Ofgem Pledges To 'Simplify Energy Market'

Ofgem has published plans that it says will create a "simpler, clearer and fairer" energy market.

The regulator outlined a range of measures including scrapping confusing tariffs and forcing suppliers to tell consumers the cheapest deal available.

It comes after the Prime Minister took the sector by surprise when he vowed to introduce laws to make energy suppliers give customers the best value tariffs - rather than simply inform consumers what is available, as unveiled by Ofgem.

Energy Minister John Hayes later insisted the Government was only considering introducing such a law.

Ofgem also extended proposals unveiled last year to simplify tariff structures and limit the numbers of different tariffs offered across the whole market.

It proposed that suppliers offer four core tariffs per fuel type - electricity and gas - cutting out the "baffling" array of deals currently on offer.

So-called "dead" tariffs that are no longer available will be banned to reduce the risk of people paying too much, Ofgem said.

It also wants to stop price increases or other changes to fixed-term tariffs, and introduce new ways of helping consumers switch energy accounts.

The watchdog's chief executive, Alistair Buchanan, said the proposals followed input from thousands of consumers.

"Our plans will put an end to consumers being confused by complex tariffs and will usher in a simpler, clearer, fairer and more competitive energy market for all consumers," he said.

"I am glad to say suppliers have already responded with some initiatives, but these don't go far enough. 

"Ofgem is determined to press forward with proposals to deliver for consumers the most far-reaching shakeup of the retail energy market since competition was introduced."

The executive director of consumer group Which?, Richard Lloyd, broadly welcomed the proposals.

"Along with the Prime Minister's promise to ensure suppliers put their customers on their lowest tariffs, this is another big step towards helping people get the best price for their energy," he said.

"Our own research shows the market is far too complicated, with only one in 10 people able to find the cheapest deal.

"These proposals will boost customer power, making it much easier to shop around, and should increase the pressure on the energy companies to keep their prices in check."

The Energy Secretary Ed Davey said he had been pushing for the measures for some time.

"They represent a big step forwards in reforming our energy market to help millions of households get a better deal on their energy bills," he said.

""I want an energy market where the suppliers have to work hard to win your business, and then work hard to keep it."

But the shadow energy and climate change secretary, Caroline Flint, argued that Ofgem's proposals were "only tinkering at the margins".

"It is deeply disappointing that after spending nearly two years putting these proposals together Ofgem has once again ducked the opportunity to get tough with the energy giants," she said.

"We need to open up the books of the energy companies, but these reforms do nothing to improve the transparency of the prices these firms charge their customers."

Ofgem is legally required to go through an extensive consultation process but wants to start to introduce its reforms by summer 2013.

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EU Agrees On Bank Supervisor After Compromise

European leaders have agreed to create a supervisor for all eurozone banks in 2013, after a disagreement between France and Germany threatened to derail the deal.

By the end of a two-day summit of European leaders in Brussels, a 120bn euro (£97.5bn) package of measures to boost growth had also been unveiled.

It included using proceeds from a proposed tax on financial transactions to tackle youth unemployment - currently running at 50%.

After 11-hours of negotiations over a bank supervision deal, a European Commission (EC) spokesperson said there had been an "agreement on a political framework for the end of 2012 and a gradual implementation in 2013."

The deal represents a compromise between Germany and France, which disagree on how best to support the region's banking system.

France wanted the watchdog to be up and running for all 6,000 banks in the 17 euro countries by January next year, while Germany thought implementation should be slower, involving only the biggest bank groups at first.

Chancellor Angela Merkel called the timetable "very ambitious," adding that Europe needed "quality before speed", and a watchdog "worthy of the name".

But France's President Francois Hollande said it was "a good deal".

The agreement includes something for both countries: all 6,000 banks will be included, but there is no firm deadline for the single supervisor to be up and running.

It is crucial to the eurozone's future as leaders agreed in June that, once the body is in place, failing banks will be able to tap its new debt rescue fund.

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will help failing banks directly, meaning they do not have to place more strain on Governments' finances.

But not all European countries are convinced the supervisor is a good thing.

Those that belong to the EU but do not use the euro – such as the UK - are nervous that the new system would see investors flock to eurozone banks because they look safe.

Some are also concerned that the eurozone countries will vote as a group on regulations that affect all EU members.

At the end of the summit, David Cameron warned he would veto the EU's 2014-20 budget if it included increases in spending at a time when member state budgets are being cut.

The Prime Minister said: "We can't have EU spending going up and up.

"It would not be acceptable to see a huge increase in spending when budgets are being cut."

