Chancellor George Osborne will today reveal plans to simplify the UK tax system, in a bid to encourage investment and drive economic growth. Since coming to power, the coalition Government has argued that the UK tax system is too complicated and has been proposing to make it simpler. Mr Osborne is set to announce that [...]
According to a survey conducted by charity, Age UK, two-thirds of people support Government plans to scrap the default retirement age (DRA). The survey, which questioned more than 1,000 people, found 70% wanted to continue working beyond retirement. Currently, an employer has the legal right to terminate the employment of a 65-year-old – something which [...]
The BBC reported over the weekend that City Watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), will be retained – as a subsidiary of the Bank of England. It was expected that the watchdog would be axed under initial proposals from the Conservative Party. However, according to the BBC, Chancellor George Osborne will unveil plans later this [...]
New Chancellor, George Osborne, is today set to wield the axe by announcing plans to cut £6.2 billion off the £156 billion deficit this year. The new Con/Lib coalition Government has said trimming the budget deficit is one of its priorities. However, Mr Osborne’s predecessor, Alistair Darling, warned that cutting the deficit too quickly could [...]
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is supporting plans to let the over 65s continue working. Earlier this month, minister for Women and Equality, Harriet Harman, announced a major shake-up in the retirement law which will see workers no longer forced to retire at 65. Miss Harman believes a radical change in the law is [...]
Consumer watchdog, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), has announced it is to abandon plans to take further legal action against banks regarding unauthorised overdraft charges. At the end of last month, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the banks over the fairness of the charges. The test case originally commenced in July 2007 [...]
Over the weekend, it emerged that Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to announce a windfall tax on British banks in Wednesday‘s Pre-Budget Report. The measure is one of many being planned by Mr Darling to target high earners. Other measures include increasing the number of people liable to pay inheritance tax, as well as an [...]
In the Pre-Budget Report this week, Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to announce a windfall tax on British banks. The measure is one of many being planned by Mr Darling to target high earners. Other measures include increasing the number of people liable to pay inheritance tax, as well as an increase in capital gains [...]
The Government has outlined plans for the Post Office to become a ‘people’s bank’ by offering financial products. The proposals, led by Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson, will create a ‘People’s Bank’, which will see Post Office outlets as the backbone of a new national bank. According to the Government, the plans will turn the [...]
The announcement that US car giant General Motors (GM) abandoned plans to sell a majority stake in its European car business Opel, including its UK brand Vauxhall, has led to a protest by thousands of the 25,000 workers at Opel’s four factories. In March, GM announced plans to offload Vauxhall and sister company, Germany-based Opel, [...]
US car giant General Motors (GM) has abandoned plans to sell a majority stake in its European car business Opel, including its UK brand Vauxhall. GM had agreed to sell Opel and Vauxhall to Magna, a Canadian car parts supplier, to raise funds after facing collapse earlier this year. The shock decision comes after talks [...]
According to The Times, the Land Registry is today set to announce plans to close 25% of its national offices, which will result in 1,500 job losses. The Registry, which has 20 offices across the country, covers England and Wales and records and guarantees the ownership of domestic and commercial property. The organisation enables anyone [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is proposing to cap increases in its final-salary pension scheme, which has been described as a “body blow“ to its 60,000 staff by the Unite union. The union said that against the backdrop of the “bumper” pension paid to former chief executive of the bank, Sir Fred Goodwin, the proposals [...]
The excessive bonus culture, a subject which has dominated the news this year, rears its head again after Chancellor Alistair Darling has responded to calls for a new commission to restrict bonus payments. Bank bonuses, in particular, have sparked public anger and have been the subject of heavy criticism since it is banks that are [...]
Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has reported that like-for-like sales were up 7.8% for the 12 week period to 13 June. The news comes just a day after fellow supermarket Tesco posted a 4.3% rise in quarterly sales and said it had made a “solid” start to its financial year. Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s, which is Britain’s third-largest supermarket, [...]
Japan’s Central Bank is to purchase 1 trillion yen (£7.87 billion) of stocks owned by struggling financial institutions, in an effort to improve their capital and encourage them to lend. The Bank of Japan is to buy shares in troubled banks until April next year and hold on to them until the end of March [...]
Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, will this afternoon unveil plans to help the struggling car industry since the economic downturn has meant that car sales have plummeted in recent times. However, No. 10 have said that the support is ‘not a bailout’ but is expected to include measures such as guarantees for loans to the industry [...]
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has today unveiled the Government’s plan to kick-start lending for small and medium-sized businesses to help them weather the economic downturn. The Government has announced measures to guarantee up to 50% of up to £20 billion worth of loans. Companies with an annual turnover of up to £500 million will be [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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