Further education

Legal Update

The Schools Bill – law no more

Guide

Good governance essential to avoid falling foul of the ESFA

There’s been little evidence of interventions or financial management reviews this year and it appears the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has re-focussed on financial delivery. It’s also telling that there were no discernible changes to the reporting of financial irregularities in the Academies Trust Handbook 2022.

Legal Update

Children's commissioner recommendations for SEND reform

The Children’s Commissioner, Rachel De Souza, has recently published a report “Beyond the labels: a SEND system which works for every child, every time”, which she intends to sit alongside the DfE’s SEND Review (2019) and SEND Green Paper (2022) and which she hopes will put children’s voices at the heart of the government’s review of SEND system.

Legal Update

Hair discrimination – stop pupils being unfairly singled-out for their appearance

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHCR) recently issued new, non-statutory guidance regarding the wearing of natural or protective hairstyles, specifically in reference to their representation in uniform, behaviour or standalone appearance policies.

Opinion

The role of benchmarking in setting pay in schools

Emma Hughes, head of HR services at Browne Jacobson, explains how CST’s updated executive pay report and the linked benchmarking service from XpertHR can help trust boards make robust decisions on pay.

Guide

Virtual AGMs

This guidance has been prepared to support academy trusts (Trusts) who want to hold a fully virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) or a hybrid AGM, as we know that Trusts may want to be prepared for future disruption as well as having a general interest in holding more meetings virtually. The guidance also applies to other meetings of the Members (known as General Meetings).

Guide

Setting up a trading subsidiary – a guide for academy trusts

We’re pleased to collaborate with Lloyds Bank, who recently asked us and audit and risk specialists Crowe UK to offer guidance that academy trusts would find helpful when considering setting up a trading subsidiary.

Press Release

Law firm picks up record breaking sixth Education Investor Award

Browne Jacobson’s education team has been named as winner of the ‘Legal Advisors to Education Institutions’ category at the Education Investor Awards 2022 for a record sixth time.

Press Release

Thousands take part in virtual careers event to help increase diversity in the legal profession

Over 3000 young people from across the UK and Ireland took part in a virtual legal careers insight event, aimed at making the legal profession more diverse.

Opinion

How does the UK Education Sector fare amidst the energy crisis?

Press Release

Education team maintains clean sweep of top rankings in latest legal directories

Browne Jacobson’s education team has again been confirmed as a national powerhouse after securing five Tier 1 rankings relating to Education in the latest edition of Legal 500 and maintaining a Band 1 UK-wide ranking for Education in Chambers & Partners UK 2023.

Guide

Commercial contracts: top tips for academies and schools

Guide

What changes does the latest Academy Trust Handbook bring?

Academy trusts no longer need to seek consent for contractual indemnities within the ‘normal course of business’. What do trusts need to consider?

Guide

Assaults on school staff - how can schools mitigate the risk

In this article we set out the most common issues we encounter, along with guidance on assessing and mitigating the risk from assaults.

Legal Update

Subsidy Control Act 2022: economic queries

In July, the long-awaited statutory guidance on the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (Act) was published in draft form (Draft Guidance). A consultation on the draft guidance has recently ended and the results have not yet been published – it may therefore change before the final version is published.

Legal Update

Changes to holiday pay for part-year workers

In July 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited Judgement in the case of Harpur Trust v Brazel relating to the correct calculation of statutory holiday pay for part year workers. This decision has implications for all part year workers on contracts which subsist all year round, whether their hours are normal or irregular.

Legal Update

Facing the threat of cyber security breaches

Universities and colleges are not immune from deception by unscrupulous bad actors. The extent to which educational institutions can manage and control risk not only depends on financial management and internal controls, but also the robustness of security and processes which can be exploited from outside the organisation.

Legal Update

Browne Jacobson’s market leading Education expertise recognised again in latest Legal 500 rankings

The new set of Legal 500 directory rankings have been published and we are proud to once again be recognised as one of the country’s leading firms advising the Education sector.

Published Article

Key steps to avoid falling foul of disability discrimination laws

The law around disability discrimination against pupils is not straightforward – but the reputational risk, let alone costs, of falling foul of the law are huge, so it’s worth upskilling staff whenever possible, as these two lawyers outline.

Legal Update

Academy Trust Handbook 2022 — Latest Edition

Whilst it may be late compared to previous years, the Educations and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has now published their latest edition of the Academy Trust Handbook (the Handbook), ready for implementation in less than a week, on 1 September 2022. The ESFA in their update to the academies sector, did apologise for the delay on issuing the Handbook.

Legal Update

New Guidance on Behaviour in Schools: What has changed?

This month the Department for Education (“DfE”) released new guidance on behaviour in schools which has substantial changes from the previous guidance from 2016.

Legal Update

New statutory guidance on school suspensions and exclusions now published

New statutory guidance on school exclusions has now been published, along with new Behaviour in Schools Guidance. The new guidance incorporates changes recommended in Edward Timpson’s May 2019 report on school exclusions. The new guidance will apply to any exclusion or suspension decisions taken from 1 September 2022.