Archived News from 2020

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Education

December

Legal Article

Role of a School Governor more important than ever

11/12/20

As school's approach the end of the first term back, it is undoubtedly the case that the last 9 months have presented the most challenging circumstances for school leaders and staff; including the need to close at short notice in whole or in part, manage staff absences, re-order classrooms,…

Legal Article

All we want for Christmas is clarity

11/12/20

What are the restrictions this festive period and how might we a manage staff conduct during this time? With the Christmas period looming, employers in the education sector should now have a mind to the ongoing restrictions coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic restrictions. With Christmas comes…

Legal Article

Step in to Christmas or more likely sliding into it

11/12/20

2020 has been a really tough year for everyone and nowhere can that said to be truer than in the education world. Faced with unprecedented challenges of closing schools and colleges almost completely (except for vulnerable and key worker pupils and students) for a number of months; re-opening and making…

Legal Article

The changing landscape of Equality Policies

11/12/20

The Employment Tribunal has recently rapped the knuckles of Jaguar Land Rover regarding the treatment of a non-binary or 'gender fluid' member of staff, highlighting an important development in discrimination law. In Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover the employee was employed as an engineer for the…

Legal Article

Looking to the New Year: Could a change approach to accompaniments be imminent?

11/12/20

On 4 December 2020, a judgment was handed down from the High Court ordering a local authority to engage in mediation with the mother of a child in their care after a dispute arose over the mother seeking accompaniment by a lawyer for the mediation process. Though this case does not relate to an…

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November

Legal Article

Swamped with Subject Access Requests?

27/11/20

The cancellation of this year's GCSE and A-level exams gave Ofqual an unprecedented challenge in determining how grades should be awarded whilst providing the fairest means of enabling students to move on to further studies or employment. This unprecedented decision by Ofqual meant that…

Legal Article

Public Sector Pay Freeze

27/11/20

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced, in what many may see as a brave move given the current stresses on the public sector, that there will be a pay freeze on public sector workers. An expenditure review has been conducted resulting in a pay freeze for civil servants, teachers, police, firefighters,…

Legal Article

Government pushes back against proposed early Christmas closures for schools

26/11/20

A Multi Academy Trust (Focus Trust) announced last week that 15 schools, based in the north west of England and West Yorkshire, would shut on 11 December for the Christmas holidays, due to COVID-19 implications. This announcement was not well received by the government, who refused to allow the…

Legal Article

The Importance of School's Policies

12/11/20

Case Update The Board of Governors of IQRA Community Primary School (Respondent) Ms F Mansur (Claimant) Background The Claimant was a Teaching Assistant at the school. The Claimant's initial claim was one of direct discrimination on grounds of sex and race, and unfair dismissal…

Legal Article

COVID-19 New National Restrictions: Guidance for Schools

05/11/20

Schools will remain open for the second period of national lockdown. The Government has produced guidance on how the new restrictions impact schools. The main changes include rules on face coverings and clinically extremely vulnerable children and staff. The deadline for introducing the changes is…

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October

Legal Article

COVID-19 or a common cold: managing short term sickness absence in the winter term

28/10/20

Dealing with the outbreak of Covid-19 has caused significant headaches for all schools over the past few months. Schools have overcome considerable difficulties that could never have been prepared for and whilst there are challenges ahead for schools some of these challenges can at least be predicted…

Legal Article

ICO Conducts Compulsory Audit of the DfE

28/10/20

On 7 October 2020, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) published the outcome of a compulsory audit of the Department for Education (DfE) earlier in the year. The audit found that data protection was not being prioritised and this affected the DfE's ability to comply with the GDPR and…

Legal Article

Legislation passed introducing cap on exit payments to public sector employees

16/10/20

On 14 October 2020, Parliament approved 'The Restriction of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2020,' (the Regulations) in a long-anticipated move to restrict the amount public sector employers can pay their employees on termination of employment. The Regulations are intended to come in to…

Legal Article

Education Training Programme - Live Online Training

15/10/20

The Education Team at Forbes Solicitors are pleased to launch a programme of live online training specifically for the Education Sector. We understand the added pressures the sector is facing on top of the need to keep at the forefront and up to date with training at a time when there is less…

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September

Legal Article

Pregnancy and the workplace post-lockdown: Should staff return to school?

