The Environment Agency has accepted an enforcement undertaking from a major brewer following a pollution incident on a Herefordshire Brook. The regulator has accepted an offer of £160,000 for an enforcement undertaking from brewer Heineken UK following a pollution incident at its cider factory in Hereford, which saw several thousand fish killed. Heineken has also paid more than £12,000 to cover the Environment Agency’s legal costs. The incident, at Heineken’s Bulmer’s cider plant in August 2014, was caused when a container of ammonia-... Continue reading

A business owner has been prosecuted for failing to register with the ICO because she was using in-store CCTV. Kavitha Karthikesu pleaded guilty to the offence under Section 17 of the Data Protection Act at Coventry Magistrates’ Court on 1 February. She was fined £200, ordered to pay £439.28 prosecution costs and a £20 victim surcharge. The defendant was operating CCTV cameras as part of her business premises licence but said she didn’t realise this meant she had to register with the ICO. The annual fee for most businesses is £35. Ms... Continue reading

Companies that break environmental laws – either by polluting rivers, breaching permit conditions designed to protect communities or avoiding recycling – will contribute to a £1.5m payout to a range of charities, following enforcement action by the Environment Agency. The money will be spent by local groups on projects that will make a direct positive impact on the environment. There are 26 Enforcement Undertakings on the new list with payments ranging from £1,500 – £375,000, including six companies that have agreed to make six-figure... Continue reading

The largest UK fines for health and safety incidents have increased substantially in the past year, with some of the biggest brands in business having to pay millions of pounds for failing to control serious risks to employees and the public. There were 19 fines of £1m or more in 2016 – the largest being £5m. This compares with three fines of £1m or more in 2015 and none in 2014. The rise in fines is a result of the introduction of new sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences, which came into force on 1 February 2016. It is ... Continue reading

Does a 70% drop in cases mean ‘vexatious’ claims have been weeded out, or has access to justice been denied? The number of Employment Tribunal cases has dropped significantly since fees were introduced in 2013, new figures have confirmed – which has led to renewed debate over whether employees are being denied access to justice. A much-anticipated official review, which analysed the impact of fees for the first time, reported a 70% decrease in the average number of claims brought to Employment Tribunals since their introduction, with a ... Continue reading