Clarke and Son News

Depending on where you live, you may be liable to contribute to the repair costs for your local church’s chancel. This type of liability has existed unchanged since the Reformation. The Law Society is calling for the abolition of chancel repair liability and its replacement with a more sensible system for funding the maintenance of historic buildings. The chancel repair liability system is unsatisfactory for a number of reasons:

• It is uncertain and capricious because it’s often very difficult to ascertain the existence or extent of the liability.
• It is increasing the cost of conveyancing.
• It is discriminatory, benefiting only churches of one denomination.

The liability was highlighted quite recently by the case of Aston Cantlow and Wilmcote with Billesley Parochial Church Council v Wallbank. The House of Lords, reversing the Court of Appeal’s decision, held that enforcing the liability did not contravene the Human Rights Act.

This case has drawn attention to the potential liability in a disproportionate way and this in turn has distorted the market for searches and insurance products. Some of these products do not provide the solution that practitioners and their clients seek.

In 1982 the General Synod of the Church of England resolved that chancel repair liability be phased out over 20 years, and in 1985 the Law Commission recommended that it be abolished. The Law Society has made a powerful submission to the Government, calling for abolition accompanied by appropriate financial contributions to historic churches.

Paul Cowdery, Head of the Property Department at Clarke & Son, comments:

“The issue of chancel repair liability is causing great practical difficulties in day to day conveyancing.  We must now carry out an extra search as a matter of routine and whilst the cost of this search is modest it results in a significant number of cases in the need to set up insurance cover to provide some protection against this liability.  As the law stands this is an approach we will have to take up to 2013 by which time the Church must formally register its right to seek a chancel contribution failing which the liability will fall.  As a firm we support the Law Society’s stance and any effort to remove the uncertainty caused at a much earlier date.”

This article has been adapted from a Law Society Circular from November 2006.

Business owners are being urged to prepare for new legal rights which give employees the right to request flexible working if they care for a sick or disabled relative, reports the Retail Bulletin.

Employers need to be aware that the Government has given a definition of what a carer is, to clarify who has the right to request flexible working in the Work and Families Act. The new right will be extended
to an estimated 2.6m carers from 6 April 2007.

Employees with young children already legally have the right to request flexible working and under the Work and Families Act, business owners should audit their staff to ensure they are aware of who will be requesting flexible working.

If you are an employer and need to know how this could affect you, please contact our Employment Law Specialist.

Employees that drive for a living could be putting themselves and others at risk as companies fail to provide eyesight tests or demand they are carried out regularly, reports Personnel Today.

Almost one in five company drivers have not been tested for more than five years, according to a study of 1,276 workers by optician chain Specsavers.

This is despite 98% believing accidents can be caused by poor eyesight.

Know Your Legal Rights as an Employer and Employee.

Immigration lawyers representing major UK employers have written to immigration minister Liam Byrne expressing serious concerns about changes to the government’s Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP).

The Immigration Law Practitioners Association said it was considering calling for a judicial review of this month’s Home Office decision as they argue that the revised standards could limit recruitment opportunities
for UK businesses at a time when skills shortages are rife.

The new HSMP criteria include a mandatory English language test and an earnings and age assessment. Highly skilled migrant workers without a degree from an accredited English-speaking university will also be automatically excluded.

From Personnel Today

The trial for Home Information Packs (HIPs) is coming to Basingstoke and Reading in January 2007.

HIPs are expected to become a compulsory part of the home-buying process from June next year with the seller conducting any
searches. The Home Information Pack trials are the first step in testing the new process of selling a home follow and the trials in Basingstoke follow trials around the country in various locations.

The HIPs for England and Wales shift the emphasis from the buyer to the seller to collate information about a property before it is sold, reducing the number of house sales that ‘fall-through’.

If you are concerned about the impact of Home Information Packs, or are thinking of moving and need legal advice, why not visit the Moving Home section of our website or contact one of our team in Conveyancing.

Laws to punish companies whose negligence kills employees or customers are set to be introduced - after being included in the Queen’s Speech yesterday.

Under the law, liability will not hinge on one person at the top of the firm.

Current law only allows a company to be convicted of corporate manslaughter if there is enough evidence to find a single senior person guilty.

The new manslaughter offence would apply to corporations, including public bodies, and introduce unlimited fines if it were found that a death followed a serious failing by senior managers in the organisation of the corporation. However, individual directors would not be personally liable.

Source: BBC

A big welcome to Julie Mehrabian, who recently joined Clarke & Son as Trainee Solicitor and is currently working as part of the family law team.

You can find out more about Julie’s career so far on the Our People section of the website.

With the announcement today of a Record High in Recruitment Industry Turnover buoying Strong Growth in UK Economy, it’s worth remembering the importance of employment contracts.

Gordon Cullen, Director of Ernst and Young, said:

"The age discrimination rules which came in during
October also provide a fantastic opportunity to the UK recruitment
industry. We are now seeing a shift in the UK population as the over
50s are set to grow disproportionately to the rest of the population.

"Coupled with the fact that people are living longer
and pensions continue to provide disappointing returns, there is a huge
number of people out there who want to work and can be retrained to
fill the vacancies that companies struggle to fill."

Trials begin today in parts of the country (Bath, Newcastle, Southampton, Northampton, Huddersfield and Cambridge) to test the Government’s new Home Information Packs (HIPs), aimed at reducing the number of collapsed house sales.

The packs, which will become mandatory from June 2007, provide potential home-buyers with up-front information and an energy efficiency report and are aimed at streamlining the home-buying process and cutting the number of sales that ‘fall through’.

The Government has set aside £4 million to be used during the "dry runs", to encourage sellers to take up voluntary packs.

Splinta, a campaign group opposing the introduction of HIPs, has questioned the objectivity and validity of the planned trials, despite Government assurances that they are necessary and will be independently assessed.

Ref. 24dash.com

An property investment firm account executive has won a claim for sexual harassment against her "serial sex pest" boss, reports Personnel today.

Josephine Chi said the managing director, Anthony Baker, had bombarded her with obscene text messages and e-mails and groped her at an office party.

A London employment tribunal heard that Baker had fondled and kissed Chi at a
work party and sent her an e-mail saying: "Someone has the hots for you," the Times reports.

The tribunal ruled Baker’s attention as "unwanted" and that Chi, had felt intimidated by his behaviour.

Anthony Baker had already been accused of alleged sexual harassment by another female employee and had been warned by police in the past.

The tribunal is due to decide the amount of compensation that Chi will be awarded as Baker claimed that his texts and e-mails were just "light-hearted banter".

Know Your Employeers Obligations and Employee Rights