The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023) received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. ECCTA 2023 is to come into force over an extended period to allow companies and Companies House time to prepare for its implementation. Many of its provisions will only take effect once detailed secondary legislation and guidance has been put into place, while others necessitate the introduction of new technical processes and tools before they can come into operation. It is expected that ECCTA 2023 will not be fully implemented until 2027. The key objectives of ECCTA 2023 are to prevent the use of corporate structures in the United Kingdom for crime and terrorism, strengthen the UK’s broader response to economic crime and support enterprise by improving the efficiency of the UK’s companies registry, including the reliability of its data. A few provisions of ECCTA 2023 came into force on 26 October 2023 with Royal Assent and others came into force on 15 November 2023, 26 December 2023, 15 January 2024, 4 March 2024,

Environment analysis: Since November 2023 UK government ministers, and officials on their behalf, have had a duty to have due regard to an Environmental Principles Policy Statement (EPPS) when making policy—one of four ‘cornerstones’ of environmental governance introduced by the Environment Act 2021 (EA 2021). On 27 February 2025, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) laid before Parliament and published its review of the early implementation of this duty. The OEP identify positive early signs but limited evidence so far of the EPPS’ impact on policies. Eight recommendations are made for how the EPPS can be strengthened, and for cross-government action to ensure it supports delivery of environmental ambitions. Government must lay a response to the report by 28 May 2025. The EPPS duty has also already been considered by the High Court in R (Rights; Community; Action) v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. The High Court judgment has been appealed, with the potential for the Court of Appeal to set an important precedent. The OEP is an intervener in the case, making submissions on the underlying principles it believes should apply to the duty. Written by Peter Ashford, general counsel of the Office for Environmental Protection.

is defined in section 1 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (EU(WA)A 2020) as the ‘transition or implementation period provided for by Part 4 of the withdrawal agreement and beginning with exit day and ending on IP completion day’. ‘Implementation period’ is the UK’s preferred term. The EU’s preferred term for this period is the ‘transition period’.

11 pm (GMT) on 31 December 2020 marked the end of the Brexit transition/implementation period entered into following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. This point in time is referred to in UK law as ‘IP completion day’ and is the point at which key transitional arrangements came to an end and significant changes took effect across the UK’s legal regime.

A service offered by pensions consultants under which they take the investment management decisions on behalf of the trustees.

Context A compulsory purchase order (CPO) which has been confirmed becomes operative on the date on which the notice of its confirmation is first published, unless it is subject to special parliamentary procedure (see Practice Note: Compulsory purchase—special categories of land). The notice of confirmation must be issued within six weeks of the date of the CPO being confirmed, see Practice Note: Consideration and confirmation of a compulsory purchase order, including making objections, public inquiries, hearings and written representations. However, the confirmation of a CPO does not vest title in the land subject to the CPO in the acquiring authority, nor does it give the acquiring authority power to take possession of that land. The acquiring authority must implement the CPO by taking a positive step to exercise the powers conferred on it by the CPO. Acquiring authorities will need to have demonstrated reasonable attempts to acquire land by agreement in the shadow of a CPO, having ensured that they have the required powers to do so (usually under the same Acts of Parliament

A number of employment law issues arise when a business wants to implement a reorganisation. Those issues are both legal and practical and this Practice Note considers both aspects, as well as how to manage the interaction between the various issues. This Practice Note assumes that the business continues to exist in the same location but under a different structure, rather than being closed down or moving site, where redundancy will be the primary consideration (for which, see Practice Note: Definition of redundancy). In practice, businesses will often take calculated risks on short-cutting the relevant legal processes, perhaps to save time or by a degree of reverse engineering to achieve a desired outcome. However, this Practice Note assumes that the organisation wishes to do its best to take a legally-compliant approach, while explaining the legal and employee relations risks of adopting a different approach. Initial considerations The reorganisation exercise should be approached from the start as one that may be subject to legal challenge. This means that, until the point a final decision has

This Practice Note will guide you through the key stages of implementing a competency framework and will cover: • what is a competency framework? • why a competency framework is needed • how to get the buy in from senior management • how to consult and engage with the workforce • the best methods of communicating the framework • reviewing and amending the framework so it continues to meet the needs of the organisation What is a competency framework? In summary, a competency framework defines the knowledge, skills and attributes needed for people within an organisation. Competency frameworks are common throughout the public and private sectors, and have evolved as organisations looked for ways to communicate not just what an individual should do as part of their role, but how they should do it, and how that relates to the needs of the organisation. Each individual role/team will have its own set of competencies needed to perform the job effectively. A good competency framework should also reflect the different behaviours required at each level within

These training materials consist of template PowerPoint slides that can be used as the basis for delivering training sessions to implement a competency framework. A Word version of these materials is also included, should this be preferable. The training materials are customisable. It is anticipated that those providing training will use these slides as a helpful starting point for their presentations and amend them accordingly to reflect their particular circumstances. Click the link below to download the training presentation. Contents

This Practice Note provides an introduction to the data protection implications of establishing a global corporate whistleblowing scheme. Companies must find a reliable method of identifying and correcting any unlawful or unethical conduct that occurs within their organisations in order to achieve effective corporate governance. In part, this objective can be achieved through the establishment of internal whistleblowing schemes, providing employees with a trusted and confidential mechanism for reporting misconduct. Globally, there is an increasing trend for national legislation to require companies to establish internal financial control procedures—these are often implemented by way of whistleblowing schemes. The US is a leader in providing strong standards for internal reporting and investigation of potential wrongdoing under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 (SOX). For a US-regulated multi-national company, it can be difficult to create a consistent corporate whistleblowing scheme in all of the countries in which it operates. Further, in Europe, there is a need for organisations to balance their corporate governance objectives against the need to safeguard

Since 6 April 2017, the income tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) advantages where benefits in kind are provided through salary sacrifice arrangements (described in the Finance Act 2017 (FA 2017) as ‘optional remuneration arrangements’) have been largely withdrawn. Guidance on optional remuneration arrangements from 6 April 2017 starts at EIM44000. The optional remuneration provisions made no changes to the underlying salary sacrifice principle, but did change how the benefit is taxed. Subject to some transitional arrangements, all benefits provided under an optional remuneration agreement are taxed at the higher of the standard benefit in kind valuation (usually the cost to the employer except for certain benefits) or the salary sacrificed. However, note that the optional remuneration rules do not apply to pension contributions (although only the first £2,000 per year of pension contributions through salary sacrifice will be NIC exempt with effect from 6 April 2029), employer-provided pensions advice, workplace nurseries, directly employer-contracted childcare, cycle to work or ultra-low emission cars with CO2 emissions of 75 g/km or less as well as certain employer-supported

EU non-legislative act adopted by the Commission, or exceptionally by the Council, on the basis of a delegation contained in an EU legally binding act to ensure the uniform implementation of EU law.