30/09/20

As many schools have now commenced a period of wider re-opening, following the COVID-19 lockdown and summer break, questions still remain regarding more vulnerable members of staff and whether they should be attending school, where they may be required to mix with hundreds of people on a daily basis…

Legal Article

NHS COVID-19 app: guidance for schools

25/09/20

The NHS COVID-19 app ('the app') has been released and the UK Government has produced corresponding guidance for leaders and staff in schools and further education colleges in England. The app aims to complement the NHS Test and Trace in England by automating some aspects of the process of…

Legal Article

Re-Starting Well - Back to School

23/09/20

Forbes Solicitors Education specialists hosted an online discussion and were joined by panellists Chris Malings from Malings Change Associates, Paul Atkinson - Director of Finance and Business, Vicki Hayward - SBM and Noel Conreen - Business and Finance Manager. It is more important now than ever…

Legal Article

Educational Websites & the ICO's Code of Practice

23/09/20

On 2 September 2020, the ICO's Age Appropriate Design Code (known as the Children's Code) came into force. The Children's Code sets out 15 standards that online services should meet to protect children's privacy whilst online. The Children's Code is a statutory code of conduct…

Legal Article

School Closure As A Result Of The Infection Of A Number Of Staff With Covid-19

23/09/20

A Primary School was recently forced to close all but one year group as a result of the infection of a number of staff with Covid-19 following an out of school social event. Members of staff attending the event contracted Covid-19, and the infection spread to other members of staff who did not attend…

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August

Legal Article

Employment case law updates you may have missed in July and August 2020

24/08/20

Below are a number of interesting and recent case law updates, on the issue of unfair dismissal, disability discrimination and equal pay, which you may find relevant to your organisation. Unfair dismissal 23 July 2020: Evans v London Borough of Brent UKEAT/0290/19 Update: The…

Legal Article

Restricting exit payments in the public sector

04/08/20

As most public sector organisations will be aware, the Government has been considering a cap on public sector exit payments of £95,000 since 2015. In April 2019, the government launched a further consultation on draft Regulations to introduce the cap and the consultation closed on 3 July 2019. The…

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July

Legal Article

Exam Results and Subject Access Requests

08/07/20

Following the announcement that the government has cancelled this summer's exams due to the coronavirus pandemic, the exam regulator, Ofqual has confirmed that it will award GCSE and A-Level grades by a combination of teacher assessment, class ranking and the past performance of the school.…

Legal Article

Employment law implications for academy conversions

06/07/20

Background Despite the ongoing upheaval that has been caused by Covid-19 and in particular the upheaval that this has caused for schools there are some things which continue on as normal. At Forbes Solicitors we are experienced in navigating the academy conversion or rebrokerage process and…

Legal Article

Travel and self-isolation: How will this affect schools?

06/07/20

On 8 June 2020, the rules on travel changed, bringing in the obligation on individuals to provide details of their journey to the UK, contact details and where they will be staying. In addition, individuals travelling/ returning to the UK will be expected to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival. This…

Legal Article

Full re-opening for Education

06/07/20

Guidance was issued on 2 July 2020 for a full reopening of schools, special schools and settings; early years and childcare providers; re-opening of Higher Education buildings and the Further Education sector. The guidance is quite detailed and varies slightly between settings. For most it will be…

Legal Article

Academies Financial Handbook 2020 Update

02/07/20

As you may be aware, a new handbook was released last week to be effective from 1 September 2020. Academy trusts must comply with this handbook as a condition of their funding agreements. The thought behind it is that managing your resources well will help you be accountable and enable you to get…

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June

Forbes News

Forbes Solicitors Announces 35 Promotions

24/06/20

Leading law firm Forbes Solicitors has made 35 promotions as it continues to strengthen its commitment to people development and recognise outstanding client service. There have been seven promotions to Partner across a number of the firm's specialisms and offices throughout Lancashire and…

