Blackstone’s Litigation, Property and Family Law Roundup

In our roundup this week, we bring news of calls by small businesses for a review of the legal sector, fears that the upcoming referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU could cause the housing market to slow, and concerns that government funding cuts are having a negative impact on children in care.

Small businesses call for review of legal services sector

Small businesses are encouraging a review of the legal services sector, claiming the market is not serving them as well as it could. Responding to a Competition and Markets Authority study that found legal needs to the tune of £100 billion are not being met, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said its members are concerned about high legal costs and uncertainty around them.

The FSB also explained its members sometimes have difficulty when it comes to getting the right provider, while the risk of escalation was cited as a big worry for businesses.

“Even where a small business realises their issue is legal or has a legal element, their first instinct is often to avoid using formal legal services and to rely on informal advice and resolve it themselves or use existing trusted partners such as their accountants,” the FSB said.

At Blackstone Solicitors we provide certainty with fixed fee options.

EU referendum ‘could slow housing market’

The UK housing market could slow over the coming months due to the impact of the referendum on Britain’s membership in the European Union (EU). This is according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), which warned that elections traditionally lead to a period of uncertainty in the market.
Simon Rubinsohn, Chief Economist at Rics, said the group’s figures suggest that activity around the EU vote, along with elections in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, should prove no different.

He said: “The EU referendum is likely to be an influencer in terms of the damper outlook for London in particular.” Rics also claimed another factor affecting the market will be the Stamp Duty increases for landlords, which came into effect at the beginning of the month.

Government funding cuts ‘could damage wellbeing of children in care’

The Fostering Network has warned that the wellbeing of children living in foster care is being threatened due to government funding cuts being made to local authority budgets in England.

In its new survey entitled ‘Cuts: The View from Foster Carers (England) – The Impact of Austerity Measures on Fostered Children and the Families That Care About Them’, the charity highlighted a number of ways in which local authority cuts are having a negative impact on the lives of young children.

The survey found that 70% of foster carers reported a negative effect on their allowances due to the cuts, while 69% claimed access to their child’s social worker and the overall quality of this service had been reduced. A further 73% said the fees they receive for fostering were being impacted.

Kevin Williams, Chief Executive of the Fostering Network, commented: “We are extremely concerned that so many foster carers feel that recent cuts are having a negative impact on their fostered children’s access to the support and services that they so vitally need.”

Our views at Blackstone is that it is cheaper in the long term to invest in fostering services because those children that benefit are more likely to succeed in life than a child in a care home who has so much more to overcome.

Authored by Rebecca Dutton Posted in News Tagged as