Flooding Fund: £2.3bn To Protect 300,000 Homes

Hiring Rate Slows Amid Growing Skill Shortage

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 05 Desember 2014 | 16.02

The shortage of skilled labour is becoming more acute as firms hired staff at the slowest rate for 18-months in November, a report has warned.

The monthly Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG survey pointed to uncertainty over the European economic outlook and looming UK General Election for the slowdown.

But the report also said that while starting salaries have continued to increase, this was being part-driven by a shortage of skilled labour.

REC chief executive Kevin Green said: "Over a quarter of recruiters say that starting salaries for equivalent jobs are getting better by the month, driven by competition between employers for quality candidates.

"If there's a cloud on the horizon for 2015 it's the intensifying skills shortages which now spans many sectors and is particularly acute in high-skilled areas like engineering, IT and medicine.

"It's not just about graduates, vacancies for skilled manual jobs are getting harder to fill as well.

"The shortage of licensed HGV drivers and forklift operators could mean retailers struggle to meet the Christmas demand generated by Cyber Monday and eager shoppers on the high streets."

The unemployment rate currently stands at 6% and the Bank of England, which is looking for firm wage increases in the economy before deciding if it will raise the base rate of interest, is forecasting the jobless total to continue falling next year.

Higher wages are also essential to drive the forecast recovery in weak tax receipts included in the chancellor George Osborne's Autumn Statement.

Labour has argued that weak wage growth has been one factor behind a cost of living crisis for working families.

16.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Canary Wharf Owner Rejects Raised Qatar Bid

A bid by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund and a Canadian partner to buy the firm behind London's Canary Wharf, has been rejected.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Brookfield Property Partners had raised their all-cash offer for Songbird Estates from £2.2bn to £2.6bn, just hours before a bid deadline expired Thursday night.

Songbird, which had rejected the lower offer last month on the grounds that it "significantly undervalued" the business, said on Friday that the latest bid was also too low in the opinion of its board.

The statement said: "The board believes the offer from QIA and Brookfield does not reflect the full value of the company, its unique position and future growth potential."

Songbird is the majority owner of the sprawling financial area that is Canary Wharf - once the powerhouse for London's shipping trade - and is home to the headquarters for HSBC and Barclays.

The estate is on track to secure its first residential development while Crossrail, the planned link between east London and Reading via Heathrow, will also serve Canary Wharf and is set to add considerable value to the estate.

The Qatar fund already has a 29% stake in Songbird but is looking to capitalise on a strong commercial property market.

Its other property interests in London include The Shard, the tallest skyscraper in western Europe.

QIA also owns Harrods, which it bought for £1.5bn four years ago.

16.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rail Travellers Face 2.2% New Year Price Hike

Commuters face another rail price rise at the beginning of next year with fares being increased by an average of 2.2% from 2 January.

The increase, announced by rail industry body the Rail Delivery Group, means that more rail travellers will be paying £5,000 for their season tickets than ever before.

Although the average rise is the lowest average rise for five years, the rise for regulated fares, including season tickets, will be up to 2.5%.

That means South East travellers commuting from Canterbury East to London, for example, will have to pay more than £40 extra in 2015 than they did for this year's season ticket as the price rises from £4,960 to more than £5,000.

Other travellers will soon be joining the ranks of those already paying £4,000 a year for their annual return commute to work with the season ticket from West Malling in Kent to London, for example, going beyond £4,000 for the first time.

One of the longest commutes is from Cheltenham Spa in Gloucestershire to London - those on this route will see their annual tickets up from £9,468 to £9,704 - a 2.49% rise.

While the January 2015 increase is limited to a maximum of 2.5%, unregulated fares, such as off-peak leisure tickets, can go up by as much as the train companies decide.

Rail Delivery Group director general Michael Roberts said: "Money from fares goes towards running and maintaining the railway.

"This benefits not just passengers and businesses but communities across the country, by improving journeys, creating employment and helping to boost the economy.

"Over the next five years, Network Rail is spending on average £27m a day on a better railway, alongside commitments made by train companies to improve services. That will mean more seats, better stations and improved journeys."

But Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA rail union, said it was time to stop the "annual persecution of passengers".

"We have seen fares jump by as much as 245% on key routes since privatisation 20 years ago," he said.

"It is now cheaper for a family of four to fly to Iceland to see Father Christmas - £224 - than it is for one person to buy an any-time walk on return rail fare from London to Manchester - £321."

Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT transport union, said: "The scandal of Britain's great rail fares rip off is that today's hike is far outstripping average pay increases and it will once again hit those at the sharp end of the austerity clampdown the hardest.

"After two decades of privatisation the British people pay some of the highest fares in Europe to travel on clapped-out, understaffed and overcrowded services while the private train companies are laughing all the way to the bank.

