Comet's Remaining Stores Close For Last Time

Comet's 50 remaining stores are trading for the final time after administrators failed to find a buyer for the electrical retailer.

The collapse of the firm, founded in Hull in 1933 and which employed around 6,895 people at the time of its collapse, is one of the biggest high street failures since the demise of Woolworths in 2008.

Administrator Deloitte said in a report that it remained in talks with a small number of parties over the sale of internet operations and the brand.

But the firm also confirmed that the taxpayer will have to pick up a £49.4m bill for unpaid redundancy and tax payments.

With insufficient funds raised from the winding down of the chain, the Government's Redundancy Payments Service will be required to meet the £23.2m of outstanding redundancy and accrued holiday pay and pay in lieu of notice.

The scale of the problems at Comet were also highlighted in the report, with the chain racking up losses of £95m in the year to April after also seeing revenues slump by £200m compared to a year earlier.

This was followed by a further £31m loss in the subsequent five months as credit insurers lost confidence and withdrew support for the business.

Hailey Acquisitions, the investment vehicle put together by Henry Jackson of OpCapita who raised funding from unnamed investors for Comet's takeover from French retail group Darty, is expected to get payments of just under £50m as a secured creditor - a shortfall of £95m on the amount owed.

But it has been reported that unsecured creditors, including HM Revenue and Customs which is owed £26.2m, will receive nothing.

Comet was hit by weak high street trading conditions, competition from online rivals and being unable to secure the trade credit insurance needed to safeguard suppliers.

In particular, it was knocked by the lack of first-time home buyers who were key customers for Comet.

Holders of £4.7m of unclaimed Comet gift cards and vouchers are also on the list of unsecured creditors.

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HMRC Missed Calls Cost Taxpayer £136m A Year

Delays in answering phone calls to HM Revenue and Customs hotlines cost the taxpayer £136m in the last year.

According to a National Audit Office (NAO) report, delays cost customers £33m in call charges while they waited for HMRC to answer the phone and the estimated value of customer time while they waited was £103m.

The NAO said 20 million calls to HMRC hotlines - many of which are 0845 numbers - were not picked up at all last year.

People who did get through were also waiting longer to speak to an adviser - an average of 282 seconds compared with 107 seconds in 2009/10.

In the first quarter of this year, some 6.5 million people were left holding on for longer than 10 minutes.

"Depending on the tariff they pay their phone company, customers are charged once their call is connected even if they are held in a queue," the report said.

"We estimate that if HMRC improved performance to answer 90% of calls and reduced waiting times, it could save customers around £52m a year.

"HMRC currently plans to spend £34m to achieve this level of performance."

The NAO found that there had been some progress since thousands more staff were drafted in, with the 74% pick-up rate significantly higher than the 48% recorded in 2010/11.

However, the report warned that the figures probably underestimated the issue, as calls are counted as answered even if they do not reach an adviser.

Public Accounts Committee chairman Margaret Hodge said: "When people have no choice but to contact the Revenue to discuss their tax affairs, I find it totally unacceptable that HMRC uses costly 0845 numbers and charges people for the privilege of waiting for the department to pick up."

TaxPayers' Alliance chief executive Matthew Sinclair said: "This report exposes a shameful level of service at HMRC.

"Taxpayers will be outraged that HMRC could let 20 million phone calls go unanswered and yet still claim that it is outperforming some arbitrary target."

An HMRC spokesman said: "In 2010/11 we answered 48% of all call attempts, rising to 74% in 2011/12.

"By late 2012 we were answering over 90% of calls to our contact centres. We are well aware that in the past we have not delivered the standard of service to which we are committed.

"We are determined to build on this progress and we have invested £34m so we can deliver on our improvement targets earlier than planned."

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Investigation Launched Into Comet Collapse

The Government has launched an investigation into the purchase and administration of troubled electrical chain Comet.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has tasked the Insolvency Service with scrutinising the process following a number of complaints from MPs.

The business was bought for £2 by Hailey Acquisitions, an investment vehicle put together by Henry Jackson of OpCapita, in November 2011.

They were given a £50m dowry from previous owner Kesa Electricals, now known as Darty, to run the chain.

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Fuel Poverty Warning For 300,000 More Homes

A further 300,000 people will be pushed into fuel poverty by Christmas because of the latest round of energy price hikes, an advisory body has warned.

The Fuel Poverty Advisory Group (FPAG) said the latest round of energy price rises has increased the average annual energy bill by 7%, taking it to £1,247 for direct debit customers and £1,336 for cash and cheque customers.

These increases are likely to have pushed a further 300,000 households into fuel poverty and estimates have already shown that over nine million households could be living in fuel poverty by 2016.

The lobby group urged David Cameron to take stronger action to ensure there is a more widespread and ambitious effort to tackle "spiralling" fuel poverty levels.

