This matter concerned a company in liquidation in Russia and a challenge made against the recognition of those proceedings in Great Britain under the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 (‘the CBIR’). The company’s liquidator (and ‘foreign representative’ for the purposes of the CBIR) had failed to make full and frank disclosure to the court on his application for recognition, and accordingly the court set aside the order ab initio.

This is of particular relevance to readers who have followed recent events in Salisbury and the escalation of tensions between UK and Russian governments, and have an interest in whether the UK will adopt the Magnitsky Act.

Please click here to view the full article produced in Corporate Rescue and Insolvency

Following the successful pilot, of the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) on 15th November 2014, the Government confirmed that the £19m ASF is to be rolled our nationally from May 2015. Up until now, ten Local Authorities have been piloting the Fund which we are told by Government has been successful.

This is great news but what does the ASF mean, in practice, to adopters? How will the money be allocated? How much is each adoptive family allowed? How challenging do things have to be – before the fund is made available to you? What sort of services will the ASF fund?

By was a background, adoption support is a big issue at the moment. The highly publicised and influential research report, published earlier this year by Department of Education, from Professor Julie Selwyn, University of Bristol (Beyond the Adoption Order: April 2014) stated:

“Given what we know of the challenges and impact on adoptive parents and the pain and distress of young people who struggle to live in a family, the spotlight now has to be shone onto post adoption support”.

Within this article we turn the spotlight on some of the issues within adoption support that we see as fundamental.

Before the Adoption Order

Immediately following a child being placed for adoption with a family (up until the granting of the Adoption Order) there is likely to be a reasonable amount of support from the Local Authority. Visits perhaps from the child’s Social Worker and from the adoption Social Worker who assessed the adopters. Those early days with an adopted child, are both exciting and challenging. Support and advice from the Local Authority are usually to hand.

Once the prospective adoptive family are feeling settled, they are encouraged to apply for an Adoption Order. This Court application cannot be made before the child has been placed with the prospective adopters for ten weeks and is usually made several months after placement.

The effect of the Adoption Order makes the adopted child legally the child of his or her adopted parents. The parental responsibility of the birth parents and the Local Authority is terminated. In law, the child is treated as if born to its adoptive parents. The journey of adoptive parenthood truly commences.

One of the criticisms of the ASF is that you can gain access to the Fund until the Adoption Order has been granted. This could be perceived as pressure to apply for a very significant Adoption Order, in order to get access to services for your child. Some adoptive families may require a much longer period than a few months until they are feeling settled and wanting to make the child legally a member of their family; particularly if the child’s behaviour is very challenging.

Requests from adopters for help

For some adoptive parents, there may be no real difficulties throughout the child’s minority and thus never a need to contact the Local Authority for support. But many children do require additional support – from education, health and social services. Accessing this help can be very frustrating and at a time when assistance is most needed and family life is, at times, unbearable.  These challenges may arise many years after the granting of the original Adoption Order.

Many adopters begin their journey of post adoption support, where they started, by contacting their Local Authority Social Services Department. Perhaps the named workers they previously had relationships with have left. Responses received from stretched Local Authorities to meet the complex needs of adopted children can be very mixed – some adopters able to access the right help immediately and others very much unable.

So how will it now work post May 2015 for adoptive families?

How will the ASF money be allocated? How much is each adoptive family allowed? How challenging do things have to be – before the fund is made available to you? What sort of services will the ASF fund?

Amongst the pilot, their experiences are very positive – for the last 12 months. Unlike their other Social Work colleagues, these post adoption support workers have access to unlimited funding with fantastic results for adopted children. But how long can this last?

The initial plan is for central Government funding but then joint funding with the Local Authority. Is this when we will see a change? We simply do not know the answers to these questions.

Know your rights as an adoptive parent

The new Children and Families Act 2014 places a strong positive duty upon Local Authorities to provide the following information about;

• the adoption support services available in the authority’s area
• the right to request an assessment
• the Authority’s duties.