"Today's fares announcement just fuels that scandal.

"We say fares should be cut and not staff, and public ownership would allow us to do just that. "

16.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Money Lost To Phone Scams Triples In Last Year

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 02 Desember 2014 | 16.01

The amount of money lost to phone scams has tripled to £23.9m in the last year, according to new figures.

Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK), which represents banks, building societies and card companies, has launched a national campaign to warn about the telltale signs of a phone scam.

It carried out a survey which found that 58% of people had received suspect calls about their banking details - up 17% on last year.

The campaign tells consumers not to give out their PIN over the phone.

Cold calling scams typically involve fraudsters deceiving victims into thinking they are speaking to a police officer, bank staff, or a trusted representative of an organisation - a practice known as phishing.

They will then try to get them to divulge passwords, transfer funds or hand over cash to a courier.

Detective Chief Inspector Perry Stokes said: "Always be on your guard if you receive a cold call and are asked for personal or financial information, or to hand over your card or cash to someone.

"The bank or the police will never tell you to take such actions, so if you're asked it can only be a criminal attack."

FFA UK also said fraudsters could ask consumers to hang up and phone back in an attempt to win their confidence.

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Flooding Fund: Â£2.3bn To Protect 300,000 Homes

Flooding Fund: £2.3bn To Protect 300,000 Homes

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More than 1,400 projects will receive a share of £2.3bn to protect against flooding for 300,000 homes.

But environmental group Friends of the Earth has suggested that figure is not high enough and there is still a £500m shortfall in the flood defences budget in the next parliament.

The spending includes major investment in areas including the Humber Estuary, with £80m set to be spent, and £196m for the Thames Estuary.

Ministers will also commit to spending £15.5m on flood defences in Somerset in the next six years - including £4.2m on the Somerset Levels which were hit badly by flooding last winter.

The Government has come under fire over funding for flood defences.

Danny Alexander MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: "We all saw the destruction and heartache caused by flooding last year and that is why this investment is vital to build up Britain's defences for the future.

"The projects we are announcing today will protect some of the country's most at risk locations ensuring that we will be as prepared as possible for future severe weather."

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Gallery: Somerset Flooding - Before & After

Before: a farm in West Yeo, near Bridgewater on the Somerset Levels. Pic: Bing maps

After: The flooded farmland in West Yeo

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Before: The village of Moorland near Bridgewater on the Somerset Levels. Pic: Bing maps

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After: Flooded properties in Moorland

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Before: Walton-On-Thames, Surrey

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Officials said the six-year programme, announced ahead of the Autumn Statement on Wednesday, would help prevent more than £30bn of economic damage.

Other projects which stand to benefit include more than £17m going to Tonbridge, Yalding and surrounding communities in Kent; £73m for a barrier at Boston, Lincolnshire; £42m for the Oxford western conveyance scheme and £47m for coastal defences in Rossall, Lancashire.

Friends of the Earth (FOE) said documents from regional flood and coastal committees showed there were £1.6bn of viable projects that were not getting the go-ahead.

FOE Campaigner Guy Shrubsole said: "A year after Britain's wettest winter ever, the Chancellor's leaked flood defence plans simply don't hold water.

"Faced with rising sea levels, the Government needs to be investing far more in flood defences to protect households and prevent climate change from the outset."

Shadow environment secretary Maria Eagle said: "Communities at risk of flooding won't buy Government spin on what is simply a re-announcement of capital funding confirmed a year ago.

"This is not new money - at the beginning of this Parliament David Cameron cut the flood protection budget by over £100m a year. As a result we are playing catch up on flood defences."

:: Watch Sky News for the Chancellor's Autumn Statement live on Wednesday, 3 December, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.

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Written By Unknown on Senin, 01 Desember 2014 | 16.01

Retailers are preparing for another half-a-billion-pound online shopping surge on Cyber Monday today.

The event is the online-only follow-up to Black Friday, which saw bargain hunters spend £1.6bn across the high street and internet.

Card payment firm Visa said £600m of the £1.6bn raked in was spent on the internet.

Amazon, Currys and Tesco are among the big players lining up new deals and hoping their websites hold up to the virtual stampede.

Electronics retailer ao.com predicts today will be its best ever day of sales, with televisions and small kitchen appliances expected to be the best performing categories, and is offering a host of fresh deals.

Amazon.co.uk is planning to release hundreds of limited "lightning deals" which offer discounts for a specific period, with new offers coming online every 10 minutes.

Some sites, such as Currys, Argos and Game, crashed under the demand on Friday - the biggest ever online shopping day in the UK, according to Visa.

