Category: Articles

Charity Structures for International Religious Organisations

Posted on by Peter Spencer

If you’re an international religious organisation looking to establish a formalised legal charity in the UK, there are several structures you can adopt to carry out your philanthropic activities. You may wish to bring overseas workers to support your endeavours, but it is crucial to establish your charity and obtain your charity number before considering visa applications.

The three primary structures to consider are trusts, charitable companies, and charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs).

Trusts

Trusts are a well-known but often considered an archaic structure. Trusts are unincorporated, meaning that the trustees of the charity have personal liability and can be sued personally. To register with the Charity Commission, a trust needs a minimum income of £5,000, which is standard for most charity structures.

It is good to be aware of trusts, but they are generally not recommended due to the personal liability involved.

 

Charitable Companies

A charitable company is established as both a company and a charity. It is considered established from the point of registration with Companies House, which can take around 72 hours. This means you don’t have to wait for registration with the Charity Commission to begin charitable activities in the UK, which can take up to six months. This is particularly beneficial if you wish to purchase property in the UK quickly. Like trusts, a charitable company requires a minimum income of £5,000 to register with the Charity Commission.

Unlike trusts, charitable companies are incorporated structures, limiting trustee liability, meaning trustees cannot be personally sued. Another significant advantage is that charitable companies are generally recognised internationally, which can facilitate dealings with foreign banks and reduce the need for extensive explanations. This structure can also be advantageous if you need to borrow money, for example, to purchase property, as banks often prefer charitable companies over CIOs, although this preference is changing.

The primary disadvantages of charitable companies are that they are subject to both the Companies Act and the Charities Act, and the trustees are also directors. This dual responsibility requires some education to ensure compliance with both sets of regulations, including dual reporting.

 

Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)

The Charities Commission introduced the CIO structure because many people found the concept of a charitable company too complex. CIOs are incorporated structures that limit trustee liability, meaning that any legal claims are limited to the assets within the CIO.

There is no income threshold for registration with the Charity Commission, so you do not need a pledge letter from your parent charity. However, you must wait for the Charity Commission to grant charitable status and provide a charity number before commencing philanthropic work and bringing overseas workers to the UK.

A key advantage of a CIO is that you only need to file annual reports with the Charity Commission, unlike a charitable company which requires dual reporting. CIOs are more suitable for smaller organisations not looking to purchase property immediately and are comfortable with the wait for Charity Commission registration.

 

It is essential to remember that before bringing overseas religious workers to support your charitable activities, you must have chosen your charity structure and received your charity number from the Charity Commission.

If you want to set up a charity in the UK to facilitate your philanthropic work, get in touch with Peter Spencer today by email at peter.spencer@wellerslawgroup.com.

 

Corporate Insolvency: Care and Caution that should be taken by creditors and debtors

Posted on by Priyanka Kumar

The current financial climate has made getting paid outstanding debts increasingly difficult. Consequently, to put pressure on a debtor, creditors sometimes resort to serving statutory demands, or proceeding with winding-up petitions as a method of debt recovery. A winding up petition is a creditor’s petition to have a company placed into compulsory liquidation by the Court, resulting in the company being wound up.

However, using a statutory demand for a commercial debt should only be embarked upon with care and caution.

In this article we explore the key considerations that should be borne in mind for creditors who are considering serving a statutory demand and debtors who receive one.

 

What exactly is a statutory demand?

A statutory demand is a formal written demand in prescribed form from a creditor to a debtor requesting payment of the debt within 21 days. The prescribed form is governed by section 7.3 of The Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016. Where the debtor is a company, the debt must be for at least £750. (Where the debtor is an individual, it must be for at least £5,000). It is a ‘pre-cursor’ to a winding-up petition (or bankruptcy petition in the case of an individual).

 

Procedure for service

The statutory demand must be served personally upon the debtor’s registered office. It is best to have this personally served (by a process server or otherwise) so there can be no doubt that the demand has been brought to the debtor’s attention.

