Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides
HMRC: HM Revenue & Customs has made its online tax-help presentations, or webinars, available round the clock. Previously, customers had to register to watch the live webinars at set times & dates. The webinars cover many different topics, including:
* Business expenses and capital allowances
* First steps as an employer
* The Construction Industry Scheme
* Limited companies, an overview
* How VAT works
FSA: The Food Standards Agency has developed guidance on edible & non-toxic glitters & dusts. The Agency is aware that non-edible cake decorating materials, described as dusts or glitters, are being marketed in ways that could be misleading. These include products only labelled as ‘non-toxic’, without stating they are not to be consumed.
EA: The Environment Agency has warned recently that drought conditions can increase the risk of flash flooding - Dry, compacted soils mean that water is less easily absorbed into the ground. The warning comes on the day that the world’s first social media flood warning application has been launched on Facebook.
‘FloodAlerts’ is a free to use application, which uses live flood warning data from the EA and allows Facebook users to receive messages on their wall when a Flood Alert, Warning or Severe Flood Warning has been issued for river and coastal flooding in their location.
PCS: A number of important employment law changes came into effect at the start of April 2012, including an increase in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal for new starters and costs awards to businesses in so-called vexatious tribunal claims. Find out more in Thompsons solicitors latest employment law bulletin.
DfT: Local authorities across England have been given advice on how to tackle the problem of potholes on their roads following the publication of the ‘Pothole Review’ by the Department for Transport.
ScotGov: Housing Minister. Keith Brown recently underlined the need for good quality temporary accommodation for homeless families. Recent statistics show a marked reduction in the numbers of children in temporary accommodation, down by 18% in 2011 to 5,259.
Homelessness charity, Shelter Scotland and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) have published guidance on standards in temporary accommodation.
HPA: Ahead of the petting farm season, the Health Protection Agency is reminding people, especially those with responsibility for young children, to enjoy their farm visits safely by ensuring good hand hygiene after touching farm animals or their surroundings.
EU News: Soil sealing – the covering of the ground by an impermeable material – is one of the main causes of soil degradation in the EU. New guidelines on best practice to limit, mitigate & compensate soil sealing made public by the European Commission last week collect examples of policies, legislation, funding schemes, local planning tools, information campaigns and many other best practices implemented throughout the EU.
The guidelines call for smarter spatial planning and using more permeable materials to preserve our soil.
The guidelines call for smarter spatial planning and using more permeable materials to preserve our soil.
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