The new coalition government has announced that the requirement to have a Home Information Pack was suspended with effect from midnight on 20 May.

The obligation to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will remain as it is a requirement of EU law, but it will only be necessary to have commissioned an EPC to be prepared before marketing a property rather than to actually be in possession of one.

If you are selling your property please contact us to order your EPC.

Unfair dismissal - basic award £11,400

Compensatory award - £65,300

Redundancy pay - £11,400

Discrimination - no limit

There is no limit to the compensatory award for dismissal for Health & Safety reasons or whistleblowing.

From 6th April 2010 "sick notes" will disappear and will be replaced by "fit notes".  These will be issued by doctors in the UK.  Doctors can note that employees are "not fit for work" or have a new option of "may be fit for work taking into account the following advice".  Suggestions may include phased return to work, altered hours, amended duties or adaptation within the workplace.

Further information is available from us, the business link website, the DWP website or the ACAS website.

A Health & Welfare LPA gives your Attorney(s) the power, amongst other things, to make decisions about where you should live; your next of kin do not automatically have this power.

In April 2009. the case of Betty Figg (aged 86) was in the news.  Her daughter had removed her from a care home due to concerns about the standard of care that she was receiving.  Sadly, only two days later Mrs Figg was forcibly removed from her daughter's home in Coventry by social workers and the police, who were armed with a battering ram and a warrant under the Mental Health Act.  Mrs Figg was returned to the care home. 

If a registered Health & Welfare LPA had been in place then Mrs Figg's daughter would have had the power to decide where her mother should live, thereby preventing Social Services from making this decision for her.

By planning ahead and making a Health & Welfare LPA, you can ensure that if you lose mental capacity, decisions relating to your health and welfare will be made by someone you know and trust.  For more information about LPAs, please contact us.

From 1st January 2010 the rate of VAT will revert to 17.5% for any sales of standard-rated goods or services that take place on or after that date.

For further information on how this change will affect you visit the HM Revenue and Customs website using the link below:-

www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/forms-rates/rates/rate-changes.htm