The 27 members of the EU meet next month to agree on 2014-20's 1trn euro (£0.8trn) budget proposed by the EC.

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Google Beats Rivals With Low Price Laptop

Google is launching its new low-priced Chromebook laptop as rivals Microsoft and Apple prepare to release their latest gadgets.

The lightweight computer will sell in the UK for around £200 and $249 in the US. It will go on sale early next week.

It is being made in a partnership with Samsung, which also makes smartphones and tablet computers that run on Google's Android software.

The laptop, which does not have a hard drive, will run on an operating system revolving around Google's Chrome Web browser.

It functions like a terminal dependent on an Internet connection to get to information and applications stored in large data centres run by Google or other technology providers.

It is the least expensive Chromebook that Google has released in the two years that it has been working on the product line.

Google and Samsung released a slightly more sophisticated Chromebook priced at $449 (£280) in the late spring.

Now it appears to be trying to get ahead of its rivals.

Microsoft is poised to release Windows 8, a dramatic makeover of its famous operating system, on October 26.

And Apple says it plans to show off a new product Tuesday. The event is widely expected to be the coming-out party for a slightly smaller version of its iPad.

"This is a big step in the journey for us," said Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of Chrome and apps. "I think it's generally an exciting time in the computing industry."

Despite the low price, the new Chromebook will face a tough time winning over consumers because it is notset up like a traditional PC with a hard drive, said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.

"A lot of people are going to see it and think, 'Once I have it, what exactly do I do with it?'" Milanesi predicted.

Like tablets, the discount Chromebook will rely on a computer chip design known as ARM, instead of Intel microprocessors. The ARM architecture is more energy efficient, extending the duration of batteries between charges.

With an 11.6in (29.46cm) screen, the new Chromebooks also will have a larger display than tablets selling in the same price range.

The laptops will be set up to automatically use all of Google's services, including its search engine, Gmail and YouTube video site.

Google also is offering 100 gigabytes of free storage on computers kept in its eight data centres.

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FSA 'Should Have Stopped' RBS' ABM Takeover

The financial regulator should have blocked Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) takeover of its Dutch rival ABN Amro in 2007, according to MPs.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was criticised in a report by Parliament's Treasury Select Committee for the part it played in RBS' near-collapse and subsequent £45.5bn bailout by taxpayers.

Following the FSA's failure to intervene in the "calamitous" deal - worth almost £50bn - MPs said banks needed a regulator with the self-confidence to intervene, even if it causes short-term destabilisation.

Their report urged the Government to include an explicit requirement for the regulator to approve major bank acquisitions and mergers in forthcoming legislation - to prevent a repeat of the disastrous deal.

"There is no substitute for the exercise of judgment," the committee's chair, Andrew Tyrie, said.

RBS' demise came after a string of takeovers and aggressive expansion saw it overstretch itself with the ABN deal.

The FSA's inaction throughout the takeover "reflects a grave weakness in the corporate governance of the FSA", the report said.

"It should have intervened at an early stage. It should and could have intervened at a late stage, albeit with more difficulty," it said.

It added: "The FSA's failure to assess the risks of the deal represents a serious misjudgement on the part of the supervisory team and the senior management."

The regulator's own report into RBS was also condemned in the report, which said its failures "amount to a serious indictment" of bosses at both the bank and the regulator.

And the FSA's chairman, Lord Turner, was criticised for his initial reluctance to publish a full report into RBS.

An spokesman for the regulator said it would "consider the report's findings and recommendations in detail", adding the FSA had put in place "a completely new model of supervision since the financial crisis".

The FSA is being scrapped next year to make way for a new banking supervisory unit at the Bank of England - the Prudential Regulation Authority- and a new watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority.

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Public Sector Net Borrowing Falls To £12.8bn

Public sector net borrowing falls to £12.8bn in September - the lowest figure for the month since 2008.

The official data, which excludes financial interventions like bank bailouts, is £0.7bn lower than in September last year.

The improvement was driven by a 4.5% fall in central government net investment to £2.4bn, which includes the purchase and sale of assets like buildings and vehicles.

The data makes it more likely that Chancellor George Osborne will miss his deficit reduction goal for the current tax year - set by the Office for Budget Responsibility in March at £120bn.

But the Government will continue to come under pressure as its total expenditure rose 3.7% to £52.5bn, including a 1.6% rise in social benefits, such as unemployment claims.

Alan Clarke, an economist at Scotiabank, described the figures as a "welcome surprise."

"The double whammy of better-than-expected figures this month couple with a revision to the previous month meant it was about two billion pounds better-than-expected, so that's good news," he said.

