Posted by Hari on Thursday, May 15, 2014 with No comments | Labels: Roundup

London has more billionaires than any other city in the world while Britons’ use of food banks rises 163%
The survey of Britain’s superrich compiled annually for the
Sunday Times newspaper is likely to prompt debate in a country where many still
struggle financially and where food banks are a fact of life despite economic
growth recently returning to levels not seen since the 2008 financial crash.
London is home to 72 of Britain’s 104 billionaires, well ahead of
Moscow in second place with 48 people. New York is in third place with 43. Britain also has more billionaires per head of population than any other country. The Trussell Trust,
Britain’s largest food bank network, said the number of people who they had served had risen 163% in the last year to just over 913,000 people. The group labeled the figure “shocking,” particularly
as it does not include those helped by other food providers or the large number
of people too ashamed to seek help and who cope by eating less food. JAPAN TIMES
Insult
to injury! How a call to a loved one in hospital could end up costing you
50p-a-minute
Relatives who call loved ones in hospital are
being hit with phone charges of up to 50p a minute. Hospedia runs phone and TV
packages for hospital patients, including free outgoing calls. However,
customers who ring in are hit with much higher charges because they must call a
costly 070 number. These numbers can cost between 4p and 52p a minute from a
landline. One person said they had to listen to an automated message for a minute-and-a-half
every time they called their cancer-stricken partner in hospital and were being
charged 50p-a-minute even during this message. Hosepedia initially said that
the reason they use the 070 numbers is that the telecoms regulator Ofcom obliges them to have a
follow-me numbering system, so a patient keeps the same number as they move
around the hospital. However, Ofcom denied this claim, said it had not approved
of time-consuming taped messages and that it had also expressed concern about
the cost of making calls to and from hospitals. DAILY MAIL
Pfizer boss admits Astra takeover would cost jobs and cut R&D
spending
After Pfizer's three previous big
acquisitions – US firms Wyeth and Warner-Lambert and Sweden's Pharmacia – there
were laboratory closures and more than 60,000 job losses. Pfizer's CEO,
Ian Read, who was facing questions from MPs, said that "there will be
some job cuts" despite repeated assurances that the takeover would be
"win-win" for the UK. Labour's Adrian Bailey, chairman of the
business select committee, told him that Pfizer was known as a "praying
mantis" and "a shark that needs feeding". Leading scientists
have warned of laboratory closures. David Cameron has made it clear he wants to
see better guarantees from Pfizer, and the business secretary, Vince Cable, has
refused to rule out intervention in the bid, while admitting it would be
"tricky". Mr Read, however, said Britain should welcome the opportunity
to have the world's largest pharmaceutical company relocate its tax base to the
UK. He said it would be very beneficial to the Exchequer, even though the
substantial tax benefits would come at the expense of US taxpayers. GUARDIAN
Unemployment drops to lowest level for over 5 years as number of people
in work boosted by rise of self-employed
Unemployment fell by 133,000 to
2.2million in the three months to March, the lowest level since January 2009,
giving a jobless rate of 6.8 per cent, down from 6.9 per cent in the three
months to February, in line with economists' forecasts, the Office for National
Statistics (ONS) said. Meanwhile, pay growth rose more than inflation for the
first time since 2010 but was below forecasts. More than 30.4million people are
now in work - the highest since records began in 1971 - while self-employment
has also reached a record high of 4.5million. The number of people working for
themselves jumped by 183,000 in the quarter to March, compared with a rise of
375,000 over the past year. DAILY MAIL
Vince Cable urges right for zero-hours staff to request fixed hours
The business secretary, Vince
Cable, argued that there were now signs that the UK labour market had become
"too flexible", leading to depressed wages and entrenched low
productivity. His remarks, in a speech to the Resolution Foundation, are the
most serious acknowledgement yet by a senior government figure that structural
flaws in the UK labour market could be holding back living standards despite
economic growth. Cable said: "The recession has brought to light problems
that we need to resolve. We have to confront the possibility that labour markets
may be becoming too flexible. Too much flexibility, and we undermine the incentive
