In March 2013, HM Treasury published its consultation on transferring consumer credit regulation from the Office of Fair Trading to the Finance Conduct Authority on 1 April 2014 to create a "tougher and more pro-active" regulatory regime. When that happens authorisation, monitoring and supervision is likely to be more rigorous and costly for RSLs.

Fascinating. But what's it got to do with us?

Many RSLs (RSLs) and subsidiaries have consumer credit (CCA) licences - primarily through participation in the LIFT Scheme where they act

Constructive dismissal has become 'sexy' following the highly publicised tribunal decision in the case of Stella English v Amshold Group Limited. Miss English (2010 winner of The Apprentice), brought a claim of constructive dismissal claim against her employer, Lord Sugar's company, stating that she had no choice but to resign as she had no real role at the company.

Following the unanimous dismissal of Miss English's claim, Lord Sugar praised the tribunal and saw it as a victory against the so-called 'claims culture'.

So

End of life decisions may raise questions about assisted suicide. The European Court of Human Rights has held that Switzerland is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, as it does not provide sufficient guidelines clarifying when a patient is entitled to ask for, and receive, a lethal prescription.

Doctors refused to provide a lethal prescription to a lady suffering a serious but not immediately life-threatening condition. The court accepted that it is for each state to address the "difficulties in finding the

Sunlight in Scotland is a rare enough thing and we cherish each moment we can get. If you have a neighbour who does not or cannot keep a boundary hedge under control and at a manageable height, you may be losing out on this precious resource. Disputes over the height of boundary hedges (whether the dreaded leylandii, other evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs separating theirs and yours), can be a bit of a powder keg issue especially when emotions run high (no pun intended!!).

With the announcement that football management royalty, Sir Alex Ferguson, will be hanging up his gaffer's hat and settling down to a life of retired bliss, my thoughts turned to the employment aspects of retirement and how an organisation can support an employee during this period.

Unless it can be objectively justified by your organisation, it is no longer permissible to dismiss someone on the grounds of retirement. Like Sir Alex, older workers can voluntarily retire at a time they choose and draw any occupational

In line with the requirements of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011, the Private Housing Services Team within the Scottish Government are in the process of contacting all registered factors (including RSLs) to remind them that they are required to confirm or update the list of properties which they manage by 30^th June 2013.

What do I need to do?

• A note of all properties and details of all land managed by each factor.

The properties which must be listed are those managed by

Following three re-drafts by the Government, a consensus was finally reached on employee shareholder legislation. In April 2013, the House of Lords and the Government agreed on wording of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill which introduced a new employment status employee shareholder.

First proposed by the Chancellor George Osborne at the Conservative Party Conference last October, the original proposals saw a new employment status of employee shareholder that would see employees who were employed under this contract between £2,000 and £50,000 worth of shares, in

If you are considering challenging the procurement process are you aware that the courts will consider the public interest. The procurement regulations provide that,

where a legal challenge based on a breach of the procurement regulations has been raised following the completion of a tender process, the public body procuring the contract is prohibited from entering into the contract with the successful bidder until the legal proceedings are resolved, or the court grants an interim order lifting this prohibition.

In the case of Hastings

Should employers have a social media policy? The potential employment risks around social media was highlighted this month after the resignation of the first Youth Police and Crime Commissioner, Paris Brown, following racist tweets on her Twitter account. Although the tweets were sent before she applied for and accepted the job, they were there to be scrutinised by her future employers and the media.

It is taken for granted that everyone now has some sort of online presence  be it for business, pleasure or both.

According to Scottish Government divorce statistics in 2012, a total of 13,679 family cases were initiated in the civil courts during 2011/12, a decrease of 6% on 2010/11. Divorce actions accounted for 78% of the total figure, with actions concerning parental rights and responsibilities accounting for 17%.

A total number of divorces granted during 2011/12 was 9,453, a decrease of 2% compared to the previous year.

