Where a claimant's claim is struck out, depending on the circumstances of the case, they may be able to: • apply to set aside the strike out order • apply for relief from sanction • seek to bring new/second proceedings—issues to be aware of in this regard include: ◦ whether the limitation period has expired ◦ whether such proceedings could constitute an

Inheritance tax (IHT) is charged in accordance with the provisions of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (IHTA 1984). According to IHTA 1984, ss 1–3 IHT is charged on transfers of value which are not exempt transfers. IHTA 1984, Pt II contains details on what constitutes an exempt transfer. As identified in this Q&A, normal expenditure out of income is an exempt transfer. IHTA 1984, s 21 provides for the exemption of normal expenditure out of income provided that the transfer of value: • was made as part of the normal expenditure of the transferor • was made out of his or her income

The payments that an employee is entitled to receive on termination of employment will be determined by statute and the contract of employment. In relation to notice, the written statement of particulars of employment must include the notice of termination that the employee is entitled to receive. The period of statutory minimum notice to be given to employees is: • no minimum in the first month of employment • one week after continuous service between one month and two years • one week for each complete year of continuous service for service between two years and twelve years • 12 weeks after 12 or more years' continuous service If

In conducting our research, we have focussed on information requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FIA 2000). Freedom of information FIA 2000 creates a general right to any person to request access to information held by an authority listed in Schedule 1 to the FIA 2000, provided that the request is valid, the information is held, and the costs do not exceed the relevant threshold. For background information on the freedom of information regime, see: • Practice Note: Introduction to freedom of information • Q&A: How do I make a freedom of information request? • Precedent: Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and • Freedom of information request—flowchart It is important to note that there are specific exemptions to public authorities duties under FIA

This Q&A considers terminating an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) after the end of the fixed term. Given the nature of residential tenancies, there are a number of protections awarded to tenants who occupy a property pursuant to an AST. Owing to this, this Q&A covers the usual notices served to bring an AST to an end. For more information, see Practice Note: Assured and assured shorthold tenancies—terminating. Section 21 notice ASTs can be brought to an end by serving notice pursuant to section 21 or section 8 of the Housing Act 1988. A section 21 notice must give no less than two months’ notice to end the tenancy. The most straightforward procedure for serving a notice terminating a fixed term, or statutory periodic AST (ie an AST which continues after expiry of the fixed term) is under HA 1988, s 21(1)(b) (see the case of Spencer v

An easement may arise by a number of means: express grant, by necessity (where, for example, a vendor sells land to a purchaser which would otherwise be inaccessible as a result of being surrounded by land which he retains) or by prescription. It is with that last method of acquisition that this question is concerned. See Practice Note: Easements—nature and characteristics. After use for a certain time, the law presumes there to have been a grant. There are three methods of calculating time: two at common law and one under the Prescription Act 1832 (PA 1832). Before considering the periods of time, it is useful to set out the types of activity which must be shown to have existed. Unless and until they have occurred, there can be no question of time starting to run. The user must be what is often described as nec vi, nec clam, nec precario, that is to say:

The Family Courts have the power by Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, 4.4 to strike out a statement of case (which includes a divorce petition) on various grounds, including that it amounts to an abuse of process. Delay can, in certain circumstances, be abusive. It is sometimes the case that a divorce petition is issued, acknowledged, but no application is made for decree nisi. This leaves the parties in a state of limbo and the court in a position where a petition is live but is not being proceeded with. Given that FPR 2010, SI 2010/2955 make no provision in respect of the timing for the service of a petition or for application for decree nisi, this situation could persist indefinitely. In Icebird

This Q&A refers to a large above ground container in which gas is stored. Permits and consents to store gas Hazardous substances consent Owners and operators wishing to hold stocks of specified hazardous chemicals and similar substances on, over or under land above a threshold quantity must obtain a hazardous substance consent from the relevant hazardous substances authority. Hazardous substances consents are regulated by the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990 and in England by the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2015 (PHSR 2015), SI 2015/627. The hazardous substances subject to control are set out in PHSR 2015, SI 2015/627, Sch 1 and include natural gas. Consent is required if the specified substance is stored or used at or above the specified controlled quantity set out in PHSR 2015, SI 2015/627, Sch 1. See Practice Notes: Hazardous substance zones and consent and Hazardous substances and planning for more detail around hazardous substance consents. Other planning requirements It is important to note that where development associated with the storage

It is assumed that the group life master trust is not a part of a pension scheme. If the creation of the master trust and discretionary trust both took place on or after 6 April 2010, the date on which the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 2009 (PAA 2009) came into force, PAA 2009 will determine the perpetuity period applicable to the death benefit while it is held within the discretionary trust. The key provisions of PAA 2009 are sections 1 and 6, which are reproduced below: (1) Application of the rule ‘(1) The rule against perpetuities applies (and applies only) as provided by this section. (2) If an instrument limits property in trust so as to create successive estates or interests the rule applies to each of the estates or interests. (3) If an instrument limits property in trust so as to create an estate

Background Safeguarded wharves are wharves located in the London boroughs that are protected through formal safeguarding directions and planning policy from redevelopment for nonport uses. Safeguarding policy is the responsibility of the Mayor of London (MoL), in consultation with the Port of London Authority and the riparian local planning authorities (LPAs). The MoL has undertaken to review safeguarding directions approximately every five years, although the power to cancel existing and issue new safeguarding directions rests with the Secretary of State. In 1997, 28 wharves along the River Thames were first safeguarded. In January 2005, the MoL published the London Plan Implementation Report—Safeguarded Wharves on the River Thames (SWIR). This reported on the outcome of a review of the suitability of maintaining the safeguarding of the original 28 wharves and the potential for safeguarding additional sites. This review found that: • of the existing 28 safeguarded wharves, three were no longer viable for cargo-handling, resulting in their de-designation as safeguarded wharves • out of a total of 45 proposed new wharves, only 25 should

You have asked: What planning enforcement action may be taken against a shipping container placed in a residential garden? Could a notice under section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990), or an enforcement notice under section 172, be used for this purpose? The Council can, in certain circumstances, enforce against a shipping container placed in a residential garden. The Council has a discretion to enforce against a breach of planning control under section 172 of the TCPA 1990 if it considers it expedient to do so. A breach of planning control is defined as development without planning permission or a breach of a condition attached to an existing planning permission. ‘Development’ is defined as operational development which includes the erection of buildings and a material change of use. The placing of a container,

What post-trade transparency requirements apply to UK systematic internalisers? Article 20 of Assimilated Regulation (EU) 600/2014 (UK MiFIR) requires systematic internalisers (SIs) that conclude transactions in equity instruments traded on any trading venue to publish the volume and price of those transactions and the time they were concluded, regardless of whether those transactions take place on a trading venue or over-the-counter (OTC). SIs must publish the same post-trade information as trading venues, and may be able to defer publication on the same basis as trading venues. SIs are required to publish transactions as close to real