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What is the difference between individual and collective consultation?

Where it is envisaged that 20 or more employees will be dismissed at a relevant establishment within a 90 day period or less, then collective consultation is required (in addition to individual consultation) and the company must inform BEIS (using form HR1).

If there are less than 20 dismissals then you are only required to carry out individual consultation.

Related FAQs

I pay child maintenance and half of my children's private school fees to my ex-partner but I have been placed on Furlough, with no top-up from my employer, so my income has dropped significantly. Is there anything I can do?

a. You should first try and discuss this with your ex-partner, either directly or through a Solicitor, to see whether an amicable agreement can be reached.

If you contribute to private school fees voluntarily, it is a matter for you and your ex-partner to resolve the issue with the school, depending whose name is on the bills. You may need to speak to the children’s school to see whether they can offer any reductions or remedies in relation to those payments. If you contribute to the school fees as part of a Court Order, you will need to ensure you do not breach the Order and you may need to consider applying for a variation of the Order if you can no longer afford the payments or reach a compromise agreement with your ex-partner.

You can use the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) calculator (https://www.gov.uk/calculate-child-maintenance) to recalculate your child maintenance obligations using your amended income. This recalculation can then be used in your discussions and you can formally instruct the CMS to verify that calculation if you and your ex-partner cannot reach an agreement about it. If you have already formally involved the CMS, they do carry out an annual review of child maintenance payments, however, they will also recalculate payments outside of the review period where there has been a change in income of 25% or more. We expect the CMS will be experiencing a high volume of enquiries at the present time so anticipate there may be delays in them assisting.

The position on child maintenance payments included in a Court Order are slightly more complicated and how you approach this will depend on how much time has passed since the date of the Order.

Last updated on 28th April, 2020

What is the guidance in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards during the Covid-19 pandemic?

The Department of Health & Social Care has published guidance for hospitals, care homes and supervisory bodies on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) during the coronavirus pandemic.

In many scenarios created or affected by the pandemic, decision makers in hospitals and care homes will need to decide:

  • if new arrangements constitute a ‘deprivation of liberty’ (most will not), and
  • if the new measures do amount to a deprivation of liberty, whether a new DoLS authorisation will be required (in most cases it will not be).

If a new authorisation is required, decision makers should follow their usual DoLS processes, including those for urgent authorisations.

A summary of the key points to be taken from the guidance is outlined below:

Use of the MCA and DoLS due to Covid-19

  • During the pandemic, the principles of the MCA and the safeguards provided by DoLS still apply.
  • It may be necessary to change the usual care and treatment arrangements, for example to provide treatment for people with Covid-19, to move them to a new hospital or care home to better utilise resources or to protect them from becoming infected.
  • All decision makers are responsible for implementing the emergency Government health advice  and any decision made under the MCA must be made in relation to a particular individual, it cannot be made in relation to groups of people.

Best interest decisions

  • In many cases, a best interests decision will be sufficient to provide the necessary care and treatment for a person who lacks the capacity to consent to the care and/or treatment arrangements during this emergency period.
  • If an individual has made a valid and applicable advance decision to refuse the treatment in question, then the relevant treatment, even for Covid-19, cannot be provided.

Delivering life-saving treatment

  • Where life-saving treatment is being provided in care homes or hospitals, including for the treatment of Covid-19, then the person will not be deprived of liberty as long as the treatment is the same as would normally be given to any person without a mental disorder.
  • The DoLS will therefore not apply to the vast majority of patients who need life-saving treatment who lack the mental capacity to consent to that treatment, including treatment to prevent the deterioration of a person with Covid-19.

The full guidance can be found here.

Last updated on 14th April, 2020

I’m the director of a company. What should I think about before accepting any of the funding that has recently become available?

Directors of a company that is in, or potentially facing, financial difficulty have a duty to act in the best interests of creditors as a whole. Failure to comply with that duty can have consequences for directors (including personal liability and disqualification if directors get it wrong).

The duty to act in the best interests of creditors as a whole begins when the company is (or in some cases is potentially or at risk of becoming) insolvent i.e. its assets are worth less than its liabilities and/or the business is unable to pay its liabilities as and when they fall due. However, just because a company is insolvent doesn’t always necessarily mean than an insolvency process is inevitable. Sometimes, the insolvency might just be caused by a temporary cashflow problem or perhaps wider problems in the business that can be overcome by making changes to the business itself.

In addition to that, the potential liability of directors ramps up even further when the company reaches the stage that the directors have concluded (or ought to have concluded) that there was no reasonable prospect of the business avoiding liquidation or administration. If the business reaches that stage, in addition to having to act in the best interests of creditors as a whole, directors can find themselves personally liable unless, from the time the directors ought to have reached that conclusion, they took every step that they ought to have done to minimise the loss to creditors. This is known as wrongful trading.