If the debt remains unpaid and unchallenged for more than 21 day, this demonstrates that a Company is unable to pay its debts, that the debt is undisputed and therefore a winding up petition may be presented. Statutory demands are, therefore, aggressive in nature and should not simply be used as a simple debt recovery tool.

 

What should a creditor consider before serving a statutory demand?

Does the debtor dispute the debt ?

Where there is a ‘genuine dispute on substantial grounds’ about all the sums claimed in the statutory demand or winding-up petition, the court will not hesitate to restrain the creditor from taking any further steps, by setting aside the statutory demand. Unsurprisingly, it is considered an “abuse of process” for a creditor to serve a statutory demand where the debtor genuinely disputes the debt.

The dispute must be genuine. The court will not conduct a ‘mini-trial’ to determine whether the debt is due but if it is satisfied that there is a genuine dispute, it will set aside the statutory demand on the basis the correct forum for the determination of the claim is via a County or High Court claim.

So if the debtor is not paying the debt because it genuinely disputes it, a creditor should consider alternative approaches.

The advantage of using a statutory demand is that it is usually a faster way to recover payment from a debtor than using sending a Letter Before Action in accordance with the pre-action protocol for debt claims and then issuing debt recovery proceedings. However, If the debt is disputed then the Letter Before Action route is the appropriate one.

The debtor has a serious and genuine counter- claim exceeding the debt

 

This article was written by Priyanka Kumar from our litigation team. Get in touch with Priyanka today to find out how she can help you by email priyanka.kumar@wellerslawgroup.com.

How to register for a new ‘e-visa’

Posted on by Oliver O'Sullivan

 From 1 January 2025, all UK visas will be digital “e-visas”. All new visas will be issued as e-visas and every visa issued before 31 December 2024 will need to be converted to an e-visa.

Having a digital e-visa means that there is no longer a physical document, such as a stamp or vignette in a passport or a Biometric Residence Permit card. Instead, a visa is connected to a person’s passport which is registered on a Home Office database.

The Home Office has now invited all current BRP card holders to go through the process of digitising their visas. Here is a guide to getting your e-visa.

  1. You need to create an online account with UK Visas and Immigration. Follow this link to begin the registration process: https://www.gov.uk/get-access-evisa
  2. You will need your BRP card number, your email address, your telephone number and access to a smartphone.
  3. Answer the questions regarding your current BRP card and then ‘create an account’.
  4. Add your personal details and your BRP details and then add your email address and telephone number. You will then receive six digit verification codes to register them so that you can now log in to your account using your BRP number, date of birth and a verification number sent to either your email or as an SMS.

Once you have created a UKVI account, you should then change your logging in document from your BRP to your passport.

Once you have registered online, you now have a digital e-visa. Since there is no longer a physical document, you no longer need a BRP card to travel into the UK. You can now present your passport at the border and your status will be confirmed when your passport is scanned. It is advisable to also carry the confirmation of your status that you can find the paragraph below regarding demonstrating your right to work.

You can also show employers and landlords your immigration status by sharing a link to a secure online page that shows them your visa status. You do this by following one of the links below and logging in exactly how you logged into your UKVI account. You can then send a ‘share code’ by email to your desired recipient.

If you need help registering for an e-visa, get in touch with Oliver O’Sullivan via email at Oliver.OSullivan@wellerslawgroup.com .

Employment Law Changes with the new Labour Government

Posted on by Nina Francis

After 14 years of a Conservative government, Labour have now taken up residence in Downing Street. Alongside the change in residence, the Labour party’s manifesto outlines several changes that employers need to be aware of, it they are enacted, subject to consultation. These key reforms are set to be introduced within 100 days and span from discrimination law and “Day One Rights” to trade unions and industrial action.

 

Day One Employment Rights – Key Changes:

  1. Unfair dismissal, sick pay and parental leave

Currently, an employee must accrue two years of continuous service to a company before they can claim unfair dismissal in an employment tribunal.

