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The Government has amended company law in an attempt to increase the number of firms offering direct employee ownership schemes. UK employee owned companies have a turnover of £30bn a year and employ more than 130,000 people. Ministers say these firms are more productive, profitable and more resilient to economic shocks than other businesses. The
A new code designed to prevent local authorities making unnecessary health and safety checks on low risk businesses came into effect on 29 May. The Health and Safety Executive’s statutory National Enforcement Code for local authorities will instead shift the emphasis to a more targeted approach. Councils will now be required to concentrate on higher
Employment minister Jo Swinson has referred 100 companies to HM Revenue & Customs for allegedly breaching minimum wage regulations by employing unpaid interns. Internships, which encourage young people to work for nothing to gain experience, have become more common in recent years but they remain controversial. Ms Swinson was given the names of the 100
A woman who divorced her husband when they both had no money has failed in her bid to share in the fortune he earned after the marriage ended. Dale Vince and Kathleen Julie Wyatt separated in 1984 when they were both in their early 20s. They divorced in 1992. Mr Vince was penniless at the
The number of tenants buying their council homes under the Government discount scheme, Right to Buy, has more than doubled over the last year. Right to Buy offers eligible tenants discounts of up to £100,000 in London and up to £75,000 in other areas. The latest figures show that the number of homes sold between
A father has won an appeal against a court order that rejected the recommendations of childcare experts and reduced his contact with his children. The local authority and child welfare officers recommended that the father should be allowed contact once every three weeks. This should begin immediately with his two younger children and then three
A bus driver has been awarded nearly £60,000 compensation after an employment tribunal found that he was unlawfully dismissed when he developed diabetes. David Hoggett had worked at Abellio London Ltd for eight years. In April 2012, he was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and took several months off work as he responded to his
The money that goes to the Treasury from people who don’t make a will has nearly doubled in the space of just a year. The Times newspaper has published research carried out by lawyers which shows that £38.5m flowed into the Treasury coffers last year from the estates of people who died without a will
There has been a large increase in the number of children abducted by their parents and taken to or from the UK following the breakdown of relationships. Figures released in the annual report by the Office for International Family Justice for England and Wales show that there were only three such cases in 2007. The
A neighbour dispute over relatively trivial matters has led to financial disaster for one side and divorce for the other. The judge described it as a “sad and regrettable dispute” and urged the warring parties to make peace. The case involved a teacher and a photographer who made a series of complaints about each other’s