It is deemed insufficient for this information to be made available on a website and this information must be provided to

• anyone who has contacted the authority to request information about adopting a child;
• any person who has informed the authority that he or she wishes to adopt a child;
• any person within the authority’s area who the authority are aware is a parent of an adopted child and
• anyone who contacts the local authority requesting information about post adoption support.

The 2014 Act places a strong duty upon Local Authorities to inform adoptive parents about their rights and an entitlement to an assessment of post adoption needs.

Then what happens?

The procedure for an assessment includes interviewing the adoptive parents and preparing a written report. There is no timescale within which the assessment must be completed. The assessment may identify a number of things that meet the needs of the adopted child, some of which costs money – what happens then?

The Adoption Support Fund applies and bites.

As stated, reports from the some of the Local Authorities who have been piloting the ASF have been positive.

The Fund has provided access to specialist services that have previously been unavailable because of limited resources. The market has been opened up to private providers who can perhaps be more flexible to the individual needs of families. The piloted Fund has stimulated a post adoption support market which offers more choice.

It remains to be seen as to how the Fund will be managed to ensure fair access for all adoptive families. Assessments will need to be standardised. Budgets will have to be controlled. As stated, the Government has only committed to funding the ASF for one year and after that there is to be joint funding by Councils and government.

Exactly how post adoption support will look from May 2015 is uncertain but, at the very least, if you are an adoptive parent – ask your Local Authority about the Adoption Support Fund and your family’s entitlement to it.

Summary

• If you are interested in adoption and/or you are an adoptive parent, you should be provided with comprehensive written information about post adoption support services.
• Upon your request, an assessment of the post adoption support services you need should be completed by the Authority where you live
• From May 2015 (unless you live in a pilot area) you are entitled to access the Fund, meaning that money will be available enabling an adopted child to access relevant services.

In this Part 3 we examine the key changes that the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) brings in, in relation to the provision of services.

Part 1 and Part 2 of this series of articles can be found by clicking on Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

Part 4 of this series of articles can be found by clicking on Part 4 here.

Terms governing the supply of services to consumers

As with the previous law, under the CRA services to consumers must be:

• carried out with reasonable care and skill
• in consideration for a reasonable price
• performed within a reasonable time.

The latter two terms are implied where no statement about price or time for performance of services (or a way of determining it) is included in the contract or in the information provided about the service to the consumer before the contract is concluded.

But what is “reasonable skill and care” and “reasonable time“? The CRA does not define either other than, in the latter case, stating it is a question of fact.  This means that both standards can vary on a case-by-case basis.

Traders must note that any statement that is offered or written (about the trader or about the service) to the consumer by or on behalf of the trader, and which is taken into account by the consumer when deciding to enter the contract or make a decision about the service after the contract, is treated as a contractual term.

When it goes wrong…

As with goods (you can read more about goods here), there is a “tiered” approach to remedies for breach of the above terms.

If the service is not performed with reasonable skill and care or if the service is not provided in accordance with the information the trader gave about the service, the consumer has:

• the right to require repeat performance, or
• if repeat performance is (i) “impossible” (for example, if the services are time-dependant) or (ii) not done in reasonable time without significantly inconveniencing the consumer, the right to a reduction in price.

If the services have not been provided within a reasonable time, the consumer has a right to a reduction in price.

A reduction in price may be a full refund or an appropriate reduction in price.  However, any refund must be without a fee payable by the consumer.  The refund must be provided within 14 days of the consumer contract to refund using the same method that was used to pay the trader.

Such tiered remedies are not exhaustive and the consumer is entitled to seek other remedies that are available under other law (for example the right to terminate the contact or to seek damages).

What should I review?

Businesses should be reviewing all consumer facing terms and conditions. These may include:

• consumer sales contracts (for goods, services and digital content)  including website terms and conditions
• contractual clauses that limit your business’s liability
• any pre-contractual information provided to consumers including marketing material
• cancellation and returns policies.