Labour’s reform will grant protection of unfair dismissal as well as sick pay and parental leave which will be deemed “Day One Rights”

 

  1. Fair Pay

National minimum wage (NMW) rates are presently based on average earnings.

With Labour’s manifesto, existing age bands (allowing payment of a reduced rate) will be scrapped in favour of a flat rate for all age groups.

“Fair Pay Agreements” will be introduced, under which pay rates are determined by sectoral collective bargaining. It is likely that this will be trialled out in the social care sector before this is rolled out to other sectors due to a lack of support in the business community.

 

  1. Discrimination Law

Currently, equal pay legislation applies to gender pay disparities to cover disabled and BAME employees. Gender Pay Gap Reporting has been mandatory since 2017.

Key changes in this area will include:

  • Implementation of Ethnicity Pay Gap Reporting (for employers with 250+ employees).
  • Implementation of Disability Pay Gap Reporting (for employers with 250+ employees).
  • Gender Pay Gap Reporting action plans are to be published and are to include outsourced workers. This means that pay gap reporting will be a far larger exercise than it has been historically.
  • Sexual harassment will be treated and have similar protections to whistleblowing
  • There will be enhanced protection of sexual harassment for interns
  • A ban on dismissing returning maternity leavers will be introduced, covering six months after the return to work except in specific circumstances.

 

  1. Enforcement

Labour is set to introduce extensions of time limits for tribunal claims from three months to six months. This is due to delays in the current tribunal system.

Labour are proposing to establish a new state body “Fair Work Agency” with the power to inspect workplaces and take legal action where necessary. This will mean documentation and record keeping will become more significant going forward.

 

  1. Ending “one-sided” flexibility

Labour are planning to implement a ban on “fire and rehire”. Further movement is expected in this area as Labour openly criticised the recently released Tory statutory Code of Practice as being “inadequate”.

Additionally, zero hour contracts will be banned and there will be a shift in narrative on empowering employees to request contracts that reflect the hours of work undertaken.

 

  1. Trade Unions and Industrial Action

Labour will be working to simplify trade union recognition and improve trade union worker access to workplaces. Further, self-employed workers are to enjoy the same improvements to trade union rights as workers.

 

  1. Worker Status & Self-Employment

Labour aim to (eventually) abolish:

  • The U.K.’s three tier system for employment status
  • The distinction between employees and workers – this will need further consultation on the logistics of sick pay, family leave and other policies in these models.

Rights for self-employed people will be written in a contract and will enable self-employed workers to take action on late payments, extend health and safety blacklisting protections to the self-employed. Further clarity and consultation is needed in this area.

 

If you have any enquiries relating to these potential changes, please get in touch with Nina Francis by email nina.francis@wellerslawgroup.com or by phone on 020 3831 2664.

Why You Should Take Legal Advice When Making Your Will and LPA

Posted on by Wellers

Why You Should Seek Professional Legal Advice for Your Will

Your will is one of the most significant documents you will ever create. It sets out your wishes for your estate after you are gone. To ensure it is properly written and legally valid, it is crucial to use a professional solicitor. DIY wills are more prone to errors, which can render them invalid, potentially causing significant complications. A solicitor will ensure that your will is executed correctly, giving you peace of mind.
Professional assistance is essential in drafting your will no matter your circumstances but particularly if you own property in the U.K. or abroad, own a business, have dependents outside your immediate family or you’re aiming to reduce your inheritance tax bill or have complex wishes.

Who Should Make a Will?

Everyone over the age of 18 should make a will, particularly if you have a partner, children, property, shared financial assets, or any other significant assets. Making a will gives you control over your legacy. You can choose an executor you trust to carry out your wishes.
Without a will, your assets will be distributed according to the Rules of Intestacy. This means you cannot choose your executor; one will be appointed for you, who may not act in your best interests.

