The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is set to introduce new legislation in Parliament aimed at tackling welfare fraud on an unprecedented scale. The Public Authorities (Fraud, Error & Recovery) Bill proposes several stringent measures, including the power to disqualify benefit cheats from driving for up to two years if they refuse to repay debts exceeding £1,000. The DWP will also be granted authority to apply for search warrants, seize evidence and recover funds directly from bank accounts of non-benefit claimants who owe money. Additionally, the time limit for civil claims against coronavirus (Covid-19) fraud will be doubled to 12 years, enhancing the government's ability to investigate and recover fraudulent payments. These measures are expected to save £1.5bn over five years and form part of a broader £8.6bn fraud reduction strategy.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its Occasional Paper 67 which evaluates liquidity in the UK corporate bond market. The report utilises updated MiFID II (Directive 2014/65/EU)transaction data from 2018 to 2024 to examine market liquidity, dealer inventory risk, and yield spreads during a period of significant economic disruption. It documents a marked deterioration in liquidity immediately following the onset of coronavirus restrictions in 2020, followed by a prolonged phase of persistent challenges from mid-2021 to mid-2023 amid rising inflation and increased interest rates. Despite these adverse conditions, the analysis indicates a strong recovery in 2023 and 2024, as reflected by rising transaction volumes, enhanced liquidity measures, and reduced yield spreads. The study also addresses the impacts of Brexit, pandemic-related disturbances, and central bank interventions, providing a basis for informed regulatory policy designed to improve market transparency and resilience.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note is for historical reference only as it refers to CPR 81 as it was in force prior to 1 October 2020, and to Practice Direction 81 which is revoked in its entirety with effect from 1 October 2020. If you are dealing with a committal application post 1-October 2020 you need to refer to the current in force CPR 81 and the Practice Notes covering this, see: Contempt and committal—overview. For the pre-1 October 2020 version of CPR 81 or Practice Direction 81, see: This Practice Note sets out the 'nuts and bolts' of committal applications, covering the necessary ingredients, formalities and hurdles that must be observed when pursuing committal applications for contempt or writs of sequestration. It may be useful to read it alongside Practice Notes: • Committal proceedings—hearings in absence and hearings in private • Committal proceedings—appeals, purges and discharge • Committal proceedings—discontinuance, defects and strike out • Committal proceedings—sentencing For guidance on the individual

This week's edition of Insurance & Reinsurance weekly highlights includes: Howden sued for £20m over hotel chains COVID-19 losses; the case of Dormer (a protected party, by his mother and litigation friend Iteen Dormer) v Wilson and others; Insurers to benefit from Italy’s mandatory catastrophe cover; Berkeley and contractor settle £15m Grenfell-style cladding claim; FCA awaits government’s answer to City Consumer Duty pushback; FCA retains exceptional circumstances test for announcing investigations; UK regulators address diversity and inclusion proposals: current status and future plans; cases and decisions; key fates for your diary; and other news highlights reported over the past week.

This week's edition of the Insurance & Reinsurance weekly highlights includes: case analyses on the recent cases of Aercap v Aig and Dassault Aviation v Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance; British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) urges the government to reduce insurance premium tax; broker WTW launches insurance for endangered coral reef; FCA sends notice to provide information on incidents of non-financial misconduct to the wholesale insurance market; cases & decisions; key dates for your diary; and other news highlights reported over the past week.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note is a summary of the key legal developments of relevance to personal injury and clinical negligence practitioners as of August 2020. For the most recent horizon scanner, reference should be made to PI and Clinical Negligence horizon scanning—overview. Ogden 8 On 17 July 2020, the Government Actuary’s Department published the eighth edition of the Ogden Tables. In this new edition, the explanatory notes have been completely rewritten and expanded to cover pension loss claims and periodical payment orders. The actuarial tables have been revised to use updated mortality assumptions and to cover a wider range of retirement ages. The main changes contained in Ogden 8 are: • the expansion of the life expectancy section in Section A and​​ new guidance and examples on the interpolation of multipliers and calculating split multipliers for variable losses • revision of Section B which incorporates new guidance on when and how to depart from the ​​suggested Table A–D reduction

Welcome to the 30 June 2022 highlights from the Immigration team, which provides links to key news stories from the last week, as well as a round-up of new and updated content in Immigration.

