The Government’s Plan to Power up Britain
3 April 2023
Insight Hub
15 March 2023
The Subsidy Control Act 2022 (the “Act”) introduced a new concept of minimal financial assistance (“MFA”), whereby public authorities can award low value subsidies without having to undertake a full compliance assessment. However there are still requirements. We explore the MFA regime and associated procedural requirements below. What are the exemptions? Public authorities do not…
Read more21 February 2023
Since publication in June 2017, NEC has sought to keep its NEC4 contracts up to date by publishing sets of amendments in January 2019 and October 2022. The NEC has recently published a further set of amendments to the NEC4 suite of contracts following feedback and ongoing dialogue with industry users. A number of the…
Read more14 February 2023
The Planning and Parliamentary team have had to keep up to speed with some significant cases in 2022 and, given the somewhat tumultuous political year, some changes of direction in policy and legislation, which will be following through into 2023. Cases Probably the most significant planning case to have been decided in 2022 (and therefore…
Read more10 February 2023
A recent decision by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (SofS) has reaffirmed the government’s policy that Article 4 Directions should be used to remove permitted development rights only where they meet the criteria set out in paragraph 53 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2021 (NPPF), and should not be…
Read more18 January 2023
Sharpe Pritchard recently advised Merseytravel (the passenger transport executive for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA)) on its procurement and onward lease of a fleet of 20 state-of-the-art hydrogen fuel cell electric buses for use in the Liverpool City Region. Delivery of the buses will commence in 2023, and they will be used to…
Read more6 January 2023
It seems that with each week there is news of a new sector or profession announcing a strike. A ‘perfect storm’ of factors have come together to mobilise unions and staff to participate in industrial action. In the wake of the disruption, it has just been reported that the government plans to introduce new ‘anti-strike…
Read more4 January 2023
The Subsidy Control Act 2022 (the “Act”) comes into force today, 4 January 2023. The Act sets out the UK’s prevailing subsidy control rules. Public authorities should consult the Act when contemplating the award of subsidies. Background Since EU State aid rules ceased to apply to UK authorities on 1 January 2021, public bodies…
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