A man who turned a dilapidated dairy building into a self-contained ‘granny annexe’ has failed in a challenge to a refusal of retrospective planning permission for the development. The High Court ruled that a government planning inspector had been entitled to refuse consent on policy
A construction company which, during an eight-year period, breached its obligations under the Income Tax (Construction Industry Scheme) Regulations 2005 to deduct tax at source from sums paid to sub-contractors has failed in an appeal against an income tax demand for in excess of £42
The First-Tier Tribunal has come to the aid of a negligent, but fundamentally honest, publican who failed to deduct PAYE from sums paid to part-time bar staff in the belief that their earnings fell well below the taxable income threshold. In overturning £8,000 in penalties
The way has been opened for a landmark test case before the European Court of Justice which will determine the future course of human stem cell research. The court will consider whether artificially stimulated ova that are incapable of developing to term should nevertheless be
In Simmonds v Milford Club, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that where there is a real concern that an earlier final written warning that was material in the decision to dismiss an employee may have been manifestly inappropriate, it will be necessary for the
The High Court has upheld a classroom ban on a Christian school teacher who condemned the ‘homosexual lifestyle’ in front of pupils. In what is believed to be the first case of its kind, a judge rejected an appeal by the science teacher against the
The Government has accepted the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) regarding the adult and youth rates of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) payable for 2013/2014. However, the apprentice rate, which applies to apprentices under 19 or those over 19 and in the first
An emerging planning policy by which a local authority sought to impose a sliding scale of minimum distances between wind turbines and residential properties as a material consideration in planning decisions has been struck down as unlawful. The High Court ruled that the emerging policy
A construction company (the applicant) which claims that it is owed more than £12 million in respect of work it performed on the installation of a bio-ethanol processing plant may only recover four pence in the pound after the company with which it contracted (the
Following the Court of Appeal’s ruling in a case of vital importance to the legal profession, solicitors’ firms will have to exercise extreme caution in providing financial support to impecunious clients to enable them to engage in litigation. The court’s decision raises the spectre of
