Business Diary: UK Regulations - September 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
Regulator Services
Insolvency Services: The Insolvency Service has begun a phased roll-out of the new Debt Relief Order service, which will be extended to all Competent Authorities by 30 September 2016.
Start Date: 1st September 2016
Regulator Services
Government Services: As part of a pilot, employers and training providers are being given the chance to test out the new digital apprenticeship service to ensure it meets their needs. Around 400 employers and 200 training providers have tested the system.
Published Date: 1st September 2016
Regulator Services
IP Services: From 1 September 2016, the Intellectual Property Office will stop notifying inventors when they have been mentioned in a patent application.
Start Date: 1st September 2016
Business Laws
New Regulation: New legislation which will update the statutory conditions of employment and pay for school teachers will come into force on 1 September 2016.
Start Date: 1st September 2016
2nd
Compliance Guidance
Procurement Guide: The Cabinet Office and Crown Commercial Service has updated its guidance on the Public Contracts Regulations, Utilities Contracts Regulations and Concession Contracts Regulations.
Published Date: 2nd September 2016
Business Laws
Regulator Activity: The Competition and Markets Authority has issued a reminder to providers of private motor insurance that compliance with an Order requiring brokers and insurers to provide existing and prospective customers with information on the costs and benefits of no-claims bonus protection is a legal requirement.
Published Date: 2nd September 2016
Business Laws
Racial Discrimination: The UK government has announced its intention to consult on whether additional measures are needed to ensure protection for victims of caste discrimination under the 2010 Equality Act.
Published Date: 2nd September 2016
3rd
Crackdowns & Amnesty
Government Ban: The Environment Secretary has announced plans, which will be consulted on later in 2016, to ban the sale and manufacture of cosmetics and personal care products containing microbeads that harm the marine environment.
Published Date: 3rd September 2016
5th
Regulator Services
IP Services: The Intellectual Property Office has announced a number of enhancements to the existing design services, which will be introduced from 5 September 2016.
Start Date: 5th September 2016
7th
Business Laws
Planning Regulation: New legislation which will support housebuilding and strengthen the neighbourhood planning process has been introduced into Parliament.
Published Date: 7th September 2016
Regulation Consultations
Planning Consultation: The Department for Communities and Local Government is consulting on regulations to implement provisions in the Neighbourhood Planning Bill including detailed procedures for modifying neighbourhood plans and Orders.
Response Deadline: 19th October 2016
Regulation Consultations
Consultation Report: The UK government has published the outcome of the consultation on proposed reforms to the principles of assessing compensation and other technical process improvements with respect to the compulsory purchase system.
Published Date: 7th September 2016
8th
Court Rulings
Competition Law Ruling: The EU General Court has upheld almost €150 million in fines imposed by the EU Commission on ‘pay for delay’ deals made between a pharmaceutical manufacturer and some of its smaller rivals.
Ruling Date: 8th September 2016
Legal Statistics
Tribunal Statistics: The number of employment tribunal claims fell 3% year-on-year to 4,200 in Q2 2016, according to new data from the Ministry of Justice.
Published Date: 8th September 2016
Legal Statistics
Employment Law Statistics: The number of people working on a zero hours contract increased by 21% in April to June 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Published Date: 8th September 2016
Court Rulings
IP Ruling: The EU Court of Justice has ruled that knowingly posting links to infringing material can be an act of copyright infringement even though the material in question is being hosted elsewhere.
Ruling Date: 8th September 2016
12th
Court Rulings
Health and Safety Ruling: A security firm has been hit with a £1.8 million fine after one of its employees contracted legionellosis, even though environmental health officers were unable to definitively link the case with health and safety breaches discovered at the site.
Published Date: 12th September 2016
Legal Statistics
Housing Law Statistics: The total value of deposits protected across England and Wales increased by £379 million to £3.567 billion as of the end of March 2016, demonstrating the continuing growth of the private rented sector, according to new data from the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.
Published Date: 12th September 2016
Business Laws
Regulator Activity: The Legal Services Board has published a blueprint outlining proposed reforms to the regulatory framework for legal services in England and Wales, including regulation by activity rather than professional title, and a single regulator for the entire profession.
Published Date: 12th September 2016
14th
EU Laws
Industry Regulation: The EU Commission has published a regulation amending the Plastics Regulation, which will among other things remove the default generic specific migration limit (SML) of 60 mg/kg applicable to substances not subject to an SML or other restrictions under the Regulation, which will come into force on 14 September 2016.
Start Date: 14th September 2016
Regulation Consultations
Sector Regulations Consultation: The UK government is inviting views from stakeholders, including the re-upholstery, chemical and insurance industries, on proposed amendments to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations. The amendments aim to bring the regulations in line with changing furniture making practices and consumer preferences.
