Christmas Debts 'Won't Be Cleared Until June'

The average family is going to take on debts this Christmas that will take until June to pay off, it has been claimed.

The Trades Union Congress has carried out research that shows that the typical family will add £685 to its borrowing by the time the festive season is over.

That will take a family on an average income 24 weeks to pay off, the labour organisation claims.

Last Christmas, one in six families borrowed money to pay for food, drinks and presents, with households borrowing an average of £654 per adult (Men £1,000, women £547).

Using average weekly earnings and savings data the TUC estimated that it took average-income earners 20 weeks to pay off this debt.

This year, consumer debt has increased by 4.9 per cent. The TUC's calculations estimate that it will take four more weeks for an average-income earner to pay back the extra debt burden they will take on.

If a minimum wage worker were to borrow the same sum it would take them an entire year working full-time to pay it off.

The TUC says the findings underline how ordinary people are not benefiting from the recovery and are instead facing a bigger struggle to pay off their debts.

The study has emerged on the day when the Bank of England has warned of the scale of the debt burden weighing on British families.

According to the TUC, British workers are currently suffering the longest real-wage squeeze since the 1870s, with inflation rising faster than wages for the last 42 months.

It says the government needs to make fairer pay rewards a priority.

Nicola Smith, head of economic and social affairs at the TUC, told Sky News: "It's to do with the fact that is an expensive time of the year for everybody, and with wages hardly having kept up with prices for the last four years, with family incomes under historic pressure, just meeting the basic costs of Christmas is going to mean a lot more people having to rely on credit."

She said the problem was that most growth in the economy was being provided by consumption and because pay was not keeping up with prices, the extra money people had to spend on buying goods was coming from borrowing.

"People are having to borrow to make up the extra spending that is driving growth in the economy," she said. "It's really worrying that that does not provide us with a sustainable basis for a recovery going forward."

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16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

UK GDP: Economy Growing Faster Than Expected

Britain's economy has grown faster than expected, despite fears there is underlying fragility.

The Office for National Statistics said British gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.8% in the third quarter, confirming previous estimates.

Annual GDP grew by an upwardly-revised 1.9% in the third quarter or three months up to the end of September, compared with output a year earlier, the ONS added on Friday. The prior estimate had stood at 1.5%.

At 0.8%, the quarter-on-quarter rate marked the fastest pace for more than three years.

The data came at the end of a week in which Britain announced a larger-than-expected drop in unemployment.

Also on Friday, the ONS said the government's public sector net borrowing requirement, excluding taxpayers' money used to rescue banks, rose to £16.5bn in November compared with £15.6bn a year earlier.

Ahead of the data, Standard and Poor's confirmed its top AAA credit rating for Britain, noting the government's commitment to reducing its budget deficit even if the deep austerity measures continue to slash public sector jobs.

Offsetting these losses has been a pick-up in jobs created by the private sector.

But the growth data comes as a jittery retail sector slashed prices ahead of Christmas, suggesting it fears the public's ability to spend is being restricted by wages that have yet to rise.

Howard Archer, chief European & UK economist at consultants IHS Global Insight, said: "Markedly rising employment and a robust housing market will likely underpin consumer spending over the coming months.

"If the recovery is to be sustained at a healthy pace, it really does need a marked, extended pick up in business investment and for exports to improve markedly."

The growth rate will be hailed as good news for the Chancellor amid sustained concerns over the pressure on living standards from families' static incomes.

A Treasury spokesperson said: "Today's data show that the recovery has been stronger than previously thought and that the government's long-term economic plan is working.

"But risks remain and the job is not done, so the government will go on taking the difficult decisions needed to deliver a responsible recovery for all."

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16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Christmas Shoppers To Spend £12bn In Four Days

By Emma Birchley, Reporter

Shoppers are expected to spend £12bn in just four days as they make the most of slashed prices and promotions, according to retail forecasters.

The deals are being offered as a fierce battle for sales rages both on the high street and online.

Alan Dadswell relies on Christmas to keep his shop Toys 'N' Tuck in Southend-on-Sea going. And offering discounts is crucial.

He said: "To get people to spend the money they have got to feel they are getting a bargain and we have got to give them a bargain. We have to hunt with our suppliers to do good deals to get people in to the store."

A sluggish autumn has put added pressure on retailers.

But with 74% of shops offering deals, 13 million people are expected to shop on the high street on the last Saturday before Christmas.

And it will help that many people finished work for Christmas on Friday, leaving extra time to spend.

Offering discounts at Toys 'N' Tuck in Southend-on-Sea is crucial

But Diane Wehrle, from the shop footfall monitors Springboard, says shoppers are getting increasingly canny.

She said: "Tactics definitely come into it. Shoppers are becoming much more savvy than they used to be. They understand that retailers are slashing prices. They understand they are doing one-off specials and they wait for them.

"So they perhaps go window shopping before the Christmas trading period starts, look out for what they want to buy and then buy them when they are on offer."

Lizzy Clarke, armed with bags of gifts in Southend, has made the most of the offers.

"They've got some great deals ... 75% off in some stores and I've just bought some jumpers that cost me £30 last week and this week have cost me £7," she said.

But Rob Antoniazz, who is unconvinced, said: "The decent items in good shops are never up for sale because the demand is there to buy them."

Tesco's distribution centre in Erith, Kent, has gone into overdrive

Half of the money being spent in the four days to the end of Monday will be on food, with £900m going towards online groceries.

Tesco has sold twice as many turkeys over the internet than last year. At its distribution centre in Erith, Kent, staff are working around the clock preparing orders.

Simon Belsham, the managing director of Online Grocery for the chain said: "This is a really busy time of year for us. It really reflects that customers are looking for more and more convenient ways to shop for their Christmas presents and Christmas food."

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16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Serco Agrees To Repay £68.5m Overcharge

Disgraced firm Serco has agreed to repay the Government £68.5m for overcharging for tagging criminals.

Both Serco and G4S were found to have charged the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds too much for monitoring criminals in a contract dating back to 2005.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opened a criminal investigation after it emerged G4S and Serco overcharged the Government for electronic tagging of offenders, some of whom were found to be dead, back in prison or overseas.

Serco agreed to pay the sum to the Government to reimburse money owed on the contract and for other costs incurred, such as the investigation, at the end of a broader review into Serco and G4S contracts, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said.

The Government has already rejected a £24m offer from G4S, which came under fire for its poor handling of the Olympics security contract, and officials vowed to "pursue all possible avenues" to recoup more taxpayers' cash.

Discussions on repayment are continuing.

Serco chief Alistair Lyons has apologised

In addition to the investigation it is already facing, G4S has been referred to the Serious Fraud Office a second time after the Ministry of Justice uncovered further problems with two contracts for facilities management in the courts.

Mr Grayling said that while Serco had been willing to allow a further forensic audit to establish what had happened in the overcharging scandal, in July G4S had refused the request.

Francis Maude, minister for the Cabinet Office, which led the review said: "It's good news for taxpayers that Serco has agreed to recompense £68.5m for overcharging.

"We are confident that the company is taking steps to address the issues which our review has identified.

"Since day one this Government has been working to reform contract management and improve commercial expertise in Whitehall."

As revealed by Sky News City Editor Mark Kleinman on Wednesday, both G4S and Serco have withdrawn from bidding for lucrative probation office contracts.

However, the Government has left open the possibility of either firm playing a supporting role, working with smaller businesses or voluntary sector providers.

The remainder of their contract for monitoring criminals has been transferred to rival firm Capita.

Serco non-executive chairman Alistair Lyons said: "The contract issues that were identified should never have happened and we apologise unreservedly for them.

"We are doing everything in our power to make sure that such issues cannot reoccur anywhere in our business around the world."

A statement from G4S said: "G4S places the highest premium on adherence to its company values, including customer service and integrity."

Last month the boss of G4S, Ashley Almanza, admitted to MPs that the company had failed to "tell the difference between right and wrong", while Mr Lyons told the Commons Public Accounts Committee it was "ethically wrong".

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16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mortgage Misery For Millions If Rates Go Up

By Ed Conway, Economics Editor

Around four million families would not have enough cash to pay their mortgage if interest rates rose to barely half the rate they were before the crisis, according to Bank of England research.

The warning from the Bank comes amid growing speculation that it may begin to consider lifting the cost of borrowing within months.

Research published in the Bank's Quarterly Bulletin sketches out a worrying picture for UK households in the event of an increase in the cost of borrowing.

The Bank's statistics show that if rates rose by 2.5% to a level of 3%, more than half of the eight million families with mortgages would not have enough in their monthly budgets to afford the increased interest payments.

They would be forced to cut their spending or work longer hours.

