Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 14th November)

Has Cameron just admitted Austerity is a cover for permanent cuts?

David Cameron said, in his speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet, that the government is to forge a "leaner, more efficient state" on a permanent basis. He signalled he had no intention of resuming spending once the structural deficit has been eliminated. This is a clear change to claims made after the last general election. In his New Year's message issued on 31 December 2010, he said: "I didn't come into politics to make cuts. Neither did Nick Clegg. But in the end politics is about national interest, not personal political agendas. We're tackling the deficit because we have to – not out of some ideological zeal. This is a government led by people with a practical desire to sort out this country's problems, not by ideology." GUARDIAN DAILY MAIL

Energy customers are not “cash cows”, says Energy Secretary

Lib Dem Energy Secretary Ed Davey said: "Profits cannot come at the expense of the elderly, the vulnerable, and the poorest in our society. Customers are not just cash cows to be squeezed in the pursuit of a higher return for shareholders." He asked the energy firms to open their books to prove they were not just profiteering. But industry body Energy UK complained that a "tit-for-tat Punch and Judy show of insults" was developing. BBC NEWS

UKFI (responsible for our stake in the bailed-out banks) refuses to cut bonuses at RBS and Lloyds

Robin Budenberg, chairman of UKFI, told the Treasury Select Committee that the proposed reductions were not ‘commercially acceptable’ and had stepped in to limit the cuts. RBS and Lloyds were bailed out with £66billion of taxpayers’ money and are now part-owned by the taxpayer. Pay curbs at RBS and Lloyds have limited cash bonuses to a maximum of £2,000. But many have still received handsome share bonuses and long-term performance-related payouts. Last year 95 RBS staff were paid at least £1million, despite the bank slumping to a £5.2billion loss. The equivalent figure at Lloyds was 25. DAILY MAIL

Benefit caps and housing shortage push families from London

Figures show 129% rise in number of families housed by London boroughs outside capital, more than double the same period last year. Figures for the 12 months to June 2013 showed that 789 households were placed in 69 local authority areas outside London, including Manchester, Bedfordshire and Hastings. GUARDIAN

HSBC abolishes £25 fee for bounced transactions.

HSBC is to abolish its "most complained about" banking fee – the £25 charge it makes for bouncing a direct debit or cheque. A £25 fee will still be applied if HSBC agrees to pay a bill, such as a direct debit to the gas or electricity company, that takes the customer beyond their agreed overdraft limit; the fee that is being axed is the £25 for stopping a payment going through, leaving the bill or cheque unpaid. HSBC said their customers "could understand being charged a fee for processing a transaction that had gone through, but not a charge for something that hadn't." Lloyds currently charges the highest rate, at £35 for each "unpaid transaction fee", while NatWest charges £6 and Barclays £8. GUARDIAN

No rest until 2030: Energy and water bills will keep soaring for 17 years

The National Audit Office predicts that the average household energy bill will rise by 66 per cent – from £1,290 this year to £2,135 by 2030. The NAO blamed the price rises on the Government’s decision to load two-thirds of the £310bn cost of infrastructure projects needed to maintain energy and water supplies on to customers’ bills rather than fund them through taxation. The NAO said the investment projects are needed but criticised the Government for not coming clean about the impact on bills. It expressed concern that the poorest families would not be able to cope with the rising cost of energy and water. Some 8 per cent of average household spending now goes on energy and water, but for those in the bottom 10 per cent of the income scale, the proportion is 15 per cent, said the NAO. INDEPENDENT

Unite launches credit union scheme to take on 'rip-off' payday lenders

Credit unions have received a major boost from Britain's biggest trade union. Unite is partnering with a selection of credit unions in a bid to take on "rip-off" payday lenders and give its members access to affordable finance and savings products. Credit unions are co-operatives owned and controlled by their members that distribute their profits in the form of dividends, which means the money stays in the community rather than going to shareholders. GUARDIAN

Barclays' Sir Hector Sants resigns citing stress

Sants’ employment by Barclays was controversial because he had just finished his term as the head of the bank regulator, the FSA. During his time there the FSA failed to anticipate the global banking crisis, and was therefore considered complicit in poor regulation and bank misbehaviour. On his resignation, Barclays said: "Hector Sants has been on sick leave since the beginning of October, suffering from stress and exhaustion. He has concluded that he will not be able to return to work in the near term. Consequently he has decided to resign from Barclays and not return from sick leave." Sir Hector's role at Barclays was to take responsibility for ensuring the bank's 140,000 staff obey the law in the 50-plus countries in which it operates. BBC NEWS