Osborne Clarke's best legal reads of the week: March 16-20
Published on 20th Mar 2015
This week’s best legal reads is a bumper edition with updates on the Budget 2015, a deeper look at the ever-fashionable nanotechnology and more on the smart cities in Europe debate…
In the last decade, the term nanotechnology has become fashionable, and the subject of passionate debate as to how the subject should be handled through law and regulation. But until recently, the average consumer’s chances of actually encountering any product using nanotechnology were low. Nanotechnology has been largely confined to the laboratory with both its potential benefits and its potential risks still more speculative rather than actual. Read the article in full here.
The latest installment of the blog series based on our smart cities in Europe, enabling innovation report takes a look at the findings on smart cities in Germany. With its abundance of renewable energy and high levels of recycling, one might expect Germany to be ahead of other European countries in the development of smart cities. This is not the case.
This year has seen the launch of the new Fit for Work service. The service consists of two parts, an advice service and a referral service – read more about Fit for Work here.
The Budget 2015
The Government has announced that it is going to press ahead with measures to attack the way that employment intermediaries take advantage of the travel and subsistence expenses regime. It will change the rules to restrict travel and subsistence relief for workers engaged through an employment intermediary, such as an umbrella company or a personal service company, but who operate under the supervision, direction and control of the end-user. Read more here.
Osborne Clarke’s tax and pensions teams comment on the last Budget of this Parliament here.
In George Osborne’s final budget before the general election in May, the following announcements have been made relating to planning and environmental law, read the full article here.
