STOP PRESS: As of 24 February 2025, the main provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) are in force. Procurements begun on or after this date must be carried out under PA 2023, whereas those begun under the previous legislation (the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016, the Concession Regulations 2016, and the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011) must continue to be procured and managed under that legislation. See Practice Note: Introduction to the Procurement Act 2023—PA 2023. PCR 2015 as assimilated law PCR 2015 are EU-derived domestic legislation and therefore assimilated law under sections 2 and 6 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. For practical guidance on the status and interpretation of assimilated law, see Practice Note: Assimilated law. Introduction A contracting authority may decide to discontinue an award procedure. This Practice Note covers: • the discretion to discontinue and when the exercise of that discretion can be challenged • the effect of discontinuing on previous breaches • the procedural

Dispute Resolution analysis: This is a judgment considering the applicable presumption in relation to costs in the event of discontinuance under CPR 38.6. It confirms that the presumption that the discontinuing claimant will pay the other parties’ costs is a strong one and will apply unless the court is persuaded, on the balance of probabilities, that the defendants’ conduct has been unreasonable and has brought about the collapse of the proceedings. Written by Phillip Patterson, barrister, Gatehouse Chambers.

The finance charge levied by a receivables financier calculated in a similar way to interest but deducted from the purchase price of receivables.

The rate of interest used to find the present value of a future cash flow.

Valuation method assessing the net present value of future cashflows.

A share option which is granted with an exercise/option/strike price less than the actual market value of the share (the market value of a share taking into account any restrictions and risks of forfeiture) under option as measured at the date of grant of the option.

The process by which future cash flows (for example, dividends or interest payments) are adjusted to allow for the time value of money to arrive at a value in today's terms.

Shares or other instruments where the price paid is less than the amount payable on redemption. In the context of a rights issue or other secondary offer, shares are typically offered to existing shareholders at a discount to the prevailing market price of the shares as an incentive to engage in the offer.

This Practice Note briefly outlines some of the discounts and subsidies that may be provided by employers as benefits to their employees, such as subsidised meals, gym membership and staff discounts on goods and services. It considers whether such benefits count towards the value of a week’s pay or the national minimum wage, or qualify for protection from unlawful deduction. Discounts and subsidies are not wages for the purposes of the Employment Rights Act 1996 unless they are provided in the form of vouchers, stamps or a document which can be expressed in monetary terms and is exchangeable for money,

A discovery assessment is an assessment to tax (or more tax) by HMRC where it discovers that too little tax has been assessed for a past year or accounting period. HMRC will typically make a discovery assessment if it is too late to open an enquiry into the relevant tax return. This Practice Note is about one specific aspect of the rules on discovery assessments, namely that in some circumstances, HMRC can only issue a discovery assessment if at a particular time, it did not have enough information to be aware of the potential loss of tax. For an explanation of: • HMRC's power to open an enquiry, and the relevant time limits in which it may do so • the meaning of HMRC making a 'discovery' (of a potential loss of tax) • the taxpayer's ability to avoid a discovery assessment if the return was prepared in accordance with prevailing practice, and • the time limits for making discovery assessments see Practice Note: HMRC compliance checks, enquiries and discovery assessments. This Practice

Employment analysis: Where the claimant had named the employer company’s controlling shareholder and sole director as the prospective respondent when carrying out early conciliation (EC) but named the company as the respondent in his ET1 claim, an Employment Judge erred in law in rejecting that claim form under Rule 12(2A) of the ET Rules by (1) failing adequately to address the argument that an error in relation to name (or address) can be minor, and (2) failing to consider whether it was not be in the interests of justice to reject the claim. On the facts (and where the parties agreed that the EAT would decide the issues) the EAT held that the error was minor and that it would not be in the interests of justice to reject the claim.

Issues on the use of discretion in EMI share options This has become a topic of interest in recent years, possibly as a consequence (it seems) of a report of at least one law firm having received a ‘rogue response’ from a junior member of the HMRC Employee Share Schemes Unit (ESSU). The application sought confirmation that tax relief was available for the acquisition of shares on early exercise of Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) options, at the discretion of the board provided for as a term of the option agreement, in the circumstances of a corporate event which did not otherwise entitle the optionholders to exercise their options as of right. HMRC apparently confirmed that the early acquisition of shares in such circumstances would qualify for relief from income tax as an acquisition of shares pursuant to an EMI share option. Conversely, there were reports of HMRC having ruled that the use of discretion to vary performance-related vesting conditions was fatal to the EMI qualifying status of the options. Such rulings