It said the Government should create a cross-departmental group on fuel poverty to ensure a joined-up approach as well as creating a new duty for local authorities to meet fuel poverty targets.

It also advised the Government to carry out an urgent impact assessment of welfare reforms on fuel poverty.

Derek Lickorish, chairman of the FPAG, said: "With a cold winter, welfare reforms cutting incomes, and all at a time of austerity measures and other rising household costs, the plight of the fuel poor has never been more serious.

"Millions are living in misery due to high energy bills. Yet time is running out for the Government to fuel poverty-proof the homes of those on the lowest incomes.

"A toxic cocktail of rising wholesale prices, the high cost of energy reforms and cuts in incomes for many households means fuel poverty levels are set to sky rocket without radical action."

Families are considered to be in fuel poverty when they have to spend more than 10% of their incomes on keeping their homes warm.

The FPAG said that nearly half of the UK's fuel poor households are pensioners, a third contain people with some sort of disability or illness, a fifth contain a child aged five or under and one in 10 house someone aged 75 or over.

The Government recently announced proposals to require energy firms to provide just four tariffs for each fuel and to place all customers on the cheapest price available for their chosen tariff.

But critics have warned that the plans could see an end to cheap deals, stop consumers switching suppliers, reduce competition and push up bills in the long run.

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Taxpayer Faces £50m Bill For Comet Collapse

The taxpayer is facing a £50m bill for the collapse of electrical retailer Comet, a report from the administrator is set to reveal.

The report from Deloitte is likely to indicate that insufficient funds have been raised from the winding down of the chain to pay up to £24m in redundancy payments to 6,000 staff.

This means the Government will probably have to step in and ensure workers receive their payments.

The statement is expected to be published today and will also disclose that unsecured creditors - including HM Revenue and Customs - will receive nothing.

The Tax Office is due some £26.1m by the firm.

Secured creditors, such as the backers of Comet's parent company Hailey Acquisitions, will get payments of just under £50m.

But according to the Sunday Telegraph, this represented a shortfall of £95m on the amount owed at the time of the collapse of the 236 store chain in early November.

The troubled Comet chain reportedly racking up losses of £95m in the year to April, followed by a further £31m in the subsequent five months as credit insurers lost confidence and withdrew support for the business.

Hailey Acquisitions was the investment vehicle put together by Henry Jackson of OpCapita, who raised the funding from unnamed investors for Comet's takeover from French retail group Darty.

Deloitte has said the last 50 stores will close for the final time tomorrow, amid speculation that the brand will be sold to an online retailer and around 20 shops picked up by rivals.

Unsecured creditors also included ITV and Google, which are owed £1.2m and £602,000 respectively for unpaid advertising bills, the newspaper said.

Meanwhile, holders of £4.7m of unclaimed Comet gift cards and vouchers are also on the list of unsecured creditors.

However, an estimated £40m of payments will be made to suppliers and £2.1m of holiday and back pay owed to staff will be paid in full.

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Fuel Bills To Rise As Networks Get Upgraded

Energy watchdog Ofgem has announced a major upgrade to Britain's gas and electricity networks that will be funded by a rise in consumer bills.

The £24bn investment in the UK's ageing infrastructure will take place between April next year to March 2021.

Fuel bills will increase by an average of £12 a year, rising to £15 a year extra by 2021.

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Open University To Go Global With Online Courses

The Open University (OU) has launched a campaign to take distance learning global - as it attempts to catch up with online course offered by US colleges.

The OU has teamed up with 10 British universities in a venture called FutureLearn.

The plan is to give free virtual lectures that are supplemented by digital learning tools to help promote UK institutions.

OU vice-chancellor Martin Bean told Sky News: "You won't be able to get a degree through FutureLearn but you will be able to get free access to some of the best higher education content on the planet.

"In a world of higher fees where people are taking on more of that responsibility for themselves I think they're going to demand better teaching ... and I'm sure it will help these universities really develop new, innovative and experimental teaching practices."

The decision to go global comes after leading US colleges, including Harvard, MIT, Texas and Georgetown, launched various learning partnerships.

One partnership involving Stanford already has two million users around the world.

Professor Bean admitted: "There's no doubt the Americans have got a little out in front of us on this one."

But he insisted the move would benefit Britain's universities.  

"It strengthens brand and competitiveness, it allows them to experiment and develop new teaching strategies for their students on campus and online," he said.

"And it also creates some revenue opportunities in being able to compete for all of those transnational students that are often in developing parts of the world."

The OU has been running courses since 1971, initially using late night television programmes to supplement course notes.

Supporters see FutureLearn as an important way to put students on a path that may lead to traditional tertiary education - a lucrative sector for colleges.

But there are doubts whether any money can be made from massive open online courses (Moocs), even though one in the US has 160,000 users.

