Most family and other private companies have just one type of shares – ordinary shares. But in some cases it is much better to have two classes of shares. Dividing the shares into two different classes with different rights can be highly beneficial.

This month we look at the new Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) Order 2010, changes to Permitted Development rights for small scale houses in multiple occupation, proposals for streamlining Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) and a brief look at the implementation of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

Here is a brief summary of recent cases we think are of particular interest. If you would like advice on any particular area, please contact your usual Speechlys' contact or one of the employment partners listed on the front page of this Inform:

Eric Pickles has laid an order before Parliament revoking Regional Strategies with immediate effect.

The Scottish Whisky Regulations 2009 No. 2890 (the 2009 Regulations) came into force on 23 November 2009, offering manufacturers of genuine Scotch whisky new protection against whisky producers who seek to trade on the name and reputation of authentic Scotch whiskies.

The EU's independent advisory body on data protection and privacy, the Article 29 Working Party, published its opinion on the legal status of social networking operators such as Linked-In, Facebook and others last month.

The UK Border Agency has announced changes to the criteria for Tier 1 (General) applications.

Employers and schools who currently apply for sponsor licence under Tiers 2, 4 and 5 are awarded an A rating (which indicates they are fully compliant), or a B rating (which means the UK Border Agency has some concerns and an action plan will be set) or the application is refused.

The Government’s new approach to voluntary gender pay reporting (VGPR) The Government has this month published a framework report entitled 'Think, Act, Report' to encourage a new voluntary approach to gender pay reporting.

The High Court has released its ruling in the case of a dispute between two financial broking companies based on claims that one unlawfully poached 50 brokers from the other.

The new Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 will come into force on 6 April 2007.

Following on from the 2007 Offshore Disclosure Facility, clients who have undisclosed offshore funds only have two further possible opportunities to provide details to HMRC and benefit from beneficial interest and penalty arrangements.

With air travel still in turmoil after the recent flight ban occurred during one of the busiest periods of the year for employees to take holiday, employers may have questions over the issues that have arisen.

The deadline for non-UK resident trustees to make a "rebasing" election is 31 January 2010

Ministers from all European Union member states have agreed guidelines for negotiations with the United States in anticipation of an international agreement to make European based financial payment messaging data available to the US Treasury Department in order to prevent terrorism and terrorist financing.

Big divorce cases continued to hit the headlines in 2009. Newspapers focus on the personalities and the "pay outs" but say less about the cost of litigation – both emotional and financial. Nor do they always make clear how litigation can exacerbate disputes and sabotage family relations

In our first edition of VC Inform, we featured an article on the draft Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (the AIFM Directive) published on 30 April 2009 by the European Commission in response to calls for greater Europe-wide regulation of investment fund managers.

UK legislation and policy have set a trajectory for transition to a low carbon economy – one operating off substantially less fossil fuel – to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and minimise energy poverty and insecurity in the UK.

The OFT is seeking to address the question as to whether the flexibility of online trading is advantageous or detrimental to consumers with its study into advertising and pricing.

The Unfair Terms Directive (93/13/EEC), which is implemented into UK law by the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/2083), harmonises the rules protecting consumers from unfair terms in consumer contracts.