Further guidance for businesses in relation to the CRA is available on the Business Companion’s website, accessible here.

Author: Noor Al Naeme

For further information on compliance with the CRA or any other matter, please contact Tom Torkar, Partner in the Technology & Innovation team at tom.torkar@michelmores.com.

In this Part 2 we examine the new regime for selling goods under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (‘CRA‘).  Part 1 of this series of articles is available here.

Part 3 and Part 4 are available by clicking Part 3 here and Part 4 here.

Terms governing sale of goods

As with current law, under the CRA goods must be of satisfactory quality; fit for purpose; as described; and match a sample.  The trader must also have the right to supply the goods.

Key changes

• Fitness for purpose will only apply if the purpose for which goods were to be used was known to the trader before the contract is concluded.
• Goods must match any model that may have been seen/examined by a consumer, unless the differences have been brought to the consumer’s attention before the contract is made.
• When dealing with mixed contracts, the CRA has clarified that: the goods elements of a mixed contract will be subject to the statutory rights governing goods; the services element of a mixed contract will be subject to the statutory rights governing services and; the digital content elements of a mixed contract will be subject to the digital content provisions.  For more information on the supply of services and the CRA please click here or if you would like to read more on the supply of digital content and the CRA please click here.
• A contract which involves the manufacture of tailored goods is a contract for the sale of goods (rather than a contract for services).
• Any information that is required by the Consumer Contracts (Information Cancellation & Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 to be provided to a consumer BEFORE the contract is concluded will also be deemed to be implied terms under the contract and such information cannot change without both parties’ express consent.
• If a good is incorrectly installed, it will not conform with the contract.

When it goes wrong…

The CRA introduces the following remedies if the goods do not meet the statutory rights:

1. 30 days to reject the good (called the ‘short-term right to reject’).  This period generally starts from the date the goods are delivered and ownership to the consumer transfers.  If the goods will perish in less than 30 days then the time to reject is the lifespan of the perishable good.
2. The consumer can require the trader to repair or replace the good.  The trader is given one opportunity to do this.
3. If the repair/replacement fails or is impossible then the consumer has the right to a reduction in the price of the goods or a final right to reject the goods.

If the consumer exercises the final right to reject then there is no right for a trader to reduce the refund taking into account their use.  After 6 months, any refund to the consumer may be reduced taking account the use the consumer has of the goods in the period since they were delivered.  There is no remedy for a consumer if the breach of a contract is due to the materials provided by the consumer.

Further, the consumer is also entitled to recover costs incurred if a trader fails to provide the pre-contract information required under the Consumer Contracts (Information Cancellation & Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and the information is not in relation to the material characteristics of the goods (where the remedies above would apply).

What should I review?

Businesses should be reviewing all consumer facing terms and conditions.  These may include:

• consumer sales contracts (for goods, services and digital content)  including website terms and conditions;
• contractual clauses that limit your business’s liability;
• any pre-contractual information provided to consumers including marketing material;
• Cancellation and returns policies.

Further guidance for businesses in relation to the CRA is available on the Business Companion’s website, accessible here.

Author: Noor Al Naeme

For further information on compliance with the CRA or any other matter, please contact Tom Torkar, Partner in the Technology & Innovation team at tom.torkar@michelmores.com.

On Friday 10 July the Chancellor George Osborne announced a number of further changes to the planning system aimed, as with previous proposals, at increasing the supply of housing. The proposals are set out in outline terms in chapter 9 of Treasury paper ‘Fixing the Foundations: creating a more Prosperous Nation‘.  The key elements of the proposals deal with both the release of land, and further trimming of the planning system.

Local plans

In what will be welcome news and perhaps long overdue, further action is planned to incentivise (to put it positively) the production of up to date local plans.  Whilst some house builders have been making hay while the sun shines where there have been long delays in getting new policies in place, I suspect that most of the industry would welcome coherent and succinct local planning policies.