"Particularly after such a bad start to the fiscal year, it really confirms that it would have been wrong to extrapolate all the bad news and suggest it's going to continue.

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Ofgem Pledges To 'Simplify Energy Market'

Ofgem has published plans that it says will create a "simpler, clearer and fairer" energy market.

The regulator outlined a range of measures including scrapping confusing tariffs and forcing suppliers to tell consumers the cheapest deal available. 

It comes after the Prime Minister took the sector by surprise when he vowed to introduce laws to make energy suppliers give customers the best value tariffs - rather than simply inform consumers what is available, as unveiled by Ofgem.

But Energy Minister John Hayes later insisted the Government was only considering introducing such a law.

Ofgem also extended proposals unveiled last year to simplify tariff structures and limit the numbers of different tariffs offered across the whole market.

It proposed that suppliers offer four core tariffs per fuel type - electricity and gas - cutting out the "baffling" array of deals currently on the market.

So-called "dead" tariffs that are no longer available will be banned to reduce the risk of people paying too much, Ofgem said.

It also wants to stop price increases or other changes to fixed-term tariffs, and introduce new ways of helping consumers switch energy accounts.

The watchdog's chief executive, Alistair Buchanan, said the proposals followed input from thousands of consumers.

"Our plans will put an end to consumers being confused by complex tariffs and will usher in a simpler, clearer, fairer and more competitive energy market for all consumers," he said.

"I am glad to say suppliers have already responded with some initiatives, but these don't go far enough. 

"Ofgem is determined to press forward with proposals to deliver for consumers the most far-reaching shakeup of the retail energy market since competition was introduced."

The executive director of consumer group Which?, Richard Lloyd, broadly welcomed the proposals.

"Along with the Prime Minister's promise to ensure suppliers put their customers on their lowest tariffs, this is another big step towards helping people get the best price for their energy," he said.

"Our own research shows the market is far too complicated, with only one in 10 people able to find the cheapest deal.

"These proposals will boost customer power, making it much easier to shop around, and should increase the pressure on the energy companies to keep their prices in check."

Ofgem is legally required to go through an extensive consultation process but wants to start to introduce its reforms by summer 2013.

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Retail Crisis: Chain Store Closures Hit 32 A Day

There has been an acceleration in the number of chain stores closing on the UK's high streets - hitting 32 a day on average amid high rent bills and the recession.

According to data released by professional services firm PwC and the Local Data Company (LDC), an average of 20 shut their doors every 24 hours in the first half of 2012.

It amounted to a net reduction of 953 shops compared to 174 shops in the whole of 2011, the research suggested.

The problem deteriorated between June and August, it was claimed, as shoppers shifted their attention to the Olympics.

Toy shops, clothes shops, jewellers, card and poster shops and furniture stores suffered particularly badly in the first half while discount and convenience stores, coffee shops, bookmakers and charity shops mostly bucked the trend.

The south east was the worst affected region in the first half with 215 net closures, followed by the West Midlands with 160 and the south west with 129.

Towns and cities badly hit included Manchester, Preston, Bristol, Croydon, Sheffield, Derby and Leicester, the report's authors said.

JJB Sports has been among the brands disappearing from town centres

They suggested struggling chains mostly had themselves to blame.

Mike Jervis, PwC insolvency partner and retail specialist, said: "All retailers in distress have too many locations. The insolvencies of Game, Peacocks and Clintons demonstrated this in spades.

"Relatively long leases, with inflexible terms, have been entered into in a growth phase of the economy which is no longer appropriate.

"Where over-expansion has already taken place, retailers need to face that reality and formulate a strategic plan in partnership with landlords, not in confrontation with them."

From a net increase in 2009 of 1.2%, multiple retailers have for the second consecutive year shown a decline in their numbers from -0.25% in 2011 to -1.4% in the first half of 2012.

With consumer budgets remaining under strain ahead of the crucial Christmas trading season, retailers face the stiff challenge of boosting sales but maintaining profits.

Independent retailers have also been battling stiff supermarket and online competition.

Separate studies have identified high closure rates among local stores.

There was some better news for the retail sector in the latest official sales figures released on Thursday.

They showed a rise in sales volumes of 0.6% in September - largely driven by winter clothing collections and new school uniform sales - which experts hope could help push third quarter GDP towards a more positive position.

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Apple Fights Samsung Copyright Ruling

By Katie Stallard, Media and Technology Corrrespondent

Apple and Samsung will return to the Court of Appeal in London today in the latest round of their global patent wars.

