HAULAGE BULLETIN NEWS Transport: Road surface conditions Roads survey The
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latest National Road Maintenance Condition Survey reveals that in 1997: • The overall visual condition of roads (excluding motorways) was the worst ever recorded by the survey; • The visual condition of trunk roads improved, but there was a minor structural deterioration in their condition; • The structural condition of motorways suffered more deterioration; and • The visual and structural condition of local roads declined sharply.
The full report is available from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Highways Maintenance Data Unit, Zone 1/26, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR.
Contact: 0171 890 3092.
ULU: Limited editions Single vehicle approval New regulations* which came into force on 1 May 1998 restrict the manufacture and sale of cars and light vehicles that are not Type Approved to a maximum of 50 examples of any one model in a year. In such cases vehicles up to 10 years old will be subject to a Single Vehicle Approval (SVA) test before they can be registered. This is designed to ensure that the vehicle meets minimum safety and environmental standards.
For further information, contact the DETR. Contact: 0171 271 5000.
Internet: http://www.detr.gov.uk.
* Motor Vehicles (Approval) (Amendment) Regulations 1998 (SI 1998 No 1008 and SIs 1998 Nos 1000, 1005 and 1006).
Training: More questions Driving theory tests The Driving Standards Agency has increased the range of questions that may be asked in car and motorcycle theory driving tests. More than 300 new questions are being added (making a total of over 1,000), although the paper will still only have 35 questions, of which 30 must be answered correctly for a pass.
The new questions relate in particular to: • Hazard awareness; and • Awareness of vulnerable road users, such as cyclists.
Following these changes the ()Aid Theory Test for Car Drivers and Motorcyclists has been revised and will be in use from 6 July.
Financial: VAT Registration limits An Order* came into force on 1 April 1998 which increas ▪ es the VAT registration limits for taxable supplies and acquisitions from other EU member states from £49,000 to £50,000.
The order also increases the limit for cancellation or registration in the case of taxable supplies from £47,000 to £48,000, and in the case of acquisitions from £49,000 to £50,000. * Value Added Tax (Increase of Registration Limits) Order 1998 (SI 1998 No 761) is available, priced 65p, from the Stationery Office.
Loans to employees The average "official rate" of interest used to calculate the taxable benefit from a cheap or interest-free loan made by an employer to an employee or director earning more than £8,500 is 7.08% for 1997/98.
Advance Corporation Tax The Inland Revenue has published two sets of draft regulations. These concern: • Shadow Advance Corporation Tax (ACT)—the system for relieving past surplus ACT which will start on 6 April 1999 (following the scrapping of ACT)*; and • The payment by large companies of their corporation tax in instalments for accounting periods ending on or after 1 July 1999". *Corporation Tax (Treatment of Unrelieved Surplus Advance Corporation Tax) Regulations.
** Corporation Tax (Instalment Payments) (Large Companies) Regulations 1998.
Both regulations are available on the internet: http://www.open.gov.uldinrev/ctregs.htm or contact your local Inland Revenue office for further details.
Comments on the proposed legislation should be sent to Alex Plant, Inland Revenue, Company Tax Division, Room S95, West Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LB by 15 July.
Information security The British Standards Institute (BSI) has launched a new information security management scheme (C:CURE).
The scheme involves independent auditors (qualified in IT and information security) going into a company and judging its information security management arrangements against a risk assessment of the threats the business faces.
This will help a company work towards full BS7799 (information security management) accreditation or, alternatively, will demonstrate the effectiveness of its information security management to prospective trading partners.
It will also enable firms to benchmark their arrangements against accepted best practice. Alongside this, companies will have the opportunity to attend various seminars and workshops. Also, five related documents are available: • Introduction to Information Security Management (PD3000), costs £9.50; • Preparing for BS7799 Certification (PD3001), costs £27.50; • Guide to BS7799 Risk Assessment and Management (PD3002), costs £27.50; • Are you Ready for a BS7799 Audit? (PD3003), costs £22.50; and • Guide to BS7799 Auditing (PD3004), costs £34.50. Contact BSUDISC on 0181 995 7799.
Corporate governance The London Stock Exchange has recently consulted on a code produced by the Hampel Committee (which incorporates the Hampel, Cadbury and Greenbury reports) and a proposed new listing rule.
