Dyne Drewett

Cull of badgers to be challenged by trust

David Gard — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:00:43 +0000

The Badger Trust has declared its intention to take a legal challenge against the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (DEFRA) intended cull of badgers. The cull is proposed to halt the spread of Bovine TB. In a letter to DEFRA officials the Trust has outlined the grounds of their challenge. In particular they argue that the cull cannot be proven to halt the spread of the disease and that the cost impact assessment is incorrect.

Farmers would, under the proposals, be given a licence under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 to cull the animals at their own expense. A spokesperson for DEFRA said at the time the proposals were announced “Licences would be subject to strict criteria to ensure that the badger control measures are carried out effectively, humanely, and with high regard to animal welfare. This will include a requirement that any culling must take place over a minimum area of 150km² so we can be confident it will have a net beneficial effect. This means that we would expect to receive licence applications from groups of farmers and landowners rather than individuals.”

Chairperson for the Badger Trust, David Williams, said “our concerns that the culls proposed will actually spread the disease have not been heeded. In the light of this and our concerns over the legality of the decision, we would be failing in our duty to badgers if we did not pursue a legal challenge despite the difficulty and cost risks involved. If there is an opportunity to save many thousands of healthy badgers, as there is here, we must take it on behalf of the many local badger groups and supporters on whose behalf the Badger Trust works. If successful it would also save farmers the expense of a policy which would not benefit them.”

The trust has challenged a similar cull proposal in Wales with a decision being postponed pending a scientific investigation.

Barrister wins sexual orientation discrimination case

David Gard — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:00:19 +0000

A gay barrister has won a discrimination case against his former employers after he was accused of giving work to his “batty boy mate” by a colleague. Lee Bennett joined firm Bivonas in 2007. According to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) he was considered openly gay by his colleagues from at least the middle of 2008.

Mr Bennett recorded a conversation with one colleague in 2009 during which they commented “If your strategy was to hang outside lavatories, if it develops work I would say it was the best strategy in the world.”

The EAT found that Mr Bennett had been employed on the promise of a salary raise if he brought in sufficiently high fees for the practice. Later the following year Mr Bennett discovered an aide memoir or note in which a colleague had stated that he “should be sacked” and “takes our cases to his batty boy mate.” The EAT heard how the term “batty boy” had arisen from a rap song in 2007.

Judge Birtles dismissed the appeal of Mr Bennett’s employers, Bivonas, saying it was “not difficult to see how the tribunal could take the view that a reasonable worker would or might take the view that in all the circumstances the aide memoire was to his detriment.” He went on “while there will clearly be cases where a tribunal must think long and hard about how a reasonable worker would or might respond to particular treatment and while, in such cases, it will clearly be helpful for the tribunal to state the test explicitly in these terms, this is not such a case.”

Hotel owners lose appeal against compensation payment to gay couple

David Gard — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:00:11 +0000

Peter and Hazelmary Bull lost their appeal this week against an order to pay compensation to a gay couple who they refused to allow to stay in a double room in their Cornish B&B. Mr & Mrs Bull argued that their refusal to allow Steven Preddy and Martyn Hall to share a room was within their rights as practicing Christians.

The Court of Appeal has ruled that whilst Mr & Mrs Bull have the right to express their religious beliefs this could not be at the expense of Mr Preddy and Mr Hall’s rights of equality.

The appeal followed a ruling in Bristol County Court last year when Judge Andrew Rutherford ruled that Mr & Mrs Bull had breached equality legislation by refusing to allow Mr Preddy and Mr Hall to share a room. The judge ordered that damages of £3,600 be paid.

During the appeal lawyers acting for Mr and Mrs Bull argued that the couple were not discriminating on the grounds sexuality as they believed that any sex outside of marriage was a ‘sin’ and therefore they had also prevented heterosexual unmarried couples from sharing double rooms since they first opened their business 25 years ago.

This argument was however rejected by the judges at the Court of Appeal who unanimously upheld the decision of Bristol County Court.

Lady Justice Rafferty said: “As I have made plain, I do not consider that the appellants face any difficulty in manifesting their religious beliefs, they are merely prohibited from so doing in the commercial context they have chosen.”

