From 6 April 2015, all regulated security businesses will need to hold an SIA business licence.
The arrangements necessary for the SIA to start accepting business licence applications in April 2014 are not yet in place. This date has therefore been postponed.
The Home Office will announce a revised business licensing timetable as soon as possible. The date on which a licence will be legally required remains 6 April 2015.
http://www.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk/Pages/business-licensing.aspx
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-tax-changes
From 1 October 2014, the paper tax disc will no longer be issued and required to be displayed on a vehicle windscreen. DVLA holds a digital record of taxed and untaxed vehicles.
If you have any remaining months left on your current paper tax disc from 1 October 2014, you can either remove the tax disc from your vehicle or display the disc until it expires.
Checking the tax status of a vehicle
You can check the tax status of your vehicle online (including rental vehicles). DVLA will still notify you when your vehicle tax is due for renewal. You will still need to renew your vehicle tax if your vehicle is exempt eg historic tax class.
Buying or selling a vehicle
When buying a used vehicle you will be able to use the V5C/2 – new keeper supplement to pay vehicle tax at a Post Office branch, along with the MOT certificate (if applicable) and fee. From 1 October 2014 you will also be able to pay vehicle tax using the V5C/2 online or by phone.
When selling a vehicle to a new vehicle keeper, the vehicle tax will no longer be transferable. Vehicle tax will end when a vehicle is sold and the new keeper will need to get the vehicle taxed immediately before the vehicle can be used.
Paying vehicle tax by Direct Debit
From 1 November 2014 you can pay your vehicle tax online by Direct Debit either:
•annually
•6 monthly
•monthly
Whichever option you choose, the payments will continue automatically until you tell DVLA to stop taking them or you cancel the Direct Debit with your bank.
If your vehicle needs to be taxed from 1 November 2014, you can set up a Direct Debit when paying online for vehicle tax. DVLA will forward your instructions to your bank.
If you have been paying your tax annually or every 6 months, you will get a refund for any full calendar months left on the tax period when you tell DVLA you no longer require tax.
When the Direct Debit scheme can’t be used
Paying by Direct Debit will not be available to:
•first registration vehicles
•fleet schemes
• HGVs (paying the Road User Levy)
Declaring your vehicle is off the road (SORN)
DVLA will automatically stop taking Direct Debit payments from your bank once you declare the vehicle off-road (SORN).
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-tax-changes
The SIA have launched a new licence application service with the Post Office that makes applying for a new SIA licence easier and cheaper; most applicants will no longer need to post valuable documents and supply a photograph, which can be costly and inconvenient.
This is how it works:
1. Applicants register on the SIA website by going tohttp://www.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk/apply and clicking on the register / log in link. A username and password is e-mailed to them.
2. The applicant logs in and fills out their application. At the end they receive an e-mail with an application reference number and are told which identity and other documents to take to one of over 700 participating post offices nationwide. Applicants must keep their application reference number safe as they will not be able to complete an application without it.
3. When the applicant goes to a post office, the post office staff check and return the applicant’s documents; they will also take a digital photograph of the applicant, take an electronic version of their signature, and take payment of the application fee. The applicant will not be charged by the Post Office for using the service.
4. The applicant’s photograph and signature are sent to us electronically by the Post Office. We add them to the application information already received and continue with our checks. A licence decision is made within 25 working days.
The new service will be available alongside existing methods of applying for a licence until early in 2014, when it will replace the paper application form as the way to apply for a new licence.
The objective of the SIA’s Approved Contractor scheme is to raise performance standards and to assist the private security industry in developing new opportunities. The scheme is voluntary and was developed in consultation with representatives from across the industry; it only covers those parts of the industry that are regulated by the SIA and the Private Security Industry Act 2001 (as amended). There is a single scheme, with sector-specific approval based on a relevant set of qualifying criteria.
THE Transfer of Undertakings (protection of employment) Regulations have been a thorn in the flesh of businesses ever since they were enacted in 2006.
They have become a straight jacket for businesses because they prevent the changes which have to be made to enable companies to win contracts by operating more economically and efficiently.
The Government has now launched a consultation on changes to these regulations, (commonly known as TUPE) as part of its Red Tape Challenge.
Currently TUPE covers two sets of circumstances:
Firstly, where there is a transfer of an “economic entity”. That is a business or part of a business.
Secondly, where there is a service provision change.
Take for example a large manufacturing complex which outsources its security and facilities management. When it puts this work out to tender and decides to change the service provider, possibly because it is unhappy with the service it is receiving from current provider, the new provider who wins the contract has to take on the staff who were working on that site for the previous provider.
The outcome is that if the job was being done badly by the existing team, chances are it will continue to be done badly by the new team.
The new provider has no prospect of dismissing the old team as the dismissal will be seen as being “connected with the transfer” and therefore automatically unfair.
Worse still, the old provider will take the opportunity to get rid of its least-able people by placing them on that site as soon as they are given notice that they have lost the contract.
The new provider, who has probably put in a cheaper bid will suffer the cost of sorting all this out and will have less money to do it with.
The consultation paper proposes to remove service provision changes from the scope of TUPE and to change the wording of the provisions for unfair dismissal to enable employers to dismiss fairly for economic, organisation or technical reasons without the risk that the dismissal will be “connected with the transfer” and therefore unfair.
WHAT DO YOU THINK!