Archived News from 2021

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Education

November

Legal Article

ICO fines charity fined £10,000 for data breach

18/11/21

The ICO has announced that it has fined HIV Scotland £10,000 for failing to implement an appropriate level of organisational and technical security to its internal email systems. The breach of data protection law involved an email sent to 105 recipients; the contents of such emails included…

Legal Article

Lloyd v Google and the Impact on Data Breach Claims

11/11/21

On 10 November 2021, the Supreme Court delivered its long-awaited judgment in the case of Lloyd v Google. The judgment will be welcomed by our clients and data controllers as it brings clarification to the rapid rise in claims being made for compensation following a data breach. However, whilst the…

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October

Forbes News

Ensuring immigration compliance - Home Office inspections and audits to resume

20/10/21

Schools, colleges and universities can have a variety of visa types amongst students and staff. If a teaching organisation holds a licence to sponsor students and workers, it is required to adhere to the strict rules to maintain its licences. Inspections and audits are resuming and therefore organisations…

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September

Forbes News

Lawyers for Liberty- Anti Vax campaign for pupils

14/09/21

Some of you may have seen or heard of a new campaign driven by Lawyers for Liberty, a non politically affiliated organisation with a human rights agenda. Generic letters have been circulating to a number of Headteachers threatening legal action against Schools who they believe are; '…

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August

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July

Legal Article

Travel and Self-Isolation - How this will Affect Schools?

01/07/21

The rules around international travel and restrictions are constantly changing, with returning to the UK from some countries currently at the time of writing this article, legally requiring a 10 day quarantine upon return to the UK. In the education sector, maintaining continuity of education for…

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June

Legal Article

Teacher Assessed Grades & Requests for Information

22/06/21

Teacher Assessed Grades and Requests for Information The ICO has recently published guidance for schools regarding what information they should publish proactively in order to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) - ICO's blog on its information rights work | ICO. Public…

Legal Article

School Uniform Policies - How to Avoid a Dispute

18/06/21

Disputes over school uniform policies and the enforcement of them are common, controversial and usually gain unwanted publicity. It is therefore important for a school to know what legal considerations it must take into account when formulating their uniform policies and also how best to resolve a…

Legal Article

Teacher Assessed Grades and the Freedom of Information Act

18/06/21

The ICO has recently published guidance for schools regarding what information they should publish proactively in order to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) - ICO's blog on its information rights work | ICO . Public authorities (such as maintained schools and academies)…

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May

Legal Article

Education Q&As

18/05/21

Our education team regularly run free, Q&A sessions via Zoom which gives attendees the opportunity to ask any questions that may be relevant to them at the time. Please see below a summary of some of the questions that we have been asked most recently and our responses. How long should a phased…

Legal Article

Sexual harassment in education- what is happening?

18/05/21

The House of Commons Library has just published a briefing paper on sexual harassment in education in England (link : https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8117/ ) It seeks to supplement existing statutory guidance ('Keeping Children Safe in Education Jan 2021')…

Legal Article

Unconscious Bias awareness as a drive for change

14/05/21

Unconscious bias has become a buzz word over recent months in HR, but what does it actually mean? And what is its impact on the education sector? It's such a soft concept that it is difficult to ascertain its application and the necessity and means to minimise and prevent its impact. The…

Legal Article

Developing risk areas for litigation- horizon scanning

14/05/21

Risk management has never been so important, and to thrive, educational establishments need to be prepared to embrace the challenge of identifying areas of risk, and then working to creatively manage them. Any establishment prepared to identify and mitigate risk will create a healthy culture that…

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April

Legal Article

MATs: are they all that?

08/04/21

The difference between SATs and MATs is vast, from their structure to their functionality. They are different legal beings. The Government is pushing towards MATs and if you are a SAT you will be expected to have a strong case for staying that way. These are some of the key factors you should consider…

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March

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February

Legal Article

Education Q&A February 2021

26/02/21

How do the changes to the off-payroll working rules (IR35) due to be introduced in April affect schools? IR35 applies when a worker or self-employed contractor provides their services through their own limited company. The rules make sure that contractors, who would have been an employee if they…

Legal Article

Newsflash: Uber drivers are 'workers' holds Supreme Court

25/02/21

Earlier today, the Supreme Court handed down its long-anticipated judgment in relation to the action brought against Uber by drivers claiming to be workers as opposed to self-employed contractors. The judgment provides the answer to whether 'gig economy' workers can be classed as 'workers…

Legal Article

Public Sector Exit Payments Scrapped

15/02/21

The Treasury has recently announced that long proposed cap on Public Sector Exit Payments (the Cap) which came into force on 4th November 2020 has been withdrawn effective from 12th February 2021 due to "unforeseen circumstances". Therefore any exit payments made after 12th February 2021…

Legal Article

National Apprenticeship Week

10/02/21

National Apprenticeship Week began on 8 February. This year's theme is 'Build The Future.' With 20 years of experience in progressing employees through apprenticeships, Forbes Solicitors has helped build futures and this year has been no different and has been as successful, despite the…

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January

Legal Article

Data Protection Update

28/01/21

December was a busy month for those involved in data protection compliance. Therefore, we've set out a short summary of the most relevant updates for our education clients. Brexit As you will no doubt have heard, the UK and the EU reached a trade and cooperation agreement on Christmas Eve…

Legal Article

COVID-19 mass testing: Can we require staff to conduct testing?

28/01/21

As many will be aware, on 17 December 2020, the Government confirmed that all secondary schools and colleges in England will be required to partake in mass testing staff and students (known as 'lateral flow' testing), with effect from 4 January 2021. With the Christmas break looming, it left…

Legal Article

Maintain quality of education to avoid Ofsted scrutiny

12/01/21

Last week, the education secretary Gavin Williamson stated that schools in England must continue to provide children with high-quality teaching despite the recent lockdown and school closures. The bulk of this education provision will need to be delivered by a mixture of remote teaching and in-person…

Legal Article

Education Staff Attendance at the Workplace During Lockdown 3.0

07/01/21

After the Christmas break period with schools reopening in January, unions including NEU and UNISON advised teachers not to attend the workplace and issued letters for their members to use when approaching their employers about this. In response to this advice, we advised our clients about the issues…

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