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Simon Kirkup heads up the market-leading team at Dickinson Dees LLP, which includes Stefan Bainbridge, Andrew Farquharson, David Towns and Harry Chrisp on the non-contentious side, and Jen Smurthwaite and Elizabeth Allen on the contentious side. The team represents substantial estate owners and landowning organisations, and was recently instructed by various public and quasi-public bodies in connection with their rural property portfolios.

Tim Cartmell at Cartmell Shepherd advises agricultural clients on contentious and non-contentious matters.

The team at Ward Hadaway handles a wide range of matters and has recently seen an increase in complex inheritance tax, high-value divorce and renewable energy instructions. Key clients include English Heritage, Northumberland National Park and The National Trust. William Green has left the firm.

At BHP Law, Peter Blackett recently advised a longstanding client on the acquisition of a farm with two other landowners for £3m, and is retained by a large-scale developer of residential holiday caravan parks.

Richard Miller’s team at Burnetts recently advised on the sale of a £2.75m farm in Cumbria, and the cross-border sale of a farm and former animal testing laboratories to a US buyer. It also acted for Lloyds TSB Bank and Clydesdale Bank on multimillion-pound agriculture financing transactions.

The specialist team at Iain Nicholson & Co includes Iain Nicholson, Peter Dakin and Victoria Stevenson. Recent highlights include advising on the grant of an option to a wind farm operator to take a lease of land in Northumberland, and on the acquisition of a high-value country house.

Jacksons Law retains its position as one of the NFU’s panel firms, and was recently appointed as the northern panel firm for the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers. Adrienne Patterson leads the team.

At Latimer Hinks, Anne Elliott advised on several complex succession and tenancy status matters for farm owners, and Neil Stevenson acted for several landowners based in County Durham and Sedgefield in negotiations with wind farm developers.

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Legal Developments in the UK

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  • COUNCIL TAX

    In Harrow LBC v Ayiku [2012] EWHC 1200 (Admin) Sales J held that the word “or” in the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Order 1992, art 3 Class N, had a disjunctive meaning, therefore it was sufficient for the non-British spouse of a foreign student to satisfy one or other of the two conditions, namely being prevented from taking paid employment or being prevented from claiming benefits, in order to qualify as a “relevant person” who was exempted from liability to pay council tax.
    - 11KBW

  • QUEEN’S SPEECH

    Bills already introduced pursuant to the Queen’s Speech on 9 May 2012 include Local Government Finance Bill and Electoral Registration and Administration Bill, both accompanied by Explanatory Notes, which in each case address ECHR compatibility.
    - 11KBW

  • Standards

    In R (Calver) v Adjudication Panel for Wales [2012] EWHC 1172 (Admin) Mr Calver was a member of Manorbier Community Council who successfully challenged the decision of the Panel to dismiss his appeal against a decision by Prembrokeshire County Council Standards Committee censuring him for a number of comments or blogs posted by him on a website he owned and controlled.
    - 11KBW

  • A justified retrospective

    Clive Sheldon - QC debates the pros & cons of retrospective tax legislation
    - 11KBW

  • Public Sector Equality Duty (“PSED”)

    In R (Greenwich Community Law Centre) v Greenwich LBC [2012] EWCA Civ 496 the Court of Appeal held that the Council had had “due regard to the PSED when making changes to its funding of community legal advice services”. At para 30 Elias LJ said:
    - 11KBW

  • Public Sector Equality Duty

    Surrey County Council conducted a review of its Library Service. This culminated in a Report to the Council’s Cabinet. The Recommendations in the Report included that there should be consultation about a community-partnership approach at selected Libraries.
    - 11KBW

  • Judicial Review

    The Judgment of Lindblom J in The Manydown Co Ltd v Basingstoke and Deane BC [2012] EWHC 977 (Admin) repays attention. The Claimant sought to challenge by judicial review 2 decisions of the Council: (1) the Council’s refusal to reconsider its position on the development of a site that it owns (and is the subject matter of a Joint Development Partnership Agreement with the Claimant); and (2) a decision of the Council’s Cabinet approving a selection of sites for development which did not include this site.
    - 11KBW

  • The Health and Social Care Act 2012: impact on adult social services

    After its torrid passage through Parliament, the Health and Social Care Bill received Royal Assent on 27 March 2012. The Act deals principally with healthcare reform, but it also contains some amendments to the legislative framework for social care. It will come into force on a day yet to be appointed by the Secretary of State.
    - 11KBW

  • Immigration update May 2012

    In this issue:
    - Penningtons Solicitors LLP

  • Premium service for tier 2 and 5 sponsors to be launched

    A premium service for sponsors will be launched by the UKBA on 6 April 2012. The service is designed specifically for companies that sponsor international employees under tier 2 and 5 of the points based system and aims to provide them with enhanced support.
    - Penningtons Solicitors LLP

Press Releases in the UK

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