1. Why do you want to work for Legal Studio; and
2. Would you rather have sausages for fingers or fishfingers for toes and why? (thank you John James for that one).

Legal Studio Consultant numbers have grown from 10 to 16 in the past year and the stated aim is to move that to  “a consultant a month” from now on.

Chief executive Ian McCann said the only limit was the firm’s “culture and character”, which he wanted to maintain.

“We treat our consultants as our clients. We are genuinely interested in what their aims and ideas are, and we listen to them.”

Mr McCann said that to celebrate relaxation of the lockdown and the ability to meet a single person outside for a chat, every consultant had been sent a recyclable coffee cup this weekend, with a bag of locally hand-roasted coffee, branded as Legal Studio Catch-up Coffee.

• Unreasonable behaviour
• Adultery
• Desertion
• 2 years separation with the consent of both parties
• 5 years separation 

• Introduce joint applications where the couple both agree that the relationship has irretrievably broken down;
• Applicants will still be able to submit a sole application if their partner does not agree;
• Remove the ability to defend a divorce, dissolution or separation;
• Remove the requirement to reply on one of the 5 facts;
• Introduce a new minimum period of 20 weeks from the start of proceedings to the ‘Conditional Order’ (currently called the decree nisi).

1. RIDDOR- A report regarding coronavirus need only be made under RIDDOR in the following circumstances:

1. An unintended incident at work has led to someone’s possible or actual exposure to coronavirus. This must be reported as a dangerous occurrence.
2. A worker has been diagnosed as having the virus and there is reasonable evidence that it was caused by exposure at work. This must be reported as a case of disease.

2. Home Working- Many more people are now working from home due to the lockdown. A risk assessment for home working will be required and employers should be aware that they have the same health and safety responsibilities for home workers as any other worker.

3. Road Transport-There are two major health and safety issues relating to coronavirus for this vital industry. Firstly, drivers must have access to welfare facilities and it will not be lawful for customers to deny them access. Secondly, the driver’s hours rules have been temporarily relaxed to ensure key supplies are maintained. More about the latter tomorrow.

4. HSE approach- The HSE has not stopped working. Its staff remain contactable and will continue to engage with stakeholders. It has said that it will take a flexible and proportionate account of the risks of the pandemic. It will suspend some targeted inspection activity, and will keep regulatory activity not requiring site visits as normal as possible. It will continue t investigate work related deaths, the most serious incidents and reported concerns. It will still take action to ensure compliance with the law, and while it will work remotely as much as possible, it will mobilise to site where necessary.

5. First aid cover and qualifications- Adequate first aid cover will still need to be maintained in the workplace. Reduced cover may be appropriate with more workers working from home. Sharing first aid cover with another business is a possibility, and provision has been made for first aid certificate extensions and interrupted first aid training.

1. EU daily driving limit extended from 9 to 11 hours.
2. Reduction of daily rest requirement from 11 to 9 hours.
3. Lifting the weekly and fortnightly driving limits from 56 and 90 hours respectively, to 60 and 96 hours.
4. Postponement of the requirement to start a weekly rest period from 6 to 7 twenty-four hour periods. Two regular weekly rest periods or a regular and reduced weekly rest period will still be required within a fortnight.
5. Daily breaks of 45 minutes after 4.5 hours driving are extended to the same break after 5.5 hours of driving.
6. Drivers using 2.  above can still interrupt their daily rest by up to an hour to embark or disembark from a train or ferry.
7. Relaxations 1.  and 4.  above cannot be used at the same time.

1. Shopping for basic necessities such as food or medicine.
2. To take exercise. In Wales this is once a day by law, but in the remainder of the UK it remains only a guideline, and to do so more often might be inadvisable but is not illegal.
3. Seeking medical assistance or to escape a risk of harm. This is particularly important for those in danger of domestic violence.
4. Providing care or assistance to a vulnerable person, providing emergency assistance, or donating blood.
5. Travelling to work or to carry out voluntary services when it’s impossible to do so from home.
6. Attending the funeral of a member of your household, a close family member (or in specific circumstances, a friend).
7. Fulfilling legal obligations eg attending court or participating in legal proceedings.
8. Accessing critical public services including childcare or education, social services or victim support.
9. Allowing children of separated parents to move between both households.

1. New unpaid statutory leave for emergency volunteers (Sections 8 and 9).
2. Powers to restrict attendance at schools and childcare premises (Sections 37 and 38).
3. Provision to allow companies that have paid statutory sick pay for an employee suffering  from coronavirus to recover some or all of that payment (Sections 39-44).
4. Powers to screen and isolate potentially infections persons across the UK. Police or immigration officers can force people to stay in certain places and to be screened/assessed (Section 51).
5. Powers to prohibit or restrict public events and gatherings, and to close premises (Section 52).
6. Provision for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme where employees can contact HMRC for a grant to cover 80% of salary for people not working, but furloughed and kept on payroll (Section 76).
7. Provision to protect residential tenants from eviction during the coronavirus outbreak (Section 81).