Tuesday July 27, 2010 at 1:08pm
Earlier this month the Morning Advertiser ran a story about the Derby police chief wanting a temporary ban on new licences in the city. It immediately struck me that the Chief Superintendant either did not know his
licensing law or he was making a point to provoke a change to the existing law. So what is the law?
Quite simply the licensing authorities have no power whatsoever to impose a blanket ban on the grant of new Premises Licecenses to sell alcohol. The Licensing Act clearly states that e....
(read more...)Tuesday July 20, 2010 at 9:00am
The Emergency Budget showed that the government are seriously committed to reducing the budget deficit, primarily through public sector cuts and an increase in VAT. Predictably the politicians have since been arguing about whether this is too much too soon (with the risk of a double-dip recession) or exactly what was needed due to the frightening increase in the deficit. Whilst all this argument makes good headlines for the politicians, the truth is that no one can say for sure how the economy w....
(read more...)Monday July 19, 2010 at 3:36pm
It seems strange that Military ID may not be accepted as poof of age when buying alcohol. You may think that Military ID is the most secure form of ID. But for a long time the acceptable forms of ID have been a Passport, European Driving Licence (with photo), and a PASS accredited card.
All the training and literature and signage has been geared to these forms of ID. And many Premises Licences will have conditions endorsed on them insisting on specific accepatble forms of ID, and Military ID i....
(read more...)Tuesday July 13, 2010 at 2:31pm
The new government is moving ahead rapidly with consultations in a number of areas effecting the licensed trade. It is rumoured that the fast track review of the licensing laws will result in measures being introduced in parliament in the autumn.
And let us not forget the promise to get rid of red tape where possible. The Your Freedom initiative is gathering suggestions via its website www.yourfreedom.hmg.gov.uk So now is the time to put forward suggestions. My pet hate is the Designated ....
(read more...)Monday July 5, 2010 at 9:51am
You may remember the flurry of activity by the last government during the last few months of 2009 to introduce electronic licensing via the web. It was all done in a rush to avoid breach of EC legislation. I said at the time that it was a pig's ear, was full of flaws and uncertainties, and that Licensing Authorities would not be geared up either then or in the near future to deliver the promised package.
Six months on and nothing has changed. The system should allow licensing applications such ....
(read more...)Friday July 2, 2010 at 10:04am
The temporary increase in small business rate relief has been confirmed by the new government. The increase will apply for 12 months from 1 October 2010 and means that eligible businesses occupying premises with a rateable value of £6,000 or less will pay no business rates for that period. For properties with a rateable value of between £12,000 and £6,000 there will be relief on a sliding scale from 100% to zero. For more information on how this will affect your business rates ....
(read more...)Thursday July 1, 2010 at 7:58am
I have blogged before about the coalition government's promise to remove excessive red tape and to allow businesses to nominate their most hated business laws.Well, at last our chance is here. The government has now launched its Your Freedom website where we can tell it what regulations we want to see removed.They promise to listen. Now let's see how good they are at acting.Gary CousinsBusiness Solicitor
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(read more...)Wednesday June 30, 2010 at 4:46pm
When entering into a lease of business premises the landlord may require the tenant to provide a rent deposit. This is a sum of money equivalent to, for example, 6 months’ rent. A rent deposit gives the landlord some security in the event that the tenant fails to pay the rent on time or does not comply with its other obligations in the lease. In these circumstances the landlord can deduct sums from the deposit to cover the arrears of rent. It is crucial from the point of view of the tenant....
(read more...)Monday June 21, 2010 at 3:29pm
Back in March I blogged on the new mandatory conditions which came into force on 6 April. One of these conditions was a ban on irresponsible promotions.
But remember the overiding requirement with the irresponsible promotions condition, that even if a promotion falls into one of the listed categories (see my earlier blog) or a similar category, to be in breach of the condition the offending promotion must be designed to encourage the sale or supply of alcohol and in a manner which carries ....
(read more...)Wednesday June 16, 2010 at 6:59pm
According to a recent Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) survey, although the level of small business satisfaction with high street banks remains low overall, one of the most important things firms looked for in a bank was a good working relationship with their business manager. There was a strong correlation between the number of business managers a firm dealt with in a 2-year period and the level of dissatisfaction reported. Firms that had the same manager for 2 years had a dissatisfaction l....
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