Birmingham Law Society Bulletin March April 2021

BULLETIN

THE MAGAZINE OF THE BIRMINGHAM LAW SOCIETY

To Take Or Not To Take

Your Annual Leave That Is

!

Technology & AML Compliance

&

Covid 19 The Stamp

Duty Holiday

REGULATION REPORT:

Digital Conveyancing: No Longer a Lofty Aspiration

Guidance On Money Laundering Compliance For The Legal Profession MAR /APRIL 2021

www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk 1 ONE PROFESSION... ONE REGION...

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THIS ISSUE

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE 4.

President’s Address

6.

Members’ News

THE BIRMINGHAM LAW SOCIETY BULLETIN IS PUBLISHED BY FRASER URQUHART MEDIA.

10.

Sweeping Leasehold Changes – Or A Fight?

11.

Lockdown 3.0: Ask The Experts – Homeschooling

To advertise your business to Birmingham Law Society members call Fraser Urquhart Media on 0116 2533445 or email jon@fu-media.co.uk or kevin@fu-media.co.uk

12.

To Take Or Not To Take ( Your Annual Leave That Is … ! )

14.

Regulation Report: Revised Guidance On Money Laundering Compliance For The Legal Profession

Editorial enquiries to info@fu-media.co.uk

16.

Landmark Planning: A Clearer View Of Future Plans

18.

Digital Conveyancing: No Longer A Lofty Aspiration

22.

Covid 19 And The Stamp Duty Holiday

24.

Technology And AML Compliance

26.

Quill’s New Document Management System Docshub

Disclaimer: Copyright Fraser Urquhart Media. No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers. Whilst every attempt has been made to ensure accuracy in compiling this publication, the Publisher cannot accept responsibility for any inaccuracies, omissions, breach of copyright or otherwise since compilation. The Publisher cannot be held responsible for any material submitted to the publication, not excluding advertisements. The views expressed within this title are not necessarily the views of the Publisher. Acceptance of advertisements does not imply recommendation by the Publisher. © Fraser Urquhart Media 2021.

CONTACT US MEMBER EVENTS Birmingham Law Society Suite 101, Cheltenham House 14-16 Temple Street Birmingham B2 5BG Tel 0121 227 8700 info@birminghamlawsociety.co.uk www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk @birminghamlawsociety Officers April 2020 - July 2021 President - Inez Brown - Harrison Clark Rickerbys Vice President - Stephanie Perraton Squire Patton Boggs (UK) LLP Deputy Vice President - Tony McDaid - No5 Chambers Hon. Secretaries - Stephanie Brownlees - Eden Legal Services LTD and Pardeep Lagha - Gateley The Board 2020/2021 Chair: Dee Kundi Director: Karen Bailey Director: Caroline Coates Director: Laura Daly Finance Director: Ben Henry Director: Rav Hothi Director: Tony McDaid Ex Officio: Inez Brown Ex Officio: Linden Thomas Contact c/o Birmingham Law Society

BIRMINGHAM LAW SOCIETY MEMBER’S EVENTS & WEBINARS Wednesday 3rd March 2021 Virtual Advocacy Training with No5 Chambers

12.00pm - 1.00pm Wednesday 10th March 2021 Post Budget Financial Planning with Tilney 11.00am - 12.00pm Wednesday 31st March 2021 Virtual workshop on Witness Statements in the Business and Property Courts - BLS in in partnership with No5 Chambers Thursday 15th April 2021 Virtual Legal Awards

To find out more ans to reserve your space visit www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk 3

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

The legal press has been filled with interesting topics of discussion.

Please see summary below: Is there a demand for formal CPD to return?

Formal CPD assessments for solicitors were scrapped on 1 November 2016. Instead, the responsibility fell on law firms to consider the quality of its practice and to identify any learning and development needs. Many were concerned that this would result in fewer checks to ensure the competence of lawyers.

In early 2020 The Legal Services Board confirmed that the decision to scrap CPD assessments would be reviewed as it was important to understand how standards would be maintained amongst lawyers.

It was recently announced that during the second half of the year, the Legal Services Board will formally consult on how solicitors are being measured on annual training in order to ensure that they remain competent throughout their careers. Any future changes could include targeted visits to firms where it is felt that clients are at risk due to lack of training.

In addition, the Legal Services Board is likely to recommend that the SRA and other regulators introduce a scheme to identify any solicitor who fails to meet the required competency standards.

I believe that this is a well needed change because the public need to feel confident that lawyers have the current skills and knowledge required to do the job. They also need to feel that lawyers continue to be measured by a high standard in order to maintain trust in the services that we provide.

THE SHOCKING COST OF THE SOLICITORS QUALIFYING EXAMINATION The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) comes into force on 1st September 2021. The transitional period when individuals can choose whether to qualify under the existing routes or the SQE route also begins on 1st September 2021. However, several providers will continue to offer the existing route to qualification for at least three years from September 2021.

Under the SQE route you must: • still hold a degree or equivalent, i.e. an apprenticeship in any subject; • pass the new SQE assessments i.e.

SQE Stages 1 and 2; • have a minimum of two years’ 4 www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk

Qualifying Work Experience (QWE); • still be able to show that you are of satisfactory character and suitability Individuals are free to choose the training they need to pass the assessments that will prepare them for practice that best suits their talents and learning requirements.

It was initially hoped that the SQE would cut the cost of entry into the profession. However, one of the UK’s largest law schools recently announced that it could cost up to £30,000 for non-law graduates to complete a law conversion course before embarking on the LLM Legal Practice course.

• The LLM will prepare students for both elements of the SQE, could cost between £12,900 and £17,500; • Non-law graduates are advised to complete a law conversion course that could cost between £9,850 and £15,00; • Tuition fees does not cover the cost of sitting the SQE of £3,980 that is payable to the SRA. These costs mean that a UK non-law graduate could pay up to £30,000, whereas the current costs for aspiring solicitors who wish to take the law conversion course and the legal Practice Course in London is

somewhere in the region of £29,750 but less in the provinces.

Students are advised to shop around because the cost of the SQE will vary by each provider. However, one must question the rationale behind the changes from the current route into the profession.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY ON 8TH MARCH 2021 The UN has announced that the theme for International Women’s Day 2021 is: “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”. The focus will include the full and effective participation of women in decision making; public life; elimination of violence; achieving gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls.

It is widely accepted that women bring different experiences, perspectives and skills to the table. The following women have been recognised for their decisive, effective and swift response to COVID-19. Whilst at the same time providing fact-based public health information to their citizens laced with compassion. I would like to shine the spotlight on some of these famous female world leaders: Mette Frederiksen has been serving as Prime Minster of Denmark since June 2019;

THE LEGAL DIGITAL WORKSPACE: FROM ENABLEMENT TO OPTIMISATION But the impact of this fragmented user experience goes further still. Staff who are held back by poorly coordinated technology will not only find it harder to deliver client outcomes, they will also be unhappier and left feeling unfulfilled in their work - and therefore more likely to move elsewhere. The impact of poor user experience on staff morale shouldn’t be underestimated. Especially as the prospect of increased remote working opens talented employees to a much wider pool of potential employers, making retention of staff all the more difficult.

So how can you move from enablement to optimisation of your legal digital workspace?

At the beginning of 2020, most businesses’ remote working procedures were thrown well and truly into the spotlight. Law firms were no exception and it quickly became clear that some were far more prepared than others.

The spectrum of preparedness ranged from digital, modern law firms already well equipped to work remotely, to those completely tied to physical offices and unable to work at all.

Sahle-Work Zwewde is the current President of Ethiopia and the first woman to hold the office; Sanna Marin is a Finnish politician and has been Prime Minster of Finland since December 2019; Angela Merkel has been serving as Chancellor of Germany since 2005; Jacinda Ardern has been serving as the 40th Prime Minster of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017; Zuzana Caputova is the first woman to hold the office of President in Slovakia, as well as the youngest president in its history; Nicola Surgeon is the First Minster of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party since 2014; Kamala Harris is the first female Vice President in U.S. history since January 2021.

Let’s come together to celebrate female achievements on International Women’s Day!

However, most firms fell into the middle of this range, whereby an employee could work from home, but by no means was their digital workspace optimised for productivity, collaboration or responsiveness. With many firms unable to complete even the most basic of tasks, such as transferring client calls.

Many law firm employees were also faced with a disjointed and cumbersome user experience while working remotely. In a poorly optimised digital workspace it's common for users to have to switch between their local machine and cloud session to carry out simple tasks. Such as accessing their PMS, CMS or DMS, using Microsoft tooling such as Teams and making the video calls which have become so vital to effective remote working.

This is in complete contrast to an employee’s personal experience of technology - where they can switch seamlessly between their devices and complete a task wherever and whenever they want to. And, if any of their devices break or run out of battery, it’s fast and easy for them to switch to another one and pick up where they left off - just as it would be if they were replacing their iPhone, for example.

