ADVICE & OPINION
COMPLIANCE
FACILITIES AND EMPLOYMENT LAW
2019-2020 LEGISLATION UPDATE
In association with FIRE SAFETY: APPROVED DOCUMENT B,
2019 EDITIONS
During the year, the Ministry of Housing,
Communities and Local Government updated and
made amendments to information on building
regulations for fire safety in new and existing
dwellings, flats, residential accommodation,
schools, colleges and o ices.
12 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2020
www.barbour-ehs.com
Amendments have been made to the following
Approved Documents:
Approved Document B: Fire safety:
Volume 1 – Dwellinghouses: This has been
redra ed to clarify its language and content.
This edition of the approved document
replaces the 2006 edition including all
amendments. There are no changes from the
previous edition to the technical guidance
within Approved Document B.
Volume 2 - Buildings other than
Dwellinghouses: This edition of the
approved document replaces the 2006
edition including all amendments. Again,
there are no changes from the previous
edition to the technical guidance within
Approved Document B.
The changes made to the Approved Documents
apply only to buildings and building work in
England. The new approved documents came into
force on 30 August 2019.
SPRINKLER REVIEW FOR HIGH-RISE HOMES
On 5 September, the government released a
consultation on proposals that would see sprinklers
installed in new high-rise blocks of flats.
The consultation on sprinklers and other
measures forms part of the first proposed changes
to building regulations in England covering fire
safety within and around buildings. It also seeks
views to introduce an emergency evacuation
alert system for use by fire and rescue services,
alongside other fire safety measures.
The consultation period ended on 28 November and
the results will be published in 2020.
ENERGY SAVINGS OPPORTUNITY
SCHEME – DECEMBER DEADLINE
The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS)
requires more than 7,000 large enterprises in the
UK to undertake energy audits across their sites
incorporating a minimum of 90 per cent of the total
energy use of the organisation.
Organisations that meet the following criteria
are required to comply: having 250 employees
or more; OR an annual turnover exceeding
€50 million AND an annual balance sheet total
exceeding €43 million.
Organisations that qualify for ESOS must carry
out energy e iciency audits every four years. The
ESOS Audits for Phase 1 were to be completed
by 5 December 2015, but this was extended to 29
January 2016.
Phase 2 Audits must have been completed
by 5 December 2019. ESOS audit reports must
meet a compliance standard and be verified by
a certified ESOS assessor. The report provides
recommendations on how to improve the
e iciency of energy use across the organisation.
DOMESTIC REVERSE VAT CHARGE FOR BUILDING
AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES
A new way of dealing with VAT by suppliers and
subcontractors in the construction industry was
due to apply from 1 October 2019, but has now
been put back to 1 October 2020.
A coalition of 15 construction associations
asked the Chancellor to delay the implementation
to fully assess the e ect on the construction
industry and to provide enough time for
businesses to get adequately prepared. As a
result, HMRC announced on 6 September that the
implementation date would be put back to the
aforementioned date.
IMPROVING THE APPRENTICESHIP LEVY
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has
called for the government to take urgent steps to
reform the apprenticeship levy in England.
Recommendations for reform in the report
include increasing transparency around levy
receipts and expenditure; making the levy system
more user-friendly with practical, online support
and locally-led ‘matching services’ which allow
large firms to pass on unused funds; creating a
sustainable financial plan for the levy budget; and
opening up conversations about the future of the
levy – including broadening the apprenticeship
levy into a ‘flexible skills levy’, which would cover a
wider range of training.
The CBI report is available here:
https://tinyurl.com/ye849c33
(https://www.cbi.org.uk/media/3419/learning-onthe
job-improving-the-apprenticeship-levy.pdf)
DATA PROTECTION AND NO-DEAL BREXIT FOR
SMALL BUSINESSES AND ORGANISATIONS
The ICO published guidance to help small and
medium sized organisations prepare for the
possibility that the UK leaves the European Union
with no deal, urging a “prepare for all scenarios”
approach.
The guidance provides the same advice
previously published on how to maintain data
flows, but has been produced to be more relevant
and accessible to smaller organisations. The
sharing of customers’, citizens’ and employees’
personal data between EU member states and the
UK is vital for business supply chains to function
and public authorities to deliver e ective public
services.
At the moment personal data flow is unrestricted
because the UK is an EU member state. In the event
of ‘no deal’, EU law will require additional measures
to be put in place when personal data is transferred
from the European Economic Area (EEA) to the UK,
in order to make them lawful.
The ICO’s guidance sets out steps to take to keep
the information flowing such as using pre-approved
contract terms, which are currently used to transfer
personal information worldwide.
PROPOSALS TO REDUCE ILL HEALTHRELATED
JOB LOSS
A consultation was launched seeking views on
di erent ways in which government and employers
can take action to reduce ill health-related job loss.
The proposals include giving employees with
health conditions the right to request workplace
adjustments on health grounds, entitling
employees returning from a period of sickness
absence to a flexible, phased return to work funded
partly through their statutory sick pay (SSP)
entitlement and partly through their usual wages
and fining organisations that do not pay sta the
SSP they are entitled to.
The consultation closed in October 2019 and the
results will be published in 2020.
/www.barbour-ehs.com
/ye849c33
/learning-on-the-job-improving-the-apprenticeship-levy.pdf
