ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This practical guidance relates to the pre-Procurement Act 2023 regime This Practice Note contains guidance relevant to public procurement exercises commenced before the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) came into force on 24 February 2025. In-scope procurements begun on or after this date are governed by PA 2023. Under the transitional and savings provisions for PA 2023, the previous public procurement regimes continue to apply to the extent necessary to allow contracting authorities to complete and manage procurements commenced before PA 2023 came into force. This Practice Note should be read in that context. For background reading, see Practice Note: Introduction to the Procurement Act 2023—PA 2023. Further practical guidance on PA 2023 is set out in a separate subtopic, see: Procurement Act 2023—overview. Investigating abnormally low tenders Contracting authorities are obliged under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), SI 2015/102, reg 67(1) to award a public contract to the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). Price or cost is a necessary element

ARCHIVED : This archived Practice Note focuses on the abolition of defined benefit (DB) contracting-out with effect from 6 April 2016. It is not maintained. For information on the DB contracting-out regime applicable since 6 April 2016, see Practice Note: Legal regime applicable to Section 9(2B) rights and GMPs from 6 April 2016. For information generally on the meaning and purpose of contracting-out, see Practice Note: What does ‘contracting-out’ mean for pension lawyers? Alongside DB contracting-out, there used to be another form of contracting-out—contracting-out on a money purchase basis (also known as defined contribution (DC) contracting-out). DC contracting-out was abolished on 6 April 2012. For further information, see Practice Note: Abolition of DC contracting-out [Archived]. Why was DB contracting-out abolished? On 6 April 2016, contracting-out on a salary-related basis (also known as DB contracting-out) ceased to exist. Schemes that were contracted-out salary-related (COSR) schemes immediately before 6 April 2016 automatically ceased to be contracted-out with effect from that date. This was originally announced in a White Paper published in January 2013, in which the government

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note provides information on the issues which the government and HMRC, and ultimately employers and trustees, had to face to implement the abolition of DB contracting-out on 6 April 2016. It is not maintained and is for background information only. For further information on DB contracting-out post-abolition, see Practice Note: Legal regime applicable to Section 9(2B) rights and GMPs from 6 April 2016. On 6 April 2016, contracting-out on a salary-related basis (also known as DB contracting-out) ceased to exist. Schemes that were contracted-out salary-related (COSR) schemes immediately before 6 April 2016 automatically ceased to be contracted-out with effect from that date. For further information, see Practice Note: Abolition of DB contracting-out—an introduction [Archived]. To ensure a smooth implementation, the government and HMRC have had to clarify various uncertainties and face certain challenges. Not all of these issues have been satisfactorily resolved. Note that the rights accrued by members in COSR employment before 6 April 2016, namely Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMPs) and Section 9(2B) rights (also known as post-1997

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note, which applies in relation to schemes that were contracted-out salary-related (COSR) schemes immediately before 6 April 2016, covers the scope of the statutory amendment power given to employers of former COSR schemes until 5 April 2021 to amend their scheme rules so as to offset any increase in national insurance contributions resulting from the abolition of defined benefit (DB) contracting-out on 6 April 2016. It also considers the application of this power to multi-employer schemes, ‘protected persons’, public sector schemes, as well as the interaction of this power with existing consultation and disclosure requirements. This Practice Note is not maintained. For further information on the abolition of DB contracting-out, see Practice Note: Abolition of DB contracting-out—an introduction [Archived]. Nature of employers' statutory amendment power Employers of schemes that were contracted-out salary-related (COSR) schemes immediately before the abolition of defined benefit (DB) contracting-out on 6 April 2016 were given a statutory amendment power, exercisable until 5 April 2021, which they could use to amend

