MANCHESTER: Employers should prepare now for the Equality Bill and other discrimination law changes expected in 2010.

LONDON: In response to this article, Keith Gilbert, public performance sales managing director of PRS for Music has sought to clarify the PRS position.

CHESHIRE: Under the law, business owners have to pay if their staff or customers are able to listen to music played in a range of formats – including hold music recorded on telephones – even if this is not for commercial reasons.

LONDON/TAMWORTH: An updated version of the Code of Practice: Hardware for Fire and Escape Doors has been issued by the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers and the Door and Hardware Federation and is being hailed as 'the guide' for those responsible for fire safety in buildings.

BIRMINGHAM: VAT changes affecting the supply of goods and services throughout Europe take effect on New Year's Day, Birmingham and Solihull Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.

CHESHIRE: The Forum of Private Businesses (FPB) is calling for a freeze in new business legislation to allow the Government to re-assess the burden of red tape. The proposed moratorium would last until the General Election, which is expected to take place in May.

GUERNSEY: The news that the State of Guernsey Building Regulations have been amended to make all future oil boiler installations condensing models has been welcomed by Worcester, Bosch Group.

UK: The plumbing industry has reacted with dismay at the last-minute postponement of the changes to Building Regulations Part G.

LIVERPOOL: Mace & Jones is reminding businesses that statutory redundancy payments have gone up for dismissals effective from 1 October.

KNUTSFORD: In latest Economic Downturn Panel survey cash flow worries as a result of increasing late payments are causing small businesses the most headaches, according to the latest Economic Downturn Panel survey carried out by the Forum of Private Business (FPB).

MILTON KEYNES: The proposed changes to Part G, due to come into effect on 1 October 2009 have been delayed until 6 April 2010. Part G deals with sanitary conveniences, bathrooms, food preparation areas and hot water storage installations. 

BRISTOL: The construction industry has a long way to go to achieve diversity, according to a report commissioned by the Construction Industry Council (CIC) from the University of the West of England.

KNUTSFORD: The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has issued the new Employment Guide to help small businesses comply with employment law, which is an increasing headache for companies forced to make redundancies because of the recession or dismiss staff following disciplinary breaches.

LONDON: Wickes and B&Q are supporting a government campaign called 'Know Your Rights' that supports consumers to help them better understand their rights.

MANCHESTER: The split of rock band Oasis shows how merchant businesses, even successful ones, operating as a partnership can break up leaving once close working relationships in tatters, said north west law firm, Mace & Jones.

LONDON: The UK now has the longest tax code in the world, creating numerous problems of interpretation, understanding, and locating legislation. This year alone the Corporation Tax Act adds a substantial quantity of pages to the code, and makes interpreting legislation more difficult than ever. 

BIRMINGHAM: Firms are being offered a helping hand to meet the demands of working time rules with a new service from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

ONLINE: More than 450 people logged on to an exclusive webinar from Pilkington which gave an insight to the changes to Part L of the Building Regulations 2010, what they mean for architects and specifiers and how glazing is an essential product to help meet the Part L 2010 criteria. Beamed live just days after the consultation was formally released to the public, this hot-off-the-press webinar also saw hundreds more of the construction industry logging on to watch after the event. 

SHIPLEY: Despite new health and safety legislation being introduced earlier this year, a large number of businesses and other organisations are still unaware that they are flouting laws and risking prosecution by failing to have basic first aid equipment in place.  

The Health and Safety Offences Act came into force in January 09 and has given courts greater sentencing powers, as well as increasing penalties, for those that break health and safety law.

LONDON: Business groups are to publish a guide for firms covered by the carbon reduction commitment (CRC), a mandatory cap and trade scheme that could have significant costs for companies, government departments or public sector bodies who fail to control their carbon emissions.

EDGBASTON: The new battery recycling regime will be a bit more manageable for smaller retailers now that the Government has acted ... 

STOKE-ON-TRENT: Publication of the revised Building Regulations Part G has been welcomed by …