The two tech titans are currently embroiled in a series of lawsuits around the world as they continue to do battle over copyright, with billions of dollars at stake.

The latest case focuses on their tablet computers and Apple's claim that Samsung's Galaxy tablet copied its design for the iPad.

Apple lost the first round at the High Court in July, when the judge ruled that the Galaxy was not as "cool" as the iPad and that it gave a different overall impression, so did not infringe its copyright.

Apple will now find out if it has been successful in its appeal against the ruling.

Simon Clark, head of intellectual property at international law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner, told Sky News: "Given the huge popularity of the iPad, it was not surprising that Apple chose to appeal the decision.

"However, the judgment was given by a highly experienced and well-respected specialist intellectual property judge, and Apple will have an uphill battle to persuade the Court of Appeal to overturn his ruling.

"The Court of Appeal is always reluctant to interfere with a judge's decision on similarity comparisons, which are inevitably subjective, even if they consider that another judge may have had a different opinion."

The legal test for whether a product infringes another's registered design is whether it produces the same "overall impression on the informed user".

Judge Colin Birss ruled in July that whilst the view from the front was "very, very similar", there were significant differences in both the thinness of the tablets and the detailing on the back.

Judge Birss concluded: "The informed user's overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following.

"From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back.

"They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool. The overall impression produced is different."

Therefore, he decided, Samsung's tablets had not infringed Apple's design.

The judge ordered Apple to post the court's decision on its UK website for six months and to take out adverts in various national newspapers and magazines stating that Samsung's Galaxy Tablet computers had not infringed its copyright.

If Apple ultimately loses this case, it will have to suffer the indignity of publishing the ads and publicly stating that Samsung did not copy its design.

If Samsung loses, it could end up with a permanent ban on sales of its Galaxy tablet in the UK.

However, both sides still have one further option of an appeal to the Supreme Court and with the stakes so high it is likely that whoever loses will appeal.

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UK Car Manufacturing Hit By Fall In Demand

A fall in European demand for British-made cars hits the manufacturing of vehicles across the UK, according to automotive industry figures.

Car manufacturing fell 5.8% in September, with 128,192 cars made in the Britain, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Commercial vehicle production dropped by even more - 20.2% - and the total number of all vehicles made fell by 7%.

It follows recent figures that showed Europe's car market shrunk at its fastest pace for 12 months last month.

Only the UK had managed to buck the trend - but the SMMT said the effects of the eurozone debt crisis had now hit home.

"Declining demand for cars and vans across the major European markets impacted UK vehicle and engine production in September," SMMT's chief executive Paul Everitt said.

"The strong demand for UK products outside Europe and the investment committed by major vehicle manufacturers will secure future growth, although the coming months will be challenging for companies at all levels in the supply chain."

He said European governments had to focus on securing financial stability and economic growth, "or they risk long-term damage to key industries."

Despite the September fall, vehicle production is still up in the year so far, which SMMT said "reaffirms the strength of global demand of UK-built products".

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Unemployment: UK In Youth Jobs Crisis

By Gerard Tubb, North of England Correspondent

Young people are finding it increasingly difficult to get full time work as employers choose experienced candidates and fill positions quickly.

Researchers who sent out 2,000 applications from fictitious 16 to 24-year-olds found most employers did not reply to them at all.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation made the applications for more than 650 job vacancies as sales assistants, cleaners, office administrators and kitchen staff.

Each made-up candidate had at least five good GCSEs and relevant work experience.

The study found there were between 24 and 66 unemployed people for every retail vacancy, depending on the supply of jobs in different areas.

Almost eight out of ten of the positions paid under £7 an hour, and less than a quarter were offering full-time work during the day.

Chris Goulden, head of poverty at JRF, said their findings show that for young people today getting a job is a job in itself.

"It's important we have measures that provide more full-time, decent-paying jobs that can ensure work pays," he said.

"A lack of success in the jobs market saps confidence, demotivates and leaves a scar across a generation of young people, while part-time, low-pay work traps people in poverty."

At Darlington College in County Durham students are given help to try to find work, but 17-year-old Joshua Russell found it impossible to get even a part time job at the age of 16.

"I was too young and I didn't have the work experience needed. There's just too many people applying for one job and there just weren't enough available," he explained.

Laura Lennon, aged 19, took a year out before starting her journalism course, but found no-one wanted an A level student.

"I applied for Orange, on the phones, but apparently you need experience answering phones," she said.

Meanwhile a report by the TUC has found that young black men have experienced the sharpest rise in unemployment since the coalition came to power, with more than one in four of all black 16 to 24-year-olds currently out of work.