However, the Bank said that if families' incomes increased by 5% in the coming years, then the proportion of mortgage-holders struggling to manage their payments would be around a third.

Insiders also pointed towards the fact that at present investors only expect interest rates to reach 1.7% by the end of 2016 - significantly lower than the 3% level in the Bank's scenario.

The shock would not be limited to those with mortgages. The Bank's report also found that almost 5% of small businesses in the UK faced a 50% or greater chance of defaulting if interest rates rose by four percentage points.

However, the report also found that for many families the current debt burden decreased over the past year.

The proportion of mortgagors struggling to pay for their accommodation remained relatively unchanged; the share of households worried about their debt levels dropped from 46% to 39%.

The most strain over the past year was felt by those who rent their home. The Bank's research shows that the number of renters who face credit card and unsecured loan interest bills of more than a fifth of their incomes has risen from 800,000 to 1.1 million this year.

The worry is that the households most exposed to debt problems are those who are renting, are unable to rely on the capital value of their home, and who have had to take out large loans to sustain their lifestyles.

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16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ban Payday Loan Ads On Kids' TV, MPs Say

Payday lenders should be banned from advertising on children's television to stop young people believing that getting money is "easy", MPs have urged.

The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee (BIS) recommended stopping advertising on programming aimed at children after hearing fears that the next generation is being "groomed" towards borrowing money.

Recommendations by MPs also included tackling nuisance emails and texts to people who are "at their lowest ebb", forcing lenders to contribute cash towards debt advice and improving the way they share information.

Wonga says it does not advertise on children's TV channels

The committee heard evidence from consumer campaigners who warned that "cartoon puppets" used on payday lenders' adverts suggested that taking out a loan can be fun.

Martin Lewis, founder of consumer website MoneySavingExpert.com, said: "From our own research, we know children ask their parents to get a payday loan to buy them toys.

"Whilst parents have the power to say no, it's evidence that kids see this dangerous type of niche borrowing as part of everyday life."

Wonga, one of Britain's most high-profile payday lenders, is well known for its TV ads featuring a trio of elderly puppet characters named Betty, Joyce and Earl who explain the process of taking out a short-term cash loan to viewers.

But a Wonga spokeswoman said: "The idea that Wonga advertises on children's TV channels or programmes is a myth.

"We have a strict, long-standing policy not to advertise in this way."

The Consumer Finance Association (CFA), whose members include The Money Shop, Quick Quid and Cash Converters, also said its members do not advertise on children's TV channels.

Committee chairman Adrian Bailey said: "It is worrying that our children are being exposed to such an extent to adverts that can present payday loans as a fun, easy and appropriate way to access finance.

"Children's programmes are simply not an acceptable place for payday loan adverts."

The rapid expansion of the payday firms and a rocketing number of calls for help being made to charities by people drowning in debt are "not unrelated", he said.

The committee called for a levy paid by payday firms, under regulatory requirements, to be ringfenced by the Money Advice Service. This money could be used to boost the provision of debt advice to struggling borrowers.

The estimated size of the payday loan sector has doubled over a five-year period to be worth around £2.2bn.

Payday lenders have come under intense criticism this year, with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) referring them to the Competition Commission for a report due out in 2014.

The Government announced plans last month to place a cap on the total cost of a payday loan.

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16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Serco And G4S Braced For Investigation Outcome

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The two outsourcing giants at the centre of a scandal over the delivery of Government projects are braced for more bad news on Thursday as they fight to start bidding again for major Whitehall contracts.

Sky News understands that G4S and Serco will be informed in the coming hours about the outcome of a cross-Government probe of their work following the discovery that they had overcharged tens of millions of pounds in fees for monitoring prisoners on their release from jail.

Ministers are said to have decided that while the two companies have embarked on genuine attempts to rebuild their relationship with the Government, they have not yet done so sufficiently to enable them to be considered for significant contracts in the short term.

An announcement about the outcome is expected on Thursday although it could be delayed, say people close to the situation.

Whitehall insiders said on Wednesday that a settlement being thrashed out with the two FTSE-100 companies will include the repayment of well over £50m of fees that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had decided had been wrongly paid.

One source added that fees relating to other contracts handled by the two companies may also have to be repaid, although the scale of these was unclear.

The financial impact is understood to be larger for Serco than the City is expecting. Last month, it said it had incurred £27m of costs relating to the electronic monitoring, or tagging, contract, as well as another for providing Prisoner Escort and Custody Services.

Serco, which is without a chief executive following the departure of Chris Hyman, added that the MoJ had "calculated that their interpretation of the difference on billing totalled low tens of millions of pounds since the contract commenced in 2005. Any such potential repayment and any other directly-related incremental costs, would be charged as further exceptional items."

A person close to the situation said Serco's repayment would be less than £100m but higher than shareholders had been led to anticipate.

The MoJ inquiry has been run in tandem with the Cabinet Office. It was unclear whether the former would make a separate announcement on Thursday, although it is understood to have discovered further shocking examples of charging irregularities as part of its review.

Ministers reacted furiously during the autumn when it emerged that G4S and Serco had billed Whitehall for tagging prisoners who had died, were in prison or were living abroad. Earlier this week, Capita was handed the electronic monitoring contract in their place.

The effective barring of G4S and Serco from bidding for new Government work has highlighted the dearth of companies able to provide key public services.

A Serious Fraud Office probe into the two companies is ongoing, although the Government's settlement with them is unlikely to include additional financial penalties beyond the repayment of the overcharged fees, one insider said.

G4S and Serco executives are understood to have been locked in meetings on Wednesday to negotiate the outcome of the Government's review of their work.

Serco is due to update the City on its performance in a pre-close trading statement on Thursday.

Restoring good relations with Whitehall is a priority for Ashley Almanza, G4S's new chief executive, who is attempting to protect about £700m in annual revenues flowing from a client that accounts for roughly 10% of the company's entire global turnover.

He took the helm of a business still reeling from the reputational crisis triggered by its failure to deliver enough security staff at last year's London Olympics.

"Our reviews into G4S and Serco's contracts are rigorous and extensive," Francis Maude, Cabinet Office Minister, said in November. "But when they report, and we are satisfied full health has been restored, we will move on quickly."

G4S, Serco, the Cabinet Office and the MoJ all declined to comment.

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

MPs Demand Crackdown On Payday Lender Ads

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Payday loan companies should be barred from advertising during children's television programmes, MPs will demand in a hard-hitting report this week.

Sky News has learnt that the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee will say on Friday that payday lenders should be restricted from buying media space during specific programming segments.

People familiar with the MPs' report said that it would also urge Ofcom to conduct a review of the use of cartoon-style characters in payday lenders' advertising.

However, they will stop short of calling for an overall ban on ads during daytime TV programmes despite the exhortations of some committee members.

The call for fresh restrictions will follow the disclosure last week by Ofcom, the media regulator, that children watch on average 70 TV ads each year for payday lenders.

The MPs are also expected to call for a limit on payday lenders allowing one extension to loans for borrowers who choose not to repay, an insider said.

If a clampdown on ads was to result from the report, it would affect the now-ubiquitous TV campaigns of companies such as Wonga.

Ofcom's research showed that payday loan advertising had grown to the extent that it now accounted for 7.3% of all finance ads on TV and more than 90% of all advertising linked to personal loans.

Ofcom added that on average 80% of children's TV viewing took place before 9pm, although nearly 6 per cent took place between 11pm and 3am the following morning.

Last month, George Osborne, the Chancellor, announced a u-turn when he said that the Government would limit the cost of payday loans.

Earlier this year, the sector was referred to the Competition Commission amid political anger about the activities of some short-term lenders.

In 2014, the industry will come under the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority, and the City regulator will have powers allowing it to ban advertising and impose a cap on interest rates charged by lenders.

In remarks published on its website this year, Wonga said that since 2007 it had "responsibly lent over £2bn and we now have over a million customers.

"We've done that despite declining three quarters of all first loan applications and ensuring a principal default rate (money lent that we don't get back) of around 7%. This is comparable to other forms of short-term credit, such as credit cards.

"We work hard to lend only to the people who can pay us back, and our mainstream services for individuals and businesses are now available across three continents."

A spokesman for the BIS select committee declined to comment.

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16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

HMRC Failing To Pursue Big Business, MPs Warn

By Gerard Tubb, Sky News Correspondent

The tax man is too keen to chase small businesses for unpaid tax and is not doing enough to prosecute multinational firms, according to MPs.

The Public Accounts Committee claimed Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not know how much tax is lost through aggressive tax avoidance and said it should be more willing to pursue prosecutions.

The committee's chair, Margaret Hodge MP, said: "HMRC has not clearly demonstrated that it is on the side of the majority of taxpayers who pay their taxes in full."

