Lisa Inzani, specialising in Licensing, commented; “With the changes to the licensing act taking place a full understanding of how this will affect a licensed business is required. In the case of the changes to TENs, the times limits may have been relaxed but the procedures must still be adhered to in the correct way. In the case of the payment of the annual licence fee, new powers will allow licensing authorities to suspend a license in the case of non-payment.”

“At Bevan Kidwell we aim to support our clients in providing help and advice to ensure that any effect in changes to the licensing laws are minimised from the outset.”

Changes to the Temporary Event Notice (TEN) procedure

Under the previous regime, only Police could object to a TEN on the grounds of the crime and disorder objective. Under the new legislation both the Police and Environmental Health will be able to object to a TEN under any of the four licensing objectives.

Where an objection is received in relation to a TEN, conditions may be applied to the event if the Licensing Authority considers it appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives to do so. This can be done if those conditions are already present on the premises licence and are consistent with the carrying out of the licensable activities pursuant to the TEN.

Time limits relating to the submission of TENs will be relaxed. As well the ‘standard’ TEN, which must be served on the Licensing Authority and Responsible Authorities 10 working days before the first day of the event, there will now also be a ‘late’ TEN. The late TEN may be submitted between 5 and 9 working days before the first day of the event. However, if objections are received the event will not be permitted to go ahead and there will not be any right of appeal against this decision.

The permitted duration of activities will also be increased. A single event will be permitted to run for a maximum of 168 hours (7 days), and the maximum number of days a single premises may be used for events over a calendar year will be increased to 21 (currently 15). Other restrictions relating to TENs, such as the number of events that may be permitted in a calendar year, remain unchanged.

Suspension of the Premises Licence for non payment of fees.

Under the new regulations, Licensing Authorities will have the power to suspend a premises licence for non-payment of the annual licence fee.

The new regulations do not act retrospectively and a Licensing Authority can only suspend a licence for non payment of an annual fee which became due on or after 25^th April 2012  The Licensing Authority can only suspend the Premises Licence if the fee is not in dispute or requested as a result of an administrative error.

There will be a 21 day grace period in which disputes or errors can be rectified. However, if the dispute is not resolved during the 21 day period of grace, the Licensing Authority MUST suspend the premises licence if payment is not received.

In the event of a non payment, the Licensing Authority must send a suspension notice after non payment. When a Local Authority sends a suspension notice, that notice must contain the date that the suspension will take effect, and that date has to be at least two working days after the date that the notice is given.

The Premises Licence will remain suspended until payment is made.

If you would like any further information on this or any other Licensing advice, please contact Lisa Inzani or Kevin Jackaman on 020 7843 1820,  bevankidwell@themailingroom.com or visit www.bevankidwell.com

Legislation in force from April 2012

Unfair Dismissal

Following recent Government proposals, the qualifying period for claiming unfair  dismissal claim has been extended from one year to two years.

The two year qualifying period will only apply to those employees who started a new job on or after 6th April 2012. Employees whose employment started before 6th April 2012 will remain subject to the one-year qualifying period.  The same legislation has also increased the qualifying period for entitlement to written reasons for dismissal from one
year to two years.

Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009

The Apprenticeships (Form of Apprenticeship Agreement) Regulations 2012 came into force on 6^th April 2012. The regulations prescribe the form that must be used to enter into an apprenticeship agreement.  However, the regulations do not provide particular wording to be used in an apprenticeship agreement but state that apprenticeship agreements must contain the basic terms of employment required to be given to employees under  employment legislation. This can be in the form of a written statement of particulars of employment, a written contract of employment or a letter of engagement. The agreement also has to include a statement of the skill, trade or occupation for which the apprentice is being trained under the relevant apprenticeship framework.

Current rates

Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Adoption Pay and Maternity Allowance has increased to £135.45 per week, and Statutory Sick Pay is now £85.85 a week.

Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (Tribunal Composition) Order 2012

From 6th April 2012 an employment judge hearing unfair dismissal claims will be sitting alone without lay members, unless the judge orders otherwise.

Proposed legislation and consultations

Sunday Trading (London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) Bill

The Sunday Trading (London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) Bill intends to suspend restrictions on Sunday trading hours for shops with a floor area of more than 280 square metres.  The suspensions will be valid for eight weeks from 22nd July to the end of the Paralympic Games on 9th September.  However, the Bill does not remove the
restrictions on loading and unloading at large shops on Sunday mornings. It also does not amend the legislation which gives specific rights to shop and betting workers to refuse to work on Sundays.