The reports followed similar studies in recent days showing a big rise in long-term unemployment among young people.

General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "The UK is in the midst of a youth jobs crisis. Over a million youngsters are out of work and many more are struggling to find the finances needed to further their education.

"Last week the Prime Minister singled out employment as a great success of the government. That's cold comfort to the one in four young black men struggling for work, or the one in six jobless young black women."

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Exclusive: AAR Close To £17bn Sale

The Russian-based businessmen whose joint venture with BP has been plagued by years of in-fighting have agreed an outline deal to sell their stake to the state-owned oil giant Rosneft for about $28bn (£17.3bn), I have learned.

AAR, a consortium of four oligarchs (Len Blavatnik, Mikhail Fridman, German Khan and Viktor Vekselberg), owns 50 per cent of TNK-BP. They are understood to have signed an outline agreement with Rosneft in Moscow last night.

The oligarchs' decision – which is not final, and could be reversed – potentially offers BP a significant boost as it tries to extricate itself from its conflict-ridden but lucrative alliance with AAR.

As well as ensuring a final separation from their fractious partners, a deal valued at $28bn would be higher than many analysts' estimates and would represent a significant financial boost to BP if it too could agree such a lucrative sale to Rosneft.

People close to BP said any deal between AAR and Rosneft would not affect BP's decision to sell its stake in the joint venture. As Sky News revealed last month, BP is keen to sell its TNK-BP shareholding to Rosneft in a cash-and-shares deal that would give it a sizeable stake in the Russian state-owned oil giant.

The oligarchs' deal with Rosneft is understood to be subject to regulatory and other approvals, but the financing for Rosneft to acquire the stake is already believed to have been lined up from a syndicate of international banks.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, has held talks with Bob Dudley, BP's chief executive, in recent weeks and given his blessing to Rosneft taking control of TNK-BP.

A number of complex hurdles remain before that happens, however.

Despite its agreement to sell its TNK-BP shares to Rosneft, AAR could still submit an offer for BP's stake in the joint venture before a 90-day 'good faith' negotiating period with the British company expires tonight.

Insiders said the oligarchs could table an offer for the BP stake to give themselves "optionality" if their deal with Rosneft fell through, although a source close to the process said he believed that that was now unlikely.

One source familiar with the agreement said that because it was not finalised, the oligarchs could choose to deny the existence of the deal struck in Moscow last night.

The complexity of the negotiations underlines the chess-like manner in which BP's future in Russia has been played out in recent months.

BP put its shareholding up for sale in June and according to the terms of its shareholder agreement with AAR, it could only agree a sale to the oligarchs before the 90-day period ended. A deadline for all parties – including Rosneft – to bid for the BP stake has been set at 9am tomorrow.

AAR and Rosneft were seen as likely to compete to buy the BP stake, only for AAR's shareholders to say last week that they too would be willing sellers, either to another party or through an initial public offering.

BP has 45 days from the date of that notification to respond to AAR, meaning that AAR cannot formally agree a deal with Rosneft before then without BP's consent. However. insiders say that that consent would be forthcoming from BP because of its desire to consummate a partnership with Rosneft.

The stakes are high for Mr Dudley, whose tenure at the helm of BP began in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010. Since then, he has been subjected to increasingly intense questioning by City analysts about the provenance of BP's future growth, particularly after the company's previous share swap alliance with Rosneft was abandoned last year after legal objections from its oligarch partners.

AAR and BP declined to comment.

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Part-Time Work Drives Britain To Record Employment

Official figures show employment has reached a new record high with the UK jobless rate falling to 7.9% despite the country being mired in recession.

The upbeat figures of recent months, which have led economists to question how the Office for National Statistics (ONS) calculate GDP growth, came as something of a surprise.

The number claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in September fell by 4,000 to 1.56 million.

The unemployment total fell by 50,000 between June and August to reach 2.528 million, helping the unemployment rate to drop to 7.9% from 8.1% the previous month.

The employment total of 29.59 million was the highest since records began in 1971. As in previous months, the performance was largely driven by people in temporary jobs.

The ONS also reported that part-time employment increased by 125,000 between March and May to a record high of 8.13 million.

The number of people in part-time jobs because they could not find full-time work was close to a record high at 1.4 million.

Youth unemployment fell by 62,000 to 957,000, the lowest figure for over a year.

Self-employment increased, up by 35,000 to 4.2 million while the data also showed a rise of 13,000 in the numbers on Government-supported training and employment programmes, leaving the total at 158,000.

Separate figures on pay growth show average wage settlements are still lagging behind inflation, standing at 2.2% annually in September.

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