The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has warned that the extended fixed recoverable costs (FRC) regime is creating uncertainty for injured people and claimant law firms. In a statement issued on 20 January 2026, APIL executive committee member John McQuater said obvious problems are emerging from the 2023 extension of the regime, including a lack of clarity around track allocation and assignment to complexity bands, particularly where cases settle before allocation. He said settlement figures are often not a reliable indicator of a claim’s true value, which can make it difficult for claimant lawyers to advise clients at the outset on how costs will be dealt with. APIL was responding to a Civil Procedure Rule Committee and Ministry of Justice stocktake of the reforms, which introduced a new intermediate track for claims valued between £25,000 and £100,000 and applied FRC to all fast-track cases. Mr McQuater said the rules should require parties to attempt to agree track allocation and, where appropriate, complexity banding at an early stage, and called for personal injury cases to be removed from complexity band 1 in the intermediate track.

APN commonly refers to an “accelerated payment notice” in UK tax practice. It is a statutory notice issued by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) under Finance Act 2014 requiring upfront payment of disputed tax, usually in relation to tax avoidance schemes, before the substantive dispute is finally resolved. An APN is not a tax assessment but a payment mechanism. It can be issued where the taxpayer has used arrangements subject to a DOTAS (Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes) reference number, a follower notice, or GAAR-related rules. The amount demanded reflects HMRC’s view of the tax at stake. Strict statutory time limits apply to representations against an APN, but there is no right of appeal to the tax tribunal against the notice itself; disputes typically focus on judicial review grounds (legality, rationality, procedural fairness). Accelerated payment notices are specific to the UK (England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and do not exist in Irish tax legislation, where Revenue uses different collection powers. In UK tax litigation and advisory work, APNs are a key consideration in managing cash flow, settlement strategy and the risks of participating in avoidance arrangements.

HM Treasury (HMT) has published a final draft of the Payment Services (Amendment) Regulations 2024, which will allow payment service providers (PSPs) to slow down payments processing when there are reasonable grounds to suspect fraud or dishonesty. The legislation, which will be laid before Parliament shortly after its return from conference recess, aims to support efforts to tackle authorised push payment (APP) fraud.

Ireland—Banking & Financial Services analysis: This article, was written by Paul Convery of William Fry LLP and discusses Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, where individuals are tricked into sending money to fraudsters. It examines recent UK legal cases, such as Larsson v Revolut, which questions banks' duties in fraud prevention, and Terna Energy Trading v Revolut, which explores unjust enrichment claims. The article also touches on Ireland’s legal stance, highlighting the growing need for stronger protections. It underscores the challenges in holding financial institutions accountable and the evolving legal landscape around APP fraud.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Acquired Brain Injury and UK Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF) has published a report quantifying the economic and wellbeing costs of acquired brain injury (ABI) in the UK. The report estimates annual economic costs of £43bn, comprising £20bn in NHS and social care costs, £21.5bn in lost productivity and £1.5bn in criminal justice and education costs. The study also calculates wellbeing costs of £91.5bn. The report recommends introducing a statutory Right to Rehab and establishing new funding mechanisms for community neurorehabilitation services.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fair Business Banking has published a manifesto setting out policy recommendations for the next Parliament on how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) interact with lending. It argues that firms are not seeking finance in the first place or not being approved for loans when they do, even if many of them are creditworthy. The  APPG says the Business Banking Resolution Service ‘has been an abject failure which clearly highlights that voluntary schemes do not work’, and says ‘we can no longer avoid a statutory mechanism’.

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services has published a report on its call for evidence about the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The report includes a number of criticisms, drawn from the written testimonies of 174 individuals who have engaged with the FCA other than through the normal course of working in the financial services industry the evidence received, and a number of recommendations.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Project Delivery (APPGPD) has published its first inquiry report, calling for a radical overhaul of the government’s approach to infrastructure delivery. The report warns that systemic failures in project management risk undermining the government’s infrastructure ambitions and urges ministers to embed delivery discipline across the machinery of government.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Democracy and the Constitution has published a report on the results of its inquiry into the impact that the actions of the executive has had on the constitutional role of the independent judiciary since 2016. The report was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust and the Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research assisted members of the APPG in the inquiry. It reviews the conduct of the executive towards the judiciary, the impact on the judiciary, access to justice and constitutional safeguards. The report discusses the APPG's four conclusions and three recommendations.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Intellectual Property (IP) has published a report on the UK's IP enforcement regime ahead of the renewal of the Intellectual Property Office's (IPO's) Counter-Infringement Strategy. The report states that IP crime is becoming increasingly sophisticated and linked to organised criminal activity, and recommends introducing a mandatory 'Know Your Business Customer' regime for digital platforms, adopting a greater 'follow the money' approach to tackling IP crime, providing stable funding for the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), strengthening information-sharing powers, and investing in specialist enforcement capability and border controls. The report also recommends that the IPO strengthen its coordinating role across government and enforcement bodies, improve collaboration with platforms and other intermediaries and ensure that the next Counter-Infringement Strategy addresses both counterfeiting and online piracy while maintaining a focus on prevention and consumer awareness.

Law360, London: Labour MP Gurinder Singh Josan and Conservative peer Ed Vaizey asked British banks on 11 August 2026 to explain restrictions on banking services faced by cryptocurrency and digital asset businesses, cautioning that limiting access could impair growth and undermine the UK's new regulatory regime.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Banking (APPG) has published a report titled ‘Authorised Push Payment (APP) Fraud – Who Bears the Burden?’ which estimates that APP fraud resulted in losses of £3bn in 2023—significantly higher than previously estimated. The report, dated 27 March 2025, finds that 54% of frauds originate on Meta platforms, while payment service providers' compensation rates vary widely. The Payment Services Regulator's (PSR) mandatory reimbursement requirement, which reduced its compensation cap from £415,000 to £85,000 in October 2024, faces implementation challenges with firms missing five-day payment deadlines. The APPG recommends requiring social media firms to contribute to fraud compensation schemes and establishing clearer fraud reporting pathways.