Business Diary: UK Regulations - September 2017
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
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has confirmed changes to the process for raising disputes over invoices issued under the fee for intervention scheme. From 1 September 2017, all such disputes will be handled by a fully independent panel. The amended process will also provide greater clarity about the information HSE will give to firms to allow them to make appropriate representations to the panel.
Start Date: 1st September 2017
EU Laws
From 1 September 2017, updated EU rules which will restrict the maximum wattage for vacuum cleaners to 900 watts, as well as cutting the maximum noise level to 80dB, will come into force. The rules will also require vacuum cleaners to pass two durability tests, one for the motor and another for the main hose.
Start Date: 1st September 2017
2nd
Regulation Consultations
The Department for Transport is inviting views from all interested parties on proposals aimed at reducing delays to motorists and businesses caused by utility companies digging up busy roads. Under the proposals, local authorities would be allowed to charge utility companies by the hour for carrying out works on selected routes.
Response Deadline: 28th October 2017
4th
Regulation Consultations
Northern Ireland's Department of Health is inviting views from all interested parties on draft regulations to ban the sale of nicotine inhaling products, including e-cigarettes, to persons under the age of 18. The regulations will also make it an offence to buy such products on behalf of a person under the age of 18.
Response Deadline: 27th October 2017
5th
Court Rulings
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that employers must inform employees before monitoring their personal communications. The case concerned an employee who was dismissed after his employers found that he was sending private messages via his work email account.
Ruling Date: 5th September 2017
Compliance Guidance
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has amended its guidance for companies which are participating in a merger and their legal advisers. The guidance includes updated guidance notes on the CMA's use of initial enforcement orders and its mergers intelligence functions, as well as updates to the merger notice form and accompanying notes.
Published Date: 5th September 2017
6th
Regulation Consultations
The European Commission is inviting views from all interested parties on whether the Batteries Directive is meeting its objectives and contributing to the general objectives of the EU environmental policy. The Directive aims to maximise the separate collection of waste batteries and accumulators, and to minimise the disposal of spent batteries as mixed municipal waste.
Response Deadline: 28th November 2017
Regulation Consultations
The UK and Welsh governments are inviting views from all interested stakeholders on proposed changes to the way charges are levied for statutory plant health services, including import and export inspection services, plant passporting services and plant health licensing services.
Response Deadline: 31st October 2017
7th
Legal Statistics
Nearly a third (31%) of landlords are unaware of government proposals for a draft bill banning letting agent fees, according to a new survey from No Agent. A ban on letting agent fees would result in costs shifting to landlords.
Published Date: 7th September 2017
8th
Regulation Consultations
The European Commission is inviting views from all interested parties including shipowners, cargo owners, logistics companies and maritime equipment manufacturers on aligning the EU scheme for reporting monitored and verified data on shipping CO2 emissions with the International Maritime Organisation's global data collection system.
Response Deadline: 1st December 2017
12th
Legal Statistics
According to a new survey from Aldermore, just 9% of UK SME owners understand what the General Data Protection Regulation actually means for their business or have taken the appropriate steps to prepare themselves for it.
Published Date: 12th September 2017
Business Laws
The Competition and Markets Authority has published an open letter to businesses in the creative industries warning about the consequences of participating in cartel activity. The letter was published in light of a recent case where five model agencies and their trade association were fined over £1.5 million for colluding on the prices they charged for modelling services.
Published Date: 12th September 2017
Crackdowns & Amnesty
The Environment Agency and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency have agreed to share intelligence and carry out operations to crack down on waste carriers that operate without a licence and dispose of waste illegally, as well as unsafe drivers and vehicles.
Published Date: 12th September 2017
Regulation Consultations
The European Commission is inviting views from EU citizens, academics, businesses, organisations and any other interested stakeholders on improving the security of EU citizens’ ID cards and residence documents, as well as facilitating EU citizens’ free movement rights.
Response Deadline: 5th December 2017
13th
Regulation Consultations
The Information Commissioner's Office is inviting views from all interested parties on new guidance regarding contracts between controllers and processors under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The guidance urges companies to update their contracts to reflect upcoming GDPR requirements in respect of the terms contained in those contracts.
Response Deadline: 10th October 2017
14th
Business Laws
Housing minister, Alok Sharma, has announced that rent controls will definitely not be a policy of the government for at least the duration of the current parliament. Sharma also said that he would be considering the need for a new homes ombudsman after research revealed that 16% of new home buyers would not recommend their builder.
Published Date: 14th September 2017
Regulation Consultations
The Committee of Advertising Practice and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice is inviting views from all interested parties on a proposal to remove the current prohibition in their Codes on making claims about the health benefits of e-cigarettes.