She accused the department of allowing the Tax Gap, the theoretical amount that is not collected, to grow by £1bn in 2011/12 and of not doing enough about it.

She said: "HMRC holds back from using the full range of sanctions at its disposal.

"It pursues tax owed by the smaller businesses, but seems to lose its nerve when it comes to mounting prosecutions against multinational corporations."

The committee's report said inspectors should be "more willing ... to test the boundaries of the law".

"HMRC has not attempted to gather intelligence about how much tax revenue is lost through aggressive tax avoidance schemes," it claimed.

The focus on tax avoidance follows on from high-profile cases like Starbucks - which was revealed last year to have only reported taxable profit in the UK once in 15 years.

The company has since promised to pay £20m.

In a statement a spokesman for HMRC said it "strongly disputes the conclusions in the Public Accounts Committee report and challenges the committee's selective and misleading use of figures".

The department said it had secured more than £50bn of additional tax from compliance work since 2010, including £23bn from large businesses.

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16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

MPs Demand Crackdown On Payday Lender Ads

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Payday loan companies should be barred from advertising during children's television programmes, MPs will demand in a hard-hitting report this week.

Sky News has learnt that the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee will say on Friday that payday lenders should be restricted from buying media space during specific programming segments.

People familiar with the MPs' report said that it would also urge Ofcom to conduct a review of the use of cartoon-style characters in payday lenders' advertising.

However, they will stop short of calling for an overall ban on ads during daytime TV programmes despite the exhortations of some committee members.

The call for fresh restrictions will follow the disclosure last week by Ofcom, the media regulator, that children watch on average 70 TV ads each year for payday lenders.

The MPs are also expected to call for a limit on payday lenders allowing one extension to loans for borrowers who choose not to repay, an insider said.

If a clampdown on ads was to result from the report, it would affect the now-ubiquitous TV campaigns of companies such as Wonga.

Ofcom's research showed that payday loan advertising had grown to the extent that it now accounted for 7.3% of all finance ads on TV and more than 90% of all advertising linked to personal loans.

Ofcom added that on average 80% of children's TV viewing took place before 9pm, although nearly 6 per cent took place between 11pm and 3am the following morning.

Last month, George Osborne, the Chancellor, announced a u-turn when he said that the Government would limit the cost of payday loans.

Earlier this year, the sector was referred to the Competition Commission amid political anger about the activities of some short-term lenders.

In 2014, the industry will come under the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority, and the City regulator will have powers allowing it to ban advertising and impose a cap on interest rates charged by lenders.

In remarks published on its website this year, Wonga said that since 2007 it had "responsibly lent over £2bn and we now have over a million customers.

"We've done that despite declining three quarters of all first loan applications and ensuring a principal default rate (money lent that we don't get back) of around 7%. This is comparable to other forms of short-term credit, such as credit cards.

"We work hard to lend only to the people who can pay us back, and our mainstream services for individuals and businesses are now available across three continents."

A spokesman for the BIS select committee declined to comment.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

11.09 | 0 komentar | Read More

Serco And G4S Braced For Investigation Outcome

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The two outsourcing giants at the centre of a scandal over the delivery of Government projects are braced for more bad news on Thursday as they fight to start bidding again for major Whitehall contracts.

Sky News understands that G4S and Serco will be informed in the coming hours about the outcome of a cross-Government probe of their work following the discovery that they had overcharged tens of millions of pounds in fees for monitoring prisoners on their release from jail.

Ministers are said to have decided that while the two companies have embarked on genuine attempts to rebuild their relationship with the Government, they have not yet done so sufficiently to enable them to be considered for significant contracts in the short term.

An announcement about the outcome is expected on Thursday although it could be delayed, say people close to the situation.

Whitehall insiders said on Wednesday that a settlement being thrashed out with the two FTSE-100 companies will include the repayment of well over £50m of fees that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had decided had been wrongly paid.

One source added that fees relating to other contracts handled by the two companies may also have to be repaid, although the scale of these was unclear.

The financial impact is understood to be larger for Serco than the City is expecting. Last month, it said it had incurred £27m of costs relating to the electronic monitoring, or tagging, contract, as well as another for providing Prisoner Escort and Custody Services.

Serco, which is without a chief executive following the departure of Chris Hyman, added that the MoJ had "calculated that their interpretation of the difference on billing totalled low tens of millions of pounds since the contract commenced in 2005. Any such potential repayment and any other directly-related incremental costs, would be charged as further exceptional items."

A person close to the situation said Serco's repayment would be less than £100m but higher than shareholders had been led to anticipate.

The MoJ inquiry has been run in tandem with the Cabinet Office. It was unclear whether the former would make a separate announcement on Thursday, although it is understood to have discovered further shocking examples of charging irregularities as part of its review.

Ministers reacted furiously during the autumn when it emerged that G4S and Serco had billed Whitehall for tagging prisoners who had died, were in prison or were living abroad. Earlier this week, Capita was handed the electronic monitoring contract in their place.

The effective barring of G4S and Serco from bidding for new Government work has highlighted the dearth of companies able to provide key public services.

A Serious Fraud Office probe into the two companies is ongoing, although the Government's settlement with them is unlikely to include additional financial penalties beyond the repayment of the overcharged fees, one insider said.

G4S and Serco executives are understood to have been locked in meetings on Wednesday to negotiate the outcome of the Government's review of their work.

Serco is due to update the City on its performance in a pre-close trading statement on Thursday.

Restoring good relations with Whitehall is a priority for Ashley Almanza, G4S's new chief executive, who is attempting to protect about £700m in annual revenues flowing from a client that accounts for roughly 10% of the company's entire global turnover.

He took the helm of a business still reeling from the reputational crisis triggered by its failure to deliver enough security staff at last year's London Olympics.

"Our reviews into G4S and Serco's contracts are rigorous and extensive," Francis Maude, Cabinet Office Minister, said in November. "But when they report, and we are satisfied full health has been restored, we will move on quickly."

G4S, Serco, the Cabinet Office and the MoJ all declined to comment.

11.09 | 0 komentar | Read More

MPs Demand Crackdown On Payday Lender Ads

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Payday loan companies should be barred from advertising during children's television programmes, MPs will demand in a hard-hitting report this week.

Sky News has learnt that the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee will say on Friday that payday lenders should be restricted from buying media space during specific programming segments.

People familiar with the MPs' report said that it would also urge Ofcom to conduct a review of the use of cartoon-style characters in payday lenders' advertising.

However, they will stop short of calling for an overall ban on ads during daytime TV programmes despite the exhortations of some committee members.

The call for fresh restrictions will follow the disclosure last week by Ofcom, the media regulator, that children watch on average 70 TV ads each year for payday lenders.

The MPs are also expected to call for a limit on payday lenders allowing one extension to loans for borrowers who choose not to repay, an insider said.

If a clampdown on ads was to result from the report, it would affect the now-ubiquitous TV campaigns of companies such as Wonga.

Ofcom's research showed that payday loan advertising had grown to the extent that it now accounted for 7.3% of all finance ads on TV and more than 90% of all advertising linked to personal loans.

Ofcom added that on average 80% of children's TV viewing took place before 9pm, although nearly 6 per cent took place between 11pm and 3am the following morning.

Last month, George Osborne, the Chancellor, announced a u-turn when he said that the Government would limit the cost of payday loans.

Earlier this year, the sector was referred to the Competition Commission amid political anger about the activities of some short-term lenders.

In 2014, the industry will come under the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority, and the City regulator will have powers allowing it to ban advertising and impose a cap on interest rates charged by lenders.

In remarks published on its website this year, Wonga said that since 2007 it had "responsibly lent over £2bn and we now have over a million customers.

"We've done that despite declining three quarters of all first loan applications and ensuring a principal default rate (money lent that we don't get back) of around 7%. This is comparable to other forms of short-term credit, such as credit cards.

"We work hard to lend only to the people who can pay us back, and our mainstream services for individuals and businesses are now available across three continents."

A spokesman for the BIS select committee declined to comment.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

11.09 | 0 komentar | Read More

HMRC Failing To Pursue Big Business, MPs Warn

By Gerard Tubb, Sky News Correspondent

The tax man is too keen to chase small businesses for unpaid tax and is not doing enough to prosecute multi-national firms, according to MPs.

The Public Accounts Committee claimed Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not know how much tax is lost through aggressive tax avoidance and said it should be more willing to pursue prosecutions.

The committee's chair, Margaret Hodge MP, said: "HMRC has not clearly demonstrated that it is on the side of the majority of taxpayers who pay their taxes in full."