League tables

The Government’s intention is to publish league tables setting out progress on providing a plan. For those that are lagging behind, the Government will intervene, even if it is not clear how.  The paper also sets out an intention to bring forward proposals to ‘significantly streamline the length and process of local plans‘ – but is light on detail. Again, this is likely to be welcomed on all sides, and cannot come soon enough for those planning authorities that are struggling to have their plans found sound by inspectors.

Duty to cooperate

Interestingly, there is also a commitment to strengthen and improve the duty to cooperate.  The difficulty in meeting this duty has been a recurring theme in local plan examinations, and so new measures are understandable.  It is not clear however whether strengthening the guidance will have the desired impact, and equally is not clear whether real and genuine enforcement of the duty is achievable.

Zonal system for brownfield land

The concept of giving preference in development terms to brownfield land is certainly not new.  However, clearly the Government is not satisfied with take up, as it proposes introducing a zonal system for brownfield land. Many other countries have a zonal planning system. This would mean that planning permission would automatically be granted, in principle, in relation to brownfield sites – subject to the approval of technical detail.  We may see here a further expansion of the prior approval process.  The level of technical detail, what would be covered, and how conditions and planning obligations would apply are yet to be explained. However, there will have to be a real incentive to get over the preference for greenfield development, and this may not be enough to offset the high clean-up costs that sometimes beset brownfield sites.

Compulsory purchase reforms

By way of headline points, note also the commitment to additional compulsory purchase reforms to further modernise the system. No detail is given other than that proposals will be announced in the autumn.  Again, reforms will be welcome by those having to grapple with the current form process, but what is really needed is a wholesale overhaul of the legislation governing compulsory purchase which is spread throughout numerous statutes and regulations.

Planning process improvements

In a section entitled ‘Improving the Planning Process‘ the Government repeats its refrain that it wants decisions made on time.  It therefore proposes that:

• It will legislate to allow major infrastructure projects with elements of housing to go through the nationally significant infrastructure (NSIP) regime.
• It will ‘tighten’ the planning performance regime so local authorities making 50% or fewer decisions on time are at risk of designation, and it will extend the performance regime to minor applications.
• It will introduce a fast track certificate process for establishing the principle of development for minor development proposals and tighten the planning guarantee, again for minor applications.
• It will repeat the target to reduce net regulation on house builders although perhaps disappointingly for some this largely seems to involve stepping back from seeking carbon reductions and energy efficiency.
• It will also introduce a dispute resolution mechanism for section 106 agreements (in addition to the previous proposals to appoint section 106 mediators?).

Also included in the chapter are suggestions regarding the devolution of more power, starter homes, right-to-buy and changes to tax relief on buy-to-let schemes.

It is well established that the physical surface of land dedicated as highway maintainable at the public expense vests in the Highway Authority for the area concerned (the HA). The most common provisions used to dedicate highway as being maintainable at the public expense are those set out at section 38 of the Highways Act 1980 (the Act). The length and width of the area to be dedicated will be shown on drawings approved by the HA which are then annexed to an agreement made under section 38, the depth of the area to be dedicated is traditionally thought as being “the top two spits” (spade depths) under the surface of the highway.

What is often overlooked is that in addition to the above dedicated area other infrastructure is potentially maintainable by the HA. Notably section 264 of the Act vests the drains belonging to a road in the HA. Ancillary rights to enable the HA to construct such drains as it considers necessary in land adjoining the highway together with powers to scour, cleanse and keep open such drains are set out under section 100 of the Act.

If powers are exercised under section 100 there is arguably no need for the HA to acquire an easement to drain over, onto or through adjoining land (although compensation will be payable by the HA). Despite these powers there has been a recent trend for HAs to require the grant of express rights of drainage as a condition of entering into section 38 agreements. Such agreements will typically oblige the landowner to construct the works and create a legal easement benefiting the highway over the landowner’s adjoining land.

