expert from Pinsent Masons is warning.
Ruling Date: 30th August 2016
31st
Business Laws
New Legislation: New legislation which will allow the Construction Industry Training Board to impose a levy on Northern Ireland employers in order to fund the Board will come into force on 31 August 2016.
Start Date: 31st August 2016