She accused the department of allowing the Tax Gap, the theoretical amount that is not collected, to grow by £1bn in 2011/12 and of not doing enough about it.

She said: "HMRC holds back from using the full range of sanctions at its disposal.

"It pursues tax owed by the smaller businesses but seems to lose its nerve when it comes to mounting prosecutions against multinational corporations."

The committee's report said inspectors should be "more willing... to test the boundaries of the law".

"HMRC has not attempted to gather intelligence about how much tax revenue is lost through aggressive tax avoidance schemes," it claimed.

The focus on tax avoidance follows on from high profile cases like Starbucks - which was revealed last year to have only reported taxable profit in the UK once in 15 years.

The company has since promised to pay £20m.

In a statement a spokesman for HMRC said it "strongly disputes the conclusions in the Public Accounts Committee report and challenges the committee's selective and misleading use of figures".

The department said it had secured more than £50bn of additional tax from compliance work since 2010, including £23bn from large businesses.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

11.09 | 0 komentar | Read More

Serco And G4S Braced For Investigation Outcome

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The two outsourcing giants at the centre of a scandal over the delivery of Government projects are braced for more bad news on Thursday as they fight to start bidding again for major Whitehall contracts.

Sky News understands that G4S and Serco will be informed in the coming hours about the outcome of a cross-Government probe of their work following the discovery that they had overcharged tens of millions of pounds in fees for monitoring prisoners on their release from jail.

Ministers are said to have decided that while the two companies have embarked on genuine attempts to rebuild their relationship with the Government, they have not yet done so sufficiently to enable them to be considered for significant contracts in the short term.

An announcement about the outcome is expected on Thursday although it could be delayed, say people close to the situation.

Whitehall insiders said on Wednesday that a settlement being thrashed out with the two FTSE-100 companies will include the repayment of well over £50m of fees that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had decided had been wrongly paid.

One source added that fees relating to other contracts handled by the two companies may also have to be repaid, although the scale of these was unclear.

The financial impact is understood to be larger for Serco than the City is expecting. Last month, it said it had incurred £27m of costs relating to the electronic monitoring, or tagging, contract, as well as another for providing Prisoner Escort and Custody Services.

Serco, which is without a chief executive following the departure of Chris Hyman, added that the MoJ had "calculated that their interpretation of the difference on billing totalled low tens of millions of pounds since the contract commenced in 2005. Any such potential repayment and any other directly-related incremental costs, would be charged as further exceptional items."

A person close to the situation said Serco's repayment would be less than £100m but higher than shareholders had been led to anticipate.

The MoJ inquiry has been run in tandem with the Cabinet Office. It was unclear whether the former would make a separate announcement on Thursday, although it is understood to have discovered further shocking examples of charging irregularities as part of its review.

Ministers reacted furiously during the autumn when it emerged that G4S and Serco had billed Whitehall for tagging prisoners who had died, were in prison or were living abroad. Earlier this week, Capita was handed the electronic monitoring contract in their place.

The effective barring of G4S and Serco from bidding for new Government work has highlighted the dearth of companies able to provide key public services.

A Serious Fraud Office probe into the two companies is ongoing, although the Government's settlement with them is unlikely to include additional financial penalties beyond the repayment of the overcharged fees, one insider said.

G4S and Serco executives are understood to have been locked in meetings on Wednesday to negotiate the outcome of the Government's review of their work.

Serco is due to update the City on its performance in a pre-close trading statement on Thursday.

Restoring good relations with Whitehall is a priority for Ashley Almanza, G4S's new chief executive, who is attempting to protect about £700m in annual revenues flowing from a client that accounts for roughly 10% of the company's entire global turnover.

He took the helm of a business still reeling from the reputational crisis triggered by its failure to deliver enough security staff at last year's London Olympics.

"Our reviews into G4S and Serco's contracts are rigorous and extensive," Francis Maude, Cabinet Office Minister, said in November. "But when they report, and we are satisfied full health has been restored, we will move on quickly."

G4S, Serco, the Cabinet Office and the MoJ all declined to comment.

11.09 | 0 komentar | Read More

HMRC Failing To Pursue Big Business, MPs Warn

By Gerard Tubb, Sky News Correspondent

The tax man is too keen to chase small businesses for unpaid tax and is not doing enough to prosecute multi-national firms, according to MPs.

The Public Accounts Committee claimed Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not know how much tax is lost through aggressive tax avoidance and said it should be more willing to pursue prosecutions.

The committee's chair, Margaret Hodge MP, said: "HMRC has not clearly demonstrated that it is on the side of the majority of taxpayers who pay their taxes in full."

She accused the department of allowing the Tax Gap, the theoretical amount that is not collected, to grow by £1bn in 2011/12 and of not doing enough about it.

She said: "HMRC holds back from using the full range of sanctions at its disposal.

"It pursues tax owed by the smaller businesses but seems to lose its nerve when it comes to mounting prosecutions against multinational corporations."

The committee's report said inspectors should be "more willing... to test the boundaries of the law".

"HMRC has not attempted to gather intelligence about how much tax revenue is lost through aggressive tax avoidance schemes," it claimed.

The focus on tax avoidance follows on from high profile cases like Starbucks - which was revealed last year to have only reported taxable profit in the UK once in 15 years.

The company has since promised to pay £20m.

In a statement a spokesman for HMRC said it "strongly disputes the conclusions in the Public Accounts Committee report and challenges the committee's selective and misleading use of figures".

The department said it had secured more than £50bn of additional tax from compliance work since 2010, including £23bn from large businesses.

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11.09 | 0 komentar | Read More

Serco And G4S Braced For Investigation Outcome

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The two outsourcing giants at the centre of a scandal over the delivery of Government projects are braced for more bad news on Thursday as they fight to start bidding again for major Whitehall contracts.

Sky News understands that G4S and Serco will be informed in the coming hours about the outcome of a cross-Government probe of their work following the discovery that they had overcharged tens of millions of pounds in fees for monitoring prisoners on their release from jail.

Ministers are said to have decided that while the two companies have embarked on genuine attempts to rebuild their relationship with the Government, they have not yet done so sufficiently to enable them to be considered for significant contracts in the short term.

An announcement about the outcome is expected on Thursday although it could be delayed, say people close to the situation.

Whitehall insiders said on Wednesday that a settlement being thrashed out with the two FTSE-100 companies will include the repayment of well over £50m of fees that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had decided had been wrongly paid.

One source added that fees relating to other contracts handled by the two companies may also have to be repaid, although the scale of these was unclear.

The financial impact is understood to be larger for Serco than the City is expecting. Last month, it said it had incurred £27m of costs relating to the electronic monitoring, or tagging, contract, as well as another for providing Prisoner Escort and Custody Services.

Serco, which is without a chief executive following the departure of Chris Hyman, added that the MoJ had "calculated that their interpretation of the difference on billing totalled low tens of millions of pounds since the contract commenced in 2005. Any such potential repayment and any other directly-related incremental costs, would be charged as further exceptional items."

A person close to the situation said Serco's repayment would be less than £100m but higher than shareholders had been led to anticipate.

The MoJ inquiry has been run in tandem with the Cabinet Office. It was unclear whether the former would make a separate announcement on Thursday, although it is understood to have discovered further shocking examples of charging irregularities as part of its review.

Ministers reacted furiously during the autumn when it emerged that G4S and Serco had billed Whitehall for tagging prisoners who had died, were in prison or were living abroad. Earlier this week, Capita was handed the electronic monitoring contract in their place.

The effective barring of G4S and Serco from bidding for new Government work has highlighted the dearth of companies able to provide key public services.

A Serious Fraud Office probe into the two companies is ongoing, although the Government's settlement with them is unlikely to include additional financial penalties beyond the repayment of the overcharged fees, one insider said.

G4S and Serco executives are understood to have been locked in meetings on Wednesday to negotiate the outcome of the Government's review of their work.

Serco is due to update the City on its performance in a pre-close trading statement on Thursday.

Restoring good relations with Whitehall is a priority for Ashley Almanza, G4S's new chief executive, who is attempting to protect about £700m in annual revenues flowing from a client that accounts for roughly 10% of the company's entire global turnover.

He took the helm of a business still reeling from the reputational crisis triggered by its failure to deliver enough security staff at last year's London Olympics.

"Our reviews into G4S and Serco's contracts are rigorous and extensive," Francis Maude, Cabinet Office Minister, said in November. "But when they report, and we are satisfied full health has been restored, we will move on quickly."

G4S, Serco, the Cabinet Office and the MoJ all declined to comment.

11.09 | 0 komentar | Read More

MPs Demand Crackdown On Payday Lender Ads

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Payday loan companies should be barred from advertising during children's television programmes, MPs will demand in a hard-hitting report this week.