If powers of entry are exercised under contractual provisions (rather than the statutory regime) it is essential that landowners consider a number of issues, including:-

• that appropriate covenants are offered by the HA regarding the exercise of such powers
• that they have defined remedies against the HA in the event of breach of such covenants (the statutory compensation under section 100(3) is unlikely to be payable) and
• if the land over which such easements are granted forms part of a potential development site the landowner will need to ensure that the grant and registration of a legal easement against the landowner’s title does not interfere with its future dealings of the land concerned.

We previously reported that the new Insurance Act 2015, which is due to come into force on 12 August 2016, would not include the Law Commissions’ proposed amendments to the law regarding late payment of insurance claims.

The current law prohibits policyholders from recovering losses suffered as a result of an insurer’s unreasonable delay in paying a valid insurance claim, and consequently fails to encourage insurers to deal with claims expeditiously. In our experience, this can often lead to a situation where insurers delay responding to a claim in order to put pressure on the policyholder to accept a lower settlement.

On 17 September, the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) released a series of publications relating to the Government’s Enterprise Bill, including an announcement that the Bill would seek to tackle the problem of late payment of insurance claims. BIS said:

“Late payment is a major problem for businesses. Where a business has suffered a loss such a fire or flood, it is likely to rely heavily on insurance. Any unnecessary delay in payment can have significant impacts on a business’ ability to continue or re-start trading after an insured loss. However, insurers under contracts of indemnity insurance in England and Wales are under no legal obligation to pay valid claims within a reasonable time. Although Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require claims to be handled and settled promptly, any failure to comply does not entitle a policyholder to claim damages for late payment. The Government is committed to combating unreasonably late payment of sums due to businesses in particular. The law should incentivise insurers to pay as promptly as is reasonable, and give policyholders a legal right to enforce this.”

The Bill proposes to:

• Introduce into every contract of insurance a requirement on the insurer to pay sums due within a reasonable time;
• Provide a non-exhaustive list of matters which may be taken into account when determining what is a reasonable time for payment in the particular circumstances of a case; and
• Allow for contracting out of the default rules for non-consumer contracts, provided that the insurer satisfies the transparency requirements set out in the Insurance Act 2015.

Michelmores has previously called for the law on late payment of damages to be changed to protect policyholders and bring English law in line with the position in most other major jurisdictions. Harriet Stokes presented a paper in support of reform at the June 2015 AIDA Conference in Copenhagen and her work on the subject has been published in the British Insurance Law Association Journal.

The government has now issued its response to the consultation on minimum energy efficiency standards for the commercial rented sector.

The response confirms what had been previously mooted:

1. The regulations will apply to all non-domestic property, except those which are already exempt from the requirements of the EPC regime;
2. The minimum energy efficiency rating will be ‘E’ – this mirrors the domestic property regime;
3. Landlords will not be required to make energy efficiency improvements:

– which are not cost effective (i.e. cannot be repaid within 7 years or available under the Green Deal);
– where necessary consents cannot be obtained; or
– the measures will reduce a property’s value by 5% or more.

The regulations will come into effect on the 1 April 2018 and will apply to any new lease to new or existing tenants.  From 1 April 2023, there will be a blanket application of the regulations, so the trigger will not be a new lease.

Enforcement will be by local authorities.  Although it is expected that Trading Standards will undertake this function, local authorities will be able to choose. There will be a six month window for compliance.

Penalties for non-compliance will be twofold:

• For providing false information on the register, a penalty of £5,000 is stated in the response.
• For renting out a non-compliant property, there will be a sliding scale depending on the length of breach. The fines will be linked to the rateable value of the property.  For infringements of less than 3 months, the fine will be 10% of the rateable value, but with a minimum penalty of £5,000 and a maximum of £50,000.  For infringements of more than 3 months, the fine will be 20% of the rateable value, but with a minimum penalty of £10,000, and a maximum of £150,000.

The government will be drafting and issuing guidance shortly.

Read the full government response.

If you have a building that is subject to the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) because it contains standby boilers or generators, then you may now be able to drop out of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme − potentially saving you thousands of pounds!