Moocs do not carry degree credits and concerns have been raised about plagiarism and the manpower needed to check the work of tens of thousands of students that may be on a single course.

Money-making concepts have included offering free courses but charging for exams, certificates and tutoring.

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EU Summit: Cameron 'Committed To Saving Euro'

The Prime Minister has made it clear he wants favours in return for signing a deal aimed at increasing economic and monetary union in the European Union.

At the seventh and final EU summit of the year, David Cameron insisted the UK was not in an uncomfortable position, despite refusing to have its banks monitored by a centralised supervisor.

"We did not stand in the way of the eurozone having a banking union ...now there are opportunities for us to seek changes in our (EU) relationship, changes that the British people will be more comfortable with," he said.

"They (the eurozone countries) want to make changes, and we can ask for changes too."

His comments come a day after European finance ministers took a major step towards full banking union by agreeing to create a single supervisor for eurozone banks.

But although the UK will not be subject to the scrutiny - continuing to monitor its own institutions - Mr Cameron insisted that Britain "remains at the heart" of decision making in Europe.

The ECB will oversee all banks in the 17 EU countries that use the euro

"I don't think Britain is in an uncomfortable position at all," he said.

"I think we are in a position where we have opportunities to maximise what we want from our relationship with the European Union.

"The fact is we have a multi-faceted Europe, we have a Europe where countries like Britain are absolutely at the heart of decision making."

Earlier this year, Mr Cameron called for a "new settlement" between the UK and Brussels and on Thursday said his focus was now on getting a "better deal" for Britain.

The banking deal gives the European Central Bank (ECB) oversight for lenders in the 17 EU countries that use the euro - and any other country that wants to opt in.

It also paves the way for Europe's bailout fund to give direct aid to ailing banks - a measure seen as vital to helping the eurozone break free of its debt crisis.

The agreement, which follows months of negotiations, was described by the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, as a "deep and genuine economic and monetary union", which requires "steps towards political union".

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Bayer Seeks Approval For Prostate Cancer Drug

Drug company Bayer has requested approval from US regulators for a new drug to treat prostate cancer.

The German pharmaceutical maker said the product could potentially reap annual sales of over 1bn euros (£810m).

Bayer applied for EU approval for the drug on Wednesday.

The drug, Radium-223 - formerly known as Alpharadin - targets bone metastases caused by prostate cancer which is untreatable through standard hormone therapy.

Calcium properties in the drug attach to the cancerous bone cells which are then targeted and destroyed with alpha rays.

The approach is more precise than traditional radiotherapy, and causes fewer side effects than some other types of treatment.

Last year, Bayer predicted the drug boost to its revenues and labelled the product as "blockbuster".

Cancer Research UK said initial results from a trial of Radium-223, which is administered by injection, this year were "very positive".

There are also trials using the drug for breast cancer that has spread to the bone, the charity added.

In 2009, more than 40,000 UK males were diagnosed with prostate cancer, the most common cancer found in men.

The charity movement Movember has raised awareness of prostate cancer and men's health through the growing of moustaches in November, with fundraising that supports charities.

This year's so-called Mo-Bros included Stoke City footballer, Michael Owen and England rugby's Toby Flood.

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Open University To Go Global With Online Courses

The Open University (OU) has launched a campaign to take distance learning global - as it attempts to catch up with online course offered by US colleges.

The OU has teamed up with 10 British universities in a venture called FutureLearn.

The plan is to give free virtual lectures that are supplemented by digital learning tools to help promote UK institutions.

OU vice-chancellor Martin Bean told Sky News: "You won't be able to get a degree through FutureLearn but you will be able to get free access to some of the best higher education content on the planet.

"In a world of higher fees where people are taking on more of that responsibility for themselves I think they're going to demand better teaching ... and I'm sure it will help these universities really develop new, innovative and experimental teaching practices."

The decision to go global comes after leading US colleges, including Harvard, MIT, Texas and Georgetown, launched various learning partnerships.

One partnership involving Stanford already has two million users around the world.

Professor Bean admitted: "There's no doubt the Americans have got a little out in front of us on this one."

But he insisted the move would benefit Britain's universities.  

"It strengthens brand and competitiveness, it allows them to experiment and develop new teaching strategies for their students on campus and online," he said.

"And it also creates some revenue opportunities in being able to compete for all of those transnational students that are often in developing parts of the world."

The OU has been running courses since 1971, initially using late night television programmes to supplement course notes.

Supporters see FutureLearn as an important way to put students on a path that may lead to traditional tertiary education - a lucrative sector for colleges.

But there are doubts whether any money can be made from massive open online courses (Moocs), even though one in the US has 160,000 users.

Moocs do not carry degree credits and concerns have been raised about plagiarism and the manpower needed to check the work of tens of thousands of students that may be on a single course.

Money-making concepts have included offering free courses but charging for exams, certificates and tutoring.

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