Snippets

In July 2010 the Minister for Crime Prevention confirmed the coalition government's commitment to tackling the problem of alcohol-fuelled violence and disorder throughout the country. As part of this the Licensing Act will be reviewed so that local authorities and the police have greater powers to remove (or refuse to grant) licences to premises that cause problems. In order to ensure consistency, responsibility for alcohol licensing and enforcement will move to the Home Office. Previously this responsibility was shared between the Home Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). More information is available at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs/alcohol

Over the summer HMRC released three new anti money laundering guides as follows:

• Anti money laundering guidance for Money Service Businesses
• Anti money laundering guidance for High Value Dealers
• Anti money laundering guidance for Trust or Company Service Providers

The new guides replace Public Notice MLR8: Preventing money laundering and terrorist financing and contain detailed guidance for businesses, including recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

Note that these (and all future) guides are only available online and businesses that need to check developments in the anti money laundering regime should check the HMRC website regularly.

Further information is available on the HMRC website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/new-mlr-guid.htm

Food and drink manufacturers should be aware that any item that contains the six colours that might cause hyperactivity in children must carry a warning on the label informing consumers that the relevant colour "may have effects on activity and attention in children." The colours involved are:

• Tartrazine (E102)
• Quinoline Yellow (E104)
• Sunset Yellow (E110)
• Carmoisine (E122)
• Ponceau 4R (E124)
• Allura Red (E129)

The new regulations became effective from 20 July 2010 although products manufactured before this date which do not carry the warning can continue to be marketed.

In the coalition government's Emergency Budget in June 2010 the Chancellor announced a new scheme to encourage business start-ups. New businesses starting up in targeted areas of the UK will benefit from a one year employer National Insurance 'holiday' for the first ten employees taken on in the first year of business. The tax break applies to the first £5,000 of Class 1 employer NICs for each employee. Note that some business sectors (such as agriculture, fishing and coal) are excluded from the scheme. Full details are included in the HMRC publication Regional employer National Insurance contributions holiday for new businesses which can be downloaded from the HMRC website http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2010/nics-hol-new-bus-tn.pdf

In an attempt to reduce binge drinking and associated late night violence and disorder, new mandatory licensing conditions have been introduced for all licensed premises and club premises in England and Wales. Four of the conditions apply to the on-trade, such as pubs, hotels and bars. Condition 4 applies to the off-trade as well. The five mandatory conditions are as follows:

• Condition 1: No irresponsible promotions like drinking games or free drinks for certain groups of customers
• Condition 2: No alcohol dispensed directly into the mouth - even if this is organised by customers themselves
• Condition 3: Free tap water for customers if they ask for it
• Condition 4: Put in place an age verification policy to prevent under-age sales
• Condition 5: Give customers the choice of smaller measures, like half pint glasses for beer and cider and 125 ml glasses for wine

The first three conditions became effective from 6 April 2010, conditions 4 and 5 will come into effect from 1 October 2010.

Two helpful publications explaining the conditions are available to download from the British Beer & Pub Association website:

• Guidance to Mandatory Conditions
• Good Practice for Licensed Premises

The address is http://www.beerandpub.com/industryArticle.aspx?articleId=215

The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) was set up to operate a vetting and barring scheme that would prevent unsuitable individuals from working with children or vulnerable adults. The ISA maintains lists of those that have been barred from working with these groups. As part of the scheme, registration with the ISA of those wishing to undertake activities that fell within the scope of the vetting and barring scheme was due to begin from July 2010. However the new coalition government has halted the scheme while a review is carried out of the scope of the regime. Note that during this review period any individual who has been barred from working with children or vulnerable adults will be committing an offence if they seek to do so. This also applies to volunteers. Organisations that knowingly employ someone who has been barred to work with these groups are also breaking the law. Further information is available on the ISA website at http://www.isa-gov.org.uk

Despite calls by organisations such as the TUC and the Association of Convenience Stores for a freeze in the National Minimum Wage, the government announced in the Budget report that increases would be made in line with Low Pay Commission recommendations.  From October 2010 the National Minimum Wage rates will be as follows:

• adult rate (21 and over) - £5.93 per hour
• Youth Development Rate (18-20 year olds) - £4.92 per hour
• 16-17 year olds rate - £3.64 per hour

For the first time apprentices will be brought within the National Minimum Wage framework with a minimum hourly rate of £2.50.  This applies to apprentices who are:

• under 19, or
• 19 and over but in the first year of their apprenticeship

Until now a voluntary minimum wage of £95 per week has applied to apprentices.

