Newsletter - September 2010
LawWorks for Community Groups
Ruth Thompson
Newsletter Editor
Welcome to September edition of the LawWorks for Community Groups newsletter! We've had a break over the summer to allow everyone to enjoy their holidays, (and also to allow us to move into our brand new home! See below for more...) but now we're back with a bumper edition of legal news you may have missed over the summer, together with more recent developments. We hope these will keep you updated on legal goings on affecting the Third Sector, so that you can apply them to your own organisations.
Don't forget to have a look at our fact sheets for useful information on various areas of law, kindly produced by lawyers from our member firms and volunteers from our Choices project. We now have 36 fact sheets covering various legal issues including Employment, Corporate / Charity, Intellectual Property, Data Protection and Tax.
Since last issue, our new fact sheets are:
- Setting up a Trading Arm in order to raise funds
- Discrimination in the Workplace: including fact sheets on Race, Age, Disability and Sex Discrimination.
- Understanding the Third Sector Compact
We hope you find these useful! If you have any suggestions on new topics, or queries on existing fact sheets, please feel free to email me. I also welcome suggestions for the newsletter and any articles you'd like to share.
You can also keep up to date with all LawWorks' news on Twitter or Facebook
See you next issue!
Best wishes,
Ruth
In this issue:
Got a brief legal query? Register now for our free Initial Electronic Advice Service...
**Charity News**
The Charity Tribunal: A Two Year Progress Report
New Charity Commission Guidance on Fundraising and Reporting Serious Incidents
Trustee Guide to Legal and Effective Campaigning
**Employment News**
Manager Role in 'Return to Work'
**Corporate Structure and Working Together****
Finding the Legal Form That Fits
Resolving Disputes Between Partner Organisations
Guides to help prepare for collaboration or merger
**Data Protection, Tax and Marketing**
HMRC will assume charity employees are 'fit and proper persons'
Code of Practice for personal information online
Marketing on own website to come under code of practice
**Useful info**
The Coalition & The Third Sector - a policy analysis
One-stop source for UK legislation
We've Moved!
LawWorks, together with the Bar Pro Bono Unit and the ILEX Pro Bono Forum, has just moved in to the new National Pro Bono Centre in Chancery Lane. The new offices provide a central resource for people seeking pro bono legal advice and representation, making it easier for people in need to seek and receive help. The Centre will be officially opened in October. More information here: www.nationalprobonocentre.org.uk
Free answers to brief legal questions: LawWorks Initial Electronic Advice
Initial Electronic Advice is an automated, web-based system, which allows LawWorks to submit a short legal query and have this answered by one of our volunteer lawyers via email. Not for profit organisations and advice agencies can register online to submit questions for entry into the system.
The main legal areas we cover are: advertising, banking, building and construction, charity, clinical negligence, commercial, company, competition, construction, consumer, consumer credit, contract, corporate, costs, crime, debt, education, employment, energy, environment, EU, family, general litigation, health and safety, housing, immigration, insolvency, insurance, intellectual property, IT, landlord and tenant, mental health, mortgages, data protection, finance, insurance, pensions, personal injury, planning, property, public law, small claims, tax, telecoms, trust, welfare, wills and probate.
If you would like to register to submit questions, please see www.lawworksiea.org.uk, where you can also see more information on the service itself.
The Charity Tribunal: A Two Year Progress Report
Third Sector, 22nd June 2010
An article by Alison McKenna, principle judge of the First Tier Tribunal (Charity) for Third Sector Online. Link
Alison McKenna also kindly wrote an article for LawWorks on how the Charity Tribunal might be able to help you with any disputes with the Charity Commission. Link
New Charity Commission Guidance
VolResource, 1st July 2010
The Charity Commission has updated guidance to help charities carry out fundraising activities that comply with legal requirements and best practice. The updates include more detail on risk management and advice for trustees on what to consider when choosing fundraising methods and common fundraising issues they might face. See document here.
