Angus Walker, planning partner at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP believes that although the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) has said that it intends to grant development consent to Covanta Energy for its Energy from Waste plant to be built at Rookery South in Bedfordshire, its referral to Parliament under Special Parliamentary Procedure (SPP) is wholly unnecessary and the regime should be altered.

A recent study by US advisory firm Navigant suggested a debt crisis is set to hit the commercial property industry in the UK and Europe as loans made to commercial property borrowers by banks and other financial institutions will require refinancing within the next two years.

Senior Partner and leading property lawyer John Stephenson of Bircham Dyson Bell LLP believes that the ‘mansion tax' which was originally in the Lib Dem election manifesto but not adopted in the coalition agreement, was only floated by the Government to test the water and gauge reaction, and was never a serious Government strategy.

Senior commercial lawyer Nick Maltby of Bircham Dyson Bell believes that reform of the NHS won't reverse the reported productivity decline and that it should instead concentrate on incremental changes; getting better service from its people.

Angus Walker, partner and planning lawyer at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP believes that although Cala Homes lost its case earlier this month in the Court of Appeal, the ruling was actually a thinly veiled victory for the home builder and will see planning applications reinstated until the Localism Bill takes effect next year.

The "greenest government ever" has seemingly dropped the requirement for commercial properties to show Display Energy Certificates (DECs) which will cost the construction industry millions in lost work for the upgrade of commercial buildings believes Jennifer Chappell, property lawyer at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP.

Professional Support Lawyer Jennifer Chappell of law firm Bircham Dyson Bell LLP believes the out of court settlement in the Heaney right of light appeal is yet another nail in the coffin for property developers in what remains a challenging economic climate.

The provisional decision on remedies for local bus service regulation published by the Competition Commission this month is a missed opportunity says Nick Maltby, partner, Bircham Dyson Bell LLP.

Acas has published guidance for employers on how to support parents of premature or sick babies. This includes advice on the employee's responsibilities, how to support parents ...

The government has published its proposals to change the collective redundancy consultation rules.

The Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992 states that collective consultation obligations apply where an employer is proposing to dismiss as redundant 20 or more employees ‘at one establishment’.

This case highlights the potential consequences of failing to follow proper procedures when terminating employment.

In Blackburn v Aldi Stores Ltd, the EAT has recently considered whether there was a breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence when an employer failed to provide an impartial grievance appeal.

The Government has published its response to the consultation on proposals for implementation of the mandatory Early Conciliation Scheme which is due to come into force on 6 April 2014.

The case of Handshake Ltd v Summers illustrates the difficulties of relying on a breakdown of trust and confidence to justify a dismissal on the grounds of ‘some other substantial reason’ under the Employment Rights Act 1996.

In Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willetts and others, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has provided further clarification of the law on holiday pay, confirming that voluntary overtime...

The legislative changes to the Green Deal proposed by the Minister for Climate Change don't go far enough believes solicitor Mothiur Rahman

Finance Bills at the moment are like London buses; you wait ages for one and then two come along at once.

It has taken a while but, hot on the heels of the Open Public Services White Paper published on Monday, the Second Reading debate on the Public Bodies Bill eventually took place last night in the Commons and the Bill has been duly committed to a Public Bill Committee which must complete its deliberations by 13 October.

The debate on Second Reading took place in the House of Lords yesterday (November 9), culminating after eight and a half hours, just before midnight, with the Bill then being given a Second Reading and referred to a Committee of the Whole House in the usual way.