The Sentencing Council has published new sentencing guidelines for aggravated vehicle taking and other motoring offences, set to take effect on 1 April 2025. The guidelines cover four specific aggravated vehicle taking offences: those causing death, injury, involving dangerous driving, or resulting in vehicle/property damage. Additionally, the Sentencing Council has introduced a new consolidated guideline on driver disqualification, a new guideline for vehicle registration fraud offences, and increased the starting-point fine for mobile phone use while driving from Band A, which is 50% of relevant weekly income, to Band B, which is 100% of relevant weekly income.

Law360: Employers must assess the risk that staff will be sexually harassed and ensure they have preventative policies and procedures in place as they prepare for an incoming duty which, lawyers say, will be a watershed in workplace health and safety provision.

The Home Office has published version 08/26 of Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors, Part 1: Apply for a licence, valid from 28 August 2026. This version replaces version 05/26 (published on 20 May 2026). Part 3 of the Sponsor Guidance (sponsor duties and compliance) has also been replaced from the same date. The main changes concern the phasing out of the Level 2 User role, the introduction of mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) for sponsorship management system (SMS) Users, a new process for managing inactive SMS User accounts, and flag up the extension of the right to work regime from 1 October 2026. A sponsorship management system (SMS) user manual 13, covering the new mandatory MFA system, has also been published. The substantive changes made by the new guidance are summarised below.

The Home Office has issued updated versions of the three primary Worker and Temporary Worker Sponsor Guidance documents on 11 November 2025, further to the changes to sponsored work routes that come into force on that date under Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 1333. In addition to changes reflecting that Statement, and increases to the Immigration Skills Charge from 16 December 2025, further to the Immigration Skills Charge (Amendment) Regulations 2025, the new guidance has some further changes/announcements. These are set out below.

Our New starter collection is an interactive guide aimed at trainees and new starters. It is also a useful aid for anyone new to using LexisNexis®, or looking for a starting point for conducting legal research in a particular practice area. Our new

This Practice Note is a new starter guide which sets out the key considerations, terms and stages of the grant of a new business lease. This new starter guide provides an introduction and toolkit for entering into commercial leases and is a helpful starting point for trainee solicitors and those who are new to Property as a practice area. It focuses on the key issues that arise and includes links to other sources and materials which provide more comprehensive information on the issues covered. What is a commercial lease? A commercial lease generally refers to a written agreement which not only creates a tenancy of business premises, but also sets out the often detailed and extensive provisions which will govern the relationship between the landlord and the tenant. This Practice Note outlines some of the issues to be considered when advising on a new commercial lease for a fixed term of a reasonable length where the tenant will be assuming a significant level of responsibility for the premises. A reminder of the difference between

Technical due diligence If there are known or suspected non-compliance or land contamination concerns, the buyer or ideally its lawyers might instruct an environmental consultancy firm to undertake a phase 1 environmental, health and safety (EHS) compliance audit or intrusive phase 2 testing to assess the liability and financial risks. Types of environmental audits The table below summarises the different types of environmental audits: Type of report What is covered Typical price (exc VAT) Timescale Desktop search Historic usesLandfillsEnvironmental permitsPollution incidentsGround stabilityFlooding Contaminated land risk screening report £180 Combined contaminated land and flooding search £270–£320 1–3 days Basic phase 1 audit Desktop searchSite walk overManagement interviewRegulator replies £1,000–£2,000 5–10 days Detailed phase 1 EHS audit As phase 1 plus:Review of reportsReview of operational controls and systemsKey health and safety compliance issuesAssessment of capex investment £2,500–£4,000 5–10 days Asbestos survey Management Asbestos SurveyDemolition or Refurbishment SurveyAsbestos register £2,000–£5,000 7–10 days Phase 2 report Intrusive testingSoil, water and gas Price

The asset purchase agreement (APA) will typically be drafted during the preliminary or due diligence phase and finalised during this phase. The buyer's lawyers will usually prepare the first draft of the APA and submit it to the seller's lawyers for a mark-up. Negotiations will extend right up to the signing of the APA. The seller’s lawyers will prepare the disclosure letter, which is negotiated

Sellers will often use a virtual data room (a restricted access internet site set up by a service provider on behalf of the sellers, as distinct from a ‘physical’ data room) to coordinate the bidding process (if applicable) and the due diligence phase of the transaction. The data room will include financial, legal and technical due diligence documentation relating to the target’s business and may contain replies to the due diligence questionnaire

EHS questionnaire The buyer’s solicitors prepare a legal due diligence questionnaire (DDQ) in the preliminary or due diligence phase. In some transactions, replies are added to the seller’s data room. The legal DDQ should always include environment health and safety (EHS) questions. Even an office-based business will be subject to general EHS laws such as waste management duty of care, energy management and health and safety obligations. These enquiries can be tailored for the specific transaction/type of business and added to the legal DDQ or further enquiries. For more information, see: • Precedent: Environment Health and Safety due diligence questionnaire (DDQ)—asset purchase • Practice Note: Environmental due diligence—asset purchase If the transaction involves a manufacturing business or if additional health and safety information is required, the following can be used as a checklist on health and safety issues: • Precedent: Health and safety due diligence questionnaire • Practice Note: Health and safety due diligence—manufacturing business Note that environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are becoming more

In the due diligence phase the buyer’s lawyers and other advisers have the opportunity to investigate the legal, technical and financial performance of the target business. The purpose of environmental due diligence is to: • assess the risk of inheriting any contaminated land liabilities associated with properties • find out if any environmental permits need to be transferred to the buyer, or if new permits need to be applied for • identify material non-compliance with environment, health and safety (EHS) law or environmental permits or capital expenditure requirements that the buyer may become responsible

When is an indemnity needed? If contaminated land liability concerns or specific environment, health and safety (EHS) non-compliance issues are revealed during the due diligence phase, the buyer might seek an environmental indemnity in the asset purchase agreement (APA) or a stand-alone environmental deed. See the following Precedents: • Environmental indemnity for an asset purchase agreement • Asbestos indemnity for when seller is in breach Checklist for environmental indemnity When the principle of an environmental indemnity is agreed, lawyers and their clients should discuss the scope of the indemnity before drafting commences. Indemnities are bespoke to a particular transaction. The table below highlights the key issues that should be considered. Issue Comments Indemnifying parties The buyer may want the seller’s parent company added as guarantor. Liability cap This will often depend on advice from technical consultants. Note that clean-up liabilities could potentially exceed the purchase price, particularly if there are groundwater pollution or offsite migration issues. Time limit The seller will want an end point to the contractual liability exposure.Sellers