Now the weather is brightening up and the sun is shining, it is all too tempting to become complacent when it comes to home security. Approximately 25 percent of break-ins that take place in the spring and summer months are gained through insecure windows and doors.

When out in your garden ensure that windows and doors to the front of the house are secure. It only takes a second for someone to get into your home and take things without you noticing.

REMEMBER not all burglars work alone. One suspect will go to the front door and distract you while another enters through an open window or door. Never open your door to a stranger. If someone does come to your door and you are alone be cautious.

With the onset of British Summer Time, people are being warned to take precautions in protecting their garden sheds.

Offenders see sheds as easy pickings because they are unprotected and lack basic security measures. They often contain property that can be sold on or implements that can be used to force entry into the owner’s home.

Although there’s never a guarantee that gardens will not be targeted, there are measures that can be put in place to deter thieves. A simple awareness of garden security and an investment in high quality locks can ensure that homeowners can enjoy the summer months without worry.

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

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 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!