Expert Witness Legal News – page 28

British businesses face legal minefield over retirement age

The Confederation of British Industry is warning businesses will be mired in legalities over retirement issues as a result of government failures to spell out their reforms of the official retirement age.

The phasing in of abolishment of the default retirement age of 65 is due to begin in April next year, although final details of its operation have yet to be published. The CBI is warning large companies will not have enough time to prepare for the new legislation and is asking for a further year’s delay in its introduction.

Police under fire over race disparity in stop and search

An equality watchdog has warned Thames Valley Police it could face legal action over “disproportionate and possibly discriminatory” stop and search procedures.

The police force, which serves Wokingham, Reading and Bracknell, was one of two forces which were written to by the Equality and Human Rights Commission last week following the publication of a critical review of stop and search powers in England and Wales in March this year.

WikiLeaks cables: MI5 offered files on Finucane killing to inquiry

MI5 has said that it is prepared to hand over sensitive files on one of the most high-profile murders during the Northern Ireland Troubles carried out by loyalist gunmen working with members of the British security forces.

The offer in the case of the Pat Finucane, the well-known civil rights and defence lawyer murdered in front of his wife and three young children in 1989, is contained in confidential US embassy cables passed to WikiLeaks.

Car blaze drama part of world first

A car was dramatically set on fire in a car park in a ‘world first’ test scenario at Warringtonfiregent to help develop safety standards at European and international levels, that will ultimately save lives.

The exercise was part of a major fire safety engineering research project to improve fire detection in car parks and how the effects can be reduced and controlled in the event of a fire breaking out.

Rents reach two-year high for private landlords

Private landlords are pleased to hear that rents have reached a two-year high. Results from FindaProperty.com have revealed that over the third quarter of 2010, the price of rents in Britain rose by 1.4 per cent, reports the Press Association. The average letting price for a property is now £851 a month, reaching the highest figures since November 2008.

This also shows that since January 2010, residential landlords have increased their fees by an average of 5.8 per cent, the equivalent of £47 extra a month compared with the beginning of the year.

Findings show that rental yields for private landlords were 4.69 per cent during the last three months - a climb from 4.57 per cent during the second quarter of 2010.

This increase in price is likely to be the result of first-time buyers being unable to purchase a property for themselves, with Firstrung's Paul Holmes saying that the "hefty deposit" required by mortgage lenders is disabling people from making transactions.