In most law firm’s corporate technology systems, users will often have to run several different devices such as a laptop or desktop, their tablet and phone separately - with some applications and tools accessible on one, but not the other. This lack of integration simply makes the delivery of legal work harder to do, leaving workers frustrated, wasting valuable billable time, and often exposing the firm to major security risks - as users bypass standard operating procedures in desperation to make their day-to-day work less taxing.

The first step is focusing on the outcomes you want to achieve. Ask yourself; what kind of IT experience do I want for my employees?

Once those outcomes have been defined you can look at your current IT solution to discover if it is capable of supporting you in achieving your objectives. The vast majority of IT solutions are not capable of achieving the optimised environment many aspire to have. So in many cases a fundamental change in strategy - and in the IT infrastructure that supports it - is often required.

You’re also likely to require help in achieving these goals - especially from your IT partners.

It’s therefore more important than ever that law firms look for providers who can facilitate a fully integrated, optimised digital workspace for all of their employees. This means the ability to collaborate through video, phone and any practice management/document management systems within the same secure virtual session. It means providing for different user personas with different profiles and different levels of access to applications. And it means enabling and supporting the ‘ultra-mobile’ worker, who can access everything they need from any laptop, smartphone or tablet at any given time.

Digital workspaces should not be seen as a single technology. Instead, it should be viewed as an ecosystem of technologies, practices, people, places and services that collectively help people work together more effectively, strengthens corporate culture, improves job satisfaction and engages staff to ultimately help businesses be more successful.

We all know that COVID-19 is changing the world of work long-term, even if it’s not precisely clear how at this moment in time.

But what we do know is that client and user experiences will both remain critical to the success of businesses in the legal sector, and that the seamless flexibility of cloud-based digital workspaces will be a cornerstone of that success. The firms that embrace it fully and implement it right, in partnership with an expert provider - will gain a clear advantage in the marketplace.

Find out more at www.oosha.co.uk www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk 5

NEWS

NEW PRACTICE MANAGER AT KANG & CO Patrick said: “Kang & Co Solicitors has a strong reputation in the legal industry and of being an active part of the community it serves with both local business sponsorships and charity fundraising activities. This translates into strong relationships with its client base and that was one of the things that attracted me to the role. I am delighted to have joined the firm during a time of innovation and growth, as the business now has established bases in Birmingham, London, and Milton Keynes”.

West Midland law firm Kang & Co Solicitors has announced the appointment of Patrick Kelly as the firm’s new Practice Manager.

Patrick joins the Crime and Motoring firm, Kang & Co, with numerous years of operational and customer service experience in the West Midlands. Most recently, Patrick worked for Regus where he provided top-quality customer service to clients, both past and present, and potential new prospects.

Manjinder Kang, founding Director at Kang & Co Solicitors, said: “Our close client relationships, built on reputation and the personal service we extend to every client is central to what makes Kang & Co different as a law firm. The practice manager role is central to making this possible by supporting the wider team and ensuring operations run smoothly. Patrick will be driving our firm forward by striving to improve and innovate. We’re delighted to welcome Patrick and look forward to his input moving forward.”

VWV APPROACH EXPANDS WITH NEW HIRE VWV approach, the free law firm referral and support network operated by national law firm VWV, have welcomed James Shepherd as Regional Relationship Manager with the aim to expand the network’s reach.

VWV approach was launched in 2014 and has grown into a strong network of more than 150 firms, centred around VWV’s offices in London, Watford, Birmingham and Bristol and with some members further afield. As members of VWV approach, law firms can introduce their clients to VWV, with the reassurance of a non-poaching agreement and access to wider support and benefits, such as legal training. The network is actively looking for new law firms to benefit from the VWV approach arrangement and James’s recruitment reinforces VWV’s commitment to its relationships with law firm referrers. Evidence of the member firms’ trust in VWV has been seen since the first lockdown in 2020, with referral income up 30% in the period since then, demonstrating that the firms in VWV approach rely on them to help their clients when they can’t do so themselves. In small to mid-sized firms where the impact of coronavirus has been felt acutely, VWV approach has provided support in the form of regular updates and sharing of ideas on managing change caused by the pandemic.

James’s early career experience stems from his work with the Department for Transport and the Ministry of Justice, before joining the Law Society of England and Wales ten years ago. Outside of work (and lockdown permitting), James can often be found running, playing football, or fundraising to keep his local school on a stable financial footing as a member of its PTA committee.

6 www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk

ANTHONY COLLINS RELEASE FINDINGS FROM NEW SOCIAL IMPACT REPORT Anthony Collins Solicitors has revealed the scale of its social impact during 2020 as part of its annual Social Impact Report which examines its work across sectors including housing, local government, charities, private individuals and social care.

Key findings include • £1.4 billion raised from funding projects to build up to 7,000 new affordable homes • £28 million compensation recovered for private individuals in clinical negligence cases • Over £1.9 million worth of publicly funded work undertaken for those financially unable to access legal representation • 384 vulnerable children supported to find better living arrangements • 63 new charities registered • 50 schools supported through the academy conversion process As well as quantifying the social impact of its work, the report also details some of the critical support the firm has provided to its clients.

Peter Hubbard, senior partner at Anthony Collins Solicitors, said: “Publishing a Social Impact Report enables us to show how our legal services contribute to improving lives, communities and society.

Many of our charitable clients publish similar reports and we believe profit-making businesses should do the same.”

THE NATIONAL WILL REGISTER JOINS THE PROFESSIONAL DEPUTIES FORUM DIRECTORY • completing Court of Protection form COP1a Annex A: Supporting information for property and financial affairs applications, will require information regarding the location, the executor details and a copy of the Will; • completing COP1c Annex C: Supporting information for a Statutory Will, codicil, gift(s), deed of variation or settlement of property, will require information and submission of all previous and existing Wills, search before ticking location of Will ‘not known’ for example

The National Will Register is proud to announce that they are now listed in The Professional Deputies Forum’s Directory. The Professional Deputies Forum is the representative body for professional deputies.

Last year, The National Will Register embarked on a campaign to raise awareness to panel deputies and professional deputies about the important role that The National Will Register has when locating the Will for a person who lacks capacity to manage their own affairs so as to understand their previous wishes and feelings. The results of the campaign saw a 282% increase of Certainty Will Search COP being conducted in 2020 in comparison to 2019.

A deputy has a duty to act in the best interests of the person who they are appointed to act on behalf of which includes taking into account the person’s past and present wishes and feelings, and any relevant written statement made by that person when they had capacity.

Having this knowledge of the contents of the Will and/or codicil(s) means they can act in the best interests of the person.

A Certainty Will Search will help you to identify if any unknown Wills exists and demonstrates that adequate measures have been taken to consider the wishes and intentions contained in any unknown Wills written by the person. A Certainty Will Search searches for Wills that have been registered on The National Will Register and for Wills that have not yet been registered.

HOW TO UNDERSTAND IF A WILL OR LATER WILL EXISTS A Certainty Will Search is an important part of any one of the following undertakings: • applying for Statutory Wills, ascertaining of the existence of any unknown Will(s) prior to the creation of a Statutory Will and be satisfied that the Will presented is the last Will,

• replacing a removed deputy for reasons for example, of financial misfeasance, and overseeing the ongoing matter with the highest level of due diligence • ascertaining the full extent of the assets of P’s assets in order to properly safeguard them • ascertaining the importance of P’s relationships with family and friends • protecting gifts, and making appropriate investments, • preventing potential adverse outcomes by being aware of the contents of the Will and /or codicils As a Deputy or attorney, you can conduct a Certainty Will Search for Court of Protection matters by visiting The National Will Register website or through The National Will Register and Official Solicitor website. www.nationalwillregister.co.uk

BIRMINGHAM SOLICITOR ELECTED DEPUTY VICEPRESIDENT OF THE LAW SOCIETY We are delighted to announce that Lubna Shuja, who is a Birmingham solicitor and a member of the Birmingham Law Society Council, has been elected Deputy VicePresident of the Law Society of England and Wales. She took up her new role at the Law Society AGM on 14 October 2020.

Lubna is due to become the VicePresident in October 2021 and then will be President of the Law Society in October 2022. She will be the first Asian President since the Law Society was set up in 1825 and only the 7th female President in its 125 year history.

Since March 2018 Lubna has been the Chair of the Law Society’s Membership and Communications Committee as well as a member of the Law Society Board.

She has been a member of the Law Society Council since 2013 representing the interests of sole practitioners.

Lubna has her own firm, Legal Swan Solicitors, based in Birmingham. She is a sole practitioner specialising in professional discipline and regulation.

She is also a mediator dealing with civil and family disputes.