Keeping Your Will Up to Date

It is important to regularly review your will with a solicitor to ensure it reflects your current circumstances. Significant life events, such as marriage, remarriage, having children, a family member’s death, or changes in inheritance tax laws, necessitate updating your will. This ensures it remains effective and honours your intentions.

Understanding Inheritance Tax

Inheritance Tax (IHT) is payable on estates exceeding the Nil Rate Band allowance—the amount you can leave tax-free. While everyone is subject to the Nil Rate Band, in 2017, the Government introduced an additional Nil Rate Band, subject to conditions:

1. You must have a property to leave to your descendants (children or grandchildren).
2. Your estate must be valued at under £2 million.

By consulting with a solicitor, you can ensure that your will is valid, up-to-date, and optimised to manage inheritance tax effectively.

Find out more about why you need a professionally drafted Will, with Dawn Pearce

Video Player

 

Why You Need to Create a Lasting Power of Attorney with a Legal Professional

Creating a Lasting Power of Attorney with a solicitor ensures that the document is correctly drafted and legally sound. Solicitors provide professional advice tailored to your specific situation, helping you understand the implications of your choices. They also ensure that the document meets all legal requirements, reducing the risk of errors that could render it invalid.

Additionally, a solicitor can help you navigate the complexities of LPAs, including advice on selecting appropriate attorneys and understanding their responsibilities. By creating an LPA with a solicitor, you can have peace of mind that your affairs will be managed according to your wishes, without unnecessary delays or complications.

What is an LPA?

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legally binding document that enables you to appoint someone to act on your behalf when you are no longer able to do so yourself.

There are various reasons you might need someone to act on your behalf. In the short term, this could be due to a hospital stay where you need someone to manage your bills. Over a longer period, it might be necessary if you are diagnosed with a condition like dementia and need someone to take over your property and financial affairs.

Types of Lasting Power of Attorney

There are two types of LPAs:

  1. Property and Financial Affairs: This allows you to appoint someone to manage your finances, property, claim, receive or use your benefits, and handle your bank accounts.
  2. Health and Welfare: This allows you to appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf regarding where you live and your medical care when you can no longer make these decisions yourself.

If you have an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) document, you will need to create an LPA to ensure your wishes are upheld. EPAs stopped being issued in 2007 and were replaced by LPAs.

If you lose capacity and only have an EPA, the document must be sent off for registration with the Office of the Public Guardian, which can result in a lengthy delay before any action can be taken, during which your assets are frozen. With an LPA, registration occurs at the time of creation, ensuring it is ready for use whenever needed.

 

Get In Touch With Our Team Today

Ensuring that your Lasting Power of Attorney and Will are properly drafted and legally sound is crucial for safeguarding your future and the future of your loved ones.

Our experienced solicitors are here to provide expert guidance and support, ensuring your legal documents are tailored to your unique needs.

Don’t leave such important matters to chance. Contact the Wellers Law Group team today to discuss how we can assist you in creating a Lasting Power of Attorney and drafting your Will.

 

Find out more about LPAs with Dawn Pearce

Video Player

Intellectual Property Rights In The Music Industry: Trump vs O’Connor

Posted on by Wellers

Sinead O’Connor’s Estate has asked Donald Trump not to use her famous “Nothing Compares 2 U” recording at his political rallies.

Trump has some form in using well known pop and rock songs at his political rallies which on occasion have riled the artists concerned.

 

So, what is the legal position?

We must distinguish between the position in the US and the UK and also look at what rights are involved.

Putting it simply there are two copyrights involved:

  1. The copyright in the songs themselves; and
  2. The copyright in the sound recordings embodying those songs.

 

Generally, in the US the relevant performing right societies, generally ASCAP and BMI, administer the public performance of songs (compositions).  These compositions are generally owned by music publishers rather than writers since the songwriters have assigned the rights in those composition to music publishers.  As music publishers want to monetise exploitation of those compositions as much as possible, even if they could (which is debatable) stop the performance of those compositions at political rallies, they will generally not do so unless the songwriter concerned has a contractual right to stop it or is a big enough name for them to care about.