On 8 October 2014 the Environment Agency published a CRC Update intended to simplify the exclusion of EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) from the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme.

Following this update, when calculating qualification for CRC Phase 2, you can now exclude gas or electricity supplies to sites where there are EU ETS installations. This approach excludes energy supplies to all of the activities on the site where there is an EU ETS installation − even if some of the activities are not listed within the permit for the EU ETS installation.

Therefore, it looks like all energy supplies to buildings which are subject to the EU ETS are now excluded from CRC Phase 2.

This seems a surprising decision by the Environment Agency, given the potential effect on estates including large, high use, buildings such as office blocks and shopping centres.  At a time when Government is seeking opportunities to maximise revenue we would not be surprised if The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) intervene to ‘clarify’ this recent EA Update!

Highway rights over land can present a considerable obstacle to development of land. At best the process required to remove such rights can be costly and time consuming. In the worst case development can be entirely frustrated if such rights cannot be removed and a site becomes commercially unviable as a consequence. Even where such rights are little exercised they should never be ignored as development on or over a highway may leave a developer liable to carry out expensive alterations to a completed development and may even constitute a criminal offence.

The principle methods of removing highway rights over land (known as ‘stopping up’) can be achieved by application to a magistrates court (section 116 of the Highways Act 1980) or by application to the Secretary of State (section 247 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990). What follows is a brief overview of some of the factors to be considered by a developer when highways rights interfere with development.

Procedure

The procedures under the Highways Act and the TCPA are very similar requiring prior notice to be published in at least one local newspaper and the London Gazette, displayed on a site notice at each end of the length of highway to be stopped up,  served on every ‘statutory undertaker’ who has apparatus under the area that is to be stopped up and on every local authority in whose area any highway or any land to which the order relates is situated (the exact recipients in each case depending on the structure of local government in the area).

Prior notice of a s116 application will also need to be served on all owners or occupiers of land adjoining the highway to be stopped up (and in the case of classified roads the Secretary of State). In the case of an application under the TCPA advance notice does not have to be served on such persons.

The issues of effecting service should not be underestimated. Thorough due diligence must be undertaken to ensure that all appropriate bodies are identified otherwise the body determining the application may well refuse to grant an order on procedural grounds.

In the case of a Highways Act application the local highway authority for the area will make the application and prior consent (as distinct from notice) to the application of parish and district councils must be obtained in relation to applications concerning certain roads and paths. As a consequence various tiers of local government can effectively veto an application before it ever reaches the magistrates court. Although local authorities do not have the ability to veto an application made pursuant to the provisions of the TCPA a sustained objection will lead to the Secretary of State requiring that a public inquiry be held.

A welcome change to the law came into force when the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 amended section 253 of the TCPA 1990 to enable a draft stopping up or diversion order to be published alongside the planning application (i.e. before the consent is granted). Prior to this change an application could only be made following the grant of the planning permission (and then only if the development concerned had not been completed).

What has to be proved

Provided that development has not been completed, all that needs to be demonstrated for the purposes of the TCPA is that the stopping up is required to to enable development to be carried out:-

• in accordance with a valid planning permission (s247(1)(a));
• by a government department (s247(1)(b)); or
• in accordance a specified anticipated permission (s253(1)(a))

Contrast the above with the provisions of the Highways Act which require a highway authority to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the court that it is “unnecessary”. Where possible it is clearly preferable for a developer to make an application under the provisions of the TCPA rather than trust to what is regarded by both the local highway authority and magistrates court as being unnecessary.

Costs

The costs of stopping up should not be underestimated. In the case of a contested application under the TCPA the costs of a public inquiry can be extremely significant. In addition even if an order is obtained it is capable of being challenged by appeal to the crown court (in the case of an order obtained pursuant to s116) or being quashed by the High Court (in the case of an order obtained pursuant to the TCPA).

