'True' UK
unemployment is 6.3m, double the official figure
Britain bases its jobless data on a widely used formula that
defines an adult as unemployed if they are out of work and have actively sought
a new post over the past month. However, the TUC (the umbrella body for UK
trade unions) said incorporating six measures of joblessness that are common in
the US would paint the UK job market in a much bleaker light. Those include unemployed
people who want work but have not actively sought it for six weeks, who number
more than 2.2 million in the UK, and "underemployed" adults who are
in part-time work because they cannot find full-time work, who add a further
1.3 million to the unemployment total. Brendan Barber, the TUC general
secretary, said: "Our jobs crisis is not confined to those out of work.
Nearly two million people are being forced to take low-paid, insecure, short
hours jobs because of the lack of proper full-time employment. This means
people are taking home much less pay, which is putting a real strain on family
budgets. When ministers say there are plenty of jobs out there, they are
ignoring the sheer numbers of people looking for work, as well as the
suitability and location of the jobs available." During the 1980s the
Thatcher government was accused of adopting youth training schemes to keep the
total from soaring towards 4 million. Later, the Major government and its
Labour successors allowed many long-term unemployed to switch to disability
benefits. According to the TUC analysis, the UK has experienced a significant
rise in the underemployment phenomenon over the past two decades, with the
total standing at 1.3 million compared with 802,000 in 1993. All countries have
faced similar criticism. The US has kept its unemployment rate from straying
much above the all important 10% level by excluding the long-term unemployed,
while Germany's extensive youth training and apprenticeship schemes have come
under increasing criticism for providing low levels of support to young people
with poor school qualifications. GUARDIAN
Most UK manufacturers
are struggling to recruit skilled workers
Three-quarters of companies say they have faced difficulties
finding the right workers in the last three years, according to business group
EEF. It warns a skills shortage is putting productivity growth at risk and
adding to pressure on manufacturers as they battle a host of pressures in
domestic and overseas markets. The report comes just weeks after the Office for
Budget Responsibility (OBR) cut its forecast for potential productivity, or
what workers in the UK can produce an hour, triggering warnings of damage to
living standards, wages and government tax receipts. The EEF predicts demand
for skills will rocket and urges the government to launch grants for
apprenticeships and reform the education system to ensure leavers’ skills match
needs of businesses. GUARDIAN
HMRC’s £6m tax
evasion campaign used agency linked to tax haven
A multimillion-pound Revenue & Customs publicity
campaign to stamp out tax evasion and avoidance used an advertising agency
ultimately controlled in an offshore haven. HMRC spent more than £6 million on
the campaigns, including £300,000 specifically on offshore evasion. Among the
agencies used was TNS, a research agency, whose ultimate parent company and
controlling party is WPP, the world’s biggest advertising company which is
incorporated in Jersey and was founded by Sir Martin Sorrell, the billionaire
tycoon. TIMES
Number of City
financiers earning more than €1m rises to nearly 3,000
The European Banking Authority (EBA) said the UK had more
than three times as many high-earning bankers as the rest of the EU combined. The
regulator’s data showed that the number of high earners across the EU rose
21.6% to 3,865 in 2014, from 3,178 in 2013. The majority – 2,429 – worked in
investment banking. It was the first year when the EU bonus cap was implemented
and new EBA rules on banks reporting staff remuneration took effect. The
regulator’s data showed 16 people at financial institutions based in Britain
took home more than €10m in 2014, with one earning €24m-€25m. Since the bonus
cap was introduced in 2014, limiting bankers’ bonuses to 100% of salary, or
200% if shareholders approve, the UK and France have implemented waivers. The
UK has excluded hundreds of smaller, less risky firms such as asset managers
and brokers. GUARDIAN
UK employees work
longer hours with no gain in productivity
UK think tank the Smith Institute has found that two-thirds
of employees say they are working longer than two years ago, but only 10 per
cent believe they are more productive. A quarter of staff believed their
productivity had declined over the period. Productivity is a measure of output
for every hour worked. The Office for Budget Responsibility downgraded UK
productivity in the last quarter of 2015 after nine months of improvements,
delaying UK economic recovery. Average output per hour is already around a
fifth higher in the rest of the G7 nations compared with the UK. Paul Hackett,
director of the Smith Institute, said: “Making the cake bigger by way of
productivity improvements is critical to growing the economy, but giving the
workforce a smaller slice inevitably leaves employees feeling cheated.” INDEPENDENT
Six million hit by
stealth tax raid on wages: £40 a month worse off after opting out of state
pension scheme
The reforms hit millions who opted out of a scheme to top up
the state pension in return for lower National Insurance contributions. The
changes were announced three years ago but come into force now. Someone on
£40,000 a year could lose as much as £40 a month from take home pay. Experts
estimate around 1.5 million employees in the private sector and five million
public sector staff will be affected. The reforms are expected to raise £5.5
billion for the Treasury. Steve Webb, the ex-pensions minister now director of
policy at insurers Royal London, said: ‘I think the Chancellor had hoped that
no one would notice this rather large tax increase smuggled out.’ The
Government is replacing the second state pension (Serps) – which let workers
‘top up’ their basic pension – with so-called single-tier pensions. In a
further blow, more than half a million middle class workers will miss the full
benefit of the Budget tax breaks. Some 585,000 taxpayers will see the amount
they contribute in NI soar by more than £500 for a couple. This will wipe out
much of the benefit of the headline-grabbing tax break, which saw the start of
the 40p tax rate increased to £45,000. Middle class earners were told to expect
a £1,406 benefit. But due to the changes, a couple earning £48,000 each would
pay £524 more NI in a year by 2017 to 2018, according to accountancy firm PWC.
They would still be better off overall, but by around £882 a year. DAILY MAIL
Train operator GWR's
adverts banned for suggesting service owned by public
The train operator Great Western Railway has been banned
from running adverts that suggest its service is publicly owned. A poster
campaign introducing the company formerly known as First Great Western when it
rebranded last September stated: “The railway belongs to the region it serves.”
Complainants to the Advertising Standards Authority pointed out that GWR
belongs to its owner, FirstGroup, a multinational transport company listed on
the London Stock Exchange, and not the people of south-west England. The ASA
ruled that the advert was misleading and “might encourage consumers to use or
enquire about using the service, for example, out of regional loyalty or
because they believed profits directly belonged to the local region”. It told
GWR not to suggest in future that the railway franchise was publicly owned, if
that was not the case. Cat Hobbs, director of the campaign group We Own It,
said: “Privatisation is now so unpopular that train companies can get good PR
by pretending to be publicly owned. The GWR advert is misleading – it’s also a
sign that it’s time for real public ownership.” The ASA did not upheld a
complaint about another GWR advert that described Isambard Kingdom Brunel as
“our illustrious founder”, ruling that consumers were likely to understand
founder in a broad sense, rather than the founder of the company itself. GUARDIAN