In the case of performers who do not write their own songs, there is nothing they can do to stop this in relation to the composition itself.

In fact “Nothing Compares 2 U” was written by Prince rather than Sinead O’Connor so any legal attempt to prevent its being played at Trump’s rallies would need to be by Prince’s estate or music publishers.

The position is similar in the UK where PRS is the only performing right society. Generally, they will be granting blanket licences for the public performance of all songs be they political rallies, football matches or restaurants and bars.

The position in relation to copyright in sound recordings is a different one.   Sound recordings are generally owned by artists’ record companies.  Although there may be a few examples where artists have retained or bought back their sound recordings generally it is the record companies who are in charge here. There is a major difference in the US and the UK. In the US generally the public performance of sound recordings has no copyright protection so that the record companies, even if they wanted to, could not stop their public performance at political rallies.

In the UK there are so called “neighbouring rights” which protect the public performance of sound recordings.  These are administered by Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) and generally PPL will grant blanket licences. However, PPL’s public position is that they will not grant a licence for public performance of sound recordings at political rallies without the “rights holders’” consent.  This presumably means the record companies. Although, in the UK, the performing artists do receive royalties from the public performance of their recordings so perhaps PPL will take note of their sensibilities. If in fact PPL seek only the record companies’ consent then that will normally be forthcoming unless they have an artist objecting who has enough sway (generally where they are earning the record company millions of pounds and do not owe them millions of pounds!) to bring about the prevention of the public performance of the sound recordings concerned.

 

If you have an Intellectual Property enquiry, get in touch with Howard Ricklow to find out how he can help you:

Email: howard.ricklow@wellerslawgroup.com

Phone: 020 7481 6396

Clinical negligence or just bad service?

Posted on by Penny Langdon

We are all aware of the problems besetting the NHS in recent years, the massively long waiting lists, shortage of GP’s, shortage of nurses and hospital Doctors and shortage of resources such as MRI machines. We have heard about hospitals failing to meet A&E turnaround targets and elderly patients causing “bed blocking”.  We all know someone who says they cannot get a GP appointment or a referral to a specialist or a scan or who is waiting years for an essential elective surgery.

Many of us have suffered or know someone who is struggling with symptoms for which they cannot get a diagnosis. The NHS was creaking before COVID but never seemed to recover from that and now is beset by industrial action by junior doctors and consultants and nurses.

If you or your family have been in any of the above situations, you can be sure that that this all represents a terrible level of service and if you are a tax payer you surely would be entitled to think that you are not getting value for your money when having paid national insurance all your life, you now have to fork out thousands to have your knee replacement done privately or sit on the  NHS waiting list when in the meantime your overall heath suffers a major set back as a result.

But – does all this amount to clinical negligence?

Certainly, some would say it is negligent in the wider sense but to meet the legal definition of clinical negligence is much harder than you might think.

There are 3 criteria you, as a claimant, must prove if you are considering making a claim for clinical negligence.

First, you must prove there has been a breach of the duty of care. The legal test for this is in summary that, if a doctor reached the standard of a responsible body of medical opinion, he was not negligent. So a doctor is allowed to make a judgement, which turns out to be wrong, if a reasonable number of other similarly qualified doctors would have made the same judgement in the circumstances, even if they are in the minority. Therefore, if, based on your symptoms, your GP thinks you have a certain condition, but it subsequently turned out you had a different condition, but he was actually going through the same process of elimination which other doctors would have followed, then he will not be negligent even though he was wrong, and this caused a delay in effective treatment.

Secondly, you must prove is that there has been some damage arising from what you think is the negligent act or omission. If, for example, a hospital doctor, in breach of the duty of care failed to diagnose a undisplaced fracture in a bone of a patient who is in a coma after a car crash. By the time the patients eventually emerged from the coma the fracture had healed by itself with no treatment and no ill effects. So, although there has been a breach of the duty of care there is no, or at least, minimal damage.

