The adult social care workforce development body Skills for Care has issued a new report ‘State of the Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce in England report ('the report'). The report highlights that record levels of international recruitment has significantly improved the adult social care workforce, which reached 1.71 million filled posts by March 2024, while vacancies fell to 131,000. Despite these gains, the sector faces ongoing domestic recruitment and retention challenges, with 24.2 percent of care workers leaving their jobs in 2023/24, and a vacancy rate of 8.3%, which is around three times that of the wider economy. Between March 2022 and March 2024, 185,000 international recruits joined the independent care sector, and the number of British workers fell by 70,000. However, the numbers of international recruits are now declining, and an estimated 8,000 new international recruits started between April and June 2024, compared with an average of 26,000 per quarter in the year to March. Notably, the workforce is becoming more diverse, with men now making up 21 percent of the sector. However, the turnover rate remains high, especially among domestic recruits. The report also notes the sector's substantial economic contribution, the need for 540 000 additional posts by 2040, and the introduction of a new workforce strategy aimed at enhancing care roles and addressing recruitment issues.

International sale contracts refer to contracts for the sale of goods involving sea transit and various forms of contractual documents common in the import and export trades.

This Practice Note provides an introduction to the international sanctions regimes. It explains what sanctions are, the difference between financial sanctions and trade sanctions and the different legal frameworks for imposing international sanctions including UN sanctions, UK domestic sanctions and EU sanctions. It also explains how sanctions are enforced and how penalties for breach of sanctions are imposed in the UK. What are sanctions? Sanctions are non-permanent restrictions or prohibitions imposed by governments that regulate how their nationals and entities engage with sanctioned countries or regimes. Sanctions may, for example, prohibit certain types of goods from being exported to or imported from a sanctioned country, or may identify individuals, companies or vessels in that other country with whom it is prohibited to do business. In some cases, certain activities may be authorised under a licence granted by competent authorities. Sanctions are an essential foreign policy tool. They can be made against countries, regimes, organisations, individuals and entities. They are intended to bring about a change in policy or activity

A station that sends programs overseas either for direct reception by listeners abroad or for intermediate reception by overseas relay stations that rebroadcast the programs on shortwave or medium wave stations to nearby audiences.

This Agreement is made on [date] Parties 1 [insert name of supplier] [of OR a company incorporated in [England and Wales] under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at] [insert address] (Supplier); and 2 [insert name of customer] [of OR a company incorporated in [Insert country of incorporation] under number [insert registered number] whose registered office is at] [insert address] (Customer), (each of the Supplier and the Customer being a party and together the Supplier and the Customer are the parties). Background (A) The Supplier conducts the business of supplying [insert description] to other businesses. (B) The Customer conducts the business of [insert description]. (C) The parties have agreed that the Supplier shall supply Goods to the Customer on the terms set out in this Agreement. (D) The parties contemplate that the Supplier shall supply the Goods to the Customer in a series of supplies over time rather than a single supply. The parties agree: 1 Definitions and interpretation 1.1 In this Agreement, unless the context requires otherwise: [Actual Spend • has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;] Affiliate • means any entity that directly or indirectly Controls, is Controlled by, or is under common

This Checklist considers how to identify international contracts for the supply of goods and how international contracts for the supply of goods can create more considerations than the domestic supply of goods. The Checklist then sets out a series of considerations when drafting and entering into international contracts for the supply of goods, including issues such as credit rating, carriage of goods (or shipping), international trade terms (including Incoterms®), payment, trade finance, currency, exchange controls, import and export restrictions, intellectual property, force majeure, insurance, language, product liability, notices, governing law, jurisdiction, and trade with the EU. The Checklist is drafted practically from the perspective of an in-house lawyer. Identifying international contracts Does your business know how to identify an international contract, or even what an international contract is? Knowing how to spot an international contract is important for two reasons: • this will shape your involvement as the in-house lawyer—is this a contract you can advise on or do you need to seek external advice? If the latter, this may have an impact on the time scales the business is