We congratulate Lubna on her new position and very much look forward to working closely with her over the coming three years. She is keen to hear from members on any issues that they may wish to raise and can be contacted direct on Lubna.Shuja@lawsociety.org.uk.

www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk 7

NEWS

INTRODUCING THE NEW BIRMINGHAM SOLICITORS’ GROUP 2020/21 COMMITTEE! The new committee includes: Bal Atwal (Chair), Marissa Jacquet (Vice Chair), Natalie Ming (Secretary), Alex Morris (Treasurer), Neena Sangha (Liaison Officer), Kiran Munawar (JLD Rep), Orjeta Neli (CSR Rep), Jennifer Jenkins (CSR Rep), Jas Atwal (Events Officer) and Kate Marrs (PR Officer).

Find out more about the new committee and the BSG events on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and sign up for free membership on their website: www. birminghamsolicitorsgroup.org.

Bal Atwal - Chair Bal is a qualified Solicitor specialising in Real Estate. He trained at Trowers & Hamlins and qualified at DLA Piper, both in Birmingham.

Bal was previously on the committee as PR Officer. As the new Chair, Bal leads the committee and will continue to help raise the profile of the organisation in the region. Bal played competitive rugby throughout his studies and represented Birmingham at county level. Bal enjoys watching sport, in particular following the UFC and boxing.

Marissa Jacquet - Vice Chair Marissa moves from our former Events Officer to Vice Chair this year. Marissa is a Commercial Property Associate at Grove Tompkins Bosworth. Marissa is also active in encouraging diversity and inclusivity within the profession and sits on the Equality, Diversity and Social Mobility sub-committee with the Birmingham Law Society. Marissa is also on the Young Professional Board of TAG Network West Midlands. When not at work Marissa can be found on the netball courts and plays in a number of social leagues.

Alex Morris - Treasurer Alex stays on the committee this year as our new Treasurer, he joined the committee as the Secretary last year. His role is to control and manage the finances of the organisation.

Outside of work Alex has a keen interest in football and has the unfortunate hobby of supporting Birmingham City.

Neena Sangha - Liaison Officer Neena is an Associate in the Commercial team at Trowers & Hamlins LLP and stays on this year as our Liaison Officer where she represents our committee by sitting as a Council member at the Birmingham Law Society. She is passionate about equality and diversity and as Liaison Officer she is able to contribute to Council meetings every month and offer feedback on issues affecting junior lawyers in Birmingham. When not at work, Neena enjoys going to the gym, seeing friends and a good gin & tonic!

“I dared to stand up to get the red book. The seat was fair game and my submissions that I needed it back fell on deaf ears!” @t1403

Natalie Ming - Secretary Natalie is new to the committee this year and takes on the role of Secretary. Her role is to organise committee meetings, prepare meeting agendas and take minutes of the meetings. Outside of work, Natalie enjoys travelling and solving puzzles. She is also volunteering in a language centre and learning Korean for her Korea trip.

Kiran Munawar - JLD Representative Kiran is new to the committee this year and takes the role of Junior Lawyers' Division Representative. She is responsible for being involved with the national JLD Committee to represent the BSG and its members. When not at work, Kiran enjoys baking, doing yoga and spending time with her family.

Orjeta Neli - CSR Orjeta is an Associate in the Corporate team at Gowling WLG (UK) LLP and joins this year as a CSR Representative. When not at work, she enjoys going to the gym, baking, feeding her interest in philosophy and watching boxing matches (especially when Anthony Joshua is fighting).

Jennifer Jenkins - CSR Jen is an Employment Solicitor at Browne Jacobson LLP and joins this year as a CSR Representative. Originally from Liverpool, Jen made Birmingham her home after qualification and is really enjoying getting to know the city and all it has to offer. When she isn’t at work, Jen enjoys the gym and is a big foodie who loves trying out new recipes and restaurants.

Jas Atwal - Events Officer Jas is our new Events Officer and will be involved in organising events for our members throughout the year. Jas is a Corporate Solicitor at PwC and the creator of What The Lawyer, a platform aimed at making the legal profession more accessible.

Outside of the law, Jas enjoys running, the gym, seeing friends and a good Netflix binge!

Kate Marrs - PR Officer Kate is a solicitor in the Litigation and Regulatory team at Pinsent Masons, specialising in Regulatory following training at the firm. Kate joins this year as PR representative and her role is to manage all things social media and the website, helping to raise the profile of the BSG. In her spare time Kate enjoys travelling, volunteering, dancing, trying out Birmingham’s independents and socialising!

SHARE YOUR FUNNY WORKING FROM HOME EXPERIENCES TO WIN SOME FIZZ LIving at work or working from home?

Whichever way you look at it, for many of us commuting from sitting 8 www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk

room to study is the new normal for the foreseeable future and we want to hear froim you about its high points and its downside. From needy pets demanding attention to half dressed partners stumbling into the background of your morning zoom call, send your funny anecdotes

and pics (preferably not of your half dressed partner) to natasha @ birminghamlawsociety.co.uk and you could be in with a chance of winning a bottle of fizz! Stories and pics will be featured within the next issue of Bulletin and via the Birmingham Law Society’s social media pages.

TWO HEADS BETTER THAN ONE AT NO5 CHAMBERS AN INTERVIEW WITH NO5 BARRISTERS’ CHAMBERS NEW HEADS OF CHAMBERS

would. So, after a few more wise words from her and some medicinal drinks the law has always pulled me back.

4. Who were the biggest influences in your life?

Adrian: My father, Frank. He was born a miner’s son in the Black Country. He won a scholarship to Queen Mary’s grammar school in Walsall and an exhibition to Cambridge University.

He could afford neither. He ended up a stock broker in Birmingham. He and my mother enabled me to grow up in a loving and comfortable home. But I have never forgotten how lucky that was. It makes me passionate about education, real financial support, and opening up our profession to all no matter what their starting point.

In an unprecedented step in its one hundred year plus history, No5 Barristers’ Chambers has announced the appointment of not one but two new Heads of Chambers. It is the first time the set will have joint heads, appointed following Mark Anderson QC having stepped down after completing his five-year term of office. We caught up with both Adrian Keeling QC and Johnny Jones QC to see how they’re settling into the position.

1. Two heads of Chambers, a collaborative approach. How do you see this benefitting chambers?

Adrian: Enormously. I have the greatest respect for Johnny and it is a real benefit, and pleasure, for us to discuss what we think is best for No5.

We have different personalities and different approaches. I am passionate about the growth and development of Chambers and Johnny really cares about the nurture and development of its members. With a bedrock of respect and affection I believe that together we reach a better end result. And who doesn’t love two for the price of one?

Johnny: Two heads are always better than one. The Head of Chambers has to deal with many difficult and diverse issues and resolving those issues jointly will be of significant benefit to Chambers. The workload of Head of Chambers is immense and by having two, the workload can be shared enabling more time to be spent on each issue. Besides, if anything goes wrong,

I can always blame Adrian for it.

2. What are your ambitions for No5?

Adrian: It sounds cheesy to say to “be the best”. But by that I mean not just the most successful professionally, but also providing the best environment to support and nurture our members and staff, and to be committed to be at the cutting edge of seeking out the best new talent regardless of background.

Johnny: To make No5 the most efficient, diverse, fair, and best set of Chambers in the country. But also, to make it a fun place to be, where my colleagues feel excited by the work they do and proud of the Chambers where they do it.

3. What attracted you to the law – did you dream of being anything else?

Adrian: I wanted to be a train driver.

Part of me still does.

Johnny: I have always had a strong innate sense of justice and I like nothing more than sticking up for the underdog if they have been wronged.

Law enables me to do both and so is very fulfilling.

On the way back from court having suffered a heavy loss, I have often dreamed of becoming many things, from being a professional surfer to owning a restaurant. However, as my wife has rightly pointed out, if I became a professional surfer I would starve, and if I opened a restaurant everyone else

Johnny: I have been lucky enough to have a number of strong influences in my life, including teachers at school, my grandparents and other barristers in Chambers. Above all my parents have had the biggest influence on me. My late father taught me the importance of hard work, independence of mind and integrity. My mother taught me determination and the importance of carrying on, no matter what life throws at you.

5. What are your hobbies or interests outside of work?

Adrian: I am not sure food and drink are really a hobby, but I do love both, especially when mixed with good company. My other real love is travel. I have a particular fondness for South East Asia after spending a year growing tobacco in Philippine Islands in the 1980’s. I make it back there as often as I can. I am the vice president of the Anglo Thai society and have recently run an FCO sponsored project to support lawyers in Laos. And did I mention the food?

Johnny: I am not a bad runner but in more recent years I have become an enthusiastic, if rather unstable surfer. I love the freedom of being in the water and being overmatched by the surf of Devon and Cornwall not only puts life in perspective, but also reminds me of my limitations. Of all the midlife crises available, I couldn’t recommend surfing more highly. I also have a big family with 3 daughters and a hyperactive dog which keep me on my toes.

www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk 9

OPINION

SWEEPING LEASEHOLD CHANGES – OR A FIGHT? In my previous article I set out some of the changes that the Law Commission has recommended to facilitate the Government’s stated objectives. On 7th January 2021, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) issued a statement setting out the Government’s intention to make it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to exercise their rights to enfranchise (acquire the freehold and extend the lease) of their homes writes Mark H Adcock, Solicitor and former Law Commission lawyer.