Finally, the Claimant must prove that the breach has caused the damage. This is often not as straightforward as it sounds. This might happen for example if there was a negligent delay in treatment of a leg fracture in an accident, following which the condition of the leg deteriorated and had to be amputated. Subsequently the evidence showed that the leg was so badly damaged it would have needed to be amputated in any event notwithstanding the delay. So there is a breach of duty and damage (the amputation) but the breach has not caused the damage.

There is still a backlog for treatment across a huge range of services in the NHS which is to a large degree a still indirectly a result of the pandemic and it does seem inevitable that unrelenting pressure on systems and individuals is going to result in negligence occurring.  Whether or not the NHS is going to be able to rely on the pandemic as a defence in many cases is still uncertain. It is very unlikely that the Courts will say that in every case where that has been a delay caused by Covid, either directly or indirectly, that this is negligence because this would open the flood gates to litigation which would overwhelm public finances. On the other hand, each case will still have to be assessed on its own merits and success will be dependant upon the specific facts on the case.

If you think that you or a family member or friend have suffered bad service from the NHS which has resulted in serious injury and or financial losses, we would be happy to discuss this with you.

 

If you have suffered clinical negligence, get in touch with Penny Langdon today by email penny.langdon@wellerslawgroup.com or by phone on 020 8290 7958.

 

Untying the knot: Two years on from the introduction of No Fault Divorce

Posted on by Manveen Padda

A Solicitor’s Perspective on No Fault Divorce

After years of campaigning, the “No fault divorce” finally came into effect on 6th April 2022. Was it worth it? How is it going?

The answer to the first part is a resounding, yes, it was worth it. Our research suggests the new law it is working. In the past, a divorce at its best could be as quick as 6 months or in majority cases it would drag on for several years before the final order, commonly known as “the Decree Absolute” would be granted. A complex divorce where the other party would fail to respond or the divorce was being defended, was distressing, lengthy and expensive. To understand the difficulties, it would help to outline a brief history of the Divorce law over time.

Video Player

Brief history of an English Divorce

Divorce originates from 1533 (Henry VIII) when only a Pope could grant a divorce. Legal divorce was introduced in 1670 which allowed only men to apply for a divorce. In 1857 women were allowed to apply but only in exceptional circumstances, one of them being rape which had to be proved in a court of law. Over time more reasons were added but the core principle remained the same, that one party had to blame the other. The Divorce Reform Act 1969 was the first ever mention of “No fault divorce”. The Divorce Reform Act allowed the parties to apply on the basis that the marriage has broken down irretrievably using one of the five facts. Three facts were based on blame (unreasonable behaviour, Adultery or Desertion) and two facts were based on no blame (consent with 2 years of separation or 5 years separation). However, the most used reason was “unreasonable behaviour” which meant a party had to blame the other.

No fault Divorce

Campaigns continued to remove the 5 facts altogether and in 1990’s it finally seemed an achievable task. the Family Law Act 1996 included a section that would completely remove fault but unfortunately at the last minute the relevant sections of the Act were left out for being unworkable for two warring parties. Then came the famous case of Owen & Owen in 2018, where the wife tried to divorce her husband using the fact of unreasonable behaviour but the courts rejected her reasons on the basis that the behaviour was not unreasonable enough to warrant a divorce. She had to wait five years, from the date of separation, before she could finally get divorced in 2020. This supported the campaigns for the “No fault Divorce” which finally came into effect on 6th April 2022.

Progress since 2022

Working as a family law solicitor, I have seen the changing trends in our practice in divorce. Most parties are now applying for the divorce themselves, using the court’s online system. This is simple to follow and easy to achieve as no fault is being apportioned to the breakdown of the marriage. The change in law is working as it removes the necessity of either party making an accusation against the other, thus allowing for an amicable, quick and cheaper divorce. If the marriage has ended, neither party has to defend the divorce and the timeline is set to achieve a final order (Decree Absolute) in as quickly as 6 months.

