Schools and the coronavirus In accordance with its powers under section 37 and Part 1 of Schedule 16 to the Coronavirus Act 2020 (CA 2020), the government announced that schools would be closed from 20 March 2020 to all pupils except for those of key workers and vulnerable children. Under CA 2020, s 38 and CA 2020, Sch 17, Pt 1, the government has powers to ‘give directions regarding the continuing provision of education, training and childcare’ and has issued various guidance papers on the topic. See Education and childcare during coronavirus. On 28 May 2020 the government announced that nursery, reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils could attend nursery or primary schools. From 15 June 2020 secondary schools can invite Year 10 and Year

National lockdown restrictions from 6 January 2021 Following immense pressure on the NHS and rapidly rising infection rates and hospital admissions due to the new variant of coronavirus, the government has announced a national lockdown effective in law from 6 January 2021. The national lockdown restrictions are set out in Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No 3) and (All Tiers) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021, SI 2021/8. The legislation strengthens the Tier 4 restrictions of Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers) (England) Regulations

Once a company goes into liquidation (whether compulsorily following the making of a winding-up order, or voluntarily following the passing of a resolution by the company's members), the company remains a separate legal personality notwithstanding liquidation, and remains the legal owner of its property which it holds on trust for its creditors in accordance with the provisions of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986). Accordingly, the company will remain the legal owner of the cause of action. For further reading, see Commentary: Property available for distribution, Bailey & Groves: Corporate Insolvency—Law & Practice, para [22.1]. It is one of the main duties of

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a significant number of issues arising out of emergency legislation and the need to ensure that health is maintained in respect of other rights. Many issues that the pandemic has generated have not been foreseen and therefore do not appear in standard contracts nor in legislation. It is now common for persons who are in control of premises to impose conditions on visitors to those premises, such as to have a negative lateral flow test (LFT). Where that person is able to access those premises only with the consent of the landlord, it is entirely permissible for access to be subject to conditions, and thus, for example, a pub landlord

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015) contains provisions about unfair terms in contracts between traders and consumers for goods, services and digital content. The CRA 2015 re-implemented Directive 93/13/EEC, the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Directive, into UK law. It provides that a term or notice is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations under the contract to the detriment of the consumer (CRA 2015, s 62). The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published guidance on unfair contract terms. The CMA guidance helps businesses understand what makes terms and notices unfair in business-to-consumer (B2C) contracts, and what the

It is a somewhat underappreciated aspect to possession proceedings under CPR 55 that claims under that part do not have to be confined to possession. CPR PD 55A para 1.7 reads: ‘1.7 A claim which is not a possession claim may be brought under the procedure set out in Section I of Part 55 if it is started in the same claim form as a possession claim which, by virtue of rule 55.2(1) must be brought in accordance with that Section. (Rule 7.3 provides that a claimant may use a single claim form to start all claims which can be conveniently disposed of in the same proceedings).’ This

A child is deemed to be looked after by a local authority if the child is either ‘in their care’ or is provided with accommodation by the authority in the exercise of any functions which are social services functions (section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989)). ‘Social services functions’ are defined in Schedule 1 to the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970. ‘Accommodation’ means accommodation which is provided for a continuous period of more than 24 hours (ChA 1989, s 22(2)). A child will be a ‘looked after child’ if accommodated by the local authority under a care

The Insolvency Service has successfully prosecuted Rico Iheagwara for fraudulently obtaining two £20,000 Bounce Back Loans (BBLs) for his company, SJR Recruitment Limited, which was not trading at the time. Iheagwara secured the loans from different banks, despite businesses being entitled to only one loan under the scheme. He transferred the funds into his personal account and used them for personal expenses. SJR Recruitment was placed into liquidation in 2021 with liabilities exceeding £67,000. Iheagwara was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for 18 months and ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activity. The Insolvency Service is seeking to recover the fraudulently obtained funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Details of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) are set out in: • the HMRC guidance for employers: Check if you can claim for your employees' wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme • the HMRC guidance for employees: Check if your employer can use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and • The Coronavirus Act 2020 Functions of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) Direction (Treasury Direction) On the face of it, there is nothing to say that an employee who has been furloughed under the CJRS cannot be made redundant. When

Coronavirus (COVID-19): In addition to the below content on force majeure generally, see also: • Coronavirus (COVID-19) toolkit—Contracts • Coronavirus (COVID-19) and contractual obligations—checklist together with the Q&As (in the related content pod on the right hand side) for specific guidance on the issues to consider if your contract is impacted by coronavirus. Force Majeure Event means an event or sequence of events beyond a party's reasonable control preventing or delaying it

Coronavirus (COVID-19): the coronavirus pandemic has caused the UK to expedite new insolvency provisions, both of a temporary and permanent nature. For news and guidance as to the implications from a property perspective see: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—implications for property — Property Insolvency. Panel 4—Transferor [insert name of the registered proprietor] (in liquidation) (the Transferor) acting by [any one of] its [joint] liquidator[s], [insert name of first liquidator] (Insolvency Practitioner) of [insert address][and [insert

This Practice Note considers the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) under which self-employed individuals and members of partnerships who had been adversely impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic could claim a grant from HMRC. The scheme ended on 30 September 2021 when the claims process for the fifth and final grant payment (SEISS 5) closed. This Practice Note sets out the position in relation to SEISS 5 claims that applied immediately prior to the scheme’s closure. The SEISS was announced by the government on 26 March 2020, and the online application service for the first grant payment (SEISS 1) was available from 13 May–13 July 2020. The SEISS was subsequently extended three times: • on 29 May 2020 it was announced that the SEISS would be extended (first SEISS extension) to make provision for a second grant payment (SEISS 2). Applications for SEISS 2 were open from 17 August–19 October 2020 • on 24 September 2020 the government announced a further extension to the SEISS (second SEISS extension). The second SEISS extension provided for two taxable grant