Updates

The Brexit transition period ended at 11pm on 31 December 2020. As a result, EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their close family members are no longer able to exercise their EU free movement rights to travel to and/or reside in the UK. Those who have not yet acquired their status in the UK using the EU Settlement Scheme will be able to do so until the end of the ‘Grace Period’, ending on 30 June 2021. Read more.

In March 2020, sponsor licence compliance visits were suspended due to Covid-19. The Home Office has now confirmed that these audits will be resumed as lockdown restrictions ease across the country and will be carried out in a Covid-safe manner. The Home Office has also said that their initial focus will be on pending sponsor licence applications. Read more.

M&S’s Colin the Caterpillar cake is one of the retailer’s most recognisable brands.  In April 2021, M&S launched legal action against Aldi for trademark infringement concerning the discounter’s version of Cuthbert the Caterpillar Cake which is essentially identical to Colin. Read more.

The recent decision in Leave.EU Group and Eldon Insurance Services Ltd v ICO provided some much-needed clarity on whether the inclusion of unsolicited communications for the purposes of direct marketing in consented-for communications breached the UK’s Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Read more.

In September 2020, the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020 came into force as part of the Government’s commitment to “radically reform” the planning system. Read more.

The decision has significant implications for employers in the so-called ‘gig’ economy, which includes Airbnb services, freelance programmers, courier drivers, and some temporary agency workers, to name but a few. Read more.

The government published its statement of changes to the Immigration Rules on 4 March 2021. The most anticipated part of these changes has been the introduction of the new Graduate Route, which will open to international students on 1 July 2021. Read more.

It has now been four weeks since the BNO visa scheme opened on 31 January 2021.  According to media reports, nearly 5,000 BNO applications had been submitted a fortnight after the scheme opened and, before the scheme’s launch, 7,000 BNO passport holders had already been admitted in the UK at discretion, known as ‘Leave Outside the Rules’ (‘LOTR’). Read more.