Our 2021 spring / summer edition of Law & Land features a round up of news including latest furlough news and statutory wage rates, and updates on the slurry investment scheme, rights of way, seasonal workers and the Countryside Stewardship mirror agreements.

The atrociously wet winter means that many farmers have struggled to get onto their land at all, let alone drill. If you think you may struggle to meet the 3-crop rule and the greening element of the BPS because of the heavy rain and flooding, the RPA has set out exemptions from the crop diversification requirements in its recent guidance.

The Parliamentary Group for Inheritance and Intergenerational Fairness has been looking at IHT since February 2019 and has come up with some wide-ranging recommendations including reducing the current 40% inheritance tax rate to 10 – 20%, removing the tax-free CGT uplift on death, and abolishing APR and BPR.

Our usual round up of news includes a brief note on the rolling timetable for the SFI, changes to autumn muckspreading rules, the extension to the season workers’ scheme, woodland creation grants, the new law to try and stop hare coursing and the new Tenancy Working Group.

This month's update reports on the latest furlough rules; returning to the office; the exemption for fully vaccinated individuals from self-isolation; the government's response to the sexual harassment at work consultation; a brief summary of the National Disability Strategy; and a case update.

A trainee solicitor at a Leamington law firm has been recognised at a regional award ceremony.

Robert Lee, who is Corporate Partner at Leamington Spa-based Wright Hassall, takes over from Andrew Nyamayaro as president of the Warwickshire Law Society.

As the Illegal Migration Bill reaches the report stage in the House of Commons, it has sparked considerable controversy not least as it is seen to be 'pushing the boundaries of international law' with most experts considering it to be unworkable and likely to face legal challenges when it passes into law.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) decides on financial services disputes by considering what is fair and reasonable in all the circumstances of the case, rather than based on the letter of the law.

The recent case of (1) Thomson Ecology Ltd and (2) Thomson Unicomarine Limited (“Thomson”) v (1) APEM Ltd (“APEM”) (2) Unicomarine Limited and Mr David Hall (“Mr Hall”) considered whether an employee had breached his duty of fidelity in failing to advise his existing employer of a threat being posed by a competitor and in assisting the competitor to recruit other employees whilst on his notice period.