If adopted, the new rule will require companies to make two-part disclosure statements in their annual reports about their compliance with the code.
Share buy-backs The Department of Trade and Industry is consulting* on proposed changes to company law rules which apply to companies buying their own shares.
If adopted, companies would be allowed to hold repurchased shares in treasury, rather than having to cancel them. This would give companies greater flexibility in managing share capital.
* Share Buybacks: A Consultative Document is available free. Contact: 0171 215 5000.
Comments should be submitted to Peter Bower, Company Law Directorate, Room 5.N.16, DTI, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H OET by 31 July 1998.
Guidelines to Competition Bill The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has published two draft guidelines on the provisions of the proposed Competition Bill*.
The final versions of the guidelines will not only take into account responses to the drafts, but also any changes made to the bill during its passage through Parliament.
* Competition Bill: A Guide to the Major Provisions of the Act and Market Definition are free from the OFT, PO Box 366, Hayes, UB3 1X.B. Contact 0870 606 0321. They are also available on the internet at: http://www.oft.gov.uk/html/new/bill.htm. Comments should be sent to Gover James, Competition Policy Division, OFT, Room 104, Field House, 15-25 Bream's Buildings, London EC4A 1PR. E-mail: gover.iamesoft.gov.uk.
Finance and investment The Department of Trade and Industry (DTi) has published two new booklets on finance and investment: • Informed Investment is designed to promote awareness of the benefits which investing in technologically advanced machinery can bring to companies.
• Money and Machines (revised) gives companies (particularly SMEs) guidance on raising finance.
Both can be obtained free from the DTi, ADMAIL 528, London SW1W 8YT.
Late Payment: Debts Interest on debts The DTi has revised its pro posals for the Late Payment of Bill. The two main changes are: Commercial Debts (Interest) • The statutory rate of interest will be base rate plus 8%; and • A business will be regarded as small if it employs 50 or fewer full-time staff or their part-time equivalents—the proposed criteria based on Companies Act 1985 have been abandoned.
Further information on the Bill is available from Kobina Lokko or Vicky Bytel at the DTi. Contact: 0171 215 3931/0259.
Late payers The European Commission has put forward a Directive which would allow companies to claim compensation for late payment (inclusive of interest on the unpaid sum), to apply both to transactions within the private sector and between companies and the public sector.
There would also be simplified recovery procedures for debts up to 20,000 Euros (£12,850), with a fast-track (60-day) system for recovering debts which are undisputed.
EC: Employment Part-timers directive The UK Government has adopted the Part-Time Workers Directive and now has two years within which to implement it. Implementation will mean parttimers will get a statutory entitlement to paid holidays and occupational pensions; benefits such as staff discounts and bonus schemes; and opportunities for training and promotion. Health and Safety: Asbestos exposure Asbestos consultation The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) is consulting on proposals for amendments to the Asbestos Regulations and supporting approved codes of practice* as part of a pan-European drive to provide greater protection for workers from exposure to asbestos. The HSC has also published A Summary of the Proposals for the Asbestos Regulations*.
*Available free from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk C010 6FS. Contact: 01787 881165. Comments must be submitted by 19 June 1998.
Workplace safety The HSE has launched a three-year campaign* to reduce transport-related accidents in the workplace. Some preventative measures which employers can adopt include: • Segregating vehicles from pedestrians, minimising the need for reversing and ensuring good visibility for drivers and pedestrians alike; • Ensuring that only authorised and properly trained people operate vehicles; and • Ensuring that vehicles are well maintained and suitable for the job. * Contact HSE's infoline on 0541 545500.
Workplace trauma The HSE has published a research report on Workplace Trauma and Management. This document considers: • The organisational and legal implications of trauma; • The scale and prevalence of trauma in different occupations—it is not just those involved in major incidents (such as traffic pile-ups) who are affected by post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and • Trauma management practices—the widely used counselling technique, critical incident debriefing, does not necessarily reduce the symptoms of trauma.
Workplace Trauma and its Management— Review of the literature is available at £44 from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk C010 6FS. Contact: 01787 881165.
Solitary work The HSE has published a guide on Working Alone in Safety—Controlling the Risks of Solitary Work. This looks at the legal duties owed by an employer to lone workers (under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and other legislation), assessing and controlling the risks and safe working arrangements.
The booklet is free from HSE Books (see above). Contact: 01787 881165.