Sky News has learnt that the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee will say on Friday that payday lenders should be restricted from buying media space during specific programming segments.

People familiar with the MPs' report said that it would also urge Ofcom to conduct a review of the use of cartoon-style characters in payday lenders' advertising.

However, they will stop short of calling for an overall ban on ads during daytime TV programmes despite the exhortations of some committee members.

The call for fresh restrictions will follow the disclosure last week by Ofcom, the media regulator, that children watch on average 70 TV ads each year for payday lenders.

The MPs are also expected to call for a limit on payday lenders allowing one extension to loans for borrowers who choose not to repay, an insider said.

If a clampdown on ads was to result from the report, it would affect the now-ubiquitous TV campaigns of companies such as Wonga.

Ofcom's research showed that payday loan advertising had grown to the extent that it now accounted for 7.3% of all finance ads on TV and more than 90% of all advertising linked to personal loans.

Ofcom added that on average 80% of children's TV viewing took place before 9pm, although nearly 6 per cent took place between 11pm and 3am the following morning.

Last month, George Osborne, the Chancellor, announced a u-turn when he said that the Government would limit the cost of payday loans.

Earlier this year, the sector was referred to the Competition Commission amid political anger about the activities of some short-term lenders.

In 2014, the industry will come under the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority, and the City regulator will have powers allowing it to ban advertising and impose a cap on interest rates charged by lenders.

In remarks published on its website this year, Wonga said that since 2007 it had "responsibly lent over £2bn and we now have over a million customers.

"We've done that despite declining three quarters of all first loan applications and ensuring a principal default rate (money lent that we don't get back) of around 7%. This is comparable to other forms of short-term credit, such as credit cards.

"We work hard to lend only to the people who can pay us back, and our mainstream services for individuals and businesses are now available across three continents."

A spokesman for the BIS select committee declined to comment.

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11.09 | 0 komentar | Read More

HMRC Failing To Pursue Big Business, MPs Warn

By Gerard Tubb, Sky News Correspondent

The tax man is too keen to chase small businesses for unpaid tax and is not doing enough to prosecute multi-national firms, according to MPs.

The Public Accounts Committee claimed Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not know how much tax is lost through aggressive tax avoidance and said it should be more willing to pursue prosecutions.

The committee's chair, Margaret Hodge MP, said: "HMRC has not clearly demonstrated that it is on the side of the majority of taxpayers who pay their taxes in full."

She accused the department of allowing the Tax Gap, the theoretical amount that is not collected, to grow by £1bn in 2011/12 and of not doing enough about it.

She said: "HMRC holds back from using the full range of sanctions at its disposal.

"It pursues tax owed by the smaller businesses but seems to lose its nerve when it comes to mounting prosecutions against multinational corporations."

The committee's report said inspectors should be "more willing... to test the boundaries of the law".

"HMRC has not attempted to gather intelligence about how much tax revenue is lost through aggressive tax avoidance schemes," it claimed.

The focus on tax avoidance follows on from high profile cases like Starbucks - which was revealed last year to have only reported taxable profit in the UK once in 15 years.

The company has since promised to pay £20m.

In a statement a spokesman for HMRC said it "strongly disputes the conclusions in the Public Accounts Committee report and challenges the committee's selective and misleading use of figures".

The department said it had secured more than £50bn of additional tax from compliance work since 2010, including £23bn from large businesses.

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11.09 | 0 komentar | Read More

Plastic Notes Issued In UK From 2016

Plastic banknotes are to be issued for the first time when the new £5 featuring Sir Winston Churchill appears in 2016.

A £10 note featuring Jane Austen to follow around a year later will also be made from polymer rather than the cotton paper currently used, the Bank of England said.

It follows a three-year research programme that concluded plastic notes stay cleaner for longer, are more difficult to counterfeit and are at least 2.5 times longer-lasting.

A public consultation, giving people the chance to handle the notes, found 87% of 13,000 individuals who responded were in favour of polymer.

Bank governor Mark Carney said: "Ensuring trust and confidence in money is at the heart of what central banks do. Polymer notes are the next step in the evolution of bank note design to meet that objective.

"The quality of polymer notes is higher, they are more secure from counterfeiting, and they can be produced at a lower cost to the taxpayer and the environment."

The new notes will stay cleaner and last longer than cotton paper

The new notes will retain their familiar look, the Bank said, including the portrait of the Queen and a historical character.

A contract is expected to be signed with Innovia Security to supply polymer material, which would see Innovia establish a polymer production plant in Wigton, Cumbria.

The Bank acknowledged when it launched its consultation in September that plastic banknotes were more expensive to produce.

But it argued that because they are longer-lasting they should prove cheaper in the long run.

It also says that, being thin and flexible, they can fit into wallets as easily as paper banknotes.

The Bank said the new notes would be slightly smaller than existing paper notes, but the practice of note size increasing with denomination will be maintained.

More than 25 countries issue polymer banknotes, including Australia - which began printing them in 1988 - as well as New Zealand, Mexico, Singapore, Canada, and most recently Fiji and Mauritius.

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22.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jobless Fall Raises Chance Of Interest Rate Rise

A big fall in the number of unemployed has raised the prospect of interest rates rising much earlier than expected.

The latest official figures showed 99,000 fewer people were jobless in the three months to October while the number in work topped 30 million for the first time on record.

It meant the jobless total fell to 2.39 million - the biggest cut in over a decade - over the period.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that left the jobless rate at 7.4% - its lowest level for more than four years - and nearing the threshold for when the Bank of England may consider raising borrowing costs by increasing the base rate of interest.

The number of people in work was 30.09 million, an increase of 250,000 over the quarter and of almost 500,000 compared with a year ago.

Private sector employment reached a record high of 24.4 million, and long-term and youth unemployment also fell.

The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance fell by 36,700

But 1.47 million people were in part-time jobs because they could not find full-time work, the highest total since records began in 1992.

Other data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a 45,000 fall in those classed as economically inactive, to 8.92 million - a rate of 22% and the lowest since 1991.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance fell by 36,700 in November to 1.27 million, the 13th consecutive monthly cut.

The number of people unemployed for more than a year fell by 33,000 to 866,000, the lowest for over a year, while youth unemployment dipped by 19,000 to 941,000.

Public sector employment increased slightly, by 4,000, to 5.6 million, largely because of a rise in the NHS, although the figure fell by 11,000 in local government.

The employment rate for over-65s is now 10%, the highest since records began in 1992.

Average earnings increased by 0.9% in the year to October, down by 0.1% on the previous month, giving a weekly average of £476.

Nigel Meager, Director of the Institute for Employment Studies, said: "Today's statistics from ONS show another strong improvement, confirming that the UK labour market recovery is well under way."

Employment Minister Esther McVey said: "It is really encouraging news that the number of people in jobs has increased by a quarter of a million in the last three months, bringing the total number of people in work to a record-breaking 30 million.

"Together with a big fall in unemployment, this shows that the Government's long-term economic plan to get people off benefits and into work is proving successful."

The Bank of England has said it won't consider raising the base rate of interest from 0.5% until the unemployment rate falls to 7%.

It currently expects that rate to be achieved in the latter half of 2015 though economists raised fears today that consumers may endure rising borrowing costs earlier, as a result of the acceleration in the job market's recovery.

In a separate development the Bank of England said Britain's economic recovery may be at risk if sterling strengthens much further.

The bank said that the 2% appreciation in sterling over the previous month reflected a stronger economic outlook, but could jeopardise exports.

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22.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bitcoin Value Slumps Amid China Restrictions

The virtual currency Bitcoin has dramatically fallen in value after China's biggest trading platform banned deposits in yuan.

BTC China said the action follows new regulations from Beijing, which keeps a tight grip on the yuan and enforces capital controls, which the e-currency threatens to upend.

At its peak, Bitcoin traded at $1,250 (£764) but on Wednesday one Bitcoin was listed for sale for as little as $636 (£389).

Bitcoin was invented after the global financial crisis by a mysterious computer guru and can be stored either virtually or on a user's hard drive.

The e-money offers a largely anonymous payment system, which China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, warned can be used for illegal activities.

Two weeks ago it ordered financial institutions against providing Bitcoin-related services and products.

The central bank reportedly banned domestic third-party payment companies from providing clearing services for virtual currency trading platforms earlier this week.

Analysts worry the new restrictions will all but destroy Bitcoin trading in China.

"If the channel for depositing yuan in the platforms was completely cut off, all domestic exchanges would be invalid," James Gong, a digital currency expert and member of the US-based Bitcoin Foundation, told AFP.

"Bitcoin trading might be forced underground or shift to overseas markets," he said.

