Cherie Blair may be wealthy enough not to have to worry about her maternity rights but for many expectant

Cherie Blair may be wealthy enough not to have to worry about her maternity rights, but for many expectant mothers maternity provisions are a headache Rules are complex and often hard to understand. However, help is at hand: the 1999 Employment Relations Act is due to come into force in just over two weeks’ time.
The new “family friendly” directives are aimed at simplifying maternity rights and will see an increase in the standard maternity leave entitlement from 14 to 18 weeks, irrespective of length of service or hours worked. There may be additional maternity provisions available, but they vary from company to company.The current regulations allow a woman who has worked at the same company for more than two years to have up to 29 weeks’ maternity leave after the birth of her child. This is done by providing explanations of the processes by which businesses develop and grow, says Mr Hall, who built up a management consultancy turning over pounds 6.5m and employing 120 people before selling up three years ago. “There needs to be a recognition that, if you can’t teach entrepreneurship, you can maybe nurture it,” he explains.Perhaps his most significant finding is that, for all the attention paid to preparing business plans, the founders are as likely to “just do it” as they are to spend huge amounts of time on market research.

But David Hall, an author and entrepreneur himself, says it could be even more common if the British showed genuine enthusiasm for enterprise and innovation. Instead, he says, we are still inclined to see entrepreneurs as “racketeers and spivs, epitomised by TV characters like Arthur Daley”. As the title of his new book, In the Company of Heroes, suggests, it is a stereotyped view that has to change.By pointing at the examples of Mr Pye and many others, the book attempts to play its part in that change. Breaking away from the usual entrepreneur books, which tend to focus on the biggest names and their personalities or life stories, it sets out to inspire would-be entrepreneurs by focusing on lesser-known business creators and the stories of their enterprises.The idea is that this kind of emphasis will help others join the expanding ranks of successful entrepreneurs instead of just admiring them from afar.

When John Pye was 19, he was staring unemployment in the face. The owner of the musical equipment shop where he worked had announced he was closing the business, and Mr Pye did not fancy his chances of finding another job. This is where a good financial adviser should have a marked advantage; they have industry contacts through which they are able to pinpoint likely reasons for a serious downturn in fund performance.The bottom line is one of cost. Transferring PEPs between fund managers amounts to new business as far as charges are concerned, so you will pay 3 to 5 per cent in initial charges through your IFA You may also pay an exit fee. Few managers do levy such a penalty, but it is worth checking. But if your PEP is a disaster, these costs of transfer will easily be outweighed over the long term.However, a change of PEP need not be so expensive. If your disappointing holding is a weak link (perhaps in a struggling geographical sector) within a generally strong and reputable stable of funds, it is cheap and easy to switch to a better-performing fund from the same manager, which also suits your investment aims and attitude to risk.Expect to pay no more than 1 to 2 per cent; some managers will allow you to switch in-house free of charge.

Good fund managers are a valuable commodity, and frequently poached; the loss of the key strategist can bring real problems for the remaining team members.Success can also mean a fund attracts so much new money that it becomes unwieldy and slow to respond to market movements.Company takeovers can also upset a fund’s equilibrium as they may involve rationalisation or merging with another fund of quite different investment philosophy.However, we, the punters, are not usually privy to such inside information. So you can each have an ISA, or you can have one ISA in one name. What you currently have also affects your ISA options for the rest of this tax year, which ends on April 5.Each tax year you have a choice. When a fund returns less than the benchmark over three consecutive years, the overall level of underperformance is calculated; if it is more than 10 per cent down on the benchmark, the doghouse looms.Current dog funds include Equitable’s Special Situations, a long-standing occupant, while Baillie Gifford British Smaller Companies has lost investors money over three years.But the dog tables are designed as a starting point for further investigation – a warning light rather than cast-iron evidence of a failing fund. And they can be turned around by a change in investment discipline or management, as has happened at M&G (whose presence in the doghouse has fallen from five funds to two).Before you make any decisions to transfer a disappointing PEP, therefore, it is helpful to know what a dip in performance may be caused by, as some changes tend to be more far-reaching than others.Success itself is one possible factor. The state pays for 20 per cent of NHS treatment, leaving the patient to pick up the remaining 80 per cent. Boots level one cover pays out for 75 per cent of the costs.Cash plans have become a popular way of helping with dental costs.

These provide a cash benefit while you are undergoing treatment HSA is the leading provider in this field. It offers up to 21 separate cash benefits, which include dental care. Premiums start at pounds 1.60 per week.n Contacts: Boots, 0845 840 1111; Bupa, 0800 237 7777; Denplan, 0800 401402; Densure, 01255 221001; HSA, 0800 150150; WPA, contact your local IFA or broker.. We are both looking to top up our pensions We’ve recently opened a cash mini ISA. We are now wondering about a saving a regular amount of about pounds 100 a month in an equity ISA.