Legal Article

Chancellor's further changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

10/06/20

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was announced shortly after the government put restrictions in place in an attempt to contain spread of the virus. The scheme, aimed at preventing as many job loses as possible, allowing businesses to weather the storm with the least amount of damage as possible…

Legal Article

DfE issues updated guidance for secondary schools

08/06/20

On 24 May 2020, the Prime Minister announced the reopening of secondary schools from 15 June 2020 to year 10 and year 12 pupils and to plan on this basis. Yesterday evening, the Department for Education (DfE) published updated guidance and outlined expectations for mainstream and alternative…

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May

Legal Article

Back to School Briefcase

22/05/20

Every sector and business is faced with finding out what the new normal looks like and we are here to assist those in the Education sector through that process. To achieve this and help best protect yourselves, colleagues, pupils and everyone's families, we have developed a briefcase of useful…

Legal Article

ICO Publishes Guidance for Workplace Testing

18/05/20

The ICO has published 'Workplace Testing - Guidance for Employers' in order to assist employers considering introducing workplace testing in a bid to make workplaces safe in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The starting point is that as long as there is a good reason for doing so,…

Legal Article

Prime Minister announces the conditional reopening of Schools

11/05/20

Further to the article on the possible phased return of schools published in our e-newsletter, which you will have received last week, the following sets out the key developments to be aware of( https://www.forbessolicitors.co.uk/news/46969/27/preparing-for-the-return-of-staff-postlockdown ).…

Forbes News

Covid-19: School Admissions

06/05/20

Despite the unprecedented situation with Covid 19 and lockdown, the Education sector, in some respects, appears to be making the most of the situation. A series of legislative provisions have been introduced since the UK was hit by the pandemic, especially in relation to offers for primary school places…

Legal Article

Preparing for the return of staff post-lockdown

06/05/20

The country has been enduring with a period of lockdown since the Prime Minister's announcement back on 23 March 2020 and now, a number weeks later the conversation in the media, government and amongst businesses and schools is turning towards a possible easing of restrictions and movement towards…

Legal Article

School Letter Breached Data Protection Act

05/05/20

Last week, the High Court published a judgment where a school that sent a letter to parents regarding the disruptive behavioural issues of a disabled pupil, designed to reassure them that staff were able to deal with the behaviour appropriately, was liable for breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998,…

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April

Legal Article

Covid-19: Exams and Subject Access Requests

22/04/20

Following the announcement that the government has cancelled this summer's exams due to the coronavirus pandemic, the exam regulator, Ofqual, has launched a consultation on proposals to award pupils with a calculated grade. Ofqual proposes to award GCSE and A-Level grades by a combination of teacher…

Legal Article

COVID-19 - Updated Safeguarding Guidance

06/04/20

The Department for Education ("DfE") has published updated safeguarding guidance for schools, colleges and other education providers in light of the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The guidance is applicable to all schools, academies, independent schools, maintained nursery…

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March

Legal Article

Stay informed: connect with other teachers and school staff

31/03/20

During these difficult times connecting with one another is so important for our well-being. Solicitor, Josh Burke, will appear on the first in a series of interactive webinars hosted by Edapt to help support those in the education sector through this difficult period. The webinars are to help…

Legal Article

COVID-19 and Apprenticeships

26/03/20

COVID-19 is resulting in difficult times for apprentices, employers and providers of apprenticeship training, creating unprecedented and unique challenges to the usual quality and delivery of apprenticeships. The government is continuing to provide support and assistance, seeing the Education and Skills…

Legal Article

Same Rules - Different Game: Procurement Policy During The Coronavirus Outbreak

25/03/20

The coronavirus outbreak has produced a lot of government action targeted at keeping infections down and that has in turn affected a lot of organisations, their contracts with each other and their plans for future procurement. For buyers subject to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR) or the…

Forbes News

Covid-19 Update

18/03/20

At Forbes Solicitors, we are keen to reassure clients that we have robust business continuity measures in place to protect and maintain service levels so we can continue to support our clients. The health and welfare of our colleagues and clients is paramount. We will continue to monitor the most…

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