One of the requirements that an employee must satisfy in order to qualify for receipt from his employer of a statutory redundancy payment if he or she is dismissed by reason of redundancy is that the employee has been continuously employed for not less than two years. This Q&A examines whether that two-year period may include any period of employment that occurred before the employee's 16th birthday. In the context of entitlement

This question has been answered under the law of England and Wales. To be displayed lawfully, advertisements must: • benefit from deemed consent • benefit from the express consent of the local planning authority (LPA), or • be permitted without requiring either deemed or express consent from the LPA, ie they are excluded from direct control Pursuant to section 224(3) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA

It is assumed for the purposes of this response that the question relates to a property, the use of which was changed to residential use, in purported reliance on the permitted development right in Class G of of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 (GPDO), SI 2015/596, Sch 2 Pt 3. Class G of of GPDO, SI 2015/596, Sch 2 Pt 3 permits development consisting of a change of use of a building to various commercial, business and service uses to mixed use including up to two flats. This permitted development right is subject

Disclosure and inspection Standard disclosure requires a party to disclose documents including those which adversely affect their case (CPR 31.6(b)(i)). However, the party disclosing the document may have a right or a duty to withhold inspection of it (CPR 31.3(1)(b)). A party who wishes to withhold inspection of a document, or part of a document, must confirm the grounds on which that right is claimed (CPR 31.19(3)). Whether a party can withhold inspection will depend upon a number of factors including the nature of the information and the document in which it is contained. What is privileged information? In English law, special protection is afforded to communications between lawyers (and, in certain circumstances, third parties) and their clients, enabling a client to retain confidentiality in relation to certain communications. This is known as 'legal professional privilege' (LPP) and includes: • legal

Equitable accounting Equitable accounting is the process by which proceeds of the sale of a jointly-owned property are adjusted to, in effect, compensate one joint owner in respect of payments they have made in respect of that property that were properly payable by both owners. As the name suggests, the court is being asked to order equitable relief, and therefore determine what is right and just in the circumstances of the case. Every case will therefore very much depend on its own facts. A considerable amount of the case law concerning equitable accounting relates to circumstances where the co-owners were in a relationship and occupied the property, and where the relationship subsequently breaks down with one of the co-owners leaving

Equitable set-off Equitable set-off arises when two claims are so closely connected that it would be unjust to allow one party to enforce its claim without giving credit for the claim of the other party where that party has been wronged. The features of equitable set-off are that: • there must be an inseparable connection between the claim and the cross-claim, and • it must be manifestly unjust to refuse the set-off Unlike in legal set-off, the claims do not have to be liquidated and a right of equitable set-off can be exercised outside court. Please see our Practice Note: Types of set-off for a more detailed comparison of legal set-off and equitable set off. Limiting rights of set-off Parties may contract out of equitable rights of set-off, but this can only be done by clear and unequivocal words, or a clear implication see: Halsbury's Laws of England, vol 12, para 412. (a) Unequivocal words Lord

The executor's authority to act stems from the date of death, not from the date of issue of a grant of probate. See: Personal representatives—overview. See Q&A: What is the authority for the testator’s real and personal property vesting in the executor from the date of death without any interval of time? The executors can therefore legally exchange contracts for the sale of a property and complete the transfer prior to obtaining a grant of probate, but there are practical issues which may prevent such action. For example, the executors are unable to prove

As an executor is appointed by the Will rather than by the grant of probate, they have the authority, in principle, to take action in relation to the property without probate. Such action could include the transfer of a property to a

Where an asset is disposed of and acquired under a contract, the time of the disposal and acquisition is the time when that contract is made, ie the date contracts are exchanged. It is not the date of the completion of the contract, or time of the conveyance or transfer of the asset (if different). However, if the contract is never completed the disposal never takes place. Note that the deadline for reporting CGT on the disposal of UK residential property does run from completion of the sale. See Practice Note: CGT—choosing the best time for a disposal. In the case of a conditional

A Debt Relief Order (DRO) is a statutory framework which aims to provide a debt remedy for persons with unmanageable, but relatively low, levels of debt, on a low cost basis—cases where bankruptcy would be disproportionate. They are governed by Part 5 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, which inserts Part 7A into the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986). IA 1986, s 251A provides that an individual unable to pay their debts may apply for a DRO in respect of their qualifying debts, being debts for a liquidated sum payable immediately or some certain time in the future, which is not an excluded debt or a secured debt. The application is made to the official receiver through

The funds from a deceased individual’s pension do not usually form part of the estate on death. On that basis, the sum is (on the face of it) neither subject to inheritance tax (IHT) nor available to pay expenses or debts of the estate. By nominating it to pass ‘with the estate’, it appears that the pension trustees intend it to pass to the beneficiaries of the estate, rather than its creditors. If

Structure of local authorities Local authorities are organisations, created by statute as single legal entities. Local Authorities may only act in a way that they are statutorily empowered to act either under the statute by which they are established or in accordance with other legislation that adds to their powers. The decision making structure of the local authority is set out in the Local Government Act 1972 (LGA 1972). A local authority has the power to make decisions as one corporate body of membership or it may delegate its powers, functions and duties to either of the following: • a committee • a sub-committee • an officer • another local authority Legislation also provides for various forms of governance arrangements. For more information of the structure of the local government, see Practice Note: Structure of local government. Each local authority will determine its form of governance and should include, within its constitution,