What was the most common procedure?

Of those 9,453 divorces granted, 62% used the Simplified Procedure ("quickie divorce") and

I can't seem to get away from the bedroom tax. Having blogged about this topic for the last couple of months, I thought an update might be useful regarding rent arrears, tenant eviction and the bedroom tax.

The changes to housing benefit came into force on 1 April 2013. From that date Housing benefits claimants who are deemed to have a 'spare' bedroom will see their housing benefit payments reduced by either 14% or 5%.

Campaign groups have continued to mobilise their opposition to these

The Right to Buy (RTB) process is managed by various legal time limits. As a result, a straightforward transaction should take around seven months to complete from receipt of the application to handing over the title. So can Right to Buy applications be refused?

One of the most important time limits is the one month period within which a landlord must refuse or reject an application to buy under the RTB legislation.

Failure to act timeously may result in the landlord being forced to sell

One of the many differences between tenancy law in England and Scotland was highlighted online, namely the consequences of a landlord's failure to address the behaviour of antisocial tenants. In England, the landlord has no specific legal obligations to deal with antisocial tenants however Scotland is an entirely different story.

The Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act places a duty on a private landlord to take action to deal with antisocial tenants. Local authorities who receive complaints of antisocial behaviour in a tenanted property will normally

Legal separation in Scotland can be a difficult step to take but it is important to prepare yourself for what happens next. Here are 5 things you need to know.

1. How do we separate?

Couples usually separate when someone moves out of the matrimonial home. A solicitor can provide clarity on this by producing a separation agreement for spouses, civil partners or couples who have been cohabiting.

2. Who needs to know we have separated?

After separating you may have a responsibility to inform

We are often asked by employers to advise on disability discrimination.

Equality Act 2010 states 'a person has a disability if he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day to day activities'. Long term means the impairment has lasted, or is likely to last:

• at least 12 months
• or for the rest of a person's life
• or, if it is in remission, is likely to recur

The guidance

Putting penalty clauses in tenancy agreements is fairly routine procedure within the private rented sector. However, whilst the practice may be widespread in Scotland, the issue of whether or not a penalty clause is legitimate can be a tricky matter.

Penalty clauses provide that where a tenant is in breach of their tenancy obligations, they will be liable to pay certain charges in addition to their rent. Charges typically imposed by landlords and letting agents range from interest on overdue rent or charging for the

The case of Christou(C) and Ward(W) v Haringey Council focused on internal disciplinary procedures and involved an appeal to the Court of Appeal by two social workers. They were found to be at fault in the handling of the Baby P case.

C was a team leader responsible for a number of social workers, including W. W had specific responsibility for Baby P who was on the child protection register. They had been disciplined under the Council's simplified internal disciplinary procedures and given a written

Tenant eviction and the bedroom tax (or the 'spare room subsidy' if you're a cabinet minister!) continue to dominate conversation in the housing world.

My blog last month put forward some ideas to minimise the impact of the changes to Housing Benefit which are now just two weeks away.

It also seems that the UK government are starting to get cold feet. Yesterday Iain Duncan Smith, the current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, announced that guidance will be issued that will exempt foster

In February 2013, the Children and Families Bill was introduced in the House of Commons. It implements, among other things, the family-friendly proposals contained in the government's Consultation on Modern Workplaces. The Bill will introduce a shared parental leave scheme.

Under this system, an eligible mother will continue to receive 52 weeks' maternity leave as a day one employment right. Following the completion of the two weeks of compulsory maternity leave post birth, the mother can choose to end her leave early and share the

Housing bond finance is essentially a loan agreement used to provide financing for a borrower and income for a lender. Called a "security" because they have a fixed yield, bonds compel the borrower to pay interest on the amount of the loan. This is called the principal or par value.

The capital is normally paid in full by the borrower at maturity although some bonds do provide for repayment over the period of the loan agreement. Until maturity, the borrower makes interest payments to the