Where applications for an order are uncontested costs under the Highways Act may well be higher than under the TCPA due to the fact that the local highway authority for the area will usually seek to recover its costs from the party seeking an order. An often overlooked provision is the potentially significant costs of relocating the apparatus of statutory undertakers under part II of schedule 12 of the Highways Act 1980.

Choice of Procedure

Advice should be sought at an early stage in the project where highway rights exist over a development site to ensure the best choice of procedure and the correct timing of the application in any specific case.

Although the changes introduced by the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 will be welcome to developers, in certain circumstances the procedure under the Highways Act may be preferable given the potential for a potential obstacle to development to be overcome at an early stage and before many other project costs involved with a planning application are incurred. Section 116 is also useful in circumstances where the TCPA would not be appropriate (such as where development has been completed or where fixed proposals for development have not been finalised).

The law concerning stopping up is a specialist area with traps for the unwary. In addition to the above principle provisions there are other powers available to highway authorities to extinguish highway rights and additional provisions concerning roads in Greater London which should be considered where appropriate on a case by case basis and which specialist advice should be sought.

Sound familiar? Dealing with complaints, or concerns as some like to call them, are a necessary part of school life. Complaints can take a huge amount of time and staff resource away from daily school life − it is arguable if the time taken away from teaching children is proportionate to the complaint made. However they need to be taken seriously and sometimes lessons need to be learnt.

The DfE have recently released new guidance regarding Academies and Free Schools and the requirement to have a complaints policy in accordance with the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2014. Similar guidance exists for maintained schools.

Complaints could be anything from teacher’s attitudes, to failure to follow procedures to under supervision of Jimmy in his Forest School lesson, when he is playing with that marshmallow on a stick.

Some parents are unsure where to turn if they have a concern or are angry about something at the school therefore it is very important to make it clear within school where to find this information and to have it clearly displayed on the school’s website. Often schools have generalised leaflets regarding how to raise a concern which makes the process accessible for all and then they move onto the more formal complaints policy if needed.

Within the recently published guidance there are the obvious complaints procedures requirements such as the complaints procedures must be in writing, made available to parents and set out clear timescales. Nothing unusual here. The procedure must consist of 3 stages; informal, formal and a panel hearing. If the complaint progresses to a final panel hearing the school must allow the parent to attend (again an expected requirement) and be accompanied if they wish and the school must also ensure that at least one member of the panel is independent of the management and running of the academy, this is slightly more tricky. All governors at the school would not be independent of the management and running of the academy as that is what they are there to do…. So where does a school find a suitable independent individual who wants to take on the responsibility? Perhaps another local governing body….

Some complaints cannot be dealt with at that panel hearing so what happens when the complaints process at the school has been exhausted?

The EFA/DfE can support. However their scope is narrow as they look at delay, compliance with complaints procedures, breaches of funding agreements in the case of Academies and compliance with other legal obligations i.e. compliance with the Admissions Code. They do not overturn complaints but can request that the complaint is looked at again and instruct the school to make sure that procedures are put right.

A complaint can also be made to Ofsted if the schools complaints process has been exhausted. Ofsted don’t usually investigate individual complaints and only really focus on complaints which affect the whole school such as the management of school resources.

The recently released guidance doesn’t appear to be anything particularly new and it is likely most schools would be following similar principals anyway. The best thing to do is to make sure you have a watertight complaints policy and you follow it to the tee. If you are in the unfortunate position where a complaint is escalated through the stages you will then have the backbone and procedures in place to deal with it in the most efficient way.

The internet is full of information on training contract applications and interviews. But before you start to diligently write down your attributes and practice your interview questions in front of a mirror (trying to project an aura of yourself as serious and ambitious yet friendly and approachable) you need to make sure that your efforts are being focussed at the right firm.

So, what are your options?

The first thing to consider is what type of firm you want to join. Taking a broad brush approach, there are three main ‘types’ of law firm to consider:

1. Local high street firms

Working in a high street firm you may be likely to practise in a number of areas, across one broad specialism. For example, you may practise in both commercial and residential conveyancing, or civil litigation that spans family, employment and property litigation. This exposes you to a range of practice areas, but may inhibit you from becoming highly specialised in any one area. That said, the number of practice areas in the firm as a whole are likely to be more limited than other firms.

