Business Diary: UK Regulations - December 2015
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: The EU Commission has published an implementing regulation establishing new forms for use by public bodies when when procuring goods, works and services, effective from 1 December 2015.
Start Date: 1st December 2015
Regulation Consultations
Law Consultation: The Competition and Markets Authority has launched a call for views on consumer protection issues surrounding cloud storage services.
Response Deadline: 15th January 2016
2nd
Business Laws
Government Activity: The Government has launched a review into regulatory barriers to growth and associated costs for house builders.
Published Date: 2nd December 2015
EU Laws
EU Regulation: The EU Commission has proposed a new law to establish common accessibility requirements for certain key products and services including banking services, PCs, telephones and e-commerce.
Published Date: 2nd December 2015
3rd
Business Laws
Regulator Activity: Ofcom has adopted new guidelines which will, among other things, give it more flexibility to increase penalties for serious violations and for larger companies.
Published Date: 3rd December 2015
EU Laws
EU Regulation: The EU Commission has issued a set of proposals, including a mandatory recycling rate of 65% across the EU by 2030, aimed at making Europe more resource-efficient.
Published Date: 2nd December 2015
EU Laws
EU Regulation: The Permanent Representatives Committee has approved an agreement with the EU Parliament on the re-establishment of the EURES employment services network.
Published Date: 2nd December 2015
4th
Regulation Consultations
Law Consultation: The UK government has launched a consultation on provisions contained in the Pubs Code on repairs and maintenance, information provided to tenants and extended code protections.
Response Deadline: 18th January 2016
7th
Regulator Services
IP Services: The Intellectual Property Office has issued a warning on a new scam involving fraudulent patent and trademark renewal fee letters.
Published Date: 2nd December 2015
Legal Statistics
Minimum Wage Statistics: The UK government is urging employers to prepare for the introduction of the new National Living Wage as new research reveals 93% of employers are supportive of the initiative.
Published Date: 7th December 2015
8th
Business Laws
Government Activity: The British Overseas Territories will not be required to implement central registers of company ownership as long as they put "similarly effective" systems in place, according to a Joint Ministerial Council 2015 Communique.
Published Date: 3rd December 2015
Compliance Guidance
Law Guide: Acas has launched new guidance on identifying, tackling and preventing discrimination against disabled employees in the workplace.
Published Date: 3rd December 2015
9th
EU Laws
EU Regulation: Organisations such as banks, energy companies, health care providers and digital service providers will be subject to new cyber security rules which have been agreed upon by the EU Parliament and Council of Ministers.
Published Date: 7th December 2015
Legal Statistics
Procurement Statistics: Small businesses benefited from £12.1 billion, or 27.1%, of government spending in the 2014-15 financial year and 17 out of 33 strategic government suppliers have signed up to the Prompt Payment Code, according to official statistics.
Published Date: 5th December 2015
10th
EU Laws
EU Regulation: The EU Commission has issued a proposal to allow European citizens to take online subscription services with them when travelling around the EU.
Published Date: 9th December 2015
Legal Statistics - Risks
Late Payment Statistics: Around 12% of SMEs regularly wait 90 days or more to be paid by their suppliers and 3% are forced to wait 120 days, according to new research from Tungsten Network.
Published Date: 7th December 2015
11th
Court Rulings
UK Ruling: A High Court's refusal to determine an appeal against a decision taken by a domain name dispute resolution panel means that decisions taken in accordance with the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) can be considered legally binding with no right of appeal, according to Pinsent Masons.
Published Date: 11th December 2015
14th
Compliance Guidance
Law Guide: The Food and Drink Federation and the British Retail Consortium have published new guidance on making 'free-from' claims on food products.
Published Date: 14th December 2015
Court Rulings
Legal Alert: A legal expert from Hogan Lovells is warning that absence management policies which do not make adjustments for disabled employees leave employers at risk of discrimination claims following a recent Court of Appeal decision.
Ruling Date: 10th December 2015
Court Rulings
Court Activity: The Patents Court has adopted a procedure aimed at ensuring that patent infringement claims can be heard at trial within 12 months of being filed.
Published Date: 10th December 2015
15th
Compliance Guidance
HR Guide: Acas has published new guidance for employers on setting drug and alcohol policies and managing staff under the influence of legal highs.
Published Date: 14th December 2015
16th
Compliance Guidance
Legal Guide: The Article 29 Working Party has published new guidance clarifying that businesses operating in more than one country within the EU can be forced to comply with multiple data protection regimes.
Published Date: 16th December 2015
EU Laws
EU Regulation: The EU Commission has outlined proposed reforms to the copyright framework, which includes the standardisation of certain areas of exceptions to copyright across the EU and the promotion of voluntary industry agreements to tackle online infringement.
Published Date: 9th December 2015
EU Laws
EU Regulation: The European Parliament and the Luxembourg presidency of the Council of Ministers have agreed on a new General Data Protection Regulation and a new Data Protection Directive.
Published Date: 15th December 2015
Regulation Consultations
Law Consultation: The UK government has launched a consultation on proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework to support the delivery of discounted starter homes, small housing developments and developments on brownfield sites and in new settlements.
Published Date: 7th December 2015
Business Laws
New Regulation: An Order making provision for a new trade restriction on the supply of hydrazine and related compounds to Russia will come into force on 16 December 2015.
Start Date: 16th December 2015
17th
Court Rulings
UK Ruling: A Scottish court has ruled that it would be "a substantial and unjustified departure" from the wording of a dilapidations clause to allow a commercial property tenant to compensate its former landlord on the basis of the loss in property value at the end of a lease rather than the repair costs.
Published Date: 11th December 2015
Legal Statistics
IP Statistics: The number of attempts by businesses to prevent rivals from registering conflicting trademarks rose by 17% to 2,070 in 2014, according to RPC.
Published Date: 14th December 2015
18th
Regulation Consultations
Consultation Report: The UK government has published the outcome of the consultation on draft legislation setting out how the people with significant control (PSC) register should work.
Published Date: 17th December 2015
21st
Business Laws
Legal Alert: New EU Parliament-backed reforms to Europe's trade mark laws could make it easier for businesses to register non-conventional trade marks such as smells, noises and music, according to a Pinsent Masons trademark law expert.
Published Date: 18th December 2015
EU Laws
Regulator Activity: The UK's Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) have been granted state aid compensation for the cost of renewables by the European Commission.
Published Date: 17th December 2015
Compliance Guidance
Health and Safety Guide: The Health and Safety Executive has published new guidance to help medium to large employers comply with their legal duty to consult and involve their employees on health and safety matters.
Published Date: 18th December 2015
Court Rulings
UK Ruling: The High Court has ruled that it was an "abuse of process" for individuals to deliberately understate the value of their claims against a law firm with the aim of avoiding paying higher court fees up front and issuing their claims within the limitation period.
Ruling Date: 21st December 2015
Regulation Consultations
Law Consultation: The UK government is consulting on proposed changes to the financial reporting framework for LLPs and qualifying partnerships.
Response Deadline: 21st December 2015
22nd
Court Rulings
UK Ruling: The Scottish Court of Session has, in a first for the UK, issued an ineffectiveness order against a Scottish local authority's contract with a supplier because it was in breach of EU procurement law.
Published Date: 1st December 2015
23rd
Court Rulings
EU Ruling: The EU Court of Justice has ruled that the Scottish government's plan to introduce a minimum price for alcohol violates EU free-trade laws.
Ruling Date: 23rd December 2015
31st
Regulatory Deadlines
Filing Deadline: Companies House has issued a deadline reminder to companies required to file their accounts by 31 December 2015.
Submission Deadline: 31st December 2015