Protesters brave the cold to protest against new anti-piracy legislation

David Gard — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:00:03 +0000

Demonstrators across Europe took the streets this week to protest against the implementation of new EU-wide anti-piracy legislation. In London activists claim hundreds gathered outside the British Music House which is near Oxford Street to make their point.

The protests are in response to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta) which is an international agreement aimed at protecting intellectual property. The agreement has been negotiated between the EU, Australia, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, Singapore and the United States.

In order for the EU to sign up to the agreement all 27 member states must ratify the deal. At present Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have stopped the ratification process and Germany has stated that it need more time to consider the proposals.

There has been considerable criticism of the proposals with the opponents concerned that the legislation could restrict internet freedom and lead to the closure of websites.

Jon Worth a Website designer told Sky News Online that: “It was negotiated in secret without adequate parliamentary scrutiny.

“It is very important that the matter of digital rights is taken more seriously. In a number of European countries it is higher up the agenda than it is here.”

Britain’s Intellectual Property Office however defended the proposed agreement and said in a statement: “Acta is not about how people use the internet in their everyday lives. It is not the intention of Acta to restrict freedom of the internet and it will not censor websites.”

‘Access’ seminar

David Gard — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:00:33 +0000

On 27th March Dyne Drewett Solicitors in conjunction with Country Land & Business Association are holding a seminar on the subject of Public Access to Land at Holbrook House, Wincanton.

This day features an interesting and informative selection of presentations on a host of issues from leading specialists in the field including:-

Sarah Slade – Chartered Surveyor and the CLA National Access Advisor;
Dr Karen Jones – Barrister with Tanfield Chambers and former head of the CLA Legal Department; and
Jonathan Cheal – Solicitor and Partner with Dyne Drewett and President of the CLA Somerset branch.

Public access continues to raise issues which landowners must ensure they understand and be able to put in place appropriate measures to enable them to manage access successfully on their land.

Coastal Access, with its questions on spreading room and liability; the need for reforms to the Animals Act; controversial legislation relating to village greens and pressures to include ancient or disused Rights of Way on the Definitive Map, are all currently presenting challenges for land owners and managers. At the same time, Government proposals for improving rights of way based on the Stepping Forward report are being developed which means that the policy agenda is also changing.

Our three speakers are leading figures in the access debate and bring a wealth of knowledge, specialism and practical experience to the table. They will discuss:

How to react when there is a threat to your land;
How best to prevent rights arising; and
How to manage the access you have.

To request more information please contact Hollie Wright. Places are limited so ensure you book your’s quickly.

Luton Council in row over airport expansion plans

David Gard — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:00:49 +0000

A row has developed between Luton Borough Council and the Spanish operator Abertis over plans to expand Luton airport. The council wholly owns the airport and has begun a six-week consultation on its proposals to increase the size of the airport which would make it larger than Stansted and Manchester. However Abertis who have a 30 year concession to run the airport believe the plans are unrealistic and are refusing to support them.

The council is planning to at least double the passenger numbers at the airport to 18m a year but it is hoped that the airport could eventually have the capacity to handle 30m travellers. However Abertis describe the proposals as “totally unrealistic” and point to the position of the airport on a hill and the close proximity to the flight paths of Heathrow.

The contract with Abertis runs until 2028 but with a break clause in 2014 but it has been suggested that the council would be willing to break the concession if Abertis will not back the plans. It has been suggested under the terms of the deal that the council would have to pay £300m to terminate the agreement.

Abertis are due later this month to put forward it’s own proposals which would see the airport expand “incrementally”. The council however is seeking to increase their income from the airport after it only generated £23m last year.

London Luton Airport Operations Ltd, an Abertis Subsidiary said in a statement last night: “If the council decides to terminate our concession in order to implement its proposals, it will have to make a termination payment to us reflecting the value of the remaining years of the concession and certain other liabilities. Such a payment would be very substantial.”

Property now pension for UK landlords

David Gard — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:00:34 +0000

With the UK economy still stuck in doldrums, and financial confidence at an all-time low, those lucky enough to own a property portfolio now regard them as a pivotal part of their post-retirement income.

According to a survey by the National Landlords Association (NLA), 81% of landlords expect to rely on their portfolio to help boost their finances once they retire. This follows news that the number of savers contributing to pensions dropped by 8% in the last 10 years, falling from 46% to 38% of all UK employees.

