Welcome to Find Me A Solicitor: The Legal Brief! Find Me A Solicitor’s monthly round-up of key legal developments from across the UK. Each edition brings together the most important changes in law, policy and regulation from the past month, offering clear insight into how they may affect individuals, businesses and legal professionals alike. As the legal landscape continues to evolve, Find Me A Solicitor remains committed to helping people navigate complex legal issues by connecting them with trusted solicitors across England and Wales, ensuring the right advice is always within reach.
Data Protection Reforms: What Companies Need to Know
June 2026 brought several key reforms in the realm of data protection and digital marketing. There are important changes for all companies, charities, and institutions who handle data during their work.
One of the biggest changes implemented by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 concerns complaints procedures. From 19th June 2026 onwards, any institution that handles data is required to have a clearly labelled data complaints procedure. This could be an online form, email, or way to complain in person. The key consideration is that customers and data subjects should be able to clearly identify how they can make a complaint. When businesses receive complaints, they are required to acknowledge receipt of them within thirty days and to provide a full response without undue delay. If you handle data and do not already have a clearly signposted process in place, you should therefore act quickly to ensure you comply with new regulations.
The new act also reforms the Subject Access Request (SAR) regulations. SARs allow data subjects to formally request the information organisations are storing about them. Organisations are generally required to respond within a month. However, the new rules allow the usual deadline to be paused if further clarification is required from the data subject.
The new rules will also modify the current regulations, governing how website cookies are processed and when user consent is necessary. While consent via a cookie banner or pop-up will still be required in many cases, the new Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 provides businesses a greater degree of flexibility. Amongst other reforms, businesses and institutions may no longer need consent if their website does not track users and collects cookies for the sole purpose of improving its own services. Likewise, organisations may sometimes be able to process cookies without permission if their website collects cookies for aesthetic customisation only. For example, to change the website’s appearance or the language, without modifying any actual content or the kinds of advertisements that appear.
If you handle or store data and are unsure how the new reforms will impact you, Find Me A Solicitor can connect you with a data protection specialist today.
Employment Law Reforms Coming Into Effect – Employers Should Prepare
The new Employment Rights Act 2025 will come into force in waves implemented gradually throughout 2026 and 2027. The first phase of reforms has already taken effect, as of April 2026, with the next stage of enforcement scheduled for October 2026.
The new stage of reforms are projected to include, amongst others, an obligation on employers to prevent sexual harassment within the workplace, an obligation to inform workers of their right to trade union membership, stricter tip regulations, and new employer liability for harassment by third parties. While the commencement regulations have yet to be released, Employers are advised to prepare in advance and review their current policies. It may be wise to seek early employment law advice to ensure systems remain compliant.
At the end of May 2026, the Government also released commencement regulations relating to the reforms taking effect from 1st January 2027 which will expand current unfair dismissal regulations. It has been confirmed that the requirement to have been working for two years will be reduced to just six months. The current 52-week-gross-pay cap on compensation for unfair dismissal cases will also be removed, meaning that employers could face much higher financial repercussions. Now may be an important time for businesses to review their hiring practices to ensure that candidates are well-selected, ahead of the upcoming changes.
The 1st January reforms will also crackdown on infamous ‘fire and rehire’ practices, in which companies dismiss employees only to reengage them on less favourable terms. This kind of arrangement will now be encompassed within the remit of unfair dismissal, with potentially severe consequences for employers. Businesses should ensure they understand the potential repercussions in this kind of situation.
If you are an employer looking to understand your upcoming obligations and prepare in advance, Find Me A Solicitor can help connect you with an experienced employment solicitor today.
Court Fees are Rising: What You Need to Know
The Government is currently in the process of raising many court and tribunal fees, with the changes taking place on 13th July 2026. The increased charges are designed to bring court costs in line with current inflation rates, and to compensate for the costs of an improved service.
However, there are a few outlying fees which are set for a much more significant increase. 27 fees will be increasing significantly at an average of 34%, while the cost of filing a probate application remains a notable outlier, increasing by a drastic 75% for those filing on or after 13th July 2026, with the current £300 application cost set to increase to £526.
The new costs have been heavily criticised by probate solicitors, and are projected to cause a significant influx of probate applications in the short period from now until 13th July.
If you are unsure of where to start with a probate application, Find Me A Solicitor can help connect you with a probate solicitor today.
Government Releases New Refugee Sponsorship Proposal
On 28th June 2026, the Government proposed new plans for asylum and immigration law. The new proposals aim to establish a refugee sponsorship scheme, whereby refugees can travel to the UK, if sponsored by an approved institution, like a community group or university. The Government also plans to later implement a refugee work sponsorship route, whereby employers can privately sponsor selected candidates.
Under the proposed scheme, sponsors would be required to accept a certain level of responsibility for individuals, including supporting them with accommodation, employment opportunities, and social integration.
The Government has indicated that the new proposals are scheduled for phased implementation, with the first applications for university refugee sponsorship projected to open later this year, while the work sponsorship route is currently projected for implementation in autumn 2026. If you are hoping to seek asylum in the UK and are hoping to understand how the new sponsorship scheme could impact you, Find Me A Solicitor can help.
As part of their new plans for immigration and asylum, the Government also proposes to implement stricter provisions regarding the meaning of private and family life in relation to migration. With more details to be released, there may be important implications for you if you are considering a family visa, or the private life route to settlement. You may wish to seek early advice if you have an ongoing asylum claim or issue.
Find Me A Solicitor can help connect you with an immigration solicitor today.
House of Lords Releases a New Report on Citizenship and Settlement
On 23rd June 2026, The House of Lords’ Justice and Home Affairs Committee released a new report ‘Settlement, Citizenship and Integration’, which examines the Government’s proposed immigration reforms.
One of the main Government proposals that has come under scrutiny is the prospect of doubling the qualifying residence period for Indefinite Leave to Remain, so that it increases from five years’ continuous residence to ten. The Government also proposes raising the qualifying period to 15 years for some workers and 20 years for refugees under the core protection immigration route. The Committee raised significant concerns that the proposal would create unfair financial issues for many migrants and make it difficult for them to make long-term work and family life decisions.
The Committee was also broadly critical of implementing prospective reforms on a retroactive basis, so that changes to settlement periods also affect migrants currently living in the UK. The overall consensus regarded this as unfair and a significant impediment to migrants who have already established lives in the UK on the basis of one day applying under the current settlement and citizenship rules.
The Committee has also issued warnings about the financial viability of the route to citizenship under the Government’s proposed reforms. While not a binding authority, the report may be influential; it’s possible that the Government will reevaluate its proposals in light of the Committee’s suggestions.
If you are currently seeking settlement or citizenship and are concerned about how the government’s new proposals might impact you, Find Me A Solicitor can help connect you with an experienced immigration solicitor today.
Summary
Throughout June 2026, there have been several notable developments in the realms of data protection, employment law, and immigration, as well as broader logistical changes to court fees.
Whether you are an employer concerned about how the upcoming changes will impact you, a migrant looking to understand your rights, or a business working to implement the new data protection procedures, Find Me A Solicitor can help.
You can schedule a free consultation with one of our legal assistants to help connect you with a specialist solicitor who can help you take action early.
Written and researched by Kristin Poole