BTC China posted an apology on its website for the new ban on deposits, calling the measure "temporary".

"Due to new government regulations, BTC China will temporarily suspend CNY (yuan) deposits.

"Rest assured that BTC China will continue to operate normally. We deeply apologise for any inconvenience."

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22.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Airport Expansion: The Case For And Against

The news that new runways at Heathrow and Gatwick are on a shortlist of airport expansion options has been welcomed by the airline industry as well as business leaders.

But green campaigners, local residents and some politicians are worried about the effects on the environment, as the options were outlined in an interim report by Sir Howard Davies's Airports Commission.

There are no firm long-term proposals in the report - they will come when the commission makes its final report in the summer of 2015, after the next general election.

PRO-NEW RUNWAYS:

Heathrow argues that a third runway would raise its capacity to 740,000 flights a year, from the current limit of 480,000.

The airport said it would be able to cater for 130 million passengers compared to 70 million today, "allowing the UK to compete with our international rivals and providing capacity for the foreseeable future".

Chief executive Colin Matthews said: "Britain needs a world-class hub airport with the capacity to compete against Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. A third runway is the quickest, cheapest and surest way of connecting the UK to growth."

Some argue another runway at Heathrow will increase air pollution

The airport said a third runway would provide benefits to the UK worth £100bn and expansion would bring considerable benefits to the local community by protecting the 114,000 jobs already dependent on the airport and creating more than 70,000 new jobs.

Addressing environmental concerns, Heathrow said expansion could be met within EU climate change targets. Continued improvements to aircraft efficiency means air traffic could double by 2050 without a substantial increase in emissions, it argues.

Gatwick said expansion "can give the country the economic benefits it needs at an environmental cost it can afford with the lower fares and greater choice that passengers want. It can be delivered more quickly and at lower cost".

And the London Chamber of Commerce said: "Government should just get on and act on the short-term measures now. It will make no sense to delay any measures to enhance capacity until after the General Election.

"Businesses are crying out for aviation action now.  Political posturing would put the economic recovery at risk and threaten London's reputation as a world leading city."

ANTI-NEW RUNWAYS:

Local groups say the north-west runway plan at Heathrow will require significant demolition in the villages of Longford and Harmondsworth.

Anti-Heathrow expansion group Hacan have vowed to fight the Heathrow plans.

"We understand the strength of feeling of those living near Heathrow," Sir Howard said.

Countryside campaigners at the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) also voiced concern at the options set out.

Georgia Wrighton, director of the CPRE in Sussex, said: "A second runway at Gatwick, together with sprawling development and car parks anticipated on a massive scale, would concrete over cherished open countryside.

"A heady cocktail of increased flights, HGV traffic and cars would erode the tranquillity of rural communities, and the health and quality of life of people living under its shadow."

Keith Taylor, Green Party MEP for the South East, said: "The political opposition to airport expansion in South East England is sadly melting away.

"There's no doubt that the Government will be pleased with this report. It gives them the cover they need to go on avoiding answering difficult questions on airport expansion and to prepare themselves for a colossal U-turn on Heathrow expansion.

"This report will be of great concern to my constituents near Gatwick and Heathrow. We know that any new runways at either airport will increase air pollution, destroy homes and countryside and mean more people's lives are blighted by flight noise."

Tory MP for Richmond in west London, Zac Goldsmith, who has many constituents who live under the flight path, told Sky News: "The case for expansion is very weak.

"The case for improving our road transport, our rail links to existing airports is very strong. If we did that, we would have enough capacity for many, many years."

Last week, Mr Goldsmith said any decision by the Prime Minister to back Heathrow expansion would represent an "off-the-scale betrayal" and David Cameron would "never be forgiven in west London" .

London Mayor Boris Johnson, who wants a new airport in the Thames Estuary, said a third runway at Heathrow would be "completely crackers".

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16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

New Runways For Gatwick And Heathrow Airports

Building a controversial third runway at Heathrow airport has been shortlisted as one of the options for expansion by the Airports Commission in its first report.

The interim findings of an independent inquiry led by the former head of the Financial Services Authority, Sir Howard Davies, has also recommended a second runway for Gatwick airport.

Sir Howard has also said he would consider the idea of building a new airport in the Thames Estuary, plans for which have been backed by the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, although he did not include it on the shortlist of options.

He warned if the UK did not expand its airports then it would cost the economy £45bn over 60 years and that to cope with increasing passenger numbers the first new runway should be operation by 2030, the second by 2050.

Sir Howard said: "The UK enjoys excellent connectivity today. The capacity challenge is not yet critical but it will become so if no action is taken soon and our analysis clearly supports the provision of one net additional runway by 2030.

Heathrow dealt with 70 million passengers last year

"In the meantime we encourage the government to act on our recommendations to make the best of our existing capacity."

He said that politicians would have to chose which runway to build first - one at Gatwick or one at Heathrow - as work on them would not be able to be carried out at the same time.

A third runway for Heathrow has met with bitter opposition and the publication of the report will likely trigger a substantial political row.

The Conservative party made its opposition to plans for the airport's expansion – supported by the Labour government - part of its 2010 election manifesto and ruled a third runway out when the coalition came to power.

Among the most vociferous opponents have been Mr Johnson and the Conservative MP, Zac Goldsmith, a keen environmentalist whose constituency is in the flight path.

Mr Johnson told Sky News that building another runway at Heathrow would be "bonkers".

He said that both the new runway options for Heathrow would involve "concreting over the M25 probably closing that major artery for five years at the least".

Plans for a third runway at Heathrow have been controversial

And he said that a second strip for Gatwick would make no difference to dealing with the air traffic.

He said: "A new airport in the inner estuary is the only credible hub option left, and the only one that would uphold this country's claim to be the natural financial, commercial and economic capital of Europe."

Last week he threatened to call for a judicial review if plans for the four-runway airport on the Isle of Grain, which at £112bn would cost five times as much as Heathrow expansion, were not included in the commission's report.

The commission said it had not shortlisted the Thames Estuary plan "because there are too many uncertainties and challenges surrounding them at this stage".

However, it will undertake further study of plans to see whether it was a "credible proposal" and may include it on the shortlist next summer.

Gatwick is running at 85% of its total capacity

The Airport Commission's final report will be submitted in the summer of 2015, after the next General Election, and the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin said the Government would not indicate a preference on options until after that.

Mr Goldsmith, who has suggested he would leave the Tory party over the issue, said last week that any decision by the Prime Minister to back Heathrow expansion would represent an "off-the-scale betrayal".

Heathrow is currently operating at 98% of its capacity with 65m travellers using it in 2012 but the report pointed out that it was so busy passengers suffered "a high level of delay and unreliability".

If it is not allowed to expand, those in favour of a third runway claim that travellers to Europe will opt to fly into airports at Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam instead, at a cost to the UK economy.

Heathrow representatives told the commission that a third runway could be operating by 2029 allowing 260,000 more flights a year.

Boris Johnson says a third runway for Heathrow would be "crackers"

There are two options for the extra runway - to build a 3,500m (11,500ft) strip to the north west of the site or to extend the northern runway to 6,000m (20,000ft) and use one half for take-offs and the other for landings.

The north west option would see 1,500 homes demolished and the loss of 30 listed buildings, the extension would see 720 homes flattened and affect eight listed buildings.

Heathrow chief executive Colin Matthews welcomed the report saying: "I think the report we received today is good news for trade, for jobs and for the UK as a whole."

However, Keith Taylor, Green Party MEP for the South East, said: "The political opposition to airport expansion in south east England is sadly melting away.

"There's no doubt that the Government will be pleased with this report. It gives them the cover they need to go on avoiding answering difficult questions on airport expansion and to prepare themselves for a colossal U-turn on Heathrow expansion."

The idea of expansion at Gatwick, which is currently running at 85% of its capacity and full capacity at peak times, has also met with opposition. It would be built to the south of the existing runway.

Georgia Wrighton, director of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England in Sussex, said: "A second runway at Gatwick, together with sprawling development and car parks anticipated on a massive scale, would concrete over cherished open countryside."

The report did not include options for a new runway for Stansted or Birmingham airports, as had been suggested.

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16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Lloyds Shares Sale: Taxpayers 'Lost £230m'

Taxpayers took a £230m hit from the sale of a 6% chunk of Lloyds Banking Group shares to the private sector, says a National Audit Office (NAO) report.

The figure appears to undermine a claim at the time by Chancellor George Osborne that the share sale in September represented "a profit for taxpayers".

The Government acquired a 39% chunk of Lloyds Banking Group in 2009, in the wake of the financial crisis after it swallowed up troubled Halifax Bank of Scotland.

It returned a 6% portion of the bank to the private sector with a share sale to institutional investors earlier this year.

