The defamation action by Frances Curran against the Daily Record has been thrown out and dismissed as irrelevant in a judgement issued in the Court Session.

This is an important judgement supporting the right of the media to publish stories critical of politicians in the context of their political life.

READ THE FULL RULING HERE (PDF, 225 KB)

Please find a link to our Budget review covering the key points of Alastair Darling’s second Budget.

With the country likely to go to the polls on 6 May, Mr Darling’s third Budget was predictably as much a political exercise as a conventional set of announcements. While many of the measures had been set out in last December’s Pre-Budget Report, there were also some surprises. These included the increased stamp duty land tax rate on residential property over £1 million from 6 April 2011 and the doubling of capital gains tax entrepreneurs’ relief to £2 million only two years after it’s introduction.
(more…)

It is now unlawful for trade union members to be denied employment through blacklists, under new regulations that come into effect today.

To prevent employers from blacklisting workers for their trade union membership or activities, the Government has introduced new rules banning the practice. The move follows public consultation on the subject and evidence that a number of employers in the construction sector had been unlawfully vetting workers.

Employment Relations Minister Lord Young said “Blacklisting someone because they are a member of a trade union is underhand, unfair and blights people’s lives.

“The new regulations outlaw the compilation, dissemination and use of blacklists. They have been designed to build on existing protections in the area, which are found in trade union and data protection law, Good employers who operate fair and open vetting processes have nothing to fear from these regulations.

“I am confident that this new piece of legislation will bring to an end the disreputable practice of blacklisting once and for all”.

News Distribution Service, 02 March 2010

http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=411746&SubjectId=2

A professor who resigned over claims exams were re-marked so students would pass was unfairly dismissed, Court of Appeal judges have ruled.

Professor Paul Buckland said his decision to fail some Bournemouth University students in 2006 was overruled.

Judges upheld an original ruling by an Employment Tribunal in 2008 that he had been unfairly dismissed.

The university was cleared when three independent external examiners upheld the decision to pass the students.

Archaeology Academic Professor Buckland claimed that of 16 students who had originally failed the exams, 13 were given pass grades after their marks were reviewed by the university.

The university admitted “procedures had not been followed” in a Reconstruction of Environment and Economy module.

An employment tribunal ruled that the action of the chair of the board of examiners in substituting the marks originally awarded by Professor Buckland without first consulting with him was wrong and ruled he had been unfairly dismissed.

This decision was overturned by the Employment Appeal Tribunal but Court of Appeal judges reinstated the original ruling.

In a statement the university said: “Naturally, we are disappointed at the court’s judgment, particularly on this important point of employment law.

“We have decided nevertheless to accept the Court of Appeal’s decision and will not be appealing their judgement further.”

BBC News, Thursday, 25 February, 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/8537706.stm

A primary school head teacher who was accused of bullying her former deputy head teacher has been cleared by the General Teaching Council (GTC).

Catherine Maltbaek, Head of Cathedral School of St Mary, Plymouth, was alleged to have “bullied and acted inappropriately” towards Sue Preston.

The incidents were alleged to have taken place during 2004. However, the GTC’s professional conduct committee said it found the allegations not proven and cleared Mrs Maltbaek.

The inquiry heard that Mrs Preston went on long term sick leave with stress around Christmas 2004 and later brought a claim for constructive dismissal which she won at an employment tribunal in June 2006.

Mrs Preston complained of being bullied out of her job as deputy head by Mrs Maltbaek and claimed she had made her life “a total misery”. She was awarded a maximum pay-out of £56,800 by the employment tribunal.

However, following the tribunal, the school governors said that they still had “full confidence” in Mrs Maltbaek as head teacher.

The school, in Stonehouse, is run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth with support from Plymouth City Council.

A spokesperson for Plymouth City Council said: “The GTC have cleared Mrs Maltbaek of any allegations of misconduct.

“This has been a very difficult time for Mrs Maltbaek and we are pleased that she can now concentrate on the professional duties she enjoys most, namely leading the Cathedral School of St Mary’s.

“Over the past four years the school has continued to offer a very high standard of education to it’s pupils despite the allegations which have long been leveled against the head teacher.

“There are already discussions taking place between senior representatives of the diocese, governors and ourselves on the future shape of Catholic primary education within the city.

“The conclusion of the GTC hearing enables us to take these discussions to the next stage.”

BBC News, Monday, 1 March, 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8542877.stm

Information and guidance is becoming available about the changes expected on 6 April, 2010 when the well-known ’sick note’ will change and become the ‘fit note’.

Under the new system, doctors will be able to advise people who are on sick leave for over seven days on whether, with extra support from their employer, they could return to work more quickly.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has made a series of guides available on it’s website, covering the ‘fit note’ in terms of the implications for employers, for employees and for general practitioners.

The employer guide is available at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/fitnote-employer-guide.pdf and has been produced in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the CBI, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Acas, the Association of British Insurers and EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation.

Essentially, if an employee is too ill to work, the doctor will advise this just as at present with the sick note.

However, doctors will give a ‘may be fit for work’ statement if they think that their patient’s health condition would allow them to work if they get suitable support from their employer.

“The changes are not about trying to get people back to work before they are ready, but about removing the challenges to them returning,” the guide says.

“This is about you and your employee working together and being open and honest.”

The TUC, which has issued it’s own guidance, called on employers to work closely with unions to ensure that the fit note system works to the benefit of the thousands of workers in the UK who are made ill or injured every year as a result of their jobs.

www.croner.co.uk, 2 March, 2010