How can we help  

Whilst the divorce law has changed to simplify the process, unfortunately the remainder of the family law issues remain as complex as ever. Issues arise when the parties are dealing with matters which are ancillary to the divorce. Often there are disputes concerning children arrangements and/or protecting property, savings, income, pensions and generally separating financial commitments. This is where we can help. If you would like to discuss any aspect of separation and divorce including pre/post nuptial agreement, cohabitation agreements please contact our team of specialist lawyers trained to assist you.

 

 

This article and testimony was written by Manveen Padda, a Family Law Solicitor at Wellers Law Group. Manveen, alongside the rest of the Family Law team, are here to help, no matter your family circumstances. Get in touch with Manveen today by email to discuss your options for divorce.

Winning the Immigration Vote: how immigration could feature in the next UK election

Posted on by Oliver O'Sullivan

With a general election expected this year, immigration is bound to be a theme that all political parties use to signal to key voter demographics.

Where are voters on ‘immigration’?

Currently, according to YouGov, the Conservatives are only the most popularly party among the over-70s. The majority of Britons under-50 say will vote for Labour.

The UK’s last election was in 2019. At that time, YouGov polls suggested that 22% of voters considered immigration as the most important factor facing the country. This has now risen to 39% with only healthcare and the economy ranking higher. Immigration is currently considered a more important issue facing the UK than education, housing, the environment and family life and childcare.

38% of those polled by YouGov consider the level of immigration in the UK to have been mostly bad for the country. Only 21% of respondents expressed a positive opinion towards immigration during the last ten years of a Conservative government. 65% of respondents believe that immigration has been too high in the last ten years.

Given the above numbers, it isn’t surprising that 82% of the UK consider the current government to be badly handling the issue of immigration in the UK. 20% of the country now believe that Labour would be the best political party to handle asylum and immigration. This is only 3% up from before the 2019 election, but critically the number of people with faith in the Conservatives on immigration has halved from 32% to 16%.

It appears that immigration is a very significant issue for voters in the UK, who believe that immigration levels have been too high in the past ten years and that the Conservatives have failed to impact it. In terms of what factors in particular Britons consider important for immigration, the latest YouGov trackers suggest that:

  • The current levels of people with low levels of education and skills looking for low paid work in the UK are at the right level.
  • The current levels of wealthy people looking to live in the UK based on investing in the UK are at the right level.
  • We should allow more people to come to the UK to work in the British health service.
  • The current levels of people coming to the UK to study are at the right level.
  • The current levels of skilled workers coming to the UK to look for skilled jobs are at the right level.

In fact, in most areas of immigration, respondents to various YouGov polls suggest that immigration is a significant national issue whilst simultaneously being at the right level for each of its component parts.

Immigration in general is seen as too high, but each separate area of work or study related immigration is at the right level.

The Channel wall

It’s probably no surprise then that Labour and Conservatives are focusing their messaging on Channel crossings. Border integrity has proven a highly emotive subject for voters globally, whether it be building a wall, ending “free” movement or preventing islands being reached by boat. Crossing the Channel to reach the UK is symbolic of unrestricted immigration and triggers those who want to feel safe that the identity of Great Britain is secure.

Since only 1.3% of those arriving by small boats were removed from the UK between 2018 and 2023, it would appear that most people arriving by boat to the UK make a valid claim to remain in the UK as refugees. They have a case for remaining, but they are illegally entering. Since there is no way to legally enter the UK to make a claim for asylum and airlines are bound by law to check for a right to enter the UK, it would appear that the Channel crossers are extremely short of options.

It is positive that neither party demonises the individuals making the journey and the language is changing to focus on the criminal gangs making a trade from the trafficking of people. The Labour party are proposing a deal whereby the EU provides support with preventing Channel crossings in exchange for accepting a share of refugees arriving to the EU. The Conservatives have just agreed a deal with the EU to co-operate closer on information to prevent Channel crossings.