The £230m loss takes into account the cost of borrowing money to fund the £20bn bank bailout in 2009.

George Osborne claimed taxpayers made a profit from the shares sale

It would suggest that the overall loss of the bailout for the bank could be nearly £1.5bn if the rest of the taxpayer stake is sold off at a similar price.

Mr Osborne trumpeted in the autumn that the £6.2bn Lloyds share sale had resulted in the national debt being reduced by more than half a billion pounds.

That claim was later backed in data from the Office for National Statistics.

This £586m figure represented the difference between the value for accounting purposes of the shares on the Treasury's books - at 61p - and the 75p sale price.

The Treasury acknowledged at the time of the sell-off that the cash profit was far less, at £61m.

The latest report does not dispute these calculations but it takes into account the effective interest paid by the Government to make the bailout investments.

It also recommends that the Treasury should consider these financing costs when analysing the value to the taxpayer of any future sale.

However the report, which is broadly positive about the handling of the sale, said: "This shortfall should be seen as part of the cost of securing the benefits of stability during the financial crisis, rather than any reflection on the sale process."

UK Financial Investments, which manages the Government's stakes in the bailed-out banks, ran the sale.

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16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Carrefour Plans £1.7bn Shopping Malls Deal

Carrefour has announced plans to buy 127 shopping centres across Europe in a €2bn (£1.69bn) deal.

France's largest retailer, which already owns nearly 10,000 hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience shops across the continent, has joined forces with eight investors to buy the centres in France, Spain and Italy.

Many of the Klepierre sites, which are located in France, Spain and Italy and generate an annual rental income of €135m (£114m), are close to its existing stores.

They will sit alongside its existing 45 malls in a new company, 42% of which will be held by Carrefour with the rest held by investors.

Carrefour has been struggling for years, even before the European debt crisis hit its biggest markets.

Georges Plassat took over as chief executive last year, pledging to cut costs and improve the fortunes of the company's 1,300 hypermarkets.

Carrefour's share price climbed more than 1.5% in the hours following the announcement.

The deal, which Carrefour said would make it one of Europe's leading shopping mall companies, is subject to regulatory approval.

The company is expected to close the deal in March or April next year.

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16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

New Runways For Gatwick And Heathrow Airports

Building a controversial third runway at Heathrow airport is one of the options shortlisted by the Airport Commission in its first report.

The findings of an independent inquiry led by the former head of the Financial Services Authority, Sir Howard Davies, has also recommended a second runway for Gatwick airport.

Sir Howard has also said he would consider the idea of building a new airport in the Thames Estuary, plans for which have been dubbed "Boris Island", although he did not include it on the shortlist of options.

To cope with the increasing number of passengers flying into the UK, one of the new runways must be operational by 2030, according to the commission. The second should be up and running by 2050.

If the UK does not expand its airports then it will cost the economy £45bn over 60 years, the report warned.

Heathrow dealt with 70m passengers last year

Sir Howard said: "The UK enjoys excellent connectivity today. The capacity challenge is not yet critical but it will become so if no action is taken soon and our analysis clearly supports the provision of one net additional runway by 2030.

"In the meantime we encourage the government to act on our recommendations to make the best of our existing capacity."

He said that a new airport in the Thames Estuary would be "shifting the economic geography of the south-east of England".

Mr Johnson has been bitterly opposed to building a third runway at the UK's largest airport calling the idea of expansion "scandalous".

Last week Mr Johnson threatened to call for a judicial review if plans for a four-runway airport on the Isle of Grain were not included in the commission's report.

The commission said it had not shortlisted the Thames Estuary plan "because there are too many uncertainties and challenges surrounding them at this stage".

However, it did suggest undertaking a further study of the options for the new airport in the early part of next year with a view to seeing whether it was a "credible proposal" to be included on the final options for expansion in the summer.

Plans for a third runway at Heathrow have been controversial

The Airport Commission's final report will be submitted in the summer of 2015, after the next General Election.

Mr Johnson said that building another runway at Heathrow would be "crackers" and that a second strip for Gatwick would make no difference.

He said: "It is clear that Gatwick is not being considered as a hub airport, meaning a second runway there would only provide temporary relief to Heathrow.

"And that means Sir Howard has effectively told the Government it has two choices - proceed with the creation of a monstrous Heathrow... or proceed with the construction of a new hub in the inner estuary that can be built for the same cost as a four-runway Heathrow, and would bring new jobs, homes, and long-term competitiveness.

"A new airport in the inner estuary is the only credible hub option left, and the only one that would uphold this country's claim to be the natural financial, commercial and economic capital of Europe. By keeping it on the table, Davies is saying you have a choice - between a damaging U- turn or a radical new vision for expansion."

Gatwick is running at 85% of its total capacity

Building a new airport in the Thames Estuary would cost up to £112bn, which is five times the amount it would cost for a third runway at Heathrow.

However, a third runway at Heathrow would require significant work on the M25, perhaps closing it for many years.

Heathrow is currently operating at 98% of its capacity with 70m travellers using it in 2012 but the report pointed out that it was so busy passengers suffered "a high level of delay and unreliability".

If it is not allowed to expand, those in favour of a third runway claim that travellers to Europe will opt to fly into airports at Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam instead, at a cost to the UK economy.

Heathrow representatives told the commission that a third runway could be operating by 2029 allowing 260,000 more flights a year. 

Boris Johnson says a third runway for Heathrow would be 'crackers'

There are two options for the extra runway - to build a 3,500m (11,500ft) strip to the north-west of the site or to extend the northern runway to 6,000m (20,000ft) and use one half for take-offs and the other for landings.

The last Labour government has supported building a new runway but it was ruled out by the coaltion when it came to power in May 2010 after the Conservative party included its opposition to Heathrow expansion in its General Election manifesto.

But the plans have met with fierce resistance from people living in the flightpath and environmentalists.

 Tory MP Zac Goldsmith said last week that any decision by the Prime Minister to back Heathrow expansion would represent an "off-the-scale betrayal" and that David Cameron would "never be forgiven in west London".

He has said he would not continue to stand as a Tory MP if a third runway for Heathrow remained on the cards.

Heathrow chief executive Colin Matthews welcomed the report saying: "This country needs a hub because without that we won't have the long-haul connections that we need."

He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "Of course we think our proposal is the best, we have worked on it really hard. Equally, we'll look at every option that's proposed to learn from it. Moving west does make the airport a bit quieter." 

The new runway at Gatwick, which is operating at 85% of capacity and full at peak times, would be built to the south of the existing runway.

The report did not include options for a new runway for Stansted or Birmingham airports, as had been suggested.

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Motor Insurance Premiums Could Be Cut

Car insurance premiums are too high, says the competition watchdog which is to look at ways of reducing them.

The Competition Commission said there could be caps on the cost of accident repairs and providing replacement vehicles for drivers.

The watchdog also said in its provisional report that too many accident repairs were not carried out to the required standard.

And it found the way add-on insurance products were sold made it difficult for customers to find the best-value products.

It said overall the £11bn market was not working well for drivers and believed too many were footing the bill for unnecessary costs incurred during the claims process after an accident.

These costs are initially borne by the insurers of at-fault drivers, but they feed through into increased insurance premiums for all motorists.

The watchdog was also concerned about the relationship between price comparison websites and insurers.

Alasdair Smith, who is leading the investigation, said: "We are now considering a range of possible measures, some of them far-reaching reforms, to ensure that the market better serves the interests of customers."

Mr Smith said that in most cases the party managing the accident claim - typically the non-fault insurer or intermediary - was not the party liable to pay the costs of the claim.

He added: "There is insufficient incentive for insurers to keep costs down even though they are themselves on the receiving end of the problem."

The commission estimates the extra premium costs due to the separation of control and liability on replacement cars and repairs to be between £150m and £200m a year.

It is considering whether to make a driver's own insurer responsible for providing a replacement vehicle or to give at-fault insurers greater opportunity to take control over managing claims.

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Ireland Exits Bailout As Economy Turns Around

Ireland has become the first country in the eurozone to exit a bailout programme it was forced to take when it fell on hard times.

The country's economy, previously dubbed the Celtic Tiger because of it incredible growth, needed the emergency measure because its revenues fell and expenses increased in the wake of the financial crisis.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the exit sent out a "powerful signal internationally, that Ireland is fighting back, that the spirit of our people is as strong as ever".

He said: "Ireland is now moving in the right direction. Our economy is starting to recover. While we still have far too many people out of work, jobs are being created."

The bailout programme allowed the country access to £72bn (85bn euros) in cash to help pay its bills.

But the ready supply of money, from the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and EU, came at a price.