Beauty and tanning salons should be aware that following increasing concern over the excessive use of sunbeds, new legislation regulating their use has been introduced in Scotland, England and Wales.  Draft legislation in Northern Ireland (the Sunbed (Northern Ireland) Bill) will introduce similar restrictions in the near future.

The Public Health etc. (Scotland) Act 2008 (Sunbed) Regulations 2009 became effective in December 2009.  The Act prohibits the use of commercial sunbeds by under 18 year olds and bans the unsupervised use of commercial sunbeds - such as in unstaffed coin-operated tanning salons.  Sunbed premises must provide sunbed users with information about the health effects of using sunbeds.

The Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010 received Royal Assent in April 2010 and introduces similar measures to prevent the use of sunbeds by under 18 year olds in England and Wales, effective from April 2011.

Local authorities will have the right to enter sunbed premises to check that the legislation is being complied with.  Salon owners face fines of up to £20,000 for failure to comply.

Both start-up and existing businesses should be aware of recent research by the Payments Council showing that more and more customers are using debit and credit cards for purchases instead of cash - even for quite small amounts. Debit cards in particular have become a very popular payment method and retailers that don't accept plastic payment - perhaps in sectors that have traditionally been primarily cash businesses like greengrocers and bakeries - would be well advised to start accepting cards if they are not to lose out to competitors - especially supermarkets. However there are costs involved in accepting card payments and it is important to shop around to find the best possible rates. The Electronic Payments website includes a diagnostic tool to help businesses compare the charges imposed by different financial institutions. The address is: https://www.electronic-payments.co.uk/ToolInput

In recent years food manufacturers have worked hard to reduce the sugar, fat and salt content of their products, in response to consumer concern and Food Standards Agency (FSA) reduction targets.  The FSA recently set ambitious salt reduction targets for 2012.  However many in the food manufacturing industry fear that as processors reformulate their products to reduce the salt content, they could be inadvertently reducing the shelf life of their products.  Salt has traditionally been used to prevent the growth of bacteria in food products which can encourage spoilage and food poisoning.  Small food manufacturers in particular may not be aware that when they reformulate their products it is vital to also test the shelf life of the items before putting them on the market.  It may be that an approved preservative additive needs to be included as an alternative to salt.

Food manufacturers can download 'Guidance on Salt Reduction in Meat Products for Smaller Businesses' from the British Meat Processors Association website at http://www.bmpa.uk.com/_Attachments/Resources/1307_S4.pdf for more information.  Other useful websites include:

• Campden BRI food microbiology department http://www.campden.co.uk/services/microbiological-specifications.htm
• the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food http://acmsf.food.gov.uk 
• the Food Standards Agency http://www.food.gov.uk

Businesses that operate Pay As You Earn (PAYE) should be aware that new rules apply to PAYE payments due for tax years 2010/11 onwards.  The rules introduce new penalties for late payment and affect amounts that employers and contractors have to make to HMRC made up of:

• Income tax and Class 1 NICs
• Class 1A NICs on benefits
• Class 1B NICs
• CIS deductions
• Student loan deductions

The new penalty regime applies to in-year PAYE payments due from May 2010 onwards.  The new rules apply to Class 1A NICs payments from July 2011.  Full details are available on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/employers/paye-penalties-faqs.htm

From 6 April 2010 employees in businesses that employ 250 or more people will have the right to request time off work to train. They must have worked for the employer for at least 26 weeks and the training must be aimed at improving the employee's productivity and skills at work.  Employers will be able to refuse requests for training that does not help to improve the performance of their business.

From April 2011 employees in businesses of all sizes will have the right to request time off for training.

Employers are encouraged to cover salary and training costs wherever possible.

Recent Units of Measurement Regulations implementing EC Directive 2009/3 have removed the 31 December 2009 time limit on using imperial units of measurement as supplementary indications - in other words labelling goods with imperial as well as metric measurements.  This means that businesses can continue to use imperial supplementary indications indefinitely.  The Directive also removes the requirement for the UK to set a date for the end of the use of the mile, yard, foot and inch (for transport purposes), the pint (for beer, cider and milk bottles) and the troy ounce (for trade in precious metals).

Under the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Act, from 1 February 2010 businesses that sell over 32 kg of batteries in a year must take back used batteries from the public as part of DEFRA's initiative to improve recycling rates.  The take-back service must be free and the requirement applies to portable batteries sold in a shop (like a newsagent), via the internet or mail order, or directly to businesses.  DEFRA has produced a calculator tool to help businesses work out whether they sell enough batteries each year to be brought within the scope of the legislation.  The tool and guidance material (including a Distributor Information Leaflet) can be accessed on the DEFRA website at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/producer/batteries/calculator.htm