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA 2004) provides the primary framework for dealing with large-scale emergencies under UK law: • CCA 2004, Part 1 concerns the responsibility of various public bodies and certain private bodies (eg energy suppliers or telecommunications providers) to undertake contingency planning for emergencies • CCA 2004, Part 2 enables a senior government minister to make emergency regulations with the power to amend primary legislation It is important to bear in mind, however, that there are a wide range of other exceptional statutory powers that may be deployed in times of crisis without an emergency first having been declared under CCA 2004, Part 2. For example, primary legislation such as the Coronavirus Act 2020 and section 14 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) permit a Secretary of State to make a designated derogation from rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Although a derogation under Article 15 of the ECHR may only be made

Temporary justice measures: temporary measures currently apply in relation to Scotland’s justice system and the guidance detailing normal practice set out in this Practice Note may be affected by these measures. For further information, see Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Scotland tracker [Archived]—Corporate Crime in Scotland. Practitioners will be familiar with the concepts of ‘detention’ and ‘arrest’ under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (CP(S)A 1995). So far as relevant to this Practice Note, the relevant provisions of CP(S)A 1995, including the provisions as regards police questioning and access to a solicitor, were repealed under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 (CJ(S)A 2016). It replaced the concepts of ‘detention’ and ‘arrest’ with a unitary concept of ‘arrest’ and made provisions for police custody, the rights of arrested persons, police powers, police questioning, and release from police custody. It also introduced a status of ‘officially accused’ persons. CJ(S)A 2016, s 1 gives police constables the power to arrest, without a warrant, a person suspected

This week's edition of Life Sciences weekly highlights includes news that the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal upholding the finding that the marketing authorisation of a Parkinson’s disease treatment was for a single active ingredient and not for a combination of active ingredients (Newron Pharmaceuticals v Comptroller), as well as, news that the British pharmaceutical industry recommended measures to be implemented in the Spring Budget on 6 March 2024, the DHSC announced £10m funding for eight innovative medtech companies and the HRA published its response to proposed revisions to the Declaration of Helsinki. Also included is news that the UK, Australia and Canada are collaborating to pilot a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Single Inspection Program and the industry body representing EU Notified Bodies recommended lowering the device risk classification of coronavirus (COVID-19) diagnostic tests post-pandemic, among other news about EMA updated guidance and an ASA ruling finding breach for an ADHD product’s FaceBook ad.

This week's edition of Public Law weekly highlights includes analysis of the Public Law implications of the new Labour government, coverage of the landmark Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill and new guidance documents for the Procurement Act 2023 Define phase. This edition further includes updates on coronavirus (COVID-19), constitutional and administrative law, judicial review, subsidy control and State aid, public procurement, management and strategic planning and other Public Law updates. Cases this week include the judgment for a case where it was considered whether civil servants can be prohibited from carrying out instructions contrary to international law and analysis of a case which considered fee-paid judges, qualifying judicial offices and discrimination against part-time workers.

The Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, has announced the second wave of a competition, backed by £120m worth of funding, to open eight new employer-led art Institutes of Technology (IoT), bringing the total to 20 across England. IoT's bring together further and higher education providers and offer 'higher technical STEM education and training... in key sectors such as digital, construction, advanced manufacturing and engineering, which will play a key role in helping to rebuild the economy' after coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The competition is open to all regions of the country without an existing IoT. The first wave of the competition saw 12 IoTs selected in areas such as the South West, Midlands, Yorkshire, the North East, and London.