Business Diary: UK Regulations - December 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
Business Laws
New Regulation: The Secretary of State has made a second commencement order which will bring into force more provisions of the Immigration Act 2016. From 1 December 2016, immigration officers will have the power to issue illegal working closure notices to employers.
Start Date: 1st December 2016
Court Rulings
Court Activity: Quality labels can qualify for trademark protection even if old EU trade mark laws specifically prohibit their registration, according to the Advocate General of the EU Court of Justice.
Published Date: 1st December 2016
2nd
Business Laws
Business Regulation: The UK government has, following consultation, set out measures to increase transparency of payment practices and tackle late payments to small businesses. From April 2017, large firms will be required to publish details of the average time taken to pay supplier invoices.
Published Date: 2nd December 2016
Business Laws
Regulator Activity: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has secured an undertaking disqualifying a company director for a period of five years. This is the first undertaking secured by the CMA under the Company Directors Disqualification Act.
Published Date: 2nd December 2016
EU Laws
EU Regulation: The EU Council of Ministers has given its formal support to a new agreement to govern how personal data should be handled when exchanged between the EU and the US. The agreement will improve EU citizens' rights by providing equal treatment with US citizens with regard to judicial redress rights before US courts.
Published Date: 2nd December 2016
5th
Regulation Consultations
Employment Law Consultation: The UK government is inviting views from individuals, businesses, advisers and the legal profession on issues to be considered in implementing reforms to the Employment Tribunal system. The reforms include the digitalisation of the claims process.
Response Deadline: 21st January 2017
EU Laws
EU Regulation: The EU Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee has backed draft rules which aim to allow rail operators easier access to EU domestic rail markets and open up bidding for public service contracts.
Published Date: 5th December 2016
7th
Regulation Consultations
The UK government is inviting views from industry on proposed changes to the Fisheries Concordat, which sets out arrangements for licensing fishing vessels and allocating fish quota received through the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy. The proposals include changing when fishing vessel owners can move the management of vessels from one UK administration to another.
Response Deadline: 28th February 2017
8th
Business Laws
Sector Regulations: The Committee of Advertising Practice has announced new rules banning the advertisement of high fat, salt or sugar food or drink products in media targeted at under-16s. The rules will take effect from 1 July 2017.
Published Date: 8th December 2016
Business Laws
Regulator Activity: The Brazilian National Institute for Intellectual Property and the UK Intellectual Property Office have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation with regard to a wide range of intellectual property issues such as sharing best practice in IP office management and patent examination methods.
Published Date: 8th December 2016
13th
Regulation Consultations
Sector Regulations Consultation: The Housing and Planning Act 2016 will grant the first-tier tribunal the power to serve banning orders on landlords and property agents. The government is inviting views from industry on which offences should constitute ‘banning order offences’.
Response Deadline: 10th February 2017
14th
Regulation Consultations
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is inviting views from law firms on proposed changes to waiver applications and new measures to further the development of its Innovation Space. The proposals include a tool to guarantee that no enforcement action will be taken against firms whose innovations bring them into technical breaches of the rules.
Response Deadline: 8th March 2017
Regulation Consultations
Employment Law Consultation: HMRC is inviting views from employers, advisers and payroll agencies on draft regulations relating to the reporting, payment and recovery of the Apprenticeship Levy.
Response Deadline: 3rd February 2017
15th
Legal Statistics
Fraud Statistics: The UK is not keeping up with online fraud, and systems to protect shoppers from scams are not yet providing value for money, according to the National Audit Office. Consumers lost at least £14.8 billion in 2015 to fraud, of which £4.2 billion is thought to be from crime such as mass marketing fraud and counterfeit goods.
Published Date: 15th December 2016
16th
Legal Statistics
Employee Statistics: Just 5% of new fathers and 8% of new mothers have opted to take shared parental leave since it was introduced in April 2015, according to the CIPD. Just over a fifth of firms had received requests from male staff to take up shared parental leave, and in two-thirds of firms where mothers are eligible, none have taken it at all.
Published Date: 16th December 2016
19th
Crackdowns & Amnesty
Regulator Activity: The Competition and Markets Authority has launched an enforcement investigation into the online secondary tickets sector over concerns that consumers are not getting the full range of legally required information when buying tickets put up for resale.
Published Date: 19th December 2016
20th
Regulation Consultations
The UK government is inviting views from businesses, trade associations and bodies, and non-governmental organisations on proposals to ban the use of plastic microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products. The government aims to change legislation by October 2017.
Response Deadline: 28th February 2017
Regulation Consultations
Consultation Report: Following consultation, the UK government has decided on its approach to implementing the EU directive on rules governing actions for competition damages. The new rules will apply only to claims where both the infringement and harm occurred after the Directive has come into force.
Published Date: 20th December 1970
Court Rulings
Sector Ruling: Fracking will go ahead in North Yorkshire after the UK High Court rejected a legal challenge to the council's decision to grant permission to a company. Fracking has so far been approved at just two other sites in the UK.
Ruling Date: 20th December 2016
21st
Regulation Consultations
Sector Regulations Consultation: The UK government is inviting views from drone operators and manufacturers, the aviation industry and other interested stakeholders on proposed new measures to enhance the safety of drones used for public and commercial services.
Response Deadline: 15th March 2017
EU Laws
EU Ruling: The EU's highest court has ruled that national courts can rule on online sales disputes where the sales are facilitated from websites based in other EU states. This only applies however, under EU law, when the activities carried out in other EU states resulted in the alleged damage in the jurisdiction of the court.
Published Date: 21st December 2016
26th
Crackdowns & Amnesty
Regulator Activity: The Insolvency Service is warning employers to consider their duties and obligations following the disqualification of 11 directors from across the country for the employment of illegal workers.
Published Date: 26th December 2016
27th
EU Laws
EU Regulation: EU Ministers have adopted a new Directive to help businesses and individuals claim damages if they are victims of EU antitrust law infringements, which must be implemented by 27 December 2016.
Implementation Deadline: 27th December 2016
30th
Regulator Services
Regulator Activity: From 30 December 2016, ownership of the Telephone Preference Service will be transferred from Ofcom to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). The transfer of powers will make it easier for the ICO to clamp down on businesses in breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.
Start Date: 30th December 2016
31st
Regulatory Deadlines
Filing Deadline: Companies whose financial year ended on 31 March 2016 must file their accounts with Companies House by 31 December 2016. Private companies that fail to file their accounts on time face penalties of between £150 and £1500.
Submission Deadline: 31st December 2016
EU Laws
EU Regulation: The EU Parliament and EU Council have signed into a law a Directive which will impose stricter limits on the five main pollutants in Europe – primary particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia, volatile organic compounds. The Directive will enter into force on 31 December 2016.
Start Date: 31st December 2016