This reform is part of a wider Government policy to re-vamp the leasehold property system in England and Wales.

The statement was singularly short on detail. So it’s too soon to predict what effect the announcement will have on leaseholders, whether that be getting the freehold of their house, or extending the lease of their flat or house, through the enfranchisement process. More particularly, the press statement does not make clear when any such changes might become law.

However, the Housing Secretary has announced that leaseholders will first be given the right to extend their lease by a new statutory term of 990 years at a zero-ground rent.

Most flat leaseholders already have such a right, but only to extend their lease by 90 years. The new right will, however, now include house leaseholders – who currently only have an unsatisfactory right to extend their lease by 50 years.

But leaseholders who own what have come to be known as “toxic leases”, will be very pleased by the announcement. These leaseholders bought houses with high escalating ground rents. An oblique reference in the announcement to there being introduced a cap on the ground rent, will potentially save these owners many thousands of pounds by the freehold price being 10 www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk

calculated on a notional maximum rent payable, not the actual rent reserved as now.

An online calculator will be introduced, as recommended by the Law Commission, to make it easier to calculate the price payable. The determinants will be fixed by the Government so taking away the controversy that usually arises in the calculation of the price.

Because of the lack of detail, it has sent out a message that there will be wide sweeping advantageous changes for leaseholders. But without further detail as to what those changes are likely to be, and when they will come into force, it’s just not possible to advise either freeholders or leaseholders in detail, what effect the changes will have.

The Housing Secretary did say that savings will be made, and referred to the abolition of marriage value as forming part of the calculation of the price payable. However, marriage value only affects the calculation where the lease has less than 80 years unexpired and so those who have leases in excess of that period, will get no benefit from the change.

As a lease shortens, the price to extend it or buy the freehold increases, so waiting can often be counter-productive. Furthermore, where a lease term is already short

and is affecting the saleability of the property, waiting is unlikely to be the best option, especially where the leaseholder wants to move home or re-mortgage.

So, should leaseholders wait and see, or act now? Its very hard to advise without more detail, but for owners of short leasehold properties it may be better to wait, but for those who need to move or re-mortgage, or who have longer than 80 years left on their leases, it may be better to act now.

The statement also confirmed that the Government is to establish a Commonhold Council - a partnership of leasehold groups, industry and government - that will prepare homeowners for the (hoped for) widespread take-up of commonhold tenure.

MHCLG have said that these changes will be enacted in this Parliament. That said, it may take between 2 and 5 years before the new laws become effective.

This is because there are not only the Parliamentary procedures to follow, but because it seems likely that once the detailed proposals are published, there will be considerable opposition, especially by institutional investors, many of whom have considerable funds invested in freehold ground rents.

Prepare for a longer than envisaged timetable – and a fight!

Watch this space.

LOCKDOWN 3.0: ASK THE EXPERTS – HOMESCHOOLING others are coping and more importantly just to catch up with your friends laughing brings a bit of normality!

Stay Active Make sure everyone gets some physical exercise, whether it is playing with a ball, taking a jog around the block, or walking the dog. Too many hours locked up inside is not good for anyone’s mental health or relationships.

Update your IT Skills Learn how to use different online learning platforms. Its difficult juggling your own work and trying to help your child access the many different windows and documents they need during the school day. Your child will feel more confident and be more receptive to lessons if they can navigate their way around a computer.

With the current lockdown falling in the darkest days of winter, there’s no denying that homeschooling is carrying a high emotional toll for so many. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be calling on our in-house experts to focus on the challenges that employees are facing, helping to arm you with practical solutions and advice.

families are now together 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, balancing working from home with childcare and home schooling.

Social distancing has made it difficult for people to pursue leisure activities or meeting friends and family, therefore impacting on that all too important ‘time out’. This may impact on our normal coping mechanisms in dealing with stress.”

In this, the first of our series, Tracey Paxton, Managing Director of The Employee Resilience Company, a partner of BHSF, shares her top tips for success at being a parent, teacher and an employee all at once.

So, what can help?

“Parental stress, depression, and anxiety have again increased since new national restrictions have been introduced according to the latest report from the Oxford University-led COVID-19 Supporting Parents, Adolescents, and Children in Epidemics (Co-SPACE) study”.* This fact won’t come as a surprise to many working parents who are already feeling the strain of juggling their work lives with the responsibilities of home-schooling. We’re no different here at BHSF with our own employees wondering how they will cope with the stress and competing priorities of homeschooling in lockdown 3.0.

“You are not alone, parents across the world are facing the same challenge due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Parenting can be challenging and stressful at the best of times and the current circumstances are inevitably making parenting even more stressful.

With schools and nurseries closing, many

Routine is Important Keep a proper timetable to help your child feel safe and secure. Schoolwork must start at the same time every day and follow a structure. Do not let children play around when it is time to work but give them sufficient breaks. Keep to regular times for going to bed, waking up, eating meals, and participating in hobbies where possible. However, keep weekends as free as possible.

Fun Time Make sure you do fun and enjoyable things together like baking or playing board games. There should be time for work and time for play. Despite the national struggles of lockdown, there are a few positives to be gleaned from the crisis. As work life, home life and school life blur into one, the situation can unite a family and bring them closer together.

It is also important to make sure that everyone in the family has some time for themselves. Everybody needs some “me time”.

Keeping in Touch and Staying Connected Keep in touch with friends and family.

Create a WhatsApp or Zoom with friends to share stories, pick-up tips on how

Supporting your Child Ensure you spend time talking to your child and more importantly listen to their concerns. Reassure them and let them know its normal for them to feel a little scared, worried and isolated.

They have been used to being with their schoolfriends, having teacher support throughout their day and talking through their concerns will help them feel a little calmer.

If your child asks questions about the pandemic, try to answer their queries in an age-appropriate manner and reassure them that you are there for them and you will get through this together.

Give yourself a Break Do not be too critical on yourself or your children – this is an abnormal situation, and everyone is doing the best they can. It’s no easy task being a parent, temporary teacher, employer/employee and maybe a carer all at once, so do not be too hard on yourself. Give yourself a break. It’s important to look after your own health and wellbeing to care and support the others around you.

Access Expert Advice and Support The pandemic has presented us with issues we may never had encountered before. Therefore, access to personalised on demand advice and support from qualified mental and physical health practitioners, specialist carer support as well as access to financial and legal experts enables you to overcome the struggles you may be facing during these unprecedented times.

BHSF RISE provides a tailored service that will meet your individual needs and gives you access to your own dedicated Case Manager who will personally assist you.

Contact our enquiry team on 0121 454 3601, email crt@bhsf.co.uk or visit BHSF Rise www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk 11

OPINION

TO TAKE OR NOT TO TAKE ( YOUR ANNUAL LEAVE THAT IS … ! ) Without doubt it has been a year like no other for holidays.

Most of us have not taken our usual holidays during the last 12 months and some of us have worked though simply because there is nowhere to go for our much needed annual leave. For others work has been too busy to allow any leave to be taken writes Eileen Schofield, Eileen Schofield – Principal Solicitor at Schofield and Associates.

Many people have been placed on furlough at some point during the last 12 months and have not for a whole host of reasons taken any holiday Over and above whether you have been working or on furlough leave most of the country has for many months been subject to a lockdown.

So what is the legal position with regard to your annual leave? All full time workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks annual leave. Most of us know the principle that if you don’t use your holiday you lose it. So the question is does that rule apply to the leave accrued during the COVID- 19 pandemic ?

Workers are entitled to decide when they take their annual leave and there is usually a policy in place which sets out the specific details of how much leave you can take at any one time and how much notice an worker should give before they are allowed to take this leave.

Notwithstanding this there are sometimes fixed periods of leave such as around the Christmas break, these are usually agreed with the workers in advance.

Employers can also request that an worker takes a period of annual leave, the employer has to give twice as much notice of a request to take leave as the period of time the worker is requested to take. For example if an employer wants their staff to take 5 days holiday they are required to give the worker 10 days’ notice of that request. The worker can refuse the request and not take their annual leave at the time.

However there is usually a good reason for any such request by an employer, so due consideration should be taken by the worker 12 www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk

before they act in haste and refuse the request to take their leave at a time prescribed by their employer.

During the course of the last year many workers have not taken any significant periods of leave and still have quite a lot of leave remaining.

