Posted by Jake on Thursday, February 06, 2014 with No comments | Labels: Roundup
Office for National
Statistics confirms that wage slump since 2010 is the greatest since records began in 1964
Average wages have fallen by 2.2 per cent a year since the
start of 2010, after inflation is taken into account - meaning that the
standard of living has been consistently falling. Household finances have been
squeezed by subdued wage rises or even pay freezes at a time when the cost of
essentials such as food and fuel has soared. Living standards look set to be a
key political battleground between now and the general election in May 2015
with ministers hoping that the worst may now be over. But the ONS said it is
‘difficult to conclude that there has yet been a break from the trend of
falling real wage growth’ following a drop of 1.5 per cent between the third
quarter of 2012 and the same period of 2013. It followed a report by the
Institute for Fiscal Studies showing the average family has an income today
which is lower than it was 13 years ago. DAILY MAIL
Financial Ombudsman
Service “Consumer Champion” Natalie Ceeney swaps sides to work for HSBC bank
The former boss of the Financial Ombudsman Service who made
her name slamming the banks for mis-selling payment protection insurance has
joined one of her main antagonists, HSBC. Her move, along with other top civil
servants, will raise questions over whether enough is being done to ensure
public officials do not abuse sensitive knowledge in their private sector jobs.
Last year HSBC recruited chief spook Jonathan Evans, previous head of domestic
security service MI5, to help tackle fraud after its billion pound fine for laundering
cash for Mexican drug cartels. Rival Barclays hired Hector Sants, the head of
the Financial Services Authority, as head of compliance. The most astonishing
appointment was when Dave Hartnett, the former head of HM Revenue and Customs,
agreed to work for accountancy giant Deloitte, which specialises in tax
avoidance. The former taxman, whose ‘sweetheart deals’ allowed Starbucks and
Vodafone to avoid billions in payments, sparked fury by switching sides to work
for the firms’ accountants. DAILY MAIL
New inquiry into bank
rigging of foreign exchange: allegations 'as bad as Libor', says regulator
The Libor interest rate scandal led to banks paying $6bn in
fines. Martin Wheatley, the head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), told
MPs that 10 banks were now helping with its investigation into the rigging of
the foreign exchange markets. Traders are alleged to have colluded in setting
certain key exchange rates in the £3bn-a-day forex market. Wheatley revealed
that the FCA's probe had now widened, and "a number of other benchmarks
that operate in London" were being investigated "because of concerns
that are being raised with us". Other regulators around the world are also
investigating possible manipulation of foreign exchange rates, but London's
position at the centre of the market makes the FCA's investigation particularly
significant. Several banks, including RBS and Barclays in the UK, have launched
their own internal investigations and already suspended foreign exchange
traders. Mr Wheatley told the committee of MPs that it was unlikely that the
FCA's investigation would reach any conclusions this year. "I hope that we
will next year... We are still in the investigation phase." BBC NEWS
Labour says spending
cuts hit most-deprived areas hardest
According to Labour, between 2010/11 and 2015/16 the
percentage cut in spending will be 10 times greater in the most deprived areas
than in those least deprived. But the government says the most-deprived
councils still have £1,000 more per household to spend than those where
deprivation is lowest. The 10 most deprived areas, which include Liverpool,
Hackney, Manchester and Middlesbrough, face an average reduction in spending
power of 25.3%, according to Labour. The party says the 10 least deprived
areas, which include St Albans, Elmbridge, Waverley and Wokingham, are dealing
with an average cut of just 2.54%. Deprivation is measured using indices
previously published by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
The measure includes income, employment and health deprivation, as well as
disability, crime, education and barriers to housing and services. BBC NEWS
MPs say cash payers
are being 'ripped off' by energy firms
Energy companies have been accused of "ripping
off" consumers who do not pay their bills by direct debit. Government
figures show that those paying by cash or cheque typically pay £114 a year more
than those who make an automatic payment. Nearly 200 MPs have signed a House of
Commons motion calling for an enquiry by the regulator, Ofgem. Energy companies
responded by saying that the charges reflect the higher costs of processing the
payments. But Robert Halfon, a backbench Conservative MP, said they amounted to
a tax on some of the poorest in society. "Energy companies have been
ripping the consumer off - have been fleecing the consumer- particularly the
poor and pensioners, with their stealth tax for some time," he told BBC
Radio's Five Live. He wants to see a cap of £24 a year on charges, or £2 a
month, similar to the amount charged by BT on phone and broadband bills. BBC NEWS
Corruption in EU nations is 'breathtaking' says EU Commission
The extent of corruption in Europe is
"breathtaking" and it costs the EU economy at least 120bn euros
(£99bn) annually. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem has presented
a full report on the problem, which interviewed EU citizens. She said the true
cost of corruption was "probably much higher" than 120bn. Three-quarters
of Europeans surveyed said that corruption was widespread, and more than half
said the level had increased. The UK came out relatively well: only five people
out of 1,115 - less than 1% - said they had been expected to pay a bribe. It
was "the best result in all Europe", the report said. In Croatia, the
Czech Republic, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, between 6% and 29% of
respondents said they had been asked for a bribe, or had been expected to pay
one, in the past 12 months. There were also high levels of bribery in Poland
(15%), Slovakia (14%) and Hungary (13%), where the most prevalent instances
were in healthcare. But 64% of British respondents said they believed
corruption to be widespread in the UK, while the EU average was 74% on that
question. BBC NEWS
Gove gives green
light to teachers to use tough sanctions to tackle bad behaviour
Updated government guidelines were sent to all schools in
England this week, making clear that tough but proportionate punishments,
ranging from writing lines to asking pupils to report at the school gates early
in the morning, are just as crucial to an effective education as praising and
rewarding good behaviour. Almost 1 in 3 secondary teachers - tens of thousands
of teachers in hundreds of schools across the country - don’t feel confident
using the powers they have to discipline pupils. GOVERNMENT PRESS RELEASE
...and just for fun here’s Speaker John Bercow telling education
secretary Michael Gove off for shouting during Prime Minister's Questions,
adding the "very over excitable individual" should write out 1,000
times that he will behave at the weekly session... BBC NEWS VIDEO
Lloyds Banking Group
'April share sale likely'
Lloyds has confirmed it plans to return more of the
government's 32.7% stake to private investors. But the news came as it made yet
another hefty provision of £1.8bn for mis-selling payment protection insurance
(PPI) taking its total to £10bn. For all banks the bill is approaching £20bn, a
compensation payout so large it has noticeably helped stimulate high street
spending and growth. Lloyds has a market value of about £57bn, so at the
current share price of 79.66p, selling 10% would raise £5.7bn. This share price
is more than 56% up over the last 52-week period. The government paid 73.6p for
its stake. BBC NEWS
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