Visa Europe chief Kevin Jenkins said: "Compared to Black Friday last year online spend on Visa cards increased more than 30% and high street spend by about 20%.

"Heading into Cyber Monday we're likely to see a further £500m spent online, peaking in the early evening as workers return home and log on."

But security experts have warned consumers to be wary of cyber crime and take basic precautions as they shop.

Giovanni Ruberto, online security expert at Intel Security, said: "Cyber Monday is set to be the biggest online shopping day this year, and of course the bad guys know this.

"Whilst consumers are logging on from their laptop or smartphone to grab a bargain, you can bet cybercriminals will be doing all they can to trick unwitting consumers to hand over credit card information and personal details."

Recent years have seen online shopping peak on the first Monday in December.

It is thought to be down to many people's last payday before Christmas falling on the previous Friday and a weekend spent browsing the shops before buying online.

However, some retailers have been criticised for whipping people into a shopping frenzy and not having proper security at Black Friday events.

Shoppers were filmed arguing and fighting each other for cut price televisions, with witnesses saying some bargain hunters behaved "like animals".

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr George Carey on Sunday called the supermarkets "irresponsible" and said the event "serves no useful purpose".

Black Friday was introduced in America on the day after Thanksgiving and is thought to have been given its name because brisk business was said to have helped retailers back into profit - into the black.

The event was introduced to this country by Amazon in 2010.

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Weak Growth Will Force More Cuts From Osborne

Britain is slowly getting back on its feet, but the recovery is still doing little to heal the public finances.

In the space of a year, the jobless rate in the UK has reduced rapidly, from 7.6% a year ago, to just 6% now.

Unemployment is back to pre-crisis levels and more people in work should mean more taxes and national insurance flowing to the Exchequer.

The Chancellor had certainly been counting on that cash to reduce shortfall between its resources, and its spending commitments.

Even the Government's accountants had predicted a 7% rise in income tax receipts for this year.

Yet the current tally shows they are only up about 0.4%.

Still, the tax year isn't over yet and the Office For Budget Responsibility expects tax receipts to be what they call "end-loaded" in 2014-15.

That is partly due to the shifting tax band brackets and a glut of self-assessment payments they expect to pour in after the deadline in January.

However, over the past year alone, factors such as weaker-than-expected wage growth, lower-than-expected residential property transactions and lower oil and gas revenues make it unlikely that either the Chancellor's or his accountants' expectations will be met.

Especially if you then factor in the lasting effects of the past six years.

Over the course of the financial crisis many highly paid jobs, like banking, have been lost and not yet replaced.

Meanwhile, the newly created jobs have been low paid and more workers are classed as "self-employed" - with both these groups paying less tax.

You will have noticed your tax free allowance has risen - to £10,500.

And with wage growth virtually stagnant, fewer workers are moving into higher tax brackets.

That all eats into the Chancellor's take.

This leaves the Treasury with far less revenue than predicted - and forced to make cuts and borrow more.

That's just what we expect George Osborne to do in the Autumn Statement on 3 December.

:: Watch Sky News for the Chancellor's Autumn Statement live on Wednesday, 3 December, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

BG Group CEO Sees Share Package Cut By 53%

Oil and gas exploration giant BG Group has cut its incoming chief executive's pay package, originally worth up to £25m.

Helge Lund's share award has been revised downwards by some 53%, from around £10m to about £4.7m.

He will continue to receive a salary, pension and benefits package of £15m.

Last week the Institute of Directors warned that the pay deal for the new CEO was "excessive" and "inflammatory" and urged shareholders to vote against the deal.

The share award reduction now means the proposal does not have to be approved by shareholders, and is within policy guidelines formulated last May.

Mr Lund takes over BG Group in early 2015, after previously turning Norway's Statoil into a publicly traded company.

The share award turnaround comes as the price of oil continues to fall.

Brent crude is down 40% since mid-June and approaching five-year lows.

However forecourt prices have only dropped 6% during 2014, according to the AA motoring group.

Despite the downward pressure on prices, potentially increasing the use of motor vehicles, fuel sales have dropped in the last year.

The AA said October sales were down 20% on the same month last year, even though pump prices were 8p a litre cheaper.

The declining sales strike another chord of concern for the Government, as it sees reducing tax and duty receipts as a result.

Chancellor George Osborne has seen income tax revenue remain static, confounding a forecast 7% rise as the jobless count drops.

On Thursday, oil ministers from the OPEC cartel met in Vienna and were unable to agree a deal to cut production to help raise prices.

Geopolitical analysts believe key countries want to keep prices low to help force out newer supplies, such as fracking in the United States.

The US is now virtually self-reliant in oil - a status it has not had for decades.

16.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

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Written By Unknown on Selasa, 02 Desember 2014 | 16.01

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