Response Deadline: 11th November 2016
Court Rulings
Contract Law Ruling: The EU Court of Justice has ruled that repeatedly renewing fixed-term employment contracts when there is a need for permanent employment conflicts with EU law.
Ruling Date: 14th September 2016
15th
Regulator Services
IP Services: The Intellectual Property Office has further enhanced the digital application service for Designs as of 15 September 2016.
Published Date: 15th September 2016
16th
Compliance Guidance
Procurement Law Guide: The UK government has updated its guidance on the Public Contracts Regulations, Utilities Contracts Regulations and Concession Contracts Regulations with regard to paying invoices in 30 days.
Published Date: 16th September 2016
19th
Business Laws
Regulator Activity: Ofwat is proposing to allow private companies to buy water in bulk from major suppliers and sell it onto households in a bid to increase competition in the market and ultimately cut bills and improve customer services.
Published Date: 19th September 2016
20th
Court Rulings
Arbitration Ruling: The High Court has ruled that businesses can recover the cost of third party funding for arbitration claims from the companies they litigate against.
Published Date: 20th September 2016
Legal Statistics
Law Sector Statistics: Nearly half (43%) of UK-based law firms are looking to acquire or merge with another business in the coming year, compared with 28% in 2015, according to a new survey from Smith and Williamson.
Published Date: 20th September 2016
22nd
Court Rulings
Contract Law Ruling: The High Court has ruled that a contractor was entitled to a second 'valuation' adjudication to confirm the value of the final payment due under a construction contract.
Ruling Date: 22nd September 2016
Business Laws
Regulator Activity: Global data protection regulators, including the Information Commissioner's Office, are considering taking action against internet of things (IoT) devices and services thought to be violating data protection laws following the outcome of a study into how IoT companies communicate privacy matters to their customers.
Published Date: 22nd September 2016
23rd
Legal Statistics
IP Statistics: The EU detained more than 40 million products, valued at nearly £650 million, suspected of violating intellectual property rights in 2015, constituting an increase of 14% from 2016, according to the EU Commission.
Published Date: 23rd September 2016
Regulation Consultations
Food Law Consultation: Food Standards Scotland has launched a consultation on draft legislation transposing an EU directive relating to certain lactoproteins intended for human consumption into Scottish law.
Response Deadline: 23rd October 2016
Legal Statistics
IP Statistics: A new report commissioned by the Intellectual Property Office reveals that UK companies made £133 billion worth of intangible asset investments in 2014, 53% of which were protected by Intellectual Property Rights.
Published Date: 23rd September 2016
26th
Regulator Services
IP Services: The Intellectual Property Office has made submission of international trade mark applications via email available to all users as of 26 September 2016.
Published Date: 26th September 2016
27th
Legal Statistics
Law Statistics: The proportion of cases resolved by the Legal Ombudsman within 90 days fell to 47.1% in July 2016, down from 50% in June 2016, according to official data.
Published Date: 27th September 2016
28th
Legal Statistics
Wage Statistics: HMRC has successfully prosecuted just three out of 700 firms for failure to pay the minimum wage, despite over 13,000 workers being underpaid by over £3.5 million since 2014.
Published Date: 28th September 2016
EU Laws
Export Regulation: The EU Commission has published a proposal to strengthen controls on exports of dual-use goods and technologies that may be misused for severe human rights violations, terrorist acts or the development of weapons of mass destruction, as well as simplifying and harmonising the existing export control rules.
Published Date: 28th September 2016
29th
Compliance Guidance
Employment Law Guide: Acas has published new guidance for employers on managing employees with potentially life threatening or long term illnesses such as cancer, HIV or multiple sclerosis, who are protected from discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.
Published Date: 29th September 2016
Legal Statistics
IP Statistics: Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are costing the EU €10.2 billion a year, equivalent to 4.4% of sales, and around 37,700 jobs, according to a new report from the European Union Intellectual Property Office.
Published Date: 29th September 2016
30th
Regulator Services
Legal Services: The world's largest law firm, Dentons, is piloting software which will predict the course, cost, length and outcome of litigation and will eventually be used to “optimise litigation strategies by comparing their chance of success and identifying success levers”.
Published Date: 30th September 2016
Regulation Consultations
Regulator Consultation: The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs is inviting views from producers of propagating material and fruit growers on plans to introduce a statutory certification scheme for fruit propagating materials by adapting the existing voluntary scheme.
Response Deadline: 25th November 2016
Regulatory Deadlines
Regulator Deadline: Companies whose financial year ended on 30 December 2015 must file their accounts with Companies House by 30 September 2016.
Submission Deadline: 30th September 2016
