Please note this article covers legislation changes relevant only to England and Wales. This does not affect marriage registration in either Scotland or Northern Ireland, where a schedule system is already in place for marriages and civil partnerships. Marriage registration moves online The way that marriages are registered in England and Wales is changing. Up … Read more …
For many years, when considering the question of someone’s employment status, judges would give the example that a chauffeur was an employee and a taxi driver was self-employed. These days, things are no longer that simple. Many of us have followed the recent discussions in the newspapers about Uber drivers and their battle in the … Read more …
Many smaller churches which are affiliated to the FIEC or another umbrella body are currently excepted from the requirement to register with the Charity Commission. This excepted status for churches is due to come to an end in March 2031 and it is possible that the Commission will enable or invite registrations from excepted churches … Read more …
In December the government made public their intention to extend the Excepting Regulations for smaller charities by 10 years. The relevant legislation has now come into effect, so the deadline for registration is now 31 March 2031. The Excepting Regulations mean that many smaller churches which are affiliated to the FIEC or another umbrella body … Read more …
On 26th June 2020, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act came into force, making temporary changes to the governance and regulation of incorporated organisations, due to COVID-19 restrictions. This included relaxing the position on general meetings, allowing companies and CIOs more flexibility on when to hold them and how to hold them. The flexibilities on … Read more …
Since our latest factsheet (23 October) on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) / Job Support Scheme (JSS), there has been a change of play again (as we have come to expect over the last few months!) The JSS and job retention bonus have been put on hold for now and the CJRS (the “furlough” … Read more …
The government announced on 5 November a second national lockdown that will last until at least 2 December. The new guidance Regarding churches, the new government guidance (applicable for England) states: Places of Worship do not need to fully close under the restrictions in place, but they may open only for a limited range of … Read more …
Please note regarding the below that the Job Support Scheme, which was scheduled to come in on Sunday 1st November, has now been postponed until the furlough scheme ends. Additional guidance will be set out shortly. As part of the Winter Economy Plan, on 24 September the Chancellor announced the Coronavirus Job Support Scheme (JSS). … Read more …
Many Christian charities (whether churches or other organisations) operate as either a charitable trust or a charitable unincorporated association (CUA). Historically, the only realistic alternative to these structures (other than incorporating the body of trustees, which is relatively uncommon) was for a charity to incorporate as a company limited by guarantee, but this brought with … Read more …
Marriage is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 (the Act). This means that treating someone less favourably because they are married (or because they are having marital difficulties) may be unlawful discrimination. The law and marriage It is worth noting that the law acts in favour of marriage. Under the Act, it is … Read more …
