HLAS

The Space Clusters Infrastructure Fund (SCIF) will award more than £50 million in matched funding to UK organisations, as part of a competition to increase the capability, capacity, and connectivity of the UK’s space research and development (R&D) infrastructure. The funding is available to businesses and academic institutions that can deliver projects to procure, build or upgrade R&D facilities and equipment that will bring high-potential, high-value space technologies to market. The infrastructure developed through this funding will enable UK space organisations to accelerate pioneering products and applications that will become critical for the success of future space missions while making [...]

This consultation sets out proposals for key areas of retained EU employment law that the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is responsible for. The consultation seeks views on 3 areas of retained EU employment law which could benefit from reform: record keeping requirements under the working time regulations; simplifying annual leave and holiday pay calculations in the working time regulations; and consultation requirements under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE). The consultation closes on 7 July 2023. See: Retained EU employment law reforms - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The UK Government has published guidance for employers on how to measure, report on and address any ethnicity pay differences within their workforce. Ethnicity pay reporting is one of the tools employers can use to build transparency and trust among their employees. The guidance includes advice on: collecting ethnicity pay data for employees; how to consider data issues such as confidentiality, aggregating ethnic groups and the location of employees; the recommended calculations and step by step instructions on how to do them; reporting the findings; further analysis that may be needed to understand the underlying causes of any disparities; and [...]

The Help to Grow: Management scheme offers business leaders 50 hours of leadership and management training across 12 weeks. It means, for as little as £750, business leaders can benefit from one-to-one support from a business mentor, access to a network of like-minded business leaders, and a bespoke growth plan to help the business reach its full potential. Designed to be manageable alongside full-time work, this programme will support small business leaders to develop their strategic skills with key modules covering financial management, innovation, and digital adoption. See: Homepage - Help to Grow

The Bank of England (BOE) raised interest rates by half a point to 5 per cent last week, with increasing calls for tougher action to fight persistent high inflation. Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, said that the Bank thinks inflation - the rate at which prices are rising - will fall "markedly this year" but adds there are signs of it being "persistent". Recent figures showed that inflation did not fall as expected and remained at 8.7% in the year to May. Bailey confirmed that the BOE thought it was “right” that they took this action [...]

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published new guidance for businesses and employers on responding to subject access requests (SARs). The right of access, commonly referred to as a subject access request or SAR, gives someone the right to request a copy of their personal information from organisations. This includes where they got their information from, what they're using it for and who they are sharing it with. Individuals can request the personal information held by their employer, or former employer, such as details of their attendance and sickness records, personal development, or HR records. Organisations must respond to a SAR [...]

The deadline for reporting shares and securities and share options issued to employees for 2022/23 is 6 July 2023. This is the same as the deadline for reporting expenses and benefits provided to employees on form P11d for 2022/23. Employers must submit their employment related securities annual returns online and attach the appropriate spreadsheet template if they have something to report. HMRC provide templates on their website that may be downloaded in order that the information may be entered and uploaded. Note that there are different templates for each of the four tax-advantaged employee share schemes – Company Share Option [...]

The June edition of the Employer Bulletin brings you the latest HMRC updates and guidance to support employers. Included in this edition are updates on: reporting of expenses and benefits – correct recording of diesel company cars; P11D and P11D(b) filing and payment deadlines; PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA) deadline and digital services; making Child Benefit claims quicker and easier for new parents; how the National Cyber Security Centre helps businesses tackle cybercrime risks; and saving National Insurance numbers to the Apple Wallet. The next Employer Bulletin is in August 2023. The employer bulletin is only available online. See: June 2023 [...]

The UK government is giving people more time to pay National Insurance contributions towards their State Pension. Taxpayers now have until 5 April 2025 to fill gaps in their National Insurance record from April 2006 that may increase their State Pension - an extension of nearly 2 years. Extending the voluntary National Insurance contributions deadline until 2025 means that people have more time to consider whether paying voluntary contributions is right for them and ensures no-one need miss out on the possibility of boosting their State Pension entitlements. The original deadline was extended to 31 July 2023 earlier this year, [...]

Lone workers can be at greater risk of harm as they may not have anyone to help or support them if things go wrong. Employers should provide training, supervision, monitoring, and support for those working alone. The Health and Safety Executive’s free-to-download leaflet, Protecting lone workers: How to manage the risks of working alone, is for anyone who employs lone workers, or engages them as contractors etc, including self-employed people. The leaflet is supported by their lone working webpages which include advice aimed at lone workers themselves, as well as a video setting out the key advice. See: Working alone - Health and safety guidance on [...]