The impact of the many other elections taking place this year may also impact on anti-migration in the UK election too, since most recent elections in Europe have seen rises in more nationalist parties. The fact that the UK has already had Brexit might impact any such influence, however. The UK has already “taken back control of its borders” in that respect.

 Making work immigration work

Little is known on either the Conservatives or Labour Party’s policies on work-related immigration. James Cleverly looks to be taking actions to reduce visas that allow an unlimited work right, such as care worker and student dependants, UK spouses and Graduate visa holders. The focus appears to be in restricting low-skilled workers from overseas into the domestic labour market, despite YouGov respondents voting that the current levels are at the right level.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is already reminding the Conservatives of the trebling of net migration and looks to be focusing on less reliance for overseas workers for shortage occupations and an increase in training and upskilling the domestic labour market. The current government imposes charges of £1000 per year to sponsor a worker from overseas as an incentive to invest more in training, and so perhaps a Labour government will replace the Immigration Skills Charge with a requirement for sponsors to provide evidence of a sufficient level of internal training programmes.

Out of the shadow cabinet

With a likely Labour election victory and Yvette Cooper as Home Secretary, what would we expect in terms of immigration policy?

Cooper was chair of Labour’s refugee taskforce and has been Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee since 2016, interviewing dozens of professionals on immigration during that time. She has always voted against stronger laws and enforcement of immigration rules and generally voted against a stricter asylum system. Cooper generally voted for continuing close ties with Europe during Brexit. We could expect a very different Home Secretary to the pro-Rwanda plan, pro-Brexit Cleverly.

 

This article was written by Oliver O’Sullivan, Head of Immigration at Wellers Law Group. You get get in touch with Oliver by email for enquiries relating to the contents of this article.

How to meet the spouse salary requirement

Posted on by Wellers

The partner of a person who is “settled” in the United Kingdom requires financial sponsorship from their settled partner. A person is considered to be “settled” in the United Kingdom if they are British, Irish or have Indefinite Leave to Remain status. A partner is a person to whom the settled person is married, in a civil partnership with, or with whom they have cohabited for at least two years.

To sponsor a partner, the settled person needs to provide evidence of meeting a financial requirement. This is a requirement that evidences that the couple will have sufficient income to cover the length of the visa. Unless the settled worker’s partner is already in the UK and allowed to work, is it only the income of the settled worker that can be counted for the application.

From 4th April, the minimum income amount to sponsor a partner increases by 56% from £18,600 to £29,000. The financial requirement can be met in a number of ways as we explore below.

 

Employment

A settled person can be in salaried employment, earning at least £29,000 per annum. They can be outside the UK earning at least that amount and have a job offer in the UK for a position earning at least that amount, or they can be in the UK and working in a job earning at least that amount. Depending on how long they have been in this employment they may need to also evidence prior earnings of at least £29,000 too.

Self-employment

Similar to employment, a settled person can be self-employed as a sole trader or partner of a business or as a director of a limited company and provide evidence of had a taxable income of at least £29,000 in their last tax year.

Cash savings

To calculate the amount needed to cover each 2.5-year visa, either the settled person and/or their partner can evidence holding £88,500 in cash savings at the date of application. This amount covers 2.5 years of £29,000 per year in addition to £16,000. The savings can be held as investments previously but must be liquidised for the date of application. This cash or investment portfolio needs to have been held for at least 6 months to be counted.

Other regular income

A settled person can also include regular income from rent, a pension, maintenance payments from a former partner, dividends from shares, interest from savings, allowances, maintenance grants or stipends, as long as they will be in receipts of these payments for the duration of their partner’s visa.

Combinations of the above

The above sources of income can all be combined to reach the minimum amount of £29,000, whether it be a salary that is supplemented by savings or a pension combined with income from rent, there are various ways of combining income to reach the minimum salary level.

The immigration rules are very strict about how this income is evidenced, so it is advisable to seek advice before submitting an application as immigration fees are non-refundable.

 

 

ReviewSolicitors