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02 May 2025 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8114 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Civil way: 2 May 2025

Unpaid tax interest up; CPR 183rd update notched up; appeal trap you (should) know; a bit of tax avoidance; IVA protocol revised.

LAWBITES

‘Dear Child’ The Family Justice Young People’s Board has come up with a commendable toolkit for judges writing to children about the outcome of proceedings concerning them. It has been put out by the president. He recognises that ‘blank page’ inertia may have inhibited judges from communicating in this way in the past.

Interesting The HMRC interest rate on the main taxes and duties rises to 8.5%—1.50% up—as from 6 April 2025, (no) thanks to SI 2025/386. The current interest rate on what HMRC repays is 3.50%. Just saying. The official line is that the latter compares favourably with commercial practice for interest charged on loans and overdrafts and interest paid on deposits. But not compared with the late payment rate, eh? Penalties will be chargeable on top of interest after the end of 15 and 30 days from the due date. The just-made SI 2025/399 enables

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Investigations and corporate crime expert joins as partner

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Veteran funds specialist joins investment funds team

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Firm enhances competition practice with London partner hire

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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