Landlords are increasingly pessimistic about the UK economy, the NLA has revealed, with confidence dropping to just three points, down from 11 points one year ago. And according to NLA Chairman, David Salusbury, “confidence in the financial market is at an all-time low”.

“This combined with record low interest rates means that many individuals are looking for alternative ways to secure their financial future,” he added.

“Private-residential property can be a sound long-term investment for those planning their retirement. But potential landlords must realise that letting property is a lot more complicated than contributing to a pension.

“Becoming a landlord is just like starting any other small business. Anyone considering using property to bolster their pension plans must make sure that they put together a long-term business plan, taking account of the various regulations governing the letting of property, as well as their responsibility to tenants.”

Cambridge scientist wins settlement after being yelled at by professor

David Gard — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:00:13 +0000

A top Cambridge scientist has been awarded £30,000 in damages after being the target of a “barrage of yelling” from a colleague.

Dr Andrew Faulkner, 57, resigned from his job at Manchester University after a meeting in which Professor Mohammed Missous, who worked with Dr Faulkner at the university, subjected him to a verbal assault.

A tribunal heard how Prof. Missous had “leapt out of his chair” and was “unbelievably unpleasant” to Dr Faulkner during a meeting about research at the Jodrell Bank observatory in Cheshire.

On being told that he could call the doctor with any queries, he also shouted: “It’s not the done thing for a professor to call a research assistant” and accused Dr Faulkner of being “a subordinate who had over stepped the mark.”

Faulkner complained of being “frozen out” of further meetings and resigned from his post in August 2008. He won a settlement for unfair dismissal in 2009, but the Court of Appeal later ordered a retrial after finding that there had been flaws in the original hearing.

But this week the doctor received a new verdict of unfair and constructive dismissal and was awarded damages of £29,557.23.

The judge said: “We do not accept the respondent’s contention that the meeting was an argument between mature and passionate people which was clumsily handled.

“On the contrary, we accept the claimant’s evidence that it was a completely unacceptable meeting which wholly overstepped the boundary of what can be considered to be proper behaviour.”

Dr Faulkner, who was part of a team responsible for designing the Square Kilometre Array, a new telescope array set to be the world’s most powerful when completed in 2020, said: “I’m deeply disappointed with the treatment of employees by Manchester University. The University must have spent a lot of public money on the whole process yet has not disciplined those professors to my knowledge.

“My lawyer tells me that these cases are hard to win at tribunal, so I am especially delighted at the result – even if I have had to fight this at my own expense.”

Cabinet Minister obtains injunction in respect of son’s privacy

David Gard — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:00:07 +0000

Environment Secretary, Caroline Spelman, has obtained an injunction from the High Court in relation to private information leaked to a newspaper regarding her 17 year old son. The action was taken by Mrs Spelman and her husband, Mark, against the Daily Star Sunday who held information regarding their son, Jonathan.

Mr Justice Lindblom issued the following order that “Jonathan Spelman by his litigation friends Mark & Caroline Spelman applied for an injunction concerning private information and that injunction was granted.”

Mr and Mrs Spelman had also asked the court to keep their identities private. This application was denied. The judge said “Sufficient protection is afforded by the parties being named in the normal way in the proceedings – so that the public will be able to identify the claimant as the person who has sought particular injunctive relief against the defendant – but ensuring that the subject matter of the application and the precise nature of the relief granted will not be in the public domain. This seemed to me properly to reflect the course which the court ought now normally to take in situations such as these.”

The judge confirmed that he did not believe that the information which the newspaper possessed would advance the public interest sufficiently and would be of great detriment to Mr and Mrs Spelman’s son. Mr Justice Lindblom added “There is an additional aspect to this story in that the claimant is the son of a Cabinet minister. Thus there is a political dimension which cannot be ignored.”

Planning for Later Life Seminar

David Gard — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:00:42 +0000

On 23rd February Dyne Drewett Solicitors in conjunction with Ashcourt Rowan Financial Planning are holding a free seminar on the subject of Planning for Care at Charlton House Hotel, Shepton Mallet.

This day features an interesting and informative selection of presentations on a host of issues specifically relating to older people including health, finance, care and legal issues.

Richard Hadley of Dyne Drewett said “This will be a beneficial event to attend if you want to know more about planning for the future.”

To reserve your place or to request more information please contact Hollie Wright. Places are limited so please reply by 17 February 2012.