The Employment Tribunals in Scotland have released a series of updated Practice Directions and Presidential Guidance documents, reflecting ongoing developments in tribunal procedures.

The Home Office has published updated caseworker guidance on the ten-year Long Residence route. The guidance now re-confirms that refusals on long residence applications can be folded into an ongoing human rights appeal. As advisers will be aware, this is a route that has attracted a high volume of complex litigation. Unfortunately, the amendments to the caseworker guidance are not clearly drafted.

The Ministry of Justice has announced, subject to parliamentary approval, a change to certain court and tribunal fees effective from April 2025. A significant number of court fees payable in family proceedings will be increasing. It is anticipated that the changes will take effect from 1 April 2025.

Family analysis: The Ministry of Justice has announced, subject to parliamentary approval, a change to certain court and tribunal fees effective from July 2026. A significant number of court fees payable in family proceedings will be increasing. It is anticipated that the changes will take effect from 6 July 2026 (although the announcement states the changes take effect from 13 July 2026).

Family analysis: On 4 June 2026, the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary (CTJ) published updated remote participation guidance for the Civil and Family courts and tribunal jurisdictions, following the cross-jurisdictional Remote Participation Review. Remote participation judicial principles and overarching guidance on remote participation, together with remote hearings in the family jurisdiction guidance, have been published.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published revised Technical Actuarial Guidance: Models to support the expansion of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI and ML) techniques in actuarial work and ensure compliance with Technical Actuarial Standard 100 (TAS 100). This guidance provides examples relating to model bias, effective communication, governance, and stability relating to the use of AI/ML models in technical actuarial work, highlighting the importance of TAS 100 in the context of AI and ML applications.

The Welsh Government has updated its guidance on higher rates of Welsh Land Transaction Tax.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has updated the Planning Practice Guidance on planning application fees to reflect the fee increases that came into effect on 1 April 2025, under the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/342. Revisions have been made to paragraphs 2, 2b, 15, 23, 26, 27, 29, and 46.

The Home Office has updated its caseworker guidance on registering children as British citizens. Particular changes of note to practitioners are the removal on the restriction of using a birth certificate as identity evidence and the removal of the clear distinction for the significance of length of residence in the UK for children aged over and under 13.

The Cabinet Office has published updated guidance on the Mid-Tier Contract. Version 1.3B of the guidance contains further updates and clarifications following previous updates in 2025 reflecting the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023). The guidance also refers to specific updates made to the Mid-Tier Contract template in April 2026, including updates to schedules on buyer-specific terms and Northern Ireland law.

Further to Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 590, for applications for entry clearance and permission submitted in the Creative Worker route on or after 16 May 2024, where no relevant Code of Practice exists for the role that the person will be undertaking, the sponsor must confirm on the Certificate of Sponsorship that the worker will be performing a role in the creative industries that appears in Immigration Rules, Appendix Skilled Occupations, and be able to demonstrate that they can make a unique contribution to creative life in the UK. Prior to this change, where no relevant Code Of Practice existed, the role either had to appear in the Shortage Occupation List or the sponsor had to be satisfied that it could not have been filled by a settled worker (having taken into account the needs of the resident labour market in that field). Updates to the Sponsor Guidance and caseworker guidance provide more details on how the Home Office will assess the new ‘making a unique contribution to creative life in the UK’ requirement.

The guidance has been updated for non-resident limited companies wishing to apply for gross payment status.