So the question for workers and employers is what agreements can they put in place to honour the minimum annual leave entitlement, so that the workers doesn’t lose out on their entitlement and the employer doesn’t find that they are just recovering from a down turn in work, then to find that most of their workers apply to take leave rather than lose it, Well some credit has to be given to the government at this point, not only did the treasury put together, with very short notice, the almost perfect job retention scheme, they also took the long term view on holidays and passed new emergency legislation to ensure that businesses have the flexibility they need to protect workers from losing their statutory holiday entitlement; The Working Time (Coronavirus ) (Amendment ) Regulations 2020.

These regulations enable workers to carry over holidays where the impact of the coronavirus have prevented the worker from taking some or all of the 4 weeks holiday accrued during the 2020 annual leave year. The untaken holiday may be caried forward for a further 2 years after the end of the holiday

year in which the holiday was accrued.

There are some criteria which applies to this provision, the worker must be able to show that it has not been reasonably practicable to take the holiday; the business may have faced a significant increase in demand due to coronavirus that would reasonably require the worker to continue to be at work and cannot be met through alternative practical measures or workers may have been selfisolating or too sick to take holiday before the end of their leave year.

Workers who were placed on furlough and not taken leave, maybe because the employer hasn’t requested them to take it or the employer couldn’t afford to top the leave payment to 100% of the worker’s salary, would be entitled to carry their leave over under the emergency legislation provision.

Bank Holidays will not generally be allowed to be carried over as it is expected that these will have been taken as paid holiday unless a worker has been too sick to take this period of holiday.

So the good news is that if you haven’t been able to take your holidays during the last 12 months you haven’t lost them and can legitimately carry them over for a further 2 years. Of course this is a discussion to be had with your employer and all agreements should be confirmed in writing.

minute catch ups with team members to see how they are and have a “Do not talk shop” policy for these calls. Do not be afraid to offer support. Lawcare offer a free confidential service to all legal professionals and support staff in UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

A HAPPY EBITDA As we were growing up, many of us were told “If you work hard, you will be successful and that will make you happy.” But I believe that equation is the wrong way around. Think about it.

Think about a time when you were well and happy in your personal life. You were possibly working on all cylinders, bringing work in before deadline and managing to have a social life outside of that! Contrast that to a time when your personal life was not so great and you may find you were less productive.

Spending your time googling self-help books rather than working on the books!

Presenteeism, defined as the problem of employees being in the workplace but less productive due to illness, injury or mental health cost the UK economy around £45bn pounds per annum according to the Stephenson Farmer Report of 2017…and that was well before the pandemic hit, writes GuruYou’s Rebecca Mander. (Thriving at Work: the Stevenson/ Farmer review on mental health and employers October 2017)

So why is the equation the wrong way around? To instil a good work ethic into our younger generations maybe? It is true that productivity will boost mood levels. There is something satisfying about being able to tick off those tasks on your to-do list. This naturally sends signals to your brain to release a certain amount of dopamine (your body’s natural mood enhancer) into your system.

What we also have to remember is that happiness is not a constant state. Happiness is a mood; it is a condition that will come and go and that’s okay. Throughout our lives there will be experiences that bring unrivalled happiness and joy, just as there will be moments and life events that bring us sadness and despair. Most of my clients love the Bounce Forward Programme as it helps us learn how to navigate these peaks and troughs and develop the ability to bounce back to high productivity as we talked about last issue.

The Warwick Research Archive Portal (WRAP) makes their work by researchers of the University of Warwick available. They conducted a study was carried out to provide evidence that “Happiness” makes humans more productive. Four kinds of experiment were done. Each produced evidence consistent with the idea that “happier” workers are intrinsically more productive.

In total, more than 700 subjects took part in these trials. For their full experiment you can follow this link. http://wrap.warwick. ac.uk/63228

We know from our own research that 75% of leaders will not go to an internal source with a personal issue that could be affecting their work but cost often puts employers off finding an external solution. Law firms are often subject to a scatter gun approach, adding in the odd webinar or mental health training in the hope that the right boxes will be ticked.

It’s a bit like going out in a gale force wind with an umbrella, the solution is OK for a while, but not going to last. Investing in a programme that supports those highly valued employees with complete confidentiality may cost the organisation but firms that do see the benefit on the bottom line! In their report on mental health and employers, ‘Refreshing the case for investment’ January 2020, Deloitte reported a £5.00 return on investment for every £1.00 spent on employee wellbeing.

So how are firms doing something different to make a difference?

I have recently worked with a large commercial team in Birmingham who are conducting a survey that really drills down into the work lives of employees in a non COVID environment as well as within it.

Making sure your approach is tailored to the needs of your team is a great start and will ensure that you invest in the right area.

When we chase happiness in the traditional way, through hard work we can often find the chase never ending as one success will soon be taken for granted when another one on the horizon reveals itself…and we tell ourselves we need to achieve that and THEN we will be happy…it goes on and on!

Peter Taylor at Paris Smith has a weekly wellbeing catch up and asks his teams to call a colleague or a client that they have not spoken to in sometime. That connection will make client and colleague alike feel valued and surely that is good for the bottom line!

Taylor Wessing invested in the Headspace App for each employee after their 100 trial subscriptions were snapped up in minutes.

I believe that when we have good wellbeing and are in the main happy, we perform better, become more productive and THAT leads to success! Do you have someone on your team that is not performing? Are they struggling with something at work or at home that is contributing to their distracted work ethic maybe? They are not alone .

Jon Stevens from DWF spoke at the Birmingham Law Society Future of Legal Services Conference this month about the importance of communication being honest and open and setting an example to those in your team. Afterall, if a leader can be open about their challenges, it opens the floor for others to recognise it’s OK to not be OK.

According to the Mosaic Mood Report in 2020, 47% of lawyers cited their main reason for being unhappy was because of poor life/ work balance…and 84% stated that time was the key factor preventing them from investing in their own wellbeing. Despite me furnishing attendees on my course with a wealth of coaching techniques, it is this permission from the organisation to take time out and the opportunity to connect with others on a deeper level that people are most impacted by during the pandemic.

Bernadette Bennett from Money Penny at the same conference mentioned that she has internal meetings over the phone, so she can ‘walk and talk’, getting some fresh air and exercise and permitting colleagues to do the same.

It’s so hard in this virtual office to know who is coping and who isn’t. If in doubt- ask. Gentle enquiry can really help your colleague open up if they need to. Take time out to check in after a meeting, being congruent about what you have noticed. Have regular 10

There are many solutions that will support the individual and if we can continue to work on the premise that happiness leads to success and NOT the other way round then our clients, organisations and our bottom line will reap the rewards.

Rebecca is running her Bounce Forward Programme currently to support those facing setback and details of her work can be found at www.guruyoucoach.com www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk 13

REGULATION REPORT

REVISED GUIDANCE ON MONEY L COMPLIANCE FOR THE LEGAL WRITTEN BY MATTHEW MOORE, CONSULTANT SOLICITOR WITH JAYNE WILLETTS & CO SOLICITORS

The Legal Sector Affinity Group (“LSAG”) issued its revised guidance on Anti-Money Laundering Compliance through the SRA and all the other legal regulatory bodies in the UK in late January.

The changes that it makes to those main elements of the controls that have now been in place for many years are arguably not great, but the advice is now much more detailed and specific than before, and the clear thrust of the new guidance note is that genuine commitment is now required from all those firms that find themselves subject to the AML regime.

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This suggests that the mere “tick box” compliance regime that can be observed in many firms as to what is required will no longer be adequate. This, in turn, may make it more likely that any perceived failings will be more likely to attract disciplinary measures if and when problems do come to light.

One of the most notable features of the revised guidance is the set of “compliance principles” at 3.2 which are then expanded upon throughout the rest of the document. This long list of 36 points might also prove useful by way of a relatively short introductory briefing note for partners and other colleagues.

The need for a committed response to the AML challenge The earlier sections of the LSAG

guidance are mostly concerned with setting the scene for the revisions now in place for what is expected of all firms.

The other point worth stressing at the outset is that the whole issue of AML compliance consists of two separate but interlinking areas: avoidance of the criminal offences that mainly arise under the relevant sections of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, as amended, (POCA) and then also the need to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.

Technically, the SRA and other legal regulatory bodies have no particular involvement in the enforcement of the criminal legal provisions found in the various statutes that are in force, and POCA in particular, but on the

in so doing enabled drug traffickers in the North West to launder large amounts of suspect funds.

Perhaps the main message from the revised guidance note is therefore that it must be understood throughout the firm, and by all partners in particular, that continued AML non-compliance will lead to significant risks for the firm and key personnel alike.

Any adverse findings by the regulator or possible criminal process will, of course, be immensely stressful for all concerned, and from the tone and contents of the revised guidance this does seem to be more likely now than might have been the case in the past.

Technology Of the various new sections in the revised AML guidance note section 7, dealing with the relevance of technology in the need to ensure compliance with the legal and professional duties that now exist, covers new ground and is particularly topical.

As this section observes, a range of technological devices are now available to assist with the regulatory burden of AML compliance, including the increasing range of electronic means to help identify and verify clients.

