The final Ockenden Report into the failures of the maternity unit at Shrewsbury & Telford NHS Trust was published on 30 March 2022.

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.

In this month's round-up, we explain the advantages of mediation and how it can help to resolve workplace disputes quickly and cost-effectively; an update on various Private Members' Bills that are currently going through Parliament; and a case update featuring a long running disability discrimination case.

This month's update reports on the three Private Members' Bills that have received Royal Assent; recent government guidance issued on ethnicity pay gap reporting; a review of the current whistleblowing framework; the proposed creation of a new corporate criminal offence of failure to prevent fraud within the Economic Crime and Transparency Bill; and a two case updates, one dealing with a discrimination claim, and the other, holiday pay.

Farmers, as the custodians of much of the country’s natural assets, are by definition the main providers of investment opportunities for enhancing natural capital. Although the government is investing via ELM schemes, it acknowledges that it cannot afford to bank roll all the environmental work that needs to be done to reverse the level of habitat loss to which it is committed and is relying on private investment to plug the financial gap.

In this article, Martin Oliver, Partner in our Contentious Probate team explains the issues surrounding dementia and the problems that can arise for those drafting wills.

It is well known that any litigation is expensive and contesting a will is no different. If anything, inheritance claims can be more expensive than other forms of litigation due to the nature of the claim and the amount of work and investigation involved.

Where the deceased left a will the grant of representation is known as a grant of probate and where the deceased died intestate (did not leave a will) the grant of representation is known as a grant of letters of administration.

There are many reasons why you might like to become a trustee of a charity: positive support for a good cause, putting a particular skill set or experience to good use, or remaining active in the community.

The law on the revocation of wills has recently been in the spotlight, with the case of Blyth v Sykes. Here we explore the relatively narrow circumstances in which a copy of a will can be admitted when the original document cannot be located without explanation.