ARCHIVED : This archived Practice Note focuses on the abolition of contracting-out on a money purchase (or protected rights) basis with effect from 6 April 2012. It is not maintained. For information generally on the meaning of contracting-out, see Practice Note: What does ‘contracting-out’ mean for pension lawyers? Contracting-out on a money purchase basis before 6 April 2012 Contracting-out was the mechanism whereby an individual (whether employed or self-employed) could elect to forgo accrual of the element of the State pension which, before 6 April 2016, was known as the additional State pension (or Second State Pension (S2P)). Contracting-out on a money purchase basis (also known as DC contracting-out) first became possible in April 1988. Contracting-out on a money purchase basis required the relevant contracted-out pension scheme to provide contracted-out members with ’protected rights’ in lieu of the state benefits forgone as a consequence of contracting-out. Schemes contracted-out on a money purchase basis Before 6 April 2012, protected rights could be provided through the following contracted-out schemes: • contracted-out money purchase (COMP) schemes.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Until 5 April 2013, ordinary residence was one of three key factors that needed to be considered when deciding whether, or to what extent, an individual was liable to tax in the UK. The other factors being residence and domicile. For tax years 2013/14 onwards, the concept of ordinary residence is abolished, subject to transitional provisions. For an explanation of the concept of ordinary residence, see the Ordinary residence before 6 April 2013 [Archived] Practice Note and for guidance on the tax implications of ordinary residence before 6 April 2013, see the Tax implications of ordinary residence before 6 April 2013 [Archived] Practice Note. In most cases, the abolition of ordinary residence came into effect on 6 April 2013. It applies for income tax, capital gains tax (CGT), inheritance tax (IHT) and corporation tax.. However, ordinary residence is retained in a small number of distinct areas of the legislation (see: Provisions which

EU Law analysis: Thanos Rammos, partner, Kira Raguse, senior associate, and Alexander Schmalenberger, knowledge lawyer, all of Taylor Wessing, consider the mandatory removal of the underused EU Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform from business websites by 20 July 2025, while outlining proposed reforms to Directive 2013/11/EU, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Directive (ADR Directive), designed to modernise out-of-court dispute resolution and further enhance consumer rights.

FORTHCOMING CHANGE : HMRC’s Pension Schemes Newsletter 185 (September 2026) announced plans to legislate so that certain lump sum death benefits exceeding the available lump sum and death benefit allowance will no longer count as pension income for other tax purposes, while remaining taxable at the beneficiary’s marginal Income Tax rate. Reporting requirements will remain unchanged: scheme administrators provide payment details to the deceased’s legal personal representatives, who report any excess to HMRC for assessment of the beneficiaries’ tax liability. For further information, see LNB News 25/09/2026 34. Until 5 April 2024, one of the key restrictions imposed on the accrual of members’ benefits under the pensions tax regime was the lifetime allowance, which capped the amount of benefits that could be saved and drawn by and in respect of an individual from their registered pension schemes without triggering tax charges. From 6 April 2024, this lifetime allowance was abolished, as announced in the Spring Budget 2023. The objective was to encourage older inactive individuals to return to work by removing a tax disincentive.

Law360: A billionaire with ties to Roman Abramovich lost his attempt on 27 February 2024 to overturn sanctions imposed on him following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the first substantive appeal to challenge the UK government's sanctions regime since the war began.

The Companies, Partnerships and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/980) which came into force on 6 April 2015 and apply to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2016 (or earlier if the company so decides) permit small companies to prepare an abridged balance sheet and abridged loss-account'>profit and loss account if approved by all of the company's shareholders.

Trial in absence Trial in the absence of the defendant is considered a last resort in both the magistrates’ court and the Crown Court. In R v Jones, the Court of Appeal ruled that the defendant's Crown Court trial had not been unfair and, by his conduct, he had waived his right to be present and represented at his trial. In this case, the defendant was absent from the beginning of his trial. The court held that it has a discretion as to whether a trial should take place in the defendant’s absence and cautioned that such discretion must be used with the utmost care and with due regard to the interests of justice and the overriding principle of ensuring a fair trial. If the defendant is absent from their trial due to involuntary illness or incapacity, the court will rarely exercise this discretion in favour of commencing the trial unless the defendant has expressly requested the trial to begin in their absence and provided they are represented. However, where a defendant of full age and sound mind,

Leaving an address or area that a defendant has been bailed to without seeking the permission of the police or Judge, and failing to return within a reasonable time.