LAUNDERING PROFESSION other hand they are the responsible bodies for ensuring that the regulatory requirements are working effectively amongst those organisations and people that they are responsible for.

Since the LSAG guidance sets out how they will do so this guidance note assumes a good deal of significance for all who are subject to it.

It is also often overlooked that non-compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations brings with it not just the risk of enforcement action by the regulator but can also be dealt with as a criminal offence in any event.

One recent example of this arose in the conviction reported as R v Neil Richard Bolton 2018. Here the conveyancer concerned was found to have made “no serious attempt to comply with the regulations”, and

Other services covered in this way also include the potential for screening against such critical issues as international sanctions and PEP status.

This part of the guidance admits for the first time that the growing sophistication of such methods may be at least as reliable as the more commonplace face-to-face checking methods that have prevailed to date, and that a “more nuanced” view should therefore now be taken to their use.

This is matched by warnings in relation to cyber and data security, however, as well as the risk of human error leading to the checking of the wrong individuals.

Not surprisingly the use of electronic verification finds favour, especially as in an increasingly digital age with lockdown arrangements still in place face-to-face meetings have inevitably become less commonplace and remote contact now much more the norm.

It is suggested that practices should consider how the data that populates the various search programmes has been compiled, and whether in particular it was simply supplied by those that are profiled by it. On these grounds there should be an “in-depth understanding” of any tools that the firm chooses to use and consideration should be given to whether any such programmes adopted will be fit for purpose.

Other suggestions are to recognise the need for training in the use of any technological tools adopted and the need to be satisfied that any agency that is selected can be shown to be compliant with its responsibilities in relation to data protection. Finally, there are comments on the enhanced methodologies now available, such as the checking of biometrics in searches, and so for facial and voice recognition in some programmes, and also the use of artificial intelligence in others.

The suggestion is made that some five hours of time will be required to work through this revised guidance.

It is important that reporting and compliance officers in particular, and others with management responsibility, do make the effort to do so.

Matthew Moore is a consultant solicitor at Jayne Willetts & Co Solicitors www. jaynewilletts.co.uk. Both he and Jayne Willetts are also fellow directors of Infolegal Ltd, a law firm compliance consultancy www.infolegal.co.uk. Infolegal provides further guidance on this topic and template compliance manuals which have been updated in the light of these latest amendments. There are also recorded training programmes on this and other such topics which can be viewed by at subscriber firms by partners and staff alike.

There is also a cautionary note to the effect that the wider risks of the CDD process will always need to be met by judgement calls based on the particular circumstances of the client and the type of matter involved, and that these will therefore continue to be further considerations to be borne in mind.

www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk 15

OPINION

removes this pain for the conveyancer and home buyer by presenting planning applications, including the large sites as polygons and constraints through its advanced, simple to use, dynamic online viewer.

The viewer includes a date filter which allows the homebuyer reduce the amount of data presented and helps to provide focus on what really matters to them. In some cases, reducing hundreds of applications down to just three or four.

LANDMARK PLANNING:

A CLEARER VIEW OF FUTURE PLANS Landmark has provided planning application information for residential conveyancing through Plansearch and Plansearch Plus for many years. Landmark information was part of the now legendry Bird & Bird transaction case, the conclusion which found ‘Changes to the surrounding environment, brought about through development are an important factor in protecting a client’s investment preacquisition’.

Of course, a preference or indifference to planning proposals in its various forms is very much a personal view. Conveyancers may err on the side of caution following guidance, preferring to simply understand the proposed purchase property and to rely on the seller’s information. Homebuyers, however, have a right to understand any impact, positive or negative, that a nearby development may have before they commit to a purchase.

It is important to be aware of any potential changes within the surrounding area that would affect the use, enjoyment or even value of a property from planning and building regulation decisions. But how do you make the extent of a development application clearly understood?

As part of Landmark’s ever-evolving data and technology provision, they have merged their Plansearch reports into the newly enhanced Landmark Planning.

Uniquely, the report displays data 16 www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk

on the majority of the UK’s large planning applications, such as a new housing estate, as polygons (boundaries). This means both conveyancer and client will benefit from a visually clearer, more realistic view and understanding of the extent or potential impact of larger planning applications, rather than relying on a list, single mapped point or buffer to work it out.

The report not only delivers details of planning applications from extensions to large developments but also provides information on what future uses of land are being proposed for the surrounding area, alongside the Local Authority policies and constraints. It also includes key neighbourhood information such as: • Housing • Demographics • Schools • Local amenities • Rights of way To help both conveyancer and client, all the data within the report is supported by easy-to-understand guidance and next steps.

Determining what is important to the home buyer with regards to planning can be difficult and can lead to large amounts of time being spent on reviewing data which is not of interest or concern to the home buyer. Large volumes of data can also lead to the homebuyer missing important information about their purchase.

Landmark’s gold standard all in one enviro-report Riskview Residential

The Riskview viewer includes (where possible) a clickable weblink for each recent planning application. The homebuyer can then look further into the application via the authority planning portal. Together, Riskview’s unique time-saving features help the property professional add value to their home-buying client whilst reducing time spent dealing with planning related enquiries.

The Government is still committed to 300,000 new homes per year even these unprecedented times. The Prime Minister’s 'Build, Build, Build’ speech in July last year was followed by a series of new laws that came into effect on 1 September 2020. The aim is to deliver new homes and revitalise town centres across England alongside a permanent extension to the existing permitted development rights.

In the current climate, who can guess the impact of these laws? To what extent will they change the places we live, or want to live?

Whatever the future holds, surely the best outcome for conveyancers and homebuyers is a more transparent transaction, which provides the insights needed for informed decisions.

Selecting the Landmark Planning report or Riskview Residential demonstrates good due diligence in taking all practicable steps to reasonably identify information that the client would want to know.

They’ve got big plans But what’s everyone else up to?

When someone is planning on buying their new home, changes to the surrounding environment can throw a spanner in the works. Have you provided the information they need to make it their dream home?

RiskView Residential, the all-in-one environmental report, now includes large site planning applications as polygons alongside other planning applications and constraints data presenting a more realistic view and understanding. Providing complete environmental due diligence with professional opinion in one report, RiskView is the market leading choice in client care.

Contact your search provider for details or visit www.landmark.co.uk/landmark-legal/riskview-conveyancer

RiskView Residential is Landmark’s gold standard, all-in-one environmental search report, used by property lawyers to assess a wide range of potential hazards on behalf of prospective purchasers.

These include flooding, ground stability, contaminated land, energy and infrastructure and now includes planning application and constraints data.

OPINION DIGITAL CONVEYANCING IS NO LONGER A LOFTY ASPIRATION Many experts have expressed the opinion that if this global pandemic had happened ten years ago, we would be in a far worse position in the legal sector.

Bronwyn Townsend, Senior Marketing Manager, InfoTrack, explains the role technology has played in allowing service providers and firms alike to carry on working.

the outside world firms needed to adapt to continue business as usual.

Adoption of digital conveyancing solutions has paved the way for trailblazing firms to own the process from end-to-end, embracing an entirely paperless practise.

High-speed internet, streaming services and video calling have become synonymous with the current climate. There’s no denying the role technology has played throughout the pandemic, but not just in our personal lives. It’s also had a profound effect on how law firms conduct business, none more so than among conveyancing departments.

Firms that took the leap of faith pre-pandemic were quick to see the value of digital conveyancing.

Continuing to process conveyancing transactions digitally, they could keep up with demand as appetite returned to the market. Others soon followed, embracing the full breadth of integrations and understanding the comprehensive power of using complementary systems.

The notion of digital conveyancing was a seed planted more than a decade ago, yet it’s taken a catalyst to drive demand. With doors shut to

Had we been facing the same situation a decade ago, the outlook would have been far bleaker. While post rooms are now overflowing and

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While many firms have worked toward a ‘paperless’ office, numerous tasks are still fragmented and administrative-heavy. Moving to digital conveyancing in its purest sense sees technology take arduous processes away from firms through automation, giving them the ability to alleviate this stress so they can focus on providing clients with an outstanding experience.

delays with postal services can drag transaction times out by weeks, those championing the digital conveyancing revolution are gaining ground.

At InfoTrack, 67% of electronically signed documents via our SignIT solution are returned within 12 hours. Firms using e-signature technology are receiving key information before it would have been collected from the post box.

Electronic client onboarding has also enabled transaction times to be reduced from two weeks to two hours. Technology hasn’t just accelerated workflows; it’s also made them more secure.

A recent report ‘Is conveyancing finally going digital?’ found 26% of firms cited risk and compliance as priority for turning to digitalisation.

Audit trails, risk mitigation and adherence to regulatory guidelines are all improved within a digital conveyancing process.

The report also unveiled 92% of firms agree that the future of conveyancing is digital, but why wait? Technology has been king throughout the challenges of the past year and digital conveyancing is no longer a lofty aspiration.