The Charity Commission has also updated guidance to trustees on the need for charities to report serious incidents to them. The updates include allowing greater discretion for trustees in deciding whether to report low value fraud and theft, and clarifying why cases of actual or suspected harm of beneficiaries need to be reported to the Commission as well as to other regulatory agencies. See document here.
ACAS
The Equality Act will become law in October 2010. It replaces previous legislation (such as the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995) and ensures consistency in what you need to do to make your workplace a fair environment and to comply with the law.
The Equality Act covers the same groups that were protected by existing equality legislation – age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity – but extends some protections to groups not previously covered, and also strengthens particular aspects of equality law.
People Management Online, 2nd Aug 2010
The qualification age for the adult minimum wage will drop to 21 this autumn, in a move that will cost employers nearly £50 million.
The government has confirmed that from 1 October workers will no longer have to be 22 years of age before they become eligible for the highest rate of pay.
Manager role in 'return to work'
VolResource, 26th Aug 2010
New guidance on 'Manager support for return to work following long-term sickness absence' has been produced by the Health and Safety Executive, personnel body CIPD and others. This takes into account the new 'fit note' approach, and gives key messages for line managers and also HR professionals.
The Coalition & The Third Sector - a policy analysis
Law firm Bates Wells Braithwaite has published an exclusive briefing which assesses the impact of the Coalition's policy programme on the third sector.
One-stop source for UK legislation
VolResource, 26th Aug 2010
A new official website provides access to UK legislation from 1267 to the present. Legislation.gov.uk brings together legislative content from Office of Public Sector Information and the Statute Law Database. Managed by the National Archives it aims to provide access to current and historic laws in a "clear and simple" format.
Trustee guide to legal and effective campaigning
VolResource, 15th July 2010
A new guide for charity trustees from NCVO "outlines both what is required by the law and what is good practice in the development and implementation of effective campaigns".
Finding the legal form that fits
VolResource, 8th July 2010
An online tool to help new organisations decide which legal model to adopt has been created by NCVO with support from law firm Bates, Wells and Braithwaite. Covering charities, social enterprises and co-operatives, 'Get Legal' aims to give clear information and guidance on the most appropriate legal form and governance structure for delivering the organisation's goals.
Resolving Disputes Between Partner Organisations
VolResource, 1st July 2010
The Compact Advocacy Programme has a new one page briefing on resolving disputes between partners.
Fighting the Good Fight: Effective Dispute Resolution Tactics
Guides to help prepare for collaboration or merger
VolResource, 15th July 2010
A guide to help organisations get ready for working in collaboration has been produced as part of the Collaboration Benefits Programme run by the community organisations body Bassac. 'Getting ready for collaboration: Learning from experience' aims to help with all forms of collaboration, from sharing information and developing a common policy response to mergers.
HMRC will assume charity employees are 'fit and proper persons'
David Ainsworth, Third Sector Online, 12th July 2010
The fit and proper persons test was introduced by the Finance Act in April, and allows HMRC to deny tax relief to a charity if it feels that a senior employee or trustee is a fraud risk.
The test governs whether charities are entitled to tax relief and is intended to reduce the risk of fraud after the extension of UK tax reliefs to donation to charities in all EU countries...
"Provided charities take appropriate steps on appointing personnel, they may assume that they meet the management condition at all times unless, exceptionally, they are challenged by HMRC," the new guidance says.
Code of Practice for personal information online
VolResource, 15th July 2010
The Information Commissioner's Office has launched a new Code of Practice on how organisations should use personal information, which explains how the Data Protection Act applies to the collection and use of personal data online. It provides good practice advice for organisations that do business or provide services online, asking them "be straight with consumers" so that people know why their personal information is being collected, how it will be used and who else may end up seeing it.
Marketing on own website to come under code of practice
VolResource, 2nd Sept 2010
In a change, just announced, to the Committee of Advertising Practice Code, adverts and marketing communications by companies on their own websites and on services like Facebook and Twitter will fall within the remit of the Advertising Standards Authority from 1st March 2011.
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