Experts from the IMF, ECB and EU were able to take partial control of Ireland's economy.

It led to a period of austerity, with taxes being raised and government spending cut, resulting in thousands of public jobs being lost.

It was also viewed as a national humiliation, with the public appalled that its leaders had been forced to go 'cap in hand' to outside bodies.

The government claims that the measures have helped Ireland's economy and jobs are now being created at a faster rate than for years.

The amount of interest Ireland was paying on its government debt began to increase as uncertainty over the country's future intensified and this is widely seen as the main reason for the problems.

The rate at which it borrows money has now fallen, which has allowed it to bring public expenditure under control.

Ireland is some distance ahead of other countries that suffered a similar fate.

Portugal is predicted to complete its programme next year, but Greece could be many years away yet. Other EU countries that are not members of the euro also face controls on their economies for some time.

Despite the bailout exit, Ireland's finance minister has warned the country is not out of danger yet.

He said the signs of sustained improvement were good, but it depended on the country's economy continuing to grow.

Michael Noonan said on Friday: "This isn't the end of the road. This is a very significant milestone on the road. But we must continue with the same types of policies.

"The real heroes and heroines of this are the Irish people. People are beginning to spend. Property prices are improving... it's fragile.

"But in my view things are building well and I would hope that next year would be better for a lot of people who have made a lot of sacrifices."

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Virgin Money To Launch Current Account Trial

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The banking arm of Sir Richard Branson's business empire will on Monday become the latest high street lender to begin an assault on Britain's lucrative current account market with the launch of a pilot among its 3000 employees.

Sky News understands that Virgin Money, one of the country's fastest-growing banking groups, will unveil the trial ahead of a full launch scheduled for next year.

It will mark a potentially-significant phase in efforts to bolster competition in the current account market, with well over 80% of accounts currently supplied by the five biggest lenders: the state-backed Lloyds Banking Group, owner of HBOS, and Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns NatWest; Barclays, HSBC and Santander UK.

Once the staff trial has been completed, Virgin Money will target consumers who are underserved by the major lenders, offering a basic account with no fees or charges and free access to the UK ATM network of cash machines.

Sir Richard Branson celebrates his acquistion of Northern Rock in Newcastle

Doing so is expected to be loss-making for Virgin Money, according to analysts, meaning that the availability of the product is likely to be restricted to those consumers without an existing current account.

A wider launch will get underway in Scotland and Northern Ireland in the first quarter of next year, with nationwide coverage and a digital banking service likely to be available by the end of 2014, according to people with knowledge of Virgin Money's plans.

Virgin Money executives are understood to be confident of making a serious impression on the current account market by utilising the network of Northern Rock branches and infrastructure that it acquired in 2011, and through a marketing campaign emphasizing the parent brand's credentials of service and value.

"There won't be hidden charges or gimmicks. It will be about delivering for consumers," an insider said on Sunday.

Sir Richard has said previously that he wanted to offer a choice between 'free' current accounts and those which incur a small up-front fee. It is unclear whether that will be the case as Virgin Money ultimately grows its presence in the sector in the coming years.

The issue of current account charges is becoming more intensively-debated as banks face up to the increased regulatory costs that will be triggered by the ring-fencing structure being introduced as part of the Government's banking reforms.

Under the new rules, so-called universal banks such as Barclays and RBS will have to establish separate subsidiaries for their high street and investment banking arms, which the Independent Commission on Banking said in 2011 was likely to cost the industry several billion pounds annually.

Virgin Money is likely to be an indirect beneficiary of the new rules because its sole focus on retail banking will mean that it does not have to process many of the complex structural changes required by its competitors.

Taking over Northern Rock was a crucial moment in Virgin Money's expansion

It is also likely to be aided by the new seven-day switching system for current account providers which came into effect during the autumn. Barclays and the Co-operative Bank are among those which have seen net losses of customers, the latter as a result of the adverse publicity over its £1.5bn capital hole and allegations about the behaviour of its former chairman, Paul Flowers.

During the last year, Virgin Money sold more than 1.5 million new products to customers, having established a significant market share in loans, insurance and savings.

Its takeover of Northern Rock was a crucial moment in its expansion, but the length of time between that deal and the current account launch reflects both Virgin Money's determination to develop the right products and the pitfalls of associating its brand with the poor service that has blighted British banking.

Senior executives at the major banks admit that they have only been able to avoid charging for current accounts because they have been subsidised by the sale of products such as payment protection insurance (PPI).

The mis-selling of PPI and a range of other products have cost the major banks billions of pounds in compensation and further tarnished the industry's reputation.

Last week, Tesco said it was poised to create hundreds of jobs by entering the current account market at a time when the supermarket group is wrestling with challenges in its core retailing business.

Other new current account providers include Metro Bank, which is raising nearly £400m from investors in an attempt to accelerate its growth.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, Virgin Money chief executive, declined to comment on the details of its plans but told Sky News: "Our entry into the current account market is a significant step on our quest to make banking better."

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Young Entrepreneurs Set Up Shop In Britain

A new wave of young entrepreneurs behind innovative start-up businesses, including one which makes green energy from waste coffee, have arrived in the UK.

Under the Government's Sirius scheme, graduates from across the world are given a 12-month support package, including financial aid of up to £48,000, to set up in Britain.

The first 19 young entrepreneurs to be accepted onto the programme come from 13 countries including India, China and Germany, as well as African countries like Kenya and Nigeria.

They include Tim Brown, an ex-footballer who played for New Zealand at the 2010 World Cup, who founded ToBe, a company making running shoes which do not need socks.

"Our invention will totally revolutionise the way athletes train," he said.

"Being based in the UK will enable us to start up and develop alongside like-minded entrepreneurs and gain access to world class strategic advice and support."

Other entrepreneurs include Kenyan Edwin Openda and Italian trio Carlo de Micheli, Stefano Caso and Andrea Gurnari, whose Savesquared portable chargers allow smartphone users to charge their handset's battery for £1.

British pair Benjamin Harriman and Arthur Kay launched Bio-Bean to convert waste coffee grounds into biofuel, while Vietnam's Duy Nguyen, India's Amit Pate and David McGee, from the UK, founded Veri-tag.com, which helps consumers prove any branded products they buy are genuine.

Lord Livingston, the trade and investment minister, said: "The UK is one of the best places in the world to become a successful entrepreneur and we're committed to helping talented entrepreneurs from around the globe to build their businesses here.

"Looking at the high calibre of entries we've received for this programme, it's clear that Britain is fast becoming the country of choice for talented graduates to start and grow their businesses, which will ultimately help our economy to grow, boost productivity and create jobs, and succeed in the global race."

The Sirius programme, which offers young entrepreneurs business mentors and help gaining clients, is accepting entries until January 15, 2014.

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Ireland Bailout Exit 'Not End Of The Road'

Ireland's finance minister has warned of continuing pain ahead as the country prepares to officially exit its bailout.

At a news conference in Dublin ahead of Sunday's milestone, Michael Noonan told reporters "this isn't the end of the road" but pledged there would never be a repeat of its financial collapse because of the measures taken to prevent such a crisis.

He acknowledged the sacrifices made and losses suffered by ordinary people since the nation went cap-in-hand to the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a €85bn rescue package in 2010.

He said: "The real heroes and heroines of the story are the Irish people.

"They have had their taxes increased, they have had their services cut drastically - some of them including public servants have had very serious pay cuts.

"Everybody has had cuts in their pensions as well. But they have continued to support the government."

Mr Noonan said those who had suffered the most were the hundreds of thousands who lost their jobs and homes.

Cutbacks and tax rises led to protests as the Celtic Tiger economy crashed

More than 200,000 people were forced to emigrate in the wake of the collapse of the Celtic Tiger economy - brought about by the bursting of Ireland's property bubble which crippled the banking sector.

The country will officially exit the bailout programme on December 15, allowing it to properly re-enter the money markets after raising just €5bn in the past year.

The money it was loaned by the so-called troika - made up of the IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission - will start to be paid off in 2014.

Mr Noonan was speaking on the day the European Commission released its final tranche of bailout funding to the country while the IMF was to follow suit.

Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso congratulated the Irish government and people for the achievement.

"Thanks to their efforts and sacrifices, Ireland will now be able to finance itself through its own efforts," Mr Barroso said.

"Today's result would not have been possible without the solidarity and significant financial support of the other EU member states." Those countries also include the UK, as it provided separate bilateral loans.

Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin said the bailout exit would give "much greater control over our own destiny into the future" but he cautioned there would be no spending spree.

Both he and Mr Noonan warned there will be no cause for the country to "go mad" on Monday following the exit, insisting the government will have to remain committed to making "prudent" economic and social decisions.

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