There’s
any number of articles around at this time of year telling us about legal
developments that are coming up in the next 6 to 12 months.
From
the annual increases to tax allowances, minimum wage rates, and statutory pay
for sickness, maternity and other family-related absence, to much more
fundamental changes such as the new gender pay gap reporting
requirements to the much heralded General Data Protection Rules (GDPR)
there is a lot that UK businesses need to prepare themselves for, by
springtime.
But,
looking further into 2018, there is also plenty of legislation that has been
proposed but is still a long way from the statute books, let alone an
implementation date.
The
combination of the government’s surprisingly weakened position in the House of
Commons since last June’s election and the inevitable priority that must be
given to the legislation necessary to deliver an orderly exit from the European
Union, has greatly reduced the political capital and parliamentary time
available to other legislation.
The
free vote that the Prime Minister had promised on repealing the 2004 Hunting
Act was an early casualty in 2018, but there are a few other initiatives
unlikely to get before parliament, onto the statute books and into force by the
end of the year.
Tribunal
fees strike back?
As
recently as October, (then) Lord Chancellor David Liddington claimed the
government still wanted to replace the employment tribunal fee regime struck
down by the Supreme Court last summer. However, higher priorities for the
Ministry of Justice and the reduced income that any fair and workable system
could raise, will make quick progress on this unlikely.
LASPOA
reform
Formal
assessment of the impact that five years of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and
Punishment of Offenders Act (2012) has had on access to justice, was finally
timetabled by David Liddington last year, and is due to report by the end of
April. Given the time it has taken even to get the assessment underway, the
prospect of any major reform of the legislation being implemented in 2018 seems
remote.
Civil
Liability Act
Another
piece of MoJ business that we seem to have been talking about forever, is the
Civil Liability Bill mentioned in last year’s Queen’s Speech. The proposed
increases to small claims court limits of £5,000 for road traffic injury claims and
£2,000 for other injuries appear to be set in stone, but the faltering progress
these reforms have seen since George Osborne first announced them in 2015, makes
a September implementation seem less likely than April 2019.
Unlikely
as these three developments may be to see legislative action this year, there
is more than enough reform taking place in 2018 to keep us all busy. The
uncertainty surrounding the implications of Brexit, especially what it means
for employment law, should become clearer as the year progresses. But one piece
of EU reform that seems certain to survive, GDPR, should be enough to keep us
all busy, at least until the summer.
Awards ceremonies can be fun. Even if you don’t come home with
a prize, they offer the opportunity to catch up with friends from around the
industry and even let your hair down a little. However, even winners can get
some very clear, honest and valuable feedback from the market, if they take the
time to look at the data and anonymous comments.