Wherever you roam, client onboarding with eCOS is pitch-perfect

Technology that connects you, wherever that happens to be Are you trudging through the process of gathering client information to start a transaction?

Onboarding your clients shouldn’t peg you in. eCOS, our electronic client onboarding solution, brings together everything you need to achieve remote onboarding. Access to client care packs, verification of identity and source of funds solutions, onboarding questionnaires and Law Society TA forms, all integrated into your CMS. eCOS gives you visibility over your onboarding process within a single platform.

Embark on a new adventure.

Start onboarding digitally with eCOS from InfoTrack.

Visit www.infotrack.co.uk/ecos or call us on 0207 186 8090 to say no to paper and onboard clients electronically.

OPINION

SAVING THE DAY:

FIVE TOP SAVINGS TIPS FOR LAWYERS

rates, outperform inflation and build new income streams.

When it comes to investing, it’s important to consider how much risk you are willing to take as the value of your investment can go down as well as up.

Each asset you can invest in – whether it’s property, bonds, cash or stocks – each comes with its own level of risk, as well as its own degree of reward.

Diversifying your investment portfolio by spreading investments across asset classes can offer a degree of protection against a single asset’s poor performance.

Richard Olive, financial consultant at Wesleyan, a specialist financial services mutual, shares his top five tips for lawyers looking to grow their savings in 2021.

Amid long hours and the disruption of adapting to new ways of working during the pandemic, tasks like managing your personal finances can easily fall to the bottom of the to-do list.

During lockdown there’s no better time to review your financial plans and consider how you can put money away for future spends – be it saving for rainy days, a dream big-ticket purchase or retirement.

Here are five key things to keep in mind when it comes to your savings habits.

THINK ABOUT YOUR GOALS The very first step in any savings strategy is to think about your financial goals and the reasons why you’d like to put money aside.

This will naturally differ from personto-person, and it’s possible that you’ll have multiple goals at once, each with differing time spans. For example, an immediate, shorter-term, goal might be to save for home improvements or to buy a new car. Over the longer-term, however, it might be to get your foot on the property ladder, or to move a rung up.

Ultimately, the nature of your goals, along with your personal circumstances, will inform your overall savings strategy.

SET SAVINGS TARGETS Once you’ve set your targets, the next step will be to consider how much you can afford to put aside. Carefully review your income and your cost of living – for example your monthly utilities

repayments, food bills and rent or mortgage repayments.

Alongside your regular overheads, it’s essential to think about building an emergency fund of savings for a rainy day. As a starting point around three months’ worth of net household income is a good buffer.

Once you’ve accounted for your regular outgoings and any contributions towards your emergency fund, you can then think about putting the extra funds towards your savings goals.

REMEMBER RETIREMENT For some, retirement might seem like a long way off, but it’s important to plan for the day you step back from the law.

As with saving in general, it’s important to consider your retirement goals – thinking about factors such as when you’d like to retire, and what retirement will look like to you.

From here, you can understand how much income you will need at different stages of your retirement, and how you can start or grow your pension pot.

A financial adviser can support with this process. As well as helping you calculate the financial implications of choices such as taking a phased retirement or working past your retirement date, they can also help you to understand your possible income streams – including any current savings you have, or future access to the State Pension – including when you can start to withdraw funds from your pension.

An easy way to do this is to put your money in an investment fund which cover many different types of assets, spreading the overall risk. Each fund has a risk rating that you can use to see if it’s a good fit for your appetite.

Actively managed funds are controlled by a fund manager, and one of the benefits that comes with that is it drastically reduces the time you need to put in to managing your investments.

It’s also important to remember that you don’t need huge sums to start investing – any amount of money can ultimately be put to work.

MAXIMISE YOUR TAX-FREE SAVINGS ALLOWANCE When you’re saving, every little helps, and using your tax-free savings allowance can help to get the most out of the money you’ve set aside.

You can save up to £20,000 tax-free into an Individual Savings Account (ISA) with no tax charged on any interest earned.

There are a range of ISA types you can use. For example, a cash ISA allows you to save money in cash, meanwhile, a ‘stocks & shares’ ISA – such as Wesleyan’s With Profits ISA – allows you to make investments with your money in assets like funds, bonds or individual stocks.

Our With Profits Fund was recently ranked 1st place* for its five-year net return of 7.31% by independent actuarial services provider Barnett Waddingham. And because it’s an ISA, our customers didn’t pay tax on any interest they earnt.

CONSIDER INVESTING With interest rates currently lower than inflation, simply keeping cash in the bank means that the value of your savings effectively falls over time.

HELP AT HAND At Wesleyan, we understand the unique financial needs of lawyers. Our specialist financial consultants available who can offer advice at every stage of your savings journey, from setting targets through to reviewing your pension savings.

Investing can offer ways to grow your wealth by helping to beat low interest

For more information visit: www.wesleyan.co.uk/lawyers

*www.barnett-waddingham.co.uk/comment-insight/research/uk-with-profits-funds-investment-performance-and-strategy-2020/#form-uk-with-profits-funds-2020-download.

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Get your money working harder with our stocks and shares

ISA If you’re one of the many households that has seen savings grow over the course of the pandemic, our Wesleyan With Profits ISA can get that spare cash working and also make the most of your tax-free ISA allowance.

Opening an ISA takes less than five minutes when you apply online.

You can apply for a Wesleyan With Profits ISA provided you haven’t contributed to another stocks and shares ISA in the current tax year and you have not paid the maximum allowance of £20,000 in total to ISAs in the current tax year.

When you apply online you will not receive any investment advice or personal recommendation from us – ongoing charges will apply. You should consider whether this investment will meet your needs and objectives.

Follow us for regular updates on social media @wesleyan

facebook.com/ wesleyanAS

linkedin.com/ company/wesleyan

Did you know?

Our With Profits Fund has recently been rated top out of 201 funds for overall performance over a five year net return, by independent UK financial services consultancy, Barnett Waddingham.

Had you invested £10,000 online on the 1 February 2016, the potential cash-in value of your plan at 1 February 2021 would have been £12,909 2.

W E S L E YA N WITH PROFITS ISA YEAR 1

YEAR 2

YEAR 3

YEAR 4

YEAR 5

£10,163

£10,277

£10,610

£11,969

£12,909

Please note that past performance is not a reliable guide to future performance and the value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you invested.

Start your ISA journey with Wesleyan TAKE 5 MINUTES TO APPLY ONLINE Visit wesleyan.co.uk/saveisa

Financial Advice: Retirement Planning . Investing . Funding . Insurance 1

Only 20 of 65 funds provided five-year net return data for comparison.

These figures are based on past performance of the fund taking into account an annual management charge of 1.2% and include the effects of smoothing with regular bonuses and a final bonus added which are not guaranteed.

2

‘WESLEYAN’ is a trading name of the Wesleyan Group of companies. Wesleyan Assurance Society is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authoritay and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Incorporated in England and Wales by Private Act of Parliament (No. ZC145). Registered Office: Colmore Circus, Birmingham B4 6AR. Telephone: 0345 351 2352.

Fax: 0121 200 2971. VAT number: 487282114. Telephone calls may be recorded for monitoring and training purposes.

WG-AD-0001 03/21

OPINION

COVID-19 AND THE STAMP DUTY HOLIDAY

On 8 July 2020 the Chancellor gave a statement in Parliament outlining a stamp duty ‘holiday’. He said the aim of the holiday was to “catalyse the housing market and boost confidence”. He cited the importance of the construction sector to the economy – it contributes £39bn a year and house building supports nearly 750,000 jobs – and a worrying trend characterised by house prices falling for the first time in eight years and the number of transactions falling by 50% in the first lockdown. Sarah Woodall, Partner at Harrison Clark Rickerby, looks into the scheme.

Tax savings Thanks to the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday, a residential property bought between 8 July 2020 and 31 March 2021 only starts to attract SDLT on the amount paid above £500,000 in England and above £250,000 in Wales . These rates apply whether you are buying your first home or have owned property before.

The reduced SDLT rates for England can be summarised: PROPERTY OR LEASE PREMIUM OR TRANSFER VALUE SDLT RATE Up to £500,000 Zero The next £425,000 (from £500,001 to £925,000) 5% The next £575,000 (from £925,001 to £1.5m) 10% The remaining amount (above £1.5m) 12%

For people buying a second home, in England the 3% higher rate for purchases applies on top of revised standard (holiday) rates, for the same period. This means for second home buyers the holiday rates are: PROPERTY OR LEASE PREMIUM OR TRANSFER VALUE ENGLISH SDLT RATE Up to £500,000 3% The next £425,000 (from £500,001 to £925,000) 8% The next £575,000 (from £925,001 to £1.5m) 13% The remaining amount (above £1.5m) 15% 22 www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk

For new leasehold sales and transfers, the nil rate band which applies to the ‘net present value’ of any rents payable for residential property is also increased to £500,000 from 8 July 2020 until 31 March 2021: NET PRESENT VALUE OF ANY RENT SDLT RATE Up to £500,000 Zero Over £500,000 1% Companies, as well as individuals buying residential property worth less than £500,000, also benefit, as do companies that buy residential property of any value where they meet the relief conditions from the corporate 15% SDLT charge.

