The Migration Observatory has published a briefing which provides information about Afghan asylum seekers and refugees migrating to the UK. It highlights statistics on those arriving by small boat and those receiving protection under two key resettlement schemes: the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).

The Migration Observatory has published a briefing which examines research on how immigration affects government finances in the UK. The briefing sets out key points including the influence of migrants’ characteristics—such as age, skills, and earnings—on public finances. Groups like families with children often require higher earnings to ensure a net positive fiscal contribution due to increased health and education costs. Estimates of migrants’ fiscal impacts vary significantly based on analytical methods, but studies generally find these impacts represent less than 1% of GDP. It is also noted that recently arrived migrants tend to have a more favourable fiscal effect compared to long-term residents. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts suggest that increased net migration can reduce deficits and debt, as migrants are typically of working age. Furthermore, the fiscal impact of migration differs by immigration rout, eg restricting skilled work migration is expected to negatively affect public finances, while limiting family migration for care workers could yield positive outcomes.

Public Law Project and Together with Migrant children have published a report titled ‘Experiences of accessing education in asylum accommodation’.  The report, funded by the Strategic Legal Fund, reveals widespread delays in education access for asylum-seeking children in the UK. The research surveyed 49 organisations supporting asylum-seeking families and found that 76% reported significant delays in school placement. The research, which may inform a potential judicial review challenging the Secretary of State for Home Department's accommodation practices, documented delays exceeding four weeks for both primary and secondary education, with some children waiting over a year for placement. The findings indicate systemic issues across both initial and dispersal accommodation, with minimal alternative education provision being offered during waiting periods. This research also examines potential breaches of local authority duties under sections 14 and 19 of the Education Act 1996.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service has introduced a mandatory requirement for legal representatives to upload the latest divorce document when submitting a final consent order via the online system for contested financial remedy. This follows system enhancements designed to improve judicial efficiency.

The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 introduces a new requirement for trade unions to send to the Certification Officer a membership audit certificate in respect of its compliance with the duty to maintain a register of the names and addresses of its members. It also inserts new investigation and enforcement powers for Certification Officers in respect of (1) a trade union’s existing duty to maintain a register of members’ names and addresses, and (2) the new requirements in respect of membership audit certificates. The Act has now received Royal Assent but as yet there is no commencement date for the new provisions.

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published new research on 24 July 2025 which shows that although 80% of pension schemes are on track to connect to the central digital architecture by or before their connect-by date in the Department for Work and Pension’s guidance, there is still a lot of work to do for schemes on making sure data about the value of a saver’s pension is available digitally and is up-to-date. TPR research finds that one in four schemes still hold some data in non-digital form and only half of the schemes offering defined benefit (DB) pension benefits have recent DB value data for all members, while in addition many schemes still need to deliver their data improvement plans.

The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) has published new research jointly with the Kaplan International Pathways and the National Union of Students (NUS) and undertaken by London Economics which reveals the net benefits to the UK Exchequer of the Graduate route visa scheme. The Graduate route visa allows international students to stay in the UK after their studies (for two or three years depending on the level of qualification). The report is the first detailed look at the fiscal benefits as well as the costs to the UK in the first full tax year after the visa was introduced.

The Home Office has issued new versions of the Employer’s guide to right to work checks and the Landlord’s guide to right to rent checks (23 September 2024). These make a number of updates, and importantly for the Employer’s guide, confirm details on changes to supplementary work for Skilled Workers made in the Immigration Rules from 4 April 2024. Details are given below.

MLex: New rules on the transparency and integrity of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating activities passed the final vote in the European Parliament on 24 April 2024. The law will regulate the ecosystem of ESG rating activities, aiming to add structure to how ratings are undertaken and communicated. It includes a breakdown of separate ESG ratings (rather than a single aggregate ESG metric) intended to allow investors to make more considered investments and to fight greenwashing. The rules will be voted on by national governments in the Council of the EU before becoming law. They constitute a ‘historic breakthrough for sustainable finance’, lawmaker Aurore Lalucq said.

Dispute Resolution analysis: What affect will the enactment of the Legal Professions Act 2015 in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) have for those who are qualified in another common law jurisdiction and who wish to practice in the BVI? Adam Hinks, an associate of Conyers Dill & Pearman in the BVI, comments on the consequences of the new law for international litigation practitioners.

MLex: Press release follows.

The Sanctions (EU Exit) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No.2) Regulations 2024 (SI SI 2024/1157) were laid in Parliament on 14 November 2024. The regulations, amongst other changes, expand the definition of relevant firms subject to financial sanctions reporting obligations to cover additional sectors – high value dealers, art market participants, insolvency practitioners and letting agencies.