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Asim Arshad

Buying property with crypto - A brief guide

Crypto has moved from niche to mainstream. Today, people buying property with crypto-derived wealth range from speculative investors who...

06/02/26
Craig Wright

Assessing the Home Office’s Earned Settlement Plans and Their Fiscal Focus

On 20 November, the Home Office opened the ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, a new consultation on the Home Office’s proposals for a new...

05/02/26
Ian Austin

Service of Petitions on Companies House Default Addresses: Key Rulings and Practical Implications

The Court of Appeal has handed down its judgment in DG Resources Ltd v The Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, a...

05/02/26
Alexandra Addington

Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill: introduction of multi-academy trust inspections

In the run-up to the 2024 general election, Labour's plan for schools set out an intention to "create a better system for inspecting and...

04/02/26
Alexandra Addington

Education sector: news in brief - February 2026

Pilot scheme exposes hidden scale of children’s speech and language needs  A national speech and language screening pilot has uncovered...

04/02/26
Joanne Moseley

What can employers learn from the latest case on separate sex changing rooms?

In December 2025, a tribunal held that a NHS Trust harassed a female nurse by allowing a male doctor who identified as a woman to use a...

04/02/26
Anumrita Dwarka-Gungabissoon

Practice Direction 51ZH – The New Transparency Scheme in English Commercial Litigation

Introduction Practice Direction 51ZH introduces the Public Document Disclosure Pilot ("the Pilot"), a significant pilot scheme aimed at...

04/02/26
Alexandra Addington

Should a teacher be banned for telling a parent their child was being singled out by other staff?

In Ms Erin Dempsey: professional conduct outcome, a teacher told a parent that their child was being targeted by other staff. The...

03/02/26
Alexandra Addington

Unfair dismissal reforms from 1 January 2027: what you need to do now

One of the government's flagship policies is to reduce the qualifying period employees must complete before they can bring an ordinary...

03/02/26
Claire Petricca-Riding

Irwin Mitchell’s Planning & Environment Blog

Welcome to our monthly blog series from the Planning & Environment team at Irwin Mitchell. Each month, we will be bringing together the...

03/02/26
Alexandra Addington

Auxiliary aids and reasonable adjustments: did the tribunal get it right?

Despite describing auxiliary aids recommended for an employee returning from cancer treatment as ‘desirable’, the tribunal still...

02/02/26
Anna Tranter

Decoding the new NPPF consultation draft: key takeaways from December 2025’s proposed planning policy reforms

On 16 December, the Government published a consultation draft of the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). As a framework,...

30/01/26
Chyna Fairclough-Jones

A bottleneck breakthrough? Government publishes new S106 Roadmap

On 28 January 2026, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government published “A roadmap for Section 106 delivery in England”....

30/01/26
Alexandra Addington

Solving the SEND crisis: how are children with SEND supported when they are not in school?

In 2025, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited six local areas to review the arrangements that local area partnerships...

29/01/26
Joanne Moseley

To what extent are third party organisations liable for causing or inducing an employer to discriminate against a member of staff?

That was the issue the Court of Appeal had to determine in Bailey v Stonewall (1) Garden Court Chambers (2) and others. The law Section...

29/01/26
Katie Gledhill

New government guidance on mobile phones in schools – new era for learning?

The government has issued strengthened guidance on mobile phone use in schools. It makes it clear that all schools should be...

28/01/26
Fergal Dowling

Business Services – a resilient sector that helps keep the UK investable

Among the many insights in our recent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) report was that Business Services performed impressively in what...

27/01/26
Alex Delin

The threshold for a 'Relevant Defect' under the Building Safety Act 2022: the First-Tier Tribunal's decision, 6 January 2026

What is and isn’t a ‘Relevant Defect’ under Section 120 of the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) continues to be debated amongst parties to...

23/01/26
Joanne Moseley

Employment law: news in brief – January 2026

How much will changes to the unfair dismissal qualifying period and compensation cap cost UK businesses?  The Department for Business and...

21/01/26
Alexandra Addington

Dismissal by association: was it fair to sack an employee whose partner attacked her manager?

That was the question the tribunal had to consider in Mrs P Smith v North West Ambulance Service Trust.   Facts Both Mrs Smith and her...

20/01/26
Alexandra Addington

Employment status: was a lifeboat volunteer a worker?

The case of Martime and Coastguard Agency v Martin Groom considered whether a lifeboat volunteer qualified as a ‘worker’ and was...

20/01/26
Joanne Moseley

Workplace conflict is on the rise and costing businesses billions

A report recently published by Acas won't come as a surprise to many of the HR professionals we work with: workplace conflict is...

20/01/26
Katie Gledhill

The Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024: key changes for employers and employees

The Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 came into force on 29 December 2025. The Act introduces essential, though relatively limited,...

15/01/26
Alexandra Addington

Navigating Trade Union reform: are you ready?

On 18 February 2026, the first set of trade union reforms will come into effect. In this article, we examine these changes alongside the...

14/01/26
Chyna Fairclough-Jones

Planning Court confirms NRW’s lawful withdrawal of flood maintenance

In R (on the application of Williams and Owen) v Natural Resources Wales [2026] EWHC 9 (Admin), the Planning Court dismissed a challenge...

14/01/26
Joanne Moseley

Education sector: news in brief – January 2026

Impact of homelessness on children’s education  Over 52% of teachers in state schools across England, responding to a recent survey, say...

14/01/26
Alexandra Addington

Is it ever appropriate for a teacher to have a sexual relationship with a former pupil?

In Christina Bourne: professional conduct outcome, the Secretary of State considered whether it was appropriate to impose a teaching ban...

13/01/26
Joanne Moseley

Key employment law cases to watch out for in 2026

To prepare you for the year ahead, we've highlighted the cases expected to shape employment law and influence HR policies and practices...

12/01/26
Jane Anderson

The UK Government’s New Road Strategy: A Vision for 2026 and Beyond

Last summer the UK Government announced plans for a comprehensive and radical shake-up of current driving laws. We provided a commentary...

08/01/26
Joanne Moseley

Can employers allow trans employees to use opposite sex changing rooms?

Shortly before Xmas, two employment tribunal decisions were handed down - one related to separate sex workplace changing rooms, and the...

08/01/26