Tax savings the holiday represents - Wales In Wales the changes are a little different. The following SDLT holiday rates apply to residential property transactions effective from 27 July 2020 to 31 March 2021: PRICE THRESHOLD WELSH LTT RATE The portion up to and including £250,000 0% The portion over £250,000 up to/incl £400,000 5% The portion over £400,000 up to/incl £750,000 7.5% The portion over £750,000 up to/incl £1.5m 10% The portion over £1.5m 12% A second home may now incur higher 4%rate in Wales. Similarly, if companies and trusts buy residential properties. The Welsh higher rates are different from England, as follows: TRANSACTIONS WITH AN EFFECTIVE DATE ON OR AFTER 22 DECEMBER 2020, IN WALES: The The The The The The

portion portion portion portion portion portion

up to and including £180,000 4% over £180,000 up to/incl £250,000 7.5% over £250,000 up to/incl £400,000 9% over £400,000 up to/ incl £750,000 11.5% over £750,000 up to/incl £1.5m 14% over £1.5m 16%

The rent over the term of a newly granted lease may be liable to tax. The tax due is calculated on its net present value (NPV). Transactions with an effective date on or after 22 December 2020: NPV THRESHOLD LTT RATE The portion up to and including £225,000 0% The portion over £225,000 up to/incl £2m 1% The portion over £2m 2% Summarising the benefits The benefits are best illustrated with a few examples. Buy a house for: •

£250k - in both England and Wales, the stamp duty is nil.

•

£500k - in England, the stamp duty is nil; in Wales, £15,000.

•

as a second home for £250k - in England, the stamp duty is 3% (£1,500); in Wales, 4% (£2,000).

•

as a second home for £500k - in England, the stamp duty is £15,000; in Wales, £37,450.

When will the holiday end?

The SDLT holiday is planned to end on 31 March 2021. The rates will then revert to those in place before 8 July 2020.

On 1 February 2021 Parliament did debate an e-petition set up to lobby government to consider extending the holiday. In that debate, the government said the holiday was designed to stimulate momentum in the property market, protect jobs in the sector and that as a policy, it had worked. Furthermore, government said it was the time limited aspect which had driven demand. This suggests without a U-turn, an extension to the holiday is now very unlikely.

What effect has the holiday had?

Latest Land Registry data shows in November 2020 property prices rose by 7.6% compared to the previous year; the number of transactions taking place in 2020 Q4 also increased year on year from 285,300 in Q4 2019 to 329,900 in Q4 2020. Sales of higher value properties, those over £500,000, rose by 56% over the year.

Will the peak in residential sales continue?

Evidence suggests that behaviour has changed following the pandemic with more people buying larger, detached properties in preference to flats, and in more rural locations. Previous peaks in residential sales have followed changes, or proposed changes, to SDLT, in 2009 and 2016. This suggests that the current surge in residential sales is unlikely to continue after the holiday ends. www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk 23

OPINION

TECHNOLOGY AND AML COMPLIANCE innovation to validate documents and facial recognition for ID verification. Developments in open banking provide details of banking transactions and a PDF report lists all the suppliers such as Experian, so legal professionals can check the source of funds in relation to each individual client. The documentation supplies a clear audit trail enabling solicitors to comply with AML regulations for new clients swiftly and remotely.

Olly Thornton-Berry director, Thirdfort confirms: “Although the move to digital has been accelerated in the past 12 months, around 80% of all legal client onboarding is still completed manually. However, it costs just £30 to buy false bank statements online!

Virtual working is now commonplace and is set to continue to some extent, on a permanent basis. Where technology enables teams to work from home at a certain level, there have also been challenges and it has opened-up opportunities for cyber criminals to take advantage of altered processes writes Ian Marriott, Director, INDEX Midlands.

According to the SRA: “Criminals are taking advantage of the disruption caused by Covid-19 and the economic downturn. Firms are now more exposed than ever to the risk of being used for money laundering… Conveyancing is currently at further risk because the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) holiday aims to increase the number and value of property transactions.”

The disruption caused by working from home has certainly increased the challenges faced by the those responsible for compliance. This is in part due to the lack technology and processes needed to support the remote environment from a compliance perspective.

To respond to the rapidly changing situation, new LSAG Draft AML Guidance has recently been published to support legal professionals in complying with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (as amended).

It includes a new section on technology which addresses the need for firms to understand the technology they have, in order to use it effectively.

24 www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk

According to The Law Society: “A legal practice must now have clearly documented Policies, Controls and Procedures (PCPs) based on their practice-wide risk assessment which include: • Measures taken when new

technology is adopted to

protect against ML or TF risks.

•

Where practices use electronic identification and verification (EID&V) tools they should document the role of the tool, the data sources it uses, and in what circumstances (clients/ matters) it is appropriate to use the solution.”

At Index, we adopt an agile approach, where technology becomes an enabler for those responsible for compliance and with changing working patterns, we aim to help our legal clients to implement solutions to solve common issues. For example: we work with best-in-class industry leaders in the technology space to provide tried, tested and trusted solutions to our clients.

One example is the integration of our Index Platform with Thirdfort’s app www.thirdfort.com which is setting the new standard in legal security and client checking by verifying ID and automating AML in a matter of minutes.

The customer uploads a short video of themselves plus driver’s licence or other acceptable photo ID and the technology uses chip

Therefore, using the most advanced digital practices through the Thirdfort app integrated with Index’ platform, now means the whole client onboarding process can become digitalised and completed in a few minutes rather than weeks.”

At Index, our goal is to bring the very latest solutions to our clients and importantly, supply the support and team behind the tech as this is what ultimately ensures it works.

Our locally based, experienced team understand the challenges faced by legal professionals and offer dedicated support to ensure technology integrations through our Index Platform are always as smooth as possible.

In addition to solutions such as the integration of Thirdfort’s app, we help legal professionals with their due diligence through providing risk management solutions such as Lawyer Checker which ensures client funds are sent to a legitimate bank account associated with the seller’s solicitors.

We also offer Lender Monitor, a pre-completion search which assesses whether each transaction was in line with the lender’s Part 2 policies prior to submission of the Certificate of Title. In addition, we also provide training to support CPD requirements. These are just a few examples of how we help employ the right solution enabled by the right technology all brought together through our user-friendly platform and supported by our dedicated teams, to enable legal professionals to focus on providing a better service for their clients.

To find out more, call Index Midlands on 0121 293 1185 or email midlands@indexpi.co.uk

LAST WORD

QUILL MAKES DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT EASIER AND BETTER WITH RELEASE OF DOCSHUB

Leading legal software provider Quill is setting out to make legal professionals’ document management more streamlined and efficient than ever before through the launch of its improved DocsHub service.

The leading-edge system allows users to create and manage case files, forms, correspondence and other documentation within a onestop digital repository. Material is stored securely via the cloud, with teams enjoying convenient access at any time and on any device for improved collaboration.

DocsHub is seamlessly integrated with popular software including Microsoft Office to facilitate the simple creation, editing and storage of templates, letters and emails. The automation technology creates an “enter once, populate everywhere” process for all legal documents.

It provides a clear dashboard of caseloads and shortcuts to key and recently used documents and emails, while time spent on documents and correspondence is automatically captured for 26 www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk

straightforward record-keeping.

By reducing paper use and storage space, DocsHub makes document management environmentally friendly as well as safe and simple.

“The decision to go paperless is a major step in a practice’s journey to going fully digital and in the cloud,” said Quill Managing Director Julian Bryan. “What used to take six to 12 months and teams of people to complete can now be done in days, even hours, with Quill’s DocsHub.” The DocsHub service is available to Quill users now for a charge of just £19 per month per user.

Quill is providing comprehensive support for the new service through online training, webinars and other resources.

“Quill is constantly striving to improve processes and workloads for legal professionals, and our new-look DocsHub service will take automation efficiencies to the next level,” says Bryan.

“Our goal is to strip back the hassles and tedium of document management and time capture,

and free practices up to deliver the best possible client service. With so many of us away from offices and seeking new ways to improve productivity and collaboration, this is the perfect time to introduce DocsHub, and we’re looking forward to helping our communities make the very most of it - securely - in the months ahead.”

Quill helps law firms streamline and run law practices better by providing simple and easy-touse practice management and legal accounts software, as well as outsourced legal cashiering, bookkeeping, payroll and typing services.

Focus on the matters that matter most Run your law firm from anywhere

0161 236 2910 info@quill.co.uk quill.co.uk