On the 25th June 2020, the government introduced new legislation – the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 – which includes measures to temporarily relax the rules around wrongful trading with the proposed changes to take effect retrospectively from the 1st March 2020. Essentially, the changes say that any court looking at a potential wrongful trading claim against a director is to assume that the director is not responsible for worsening the company’s financial position between 1st March 2020 and the 30th September 2020. Whilst the wrongful trading rules have relaxed, directors still need to proceed with caution if the business is potentially insolvent as the new Act does alter other potential pitfalls for directors, like the risk of breaching their duties or allowing the company to enter into transactions that can potentially be challenged.

The support being offered by the government is potentially a lifeline for businesses under pressure through no fault of their own, but notwithstanding the recent changes to the wrongful trading rules it is still likely to be important for the board to carefully consider whether it is appropriate to make use of the loans, grants and tax forbearance that are on offer.

Exactly what the board should consider will vary from business to business and getting it right can sometimes involve balancing several different (and at times conflicting) priorities, challenges and concerns.

Last updated on 27th March, 2020

The Government

Government’s Covid-19 landing page

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Covid-19 recovery strategy

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/our-plan-to-rebuild-the-uk-governments-covid-19-recovery-strategy

Working safely during Covid-19

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19

Working safely during Covid-19: construction and other outdoor work

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/construction-and-other-outdoor-work

Working safely during Covid-19: factories, plants and warehouses

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/factories-plants-and-warehouses

Working safely during Covid-19: labs and research facilities

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/labs-and-research-facilities

Working safely during Covid-19: offices and contact centres

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/offices-and-contact-centres

Working safely during Covid-19: other people’s homes

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/homes

Working safely during Covid-19: restaurants offering takeaway or delivery

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/restaurants-offering-takeaway-or-delivery

Working safely during Covid-19: shops and branches

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/shops-and-branches

Working safely during Covid-19: vehicles

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/vehicles

Business support: loans, tax relief and grants for businesses, employees and self-employed people

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support

Education and childcare

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/education-and-childcare

Housing and accommodation: renting: guidance for landlords, tenants and local authorities

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-and-renting-guidance-for-landlords-tenants-and-local-authorities

Housing and accommodation: moving home

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

Housing and accommodation: planning inspections

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-planning-inspectorate-guidance

Healthcare workers, carers and care settings: NHS guidance for people working in healthcare

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/

Healthcare workers, carers and care settings: PPE hub

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-personal-protective-equipment-ppe

Healthcare workers, carers and care settings: adult social care guidance

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-social-care-guidance

Healthcare workers, carers and care settings: shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19

Healthcare workers, carers and care settings: adult social care guidance

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-social-care-guidance#guidance-for-unpaid-carers

Healthcare workers, carers and care settings: health, care and volunteer workers parking pass and concessions

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-health-care-and-volunteer-workers-parking-pass-and-concessions

International travel and immigration: travel advice for British citizens travelling abroad

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus

International travel and immigration: foreign travel advice for each country

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

International travel and immigration: waiting to return to the UK

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-staying-where-you-are-if-you-cannot-return-to-the-uk

International travel and immigration: essential international travel guidance

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-essential-international-travel-guidance

International travel and immigration: advice for UK visa applicants and temporary UK residents

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents

Government’s financial support for businesses

This page help businesses find out how to access the support that has been made available, who is eligible, when the schemes open and how to apply.
https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/

Rishi Sunak

The Twitter feed of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, where he has published various responses to some FAQs from the public.
https://twitter.com/RishiSunak

Last updated on 16th April, 2020

What are the publicity requirements for Traffic Regulation Orders?

In making a Traffic Regulation Order (“TRO”) local authorities must follow the regulations, which include provisions relating to publicity requiring publishing the notice in a local newspaper, making the orders available for public inspection at a Council’s offices (which are likely to be closed to the public during this time) and where considered appropriate, posting the notices on the streets.

In recognition of the potential difficulties with complying with the publicity requirements, the Department for Transport has issued guidance as to how a Council may still publicise a TRO. The guidance recognises that not everyone may be able to access local newspapers online and suggests that people and organisations could be adequately informed by means of letter, leaflet drops, or local radio. In respect of making the relevant document available at the Council’s offices, the guidance suggests that notices could be placed online or outside offices with brief details and including a telephone number or email to use to request a hard copy of the documents.

While the guidance is helpful, it is important to note that it is guidance only and that the regulations have not been relaxed. Authorities will still need to demonstrate that they have satisfied all of the publicity arrangements in respect of the TRO.

Last updated on 19th May, 2020