The restrictions on commercial surrogacy in the UK, and the inability to enter into binding surrogacy agreements, mean that UK-based parents often enter into international surrogacy arrangements leading to the birth of their children abroad. This Practice Note deals with British nationality and immigration law in the context of international surrogacy arrangements. In this Practice Note, the parent or parents who commission the surrogacy arrangement are referred to as the ‘intended parents’. The gestational carrier or surrogate mother is referred to as ‘the surrogate’. For the purpose of this Practice Note, it has been assumed that the surrogate and any relevant partner will not be British Citizens. The Practice Note is split into three sections. It first looks at the scenario where there is an intended parent who is a British citizen. It then turns to the position in UK immigration law where the intended parent is instead a UK visa holder or applicant. It finishes with some practical tips for advisers working on the nationality and immigration aspects

Family analysis: In A and another v C and another [2026] EWHC 972 (Fam), Mr Justice Williams re-stated the approach to parental orders under section 54 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (HFEA 2008) in international surrogacy cases, holding that the child’s welfare is the paramount consideration when authorising payments beyond reasonable expenses. Rejecting earlier authority which balanced welfare against public policy, the court held that public policy has no independent role, though concerns such as exploitation remain relevant through a welfare lens. The judgment confirms a flexible, purposive approach to the six month time limit and considers domicile requirements. The decision prioritises welfare-based reasoning, while indicating that only extreme misconduct is likely to defeat an application. Produced in partnership with Natalie Gamble, director at NGA Law.

With the government's continued focus on enhancing the UK's position as an independent trading nation, we have published a range of analysis concerning the trade elements of the UK's Brexit strategy and post-Brexit international trade policy, which includes UK efforts to establish new trading arrangements with the EU, securing new trade partnerships with non-EU countries, and re-framing the UK's status in the World Trade Organization post-Brexit. A sample of key updates and analysis is set out below. ‘Beyond Brexit’ Following its withdrawal from the EU, the UK began to operate as an independent trading nation from 11 pm GMT on 31 January 2020 (exit day). During the transition/implementation period that followed, the UK focussed on negotiating the terms of its post-Brexit relationship with the EU, with particular focus on its economic and trading relationship. This culminated in the agreement of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which was signed in December 2020 and became provisionally applicable on 1 January 2021. For background reading, see Practice Note: EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement—quick guide. Meanwhile, looking beyond the UK/EU

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note introduces the data export restriction under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998) prohibiting the transfer of personal data to a territory outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) unless there is an adequate level of privacy protection for their personal data. This archived Practice Note provides information on the data protection regime before 25 May 2018 and reflects the position under the DPA 1998. This Practice Note is for background information only and is not maintained. For further information on the position under the General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the GDPR), see Practice Notes: Introduction to the EU GDPR and UK GDPR, which includes a section on International personal data transfers and personal data transfers to international organisations and UK GDPR and EU GDPR—transfers of personal data internationally and to international organisations. For a comparison between the position under the GDPR and the preceding data protection regime, see Practice Note: DPA 1998 to GDPR comparison—international data transfers of personal data [Archived]. For a comprehensive

This Practice Note provides a high level summary of key themes of divergence between the UK and EU in relation to the extent of their data protection regimes, where these have arisen since the end of the Brexit transition/implementation period on 31 December 2020 (IP completion day). Specifically, this Practice Note considers the rules on international data transfers under the UK’s General Data Protection Regulation, Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (UK GDPR) and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (EU GDPR). Background In this Practice Note, the term ‘divergence’ refers to differences in the legislation, guidance or required standards that have arisen following IP completion day which, prior to IP completion day, were aligned. A parallel but identical or substantially similar regime would not constitute divergence. The UK GDPR is largely derived from the EU GDPR, which applied in the UK when the UK was still a Member State of the EU. At the end of the Brexit transition/implementation period (ending in IP completion day), the EU GDPR was incorporated into the UK’s