Publication
WHS Law Briefing
Welcome to our WHS Law Briefing. This briefing identifies key issues and emerging trends in WHS Law, and details significant legislative and case law developments from February to date in July 2025.
Triple lock maintained for State pension in Autumn Statement
United Kingdom | Publication | November 2022
On November 17, 2022, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, delivered the 2022 Autumn Statement (Medium-term Fiscal Plan) announcing wide-ranging tax increases aimed at reducing the "fiscal black hole" identified by the Government.
Announcements relating to pensions include:
- The Government intends to publish the review of the state pension age (SPA), announced by the DWP in December 2021, in “early 2023”. SPA is due to rise to age 68 for those born after April 5, 1978, under current Government plans.
- Retention of the “triple lock” for state pensions, meaning that they will be uprated by inflation from April 2023, by an amount of some £870 per annum. The triple lock had been disapplied for the 2022/23 tax year due to the impact of Covid on average earnings growth.
- HMT published its response to the review of Solvency II, which confirms plans to cut the risk margin requirements for long-term insurance, as proposed. In addition, more flexible asset eligibility rules will be introduced into the matching adjustment, to include assets with “highly predictable”, rather than fixed, cashflows.
Pensioners will be relieved that the triple lock has been reinstated after its suspension last year. However, the Government’s intention to carry out a comprehensive review of the state pension may cast some uncertainty on retirement plans. There is also potential for the state pension to exceed the frozen personal allowance threshold by 2028, meaning many more pensioners would pay income tax. Speculation that the freeze on the levels of the annual and lifetime allowances for tax-free pensions saving would be extended for as long as five years proved unfounded. The annual allowance remains at £40,000 and the LTA at £1,073,100. The Chancellor made no announcements in relation to auto-enrolment.
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Recent publications
Publication
Essential Corporate News – Weeks ending 25 July and 1 August 2025
.On 25 July 2025 the FCA published Primary Market Bulletin 57 (PMB 57) in which it finalises certain changes to the Knowledge Base, consults on further amendments, and highlights upcoming changes to the National Storage Mechanism and certain UK MAR notification forms.
Publication
Security of Payment Act trumps deemed service provisions
In Roberts Co (NSW) Pty Ltd v Sharvain Facades Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) [2025] NSWCA 161, the NSW Court of Appeal has found that, for the purposes of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (SoP Act), a deeming clause providing that a notice given after 5pm is to be treated as having been given and received at 9am on the next business day, does not extend the statutory time period for service of a payment schedule.
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