BIS invites views on dealing with dismissal and “compensated no-fault dismissal” for micro businesses

Until 8th June 2012, BIS is seeking your views on two measures to address concerns that dismissal procedures can be too onerous, particularly for smaller businesses:

Dismissal processes. Views are sought on whether the Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures (the “Code”) could be made easier to use by smaller businesses. Instead of the Code, BIS propose to implement the Australian Small Business Fair Dismissal Code that might be successfully applied in the UK.

Compensated no-fault dismissals for micro businesses (with fewer than ten staff). If implemented, compensation for a no-fault dismissal would prevent an employee from bringing an unfair dismissal claim.  However, other types of claim arising out of an employee’s dismissal would not be covered.

We hope that you found this update useful.  If you require legal advice in relation to employment law issues, please contact Irina Bernstein of Bevan Kidwell on 020 7843 1820 or send your email to irina@bevankidwell.com

Bevan Kidwell is a corporate member of Russians in the City.  Bevan Kidwell’s Irina Bernstein has been a member of Russians in the City since 2005.  Among other languages Irina is fluent in Russian and Ukrainian.  For more information on the type of work that Irina does, please see Irina’s page on this site.

• Celebrating women’s achievement;
• Challenging discrimination and lobbying for change;
• Sharing professional contacts, advice and expertise; and
• Offering mentoring opportunities to the next generation.

WiF were featured in a recent BBC documentary and have just launched their new website at www.womeninfootball.co.uk.  Jean Bevan who is head of corporate and commercial law at Bevan Kidwell LLP is one of the committee members of Women in Football.  Jean advises on all kinds of commercial contracts including specifically in the football arena.

Initially, a key area to understand is when a payment becomes late. This may seem relatively straightforward to determine; however, there are various ways which payment terms can be set out. A business should make their customers fully aware of their terms of business (or terms & conditions) as this will form the basis of any contract for services, and will include payment terms and the date by when invoices should be paid. By ensuring there are clear contractual terms covering payment, debt recovery will be easier later on.

When confronted by a late payment, client or customer knowledge is essential in terms of both acting swiftly when sums become overdue, and in respect of the client or customers’ financial situation.  It is advisable to pick up the phone and make contact at an early stage, as this can often resolve the problem. Where the problem is a matter of cash flow, it helps to take a flexible approach.  It is also worth considering giving the client or customer additional time to pay or possibly agreeing revised payment terms or instalment plans.
Always set these out in writing afterwards.

If payment still has not been made or agreement cannot be reached on revised terms, then it will be necessary to consider further action.  The first and most important point to consider is whether the client or customer is able to pay or whether they are simply trying to avoid payment.  It is then important to ascertain whether they have assets to satisfy any future judgment obtained.  It is advisable to carry out Land Registry searches, Credit searches or County Court Judgments searches to see if further action is worthwhile.  It is also prudent to take a commercial view as to how far the matter should be pursued in view of the costs that would be incurred.

If further action is deemed to beworthwhile, there are two main courses of action that can be followed either through insolvency or court proceedings.

Nick Hatchett, Head of Bevan Kidwell’s Litigation Department commented; “With the changes in the economic landscape over the last four years making cash flow more difficult, the number of businesses who have issues with debt recovery has increased exponentially. Debt can cause a huge strain on even a successful business and therefore, the management of late or missed payment has become even more important.”

“At Bevan Kidwell we aim to support our clients in providing help, advice and where required litigation, to ensure that any debt is either minimised from the outset, our recovered quickly from any debtors”

If you would like any further information on Bevan Kidwell or the debt recovery advice they can provide please contact Nick Hatchett or Kevin Jackaman on 020 7843 1820, bk@bevankidwell.com or visit www.bevankidwell.com

Bevan Kidwell has expertise in the areas of company commercial and corporate, commercial property and conveyancing, commercial litigation, employment, insolvency, intellectual property and licensing.

Contact for Editors: Andrew Parmenter, Marketing Manager
on Andrew.parmenter@themailingroom.com or call 0161 797 7778

With the end of the year approaching, Bevan Kidwell highlights the key employment law changes of 2011 and predicts what is to come in 2012.

Click here for Employment Law Update