to be more productive… We do not want to reproduce the American experience,
where, over a decade, wages have stagnated, even in a period of economic
growth." He conceded that government policy had played a role in creating
a flexible labour market, leading to a flood of labour with people willing to
work for very low wages: "The combination of benefits reforms, our cutting
taxes on labour through raising the threshold, and other reforms, like
abolishing the default retirement age, means that the incentives to work,
particularly in low-skilled jobs, have never been sharper. But when this
coincides with firms not yet investing strongly, the outcome could be an
entrenchment of low-productivity jobs." Cable also expressed concern over
the trend for self-employment. He said: "Self-employment accounts for 80%
of the remarkable increase in employment since 2007.” GUARDIAN
Letting agents charging 'hidden fees' to renters will be fined under
plans being drawn up by the Government
Currently, agents are required to
list charges to the prospective tenants up front in their advertisements, but
the only punishment for those who add hidden fees is being named and shamed by
the Advertising Standards Authority. Under new rules being drawn up by the
Government, letting agents who fail to clearly display their fees on their
websites and in their offices will be hit with fines. But the deputy prime
minister Nick Clegg stopped short of Labour's proposal to ban agents from
charging fees to tenants, arguing that a fee ban would lead to increased rents.
George Spencer, of online lettings service Rentify, said: 'The industry should
adapt to and welcome the openness called for by the government in regards to
displaying full details of their fees: sharkish behaviour, confusing language,
and a lack of transparency mean that there is a natural suspicion in every
landlord and tenant, which can only damage their business in the long run… Charging
tenants £200 or more for a credit check and putting their names onto a contract
gives agents an agent an 80 to 90 per cent margin, which is unjustifiable.” DAILY MAIL
UK's second-biggest High Street payday lender exits the market,
following pressure from the regulator
Cheque Centre had been accused of
poor practice in the way it treated customers in debt. The lender is based in
Edinburgh, and has 451 branches across the UK. It said it would now concentrate
on other business like foreign currency, longer-term loans and pawn-broking. It
has also agreed to suspend all telephone calls to customers who owe money,
following an agreement with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Tougher
rules on payday loans were introduced by the FCA when it took over as the
regulator of the payday industry last month. "This is an early victory for
people that use payday lenders," said Martin Wheatley, the FCA's chief
executive. When it took over as the regulator, the FCA said it expected that up
to a quarter of payday lenders might leave the market. BBC NEWS
'Free retirement
advice' promised in the Budget will NOT be free and savers must be told, MPs
warn
As part of the overhaul, the Chancellor pledged that all
pension savers would have access to free and independent advice from qualified
financial professionals. However a report on the Budget from the Treasury
Select Committee revealed today that the advice would be ‘free at the point of
use’. This means that although pensions companies and the industry will not
charge savers upfront for advice, the costs will ultimately be passed on to
savers. Since the advice will be mandatory, it means any savers who choose to
seek advice from an independent financial advisor as well will end up paying
for advice twice. DAILY MAIL
Banks say bonus
clawback rules may be unenforceable
Britain's banking lobby has warned that proposals to claw
back bonuses up to 11 years after they have been awarded would be unfair and
potentially unenforceable. In a response to proposals from the Bank of
England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the British Bankers’
Association (BBA) said some of the suggestions violated “fundamental and
long-standing” tenets of British law, and were “going beyond what could be
considered as fair and reasonable”. In March, the PRA launched a consultation
on tough new pay rules that could see banks clawing back bonuses six years
after they have been paid if bankers misbehave or if their company enters a
“material downturn” in financial performance. With regulators also looking at
bonuses not vesting until five years after they have been awarded, this would
mean they could be clawed back as much as 11 years later. TELEGRAPH
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