Your client base is likely to be individuals and smaller businesses that are based in the local area.

2. Regional firms

Working in a regional firm will give you the choice of a wide variety of practice areas and enable you to specialise in one of these. What I enjoy about working at Michelmores is that these specialisms encourage different departments to work together on projects, sharing their in-depth knowledge.

Regional firms will vary in their approach to the market. Some may focus on the regional work in their area, whilst others will focus on the London and international markets. Michelmores have taken the latter approach and this has exposed me to London quality work whilst maintaining the lifestyle benefits of working in a South West firm.

3. City firms

City firms tend to have a very glamorous image. The quality of work is likely to be very high, with both national and international clients. How much exposure a trainee will have to this work will depend upon the firm and the number of trainees that are taken on. City firms do not only do business-related work, but their focus is often on commercial law and a number of their clients will be well known businesses.

There are also a number of US and international firms based in London. If you have an interest in global business then this might be a route for you to explore. The possibilities of international placements are common in these firms and their clients will be from all over the world.

What matters to you?

Once you have an understanding of the types of firm, you need to consider what you want from your career. If I had to pick my top 3 priorities, they would be:

1. I want to have a successful career that exposes me to challenging and interesting work.

Michelmores have an impressive client base and high quality work that is often won in London. As a trainee, I was exposed to this from my first day.

Because Michelmores have a smaller trainee intake than city firms, I am given high levels of responsibility and exposure to interesting and complex work. I have been able to handle the progress of matters where appropriate, undertake interesting research tasks and I am often out of the office meeting clients.

2. I want to enjoy going to work (after all, this is where I spend a lot of my time!).

Michelmores have an active social committee, rarely a week goes by without an event happening. Last week, we had a firm sports day that was great fun, if not a little competitive! I find that this is a great way to get to know people from all over the firm even if you don’t work with them regularly.

The open-door policy and open-plan working environment facilitate team work, making it easy to approach supervising solicitors. The combination of this makes Michelmores a very productive and enjoyable learning environment.

3. I want to have a healthy work-life balance.

Being able to keep my horses and my social life as well as having a good job wasn’t something that I ever thought would be possible – however, when I found Michelmores, I realised that it was.

My working day is flexible and there is no stigma about leaving the office at 5.30pm.Of course, sometimes there will be an urgent task that needs to be completed, but if this does happen then the whole team will pull together to complete it.

Michelmores also offer good annual leave which ensures that everyone is able to take the time off that they need to get some R & R and take part in events going on away from the firm.

Naturally, other considerations are salary and location.

It is important to reflect upon and remember your priorities. If a firm isn’t in line with these then it is unlikely that you will be able to forge a successful and happy career with them.

How do you know which firm can meet your needs?

Once you have an idea of what you want from a firm you can look at your options in a productive way.

My first port of call would be the website and social media pages of the firm. This will give you an idea of their clients and type of work. It will also give you a sense of the extra-curricular activities they offer and the general ethos of the firm.

It is important to remember that this will be a firm’s ‘best side’. When I was applying for training contracts I found it helpful to look past the marketing. I spoke to current employees (from trainees to partners), asking them why they chose the firm, what they particularly enjoy about working there, and if there was anything that they didn’t like about the firm. You can do this by attending open days, law fairs, or approaching employees by email or social media – if you pitch the approaches professionally and carefully. People will remember you for this and it is the best way to get a ‘full picture’ of the firm.

I know a lot of graduates apply to as many firms as possible in the quest to secure a training contract. However, if you take the time to consider whether a firm is right for you and the reasons why, this will shine through in your application and the assessment process. It will also mean that you have a better chance of enjoying your training contract, having chosen a firm that is the right fit for your own happiness and success. Good luck!