Response Deadline: 16th October 2017
Legal Statistics
According to new data from the Ministry of Justice, 88,476 cases were accepted by the tribunal service in the year to June 2017, of which 17,005 were single cases and 71,471 were multiple claims. Total claim numbers rose by 6% compared with 2015/16. More than 30,000 claims were brought under the Working Time Directive, 12,038 for unfair dismissal, and 10,467 for equal pay.
Published Date: 14th September 2017
Regulation Consultations
The Department for Communities and Local Government is inviting views from all interested parties on proposals to reform the planning system with a view to boosting housing supply and increasing local authority capacity to manage growth. The proposals include a 20% increase in planning application fees for those areas where local authorities are delivering the homes their communities need.
Response Deadline: 9th November 2017
Court Rulings
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that pregnant employees can only be dismissed as part of a collective redundancy in exceptional cases that are not related to the pregnancy, and where there is no plausible chance that the employee can be moved to another role.
Ruling Date: 14th September 2017
Business Laws
The UK's new Data Protection Bill has been laid before Parliament. The Bill sets out the scope of new powers for the Information Commissioner's Office, provided for by the General Data Protection Regulation, to conduct mandatory data protection audits of businesses.
Published Date: 14th September 2017
18th
EU Laws
The EU has proposed a new regulation to establish a framework for screening foreign investments that raise security or public order concerns. Under the draft regulation, the EU will be able to prohibit foreign investments that fall short of acquisitions of control. EU governments will be required to share information on foreign investments with each other and with the European Commission.
Published Date: 18th September 2017
19th
Legal Statistics
According to a new survey from First4Lawyers, the legal sector has spent over £50 million on print advertising over the last five years, despite just 7% of firms citing it as one of their effective marketing tactics. They survey also found law firms are proving slow to adopt modern marketing tactics such as artificial intelligence, voice search, programmatic marketing and mobile marketing.
Published Date: 19th September 2017
Business Laws
Scotland's government has published secondary legislation to give effect to the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act. Under the Act, a new form of private residential tenancy, which will replace the current 'assured tenancy' regime, will be introduced from 1 December 2017. The new regime aims to improve security of tenure for tenants and provide appropriate safeguards for landlords, lenders and investors.
Published Date: 19th September 2017
Legal Statistics
Over half (68%) of personnel at food and drink manufacturing companies have not received any General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Awareness Training, according to HR and payroll sourcing firm, MHR. A further 53% of companies have yet to assess and appoint a data privacy officer, a mandatory requirement for some companies under the GDPR.
Published Date: 19th September 2017
20th
Legal Statistics
Nearly half (42%) of letting agents consider the impending letting fees ban to be their most significant challenge in the coming months, according to a new survey from Fixflo. This was followed by lack of new landlord instructions, and online competitors.
Published Date: 20th September 2017
21st
Regulation Consultations
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is inviting views from all interested stakeholders on a draft statutory instrument to allow distribution network operators, companies licensed to distribute electricity, to charge assessment fees to all customers, those requesting a connection, even where a connection offer was not accepted.
Response Deadline: 2nd November 2017
27th
Regulation Consultations
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is consulting on proposed changes to its guidance on the penalties it can impose for breaches of competition law. The changes aim to enhance transparency and clarify specific aspects of the CMA’s approach to calculating penalties.
Response Deadline: 27th September 2017
Regulation Consultations
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is inviting views from regulated firms on plans to force law firms to publish prices for services in areas including employment tribunals, business premises licensing applications, conveyancing and probate.
Response Deadline: 20th December 2017
28th
Regulation Consultations
The Scottish government is inviting views from all interested parties on draft regulations to establish an integrated framework for environmental authorisations. The regulations will standardise, simplify and streamline the process for complying with Scotland's environmental legislation and provide clarity for businesses about the authorisations they need, and how to comply.
Response Deadline: 23rd November 2017
Crackdowns & Amnesty
The government has extended the suspension of minimum wage enforcement activity with regard to sleep-in shifts in the social care sector by one month. During the temporary hiatus, the government will develop a new enforcement scheme to encourage and support social care providers to identify back pay owed to their staff.
Published Date: 28th September 2017
Legal Statistics
According to Migrate UK, less than a third of companies that currently hold Tier 2 or Tier 5 licences are aware of the sanctions for failing to secure right-to-work documentation for overseas workers, and up to 93% could be at risk of having their sponsor licence revoked.
Published Date: 28th September 2017
30th
Regulatory Deadlines
Companies whose financial year ended on 29 December 2016 must file their annual accounts with Companies House by 30 September 2017. Private limited companies that file their accounts late face penalties of up to £1,500. Public limited companies can be hit with penalties of up to £7,500.
Submission Deadline: 30th September 2017
