This Practice Note considers when a solicitor will be on the court record as acting for a party and the consequences of being on the court record. It also addresses the requirements (including those of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Standards and Regulations) for a retainer between solicitor and client, including as to the termination of the retainer, ie what will constitute a good reason and reasonable notice for termination of the retainer and the implications of doing so. It also sets out the steps that should be taken by a party (or their new solicitor) where there is a change of solicitor and when an application to come off the court record will be required if those steps are not taken. SRA Standards and Regulations When deciding whether to act or terminate instructions, it is of fundamental importance that the solicitor considers their duties under the SRA Standards and Regulations and the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, registered European lawyers (RELs), registered foreign lawyers (RFLs) and registered Swiss lawyers (RSLs). For further

Task Action Stage Use this column to keep track of what has been done 1 Draft deed of appointment / retirement of trustee(s) and arrange execution See Precedents: Trustees—overview (see section: Trustees Precedents).Indemnity—consider whether it is appropriate to give the retiring trustee(s) an indemnity. Has the deed been drafted? Executed? Is it being executed at a meeting or circulated by post for execution? Witnesses? 2 Draft trustee power(s) of attorney and notice(s) for new trustee(s) and arrange

Small HMO as a separate use class Use Class C4 of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (the Use Classes Order), SI 1987/764 applies to the use of a dwellinghouse as a house in multiple occupation (HMO) by not more than six residents. For these purposes, an HMO does not include a converted block of flats to which section 257 of the Housing Act 2004 (HA 2004) applies, but otherwise has the same meaning as in HA 2004, s 254. This includes occupation by persons forming two or more households and does not require every occupier to be unrelated. See Practice Notes: Operation of the Use Classes

A change order is an instruction for a variation

This Practice Note looks at the change protocol (also known as the change mechanism) typically found in the Project Agreement relating to a PFI or PF2 (sometimes referred to as PFII) project. It considers the purpose of the change protocol, different types of changes, the change process, the consequences of changes and also the procurement law implications. In the 2018 Budget (delivered on 29 October 2018), it was announced that the government will no longer use PF2 on new projects (see News Analysis: Budget 2018—what does it mean for infrastructure and housebuilding?). However, the government has stated that it will continue to support private investment in infrastructure and some of the existing drafting may be relevant in such cases. In addition, existing PFI and PF2 projects will continue to run, and given the typical lifespan of such projects this is likely to be for many years. What is the change protocol? The long duration of PFI and PF2 contracts meant that it was very important to future-proof them at the point of entering into the contract. Technological

A change request normally comes from a contractor (or sub-contractor) seeking approval to carry out a variation to the works

From 6 April 2025, the Companies (Accounts and Reports) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/1303 will amend the Companies Act 2006, ss 381-384B to change the entries in the tables for ‘turnover’ and ‘balance sheet total’ for micro-entities, small and medium-sized companies, and the entries for ‘aggregate turnover’ and ‘aggregate balance sheet total’ in respect of small and medium-sized groups. The Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008 are also amended to reflect these changes for LLPs. This change is relevant to the fee level for sponsor licence applications in Worker routes and the Senior or Specialist Worker route, and for the Immigration Skills Charge. In these cases a sponsor organisation which falls within the small companies regime (or is a charity) is charged a lower sum. Note that the qualifying conditions for each size classification require that a company or group not exceed two out of three thresholds. These are a maximum figure for a company’s (i) annual turnover, (ii) balance sheet total, and (iii) its number of employees. This legislation will alter the thresholds for annual turnover and balance sheet total. The employee number threshold for small companies remains 50. Whereas before 6 April the relevant qualifying financial thresholds for small companies are not more than £10.2 million turnover and not more than £5.1 million balance sheet total, from that date this is changing to annual turnover of not more than £15 million and not more than £7.5 million balance sheet total. There is a transitional provision in relation to accounting periods, to allow companies and LLPs to benefit from the new thresholds as soon as possible after the legislation comes into force. Note also that there is a sponsor duty to report within 20 working days where a sponsor changes from falling within the small sponsor regime to not falling within it (or vice versa) (section C2, Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance).

It is a fundamental rule of English company law that a limited company having a share capital must maintain that capital. This capital maintenance rule is intended to protect a company’s creditors by ensuring that the assets representing the capital of a company remain available to them for future recourse. A company’s share capital may be affected by certain events that occur over the course of its life in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006). These could include: • the issue of shares, on incorporation and subsequently (including the issue of bonus shares) • the redenomination of share capital • the sub-division and consolidation of shares • the cancellation of shares • reductions of capital • share buybacks, and • the issue of redeemable shares and their ultimate redemption This Practice Note looks, in brief, at the accounting treatment of each of these possible events in turn. It also looks at matters relating to distributable reserves, including the payment of dividends. The legal requirements relating

The Home Office has introduced changes to the Sponsorship duties guidance and the Student and child student guidance as of 29 May 2025. These changes primarily focus on record-keeping duties, providing living arrangements for child students, safeguarding children and minimum standards on child care obligations. Details of the new provisions are set out below.

Changes in a person’s circumstances which occur after the grant of entry clearance or permission: • may lead to the cancellation or curtailment of their stay in the UK if they have limited permission to enter or stay, and • often need to be reported to the Home Office Of course, reporting such a material change of circumstances to the Home Office can trigger cancellation or curtailment. This Practice Note looks at both of these issues. The removal of a person’s permission is termed: • cancellation, where this occurs at the port of entry or where a person is outside the UK, or • curtailment, where they are already in the UK From 1 December 2020, the Immigration Rules, Part 9 no longer refers to curtailment, but to cancellation throughout. Cancellation has been redefined for the purposes of the Rules as meaning: ‘…cancellation, variation in duration, or curtailment, of entry clearance or permission, which

Changes to immigration law may mean that a person who applies for entry or stay under one rule or policy may have the application determined under a different rule or policy. This Practice Note gives an overview of the principles which the courts have adopted on the effect of changes of law or policy on individual cases. The key topics are: • the presumption against the retrospective effect of legislation • the legal effects of withdrawing a policy • the principle of legitimate expectation These topics are complex. Advice to clients will often depend on the precise facts of the case, rather than on the automatic application of what the courts have said in previous cases. This Practice Note aims to provide the basis for a general understanding of some of the legal principles. The presumption against the retrospective effect of legislation Under common law, there is a presumption that a statutory provision does not have retrospective effect in the sense of altering

As well as the regular changes to rates and limits (including for the first time changes to the compensation limits in employment tribunals which previously occurred usually in February), the following changes will come into effect on 6 April 2014: (1) early conciliation, (2) financial penalties on employers, (3) changes to the list of prescribed persons for whistleblowing purposes, (4) reforms to SSP records and recovery, (5) changes to share incentive plans, (6) correction of the TUPE pension anomaly, (7) removal of discrimination questionnaires, (8) doubling of the fine for employing illegal workers and (9) changes to Tiers 1, 2 and 5 of the points-based system. This report provides a convenient summary reminder of those changes, with references back to our earlier news analysis reports where they were first communicated. It also summarises the changes that have taken place during March 2014.