The government has pledged £500,000 of funding to help facilitate agreements that will allow UK professionals to qualify more easily to provide services in foreign countries.
UK-qualified professionals, such as architects, lawyers or accountants, are often not qualified by their UK qualification to practise abroad. Therefore, anyone wishing to do so usually has to obtain further professional qualifications in foreign countries, which is slow and expensive.
UK regulators and professional bodies will be able to apply for grants of up to £75,000, for each year that the grant is available, to enable them to make deals with their counterparts in other countries that allow for mutual recognition of qualifications.
It is hoped that this funding will make it easier for businesses and professionals to export their services worldwide, reduce trade barriers and open access to new markets.
The Recognition Arrangements Grant will be available until 31 March 2025.
See: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-pledges-500000-to-boost-british-services-exports
HMRC have proposed a new criminal offence for making reckless, untrue statements or declarations about what's known as 'direct taxes' - Income Tax, National Insurance and the like. For Customs and Excise and VAT ('indirect taxes'), it is already possible to prosecute individuals who make untrue statements or submit incorrect documents either knowingly or recklessly, without the need to prove dishonesty. The penalties for such offences can be severe, including substantial fines and imprisonment. The direct tax regime does not currently contain an equivalent offence.
A new Freedom of Information (FOI) request has discovered that health and safety violations cost British employers over £44 million per year. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that serious breaches have resulted in an increasing number of prosecutions between 2023 and 2025.
35 Wilkinson Street
Sheffield
S10 2GB
.png)
.jpg){kind=icon}
