List of activities the contractor expects to carry out in completing the works.

Law360: The Court of Appeal (CoA) refused on 13 March 2026 to reopen a Christian actor's discrimination claim against a theatre company that dropped her from a musical production of 'The Color Purple' over an anti-gay social media post.

Law360, London: Film and television performers in the UK have voted to refuse to have digital scans on set in a bid to stop their voices and likenesses being replicated through artificial intelligence.

Actual authority is the real power an agent has to act for a principal because the principal has agreed to it. In practice, it arises by express agreement (for example, a board resolution, power of attorney or mandate) or is implied from conduct, the agent’s position, customary practice, or a consistent course of dealing.It is a case law concept across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, and is broadly consistent in all four jurisdictions. Actual authority is distinct from apparent/ostensible authority. If an agent acts within their actual authority, the principal is bound to the transaction and the agent is entitled to an indemnity; if the agent exceeds it, the principal is not bound unless there is ratification or apparent authority applies.In company law, actual authority commonly derives from the articles, board delegations and internal authorisations. Companies Act 2006, s.40 protects third parties dealing in good faith with UK companies, but does not itself confer or define actual authority; it addresses external validity, while actual authority governs internal capacity and the agent’s duties. Similar principles apply in partnerships and LLPs. Actual authority can be limited or revoked and may terminate on events such as insolvency or loss of capacity.

Any injury calculated to interfere with the health or comfort of the victim. It does not need to be permanent but it must be more than merely transient.

The set of assumptions used by the actuary in an actuarial valuation or other calculations by the actuary (for example, rates of return, inflation, increase in remuneration, dividend increases, and mortality).

A certificate signed by the actuary in certain circumstances, for example to certify that actuarial equivalence requirements have been met as a result of an amendment to a scheme, to confirm there is a surplus, to confirm details of a bulk transfer or to confirm the conditions of the reference scheme test are met.

Pensions analysis: In a landmark ruling, dismissing the appeal brought by Virgin Media Ltd (Virgin) against the first instance decision of Mrs Justice Bacon, the Court of Appeal held that the term ‘section 9(2B) rights’ in regulation 42(2) of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Contracting-out) Regulations 1996 (the Contracting-out Regulations), as in force from 6 April 1997 to 5 April 2013, included pension rights earned by both past and future service. The judgment potentially has very significant implications for occupational pension schemes that were contracted out of the Additional State Pension on the salary-related basis under section 9(2B) of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 (PSA 1993) : absent actuarial confirmation as required by PSA 1993, s 37, it now appears certain historical alterations to members’ future (as well as past) service rights under such schemes will be void. Important practical issues concerning the nature and scope of the required actuarial confirmation, however, remain unresolved. Written by Henry Day, barrister at Radcliffe Chambers.

The amount which an actuary considers is necessary to be added to the assets to be sufficient to pay the benefits. Since it depends on actuarial assumptions which can vary considerably (some of them based on regulatory requirements), it can vary enormously in practice.

The actuarial equivalence requirement applies in relation to a detrimental modification that is not a protected modification (ie a modification which would involve or might adversely affect subsisting rights but not a modification which involves converting defined benefit rights into defined contribution rights or reducing pensions in payment) and where the trustees determine this test is to apply.

THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO TRUST-BASED OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES PROVIDING DEFINED BENEFITS Statutory requirement for actuarial funding valuations The trustees of private sector defined benefit (DB) occupational pension schemes registered with HMRC are required by statute to complete actuarial funding valuations at least once every three years. The requirements apply to a scheme providing defined contribution benefits if these are underpinned by a DB promise. Additionally, the statutory requirement for actuarial funding valuations is also commonly found in schemes’ trust deed and rules. Outline of requirements Broadly, DB trustees are required: • to provide a statement of funding principles setting out the funding objective for the scheme (known as the statutory funding objective) • to undertake periodic actuarial valuations comparing the scheme’s assets and liabilities (the technical provisions) • for scheme valuations with an effective date on or after 22 September 2024, to provide a funding and investment strategy setting out the scheme’s journey plan to reach a minimum of low dependency on the employer by the time the scheme is significantly mature • to provide a schedule

Actuaries adopt a variety of ways of calculating assets and liabilities, which can produce very different outcomes. Some of them are mentioned in this list (eg projected unit credit) and there are standard definitions on the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries website.