Instruments of interest
Draft Crown Court (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2020
1.With the objective of increasing public understanding of what happens in the courts, the proceedings of the Supreme Court have been broadcast since it was established in 2009, and some television broadcasting in the Court of Appeal has been possible since 2013. This Order extends broadcasting to the Crown Courts but, because victims and witnesses may be present, tight rules are to be applied. Following a pilot test in eight locations, this Order would allow the recording and broadcast of sentencing remarks made by specified judges in any Crown Court. Such recording or live broadcast can only be done by persons who have been given specific permission by the Lord Chancellor and may only take place with the permission of the judge presiding over the case. Article 5 of the Order requires that only the judge will be filmed and normal reporting restrictions will continue to apply to protect victims or witnesses involved. Further information on how this will work is published in Appendix 1.
Draft Employment Allowance (Excluded Persons) Regulations 2020
2.This instrument proposes to restrict access to the Employment Allowance, a relief of up to £3,000 per tax year for businesses and charities on their secondary Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs) liabilities, to those employers whose liabilities were below £100,000 in the previous tax year. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) explains that the Employment Allowance was introduced in 2014 to incentivise businesses, especially smaller ones, to take on new employees, but that at a flat rate of £3,000 per employer it does not provide real incentives for larger employers. According to HMRC, the instrument therefore seeks to focus the relief on smaller businesses, as originally intended. The reform was announced in the 2018 Budget. HMRC says that because of the new restriction, the Employment Allowance will in future be administered as de minimis State aid, in order to ensure compliance with the EU’s State aid rules, which will continue to apply during the Implementation Period following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. To comply with State aid monitoring requirements, HMRC will require additional information from employers who wish to claim the Employment Allowance. From April 2020, they will need to confirm annually that they have space in their relevant de minimis State aid ceiling to include the full annual amount of the Employment Allowance. The requirements will be contained in a statutory notice. In terms of impact, HMRC says that while larger employers will lose up to £3,000 per tax year, 93% of all businesses will remain eligible for the Employment Allowance. HMRC expects total one-off costs across 1.2 million businesses of around £9.2 million, with additional ongoing costs of around £0.6 million per year. At the same time, HMRC anticipates additional revenue for the Exchequer of £225 million in the financial year 2020-21, rising to £320 million in 2023–24.
Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitri Kovtun Freezing Order 2020 (SI 2020/36)
3.This instrument puts in place a two-year freezing order that prohibits persons from making funds available to, or for the benefit of, Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitri Kovtun, who were found by the Litvinenko Inquiry to have deliberately poisoned Alexander Litvinenko in November 2006. HM Treasury (HMT) explains that the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (“the Act”) empowers the UK to take action to freeze assets of overseas persons or governments where there is a threat to the life or property of UK nationals or residents. HMT says that the Order aims to act as a deterrent and that, as required by the Act, it consulted the Home Secretary. The instrument is the third two-year freezing Order with regard to Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitri Kovtun, the first one having been laid following the publication of the Litvinenko Inquiry report in 2016. It replaces a second freezing Order from 2018 which expired on 19 January 2020. The instrument ensures that the asset freezing provisions do not lapse. The Order has been laid before Parliament under the ‘made affirmative’ procedure which means that it cannot remain in force unless it is approved by Parliament within 28 days, beginning with the day on which the instrument was made.