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Minimum Wage Boost 'To Give Britain A Pay Rise'

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 17 Maret 2015 | 16.01

By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent

The minimum wage will rise by 20p to £6.70 an hour this October, benefiting 1.4 million low-paid workers.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg have announced the Coalition has accepted the 3% rise recommended by the Low Pay Commission (LPC) for all workers aged over 21.

The shift represents the largest real-terms increase in the rate since 2008 but is not enough to restore the rate to its value before the financial crash.

The Trades Union Congress said the low paid workers in line for an increase were also those who had been hardest hit by Coalition cuts.

Labour said it fell "far short" of the £7 hinted at by George Osborne as the level needed to put the minimum wage back on track in real terms.

The Chancellor did say at the time that it would be up to the independent LPC - made up of employers, unions and academics - to set the actual rate.

The Coalition has also accepted the commission's call to raise the level for younger workers over 18 by 17p to £5.30, and for 16 and 17-year-olds by 8p to £3.87.

But it has gone further when it comes to the pay of apprentices.

The LPC suggested a 2.6% increase to £2.80.

Instead ministers are increasing the level by 57p to £3.30 - which is the first step in an ambition to complete a £1 rise in the rate.

The minimum wage is a sensitive issue because of pressures from both the left and right.

When it made this latest recommendation, the LPC said: "We have carefully weighed the risk of doing too little to raise the earnings of the lowest paid against the risk of recommending more than business and the economy can afford."

For politicians the issue is clearly important because of the nearing election.

Labour has long criticised the Coalition for a situation in which inflation outstripped wages, but that trend has reversed more recently.

David Cameron has called on employers to "give Britain a pay rise" following the improved economic situation.

Today, he added: "At the heart of our long-term economic plan for Britain is a simple idea - that those who put in, should get out; that hard work is really rewarded; that the benefits of recovery are truly national."

Mr Clegg said it was one of many ways in which to create a "fairer society".

He said: "Whether you're on low pay or starting your dream career through an apprenticeship, you will get more support to help you go further and faster."

But Chuka Umunna, the shadow business secretary, said: "Ministers have misled working families who have been left worse off.

"Where under David Cameron we've seen the value of the minimum wage eroded, we need a recovery for working people."

Labour has promised that the level will rise to £8 by 2020, but there has been a suggestion that the real-terms rate could be higher than that by then.

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House 'Crisis': Campaigners March On Westminster

By Afua Hirsch, Social Affairs Editor

Housing in Britain is in crisis, campaigners say, as thousands are expected to attend a rally in Westminster calling on politicians to take urgent action.

The protest, which includes housing associations and charities as well as major developers, cites the lowest housebuilding levels since the 1920s as evidence that demand for homes across the country is far outstripping supply.

The problem is particularly affecting younger, first-time buyers, they say, who are increasingly delaying or being squeezed out of owning a property.

"It's really sad, the fact that not everyone can buy their own property," said Katy Popiol, 28, a first time buyer in West London.

"It's frustrating to say at least. It would be great to see more people my age to be pretty much the owner of their own property."

Britain needs 245,000 new homes a year, but there are currently only 125,000 a year being built, according to the Housing Federation, which convened the rally.

Recent figures also shed light on the measures young people are willing to go to in order to raise the money needed for a deposit.

Of those aged 18 to 34, 14% are considering living with parents, while 15% are considering delaying having a family or getting married.

One in 25 are thinking of taking part in medical trials in order to get on the housing ladder.

Although all three main political parties have acknowledged the need to build more homes, none are pledging to build at the level campaigners say is needed to immediately meet demand.

The Conservatives and Labour have committed to developing 200,000 new homes by 2020, and the Liberal Democrats have said they will build 300,000.

Campaigners say it is not enough.

"Politicians need to pull their heads out of the sand and realise that housing has become a major general election issue," Henry Gregg, of the National Housing Federation, said.

"We are calling on all the political parties to end the housing crisis within a generation and build the homes that young people desperately need."

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Sainsbury's Records Another Fall In Sales

Supermarket giant Sainsbury's has recorded a fall in sales for the fifth quarter running.

And the retail chain has warned the market is expected to remain challenging for the "forseeable future".

Excluding fuel, Sainsbury's saw like-for-like sales fall 1.9% in the last quarter to March.

This is down on the 1.7% drop reported in the previous quarter.

Despite the fall in sales, shares rose nearly 2% as the figures were in line with City expectations.

Chief executive Mike Coupe said: "The trading environment remains challenging and the decisions we have taken to improve our competitiveness are reflected in our quarterly performance."

He added: "We expect the market to remain challenging for the forseeable future.

"Food deflation is likely to persist for the rest of this calendar year, and competitive pressures on price will continue."

Sainsbury's and the other major grocery chains - Tesco, Morrisons and Asda - are locked in a fierce supermarket war amid gains being made by discount chains Aldi and Lidl.

Sainsbury's is due to report its full-year profits in May - the first since Mr Coupe took the helm - which are expected to show the first fall after nine years of growth.

City analysts forecast a 17% drop to £659m.

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'Radical Review' To Make Business Rates Fairer

Written By Unknown on Senin, 16 Maret 2015 | 16.01

A "radical review" of English business rates has been launched aimed at levelling the playing field between those hit by the annual property tax and online companies.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander pointed out the current system had been created nearly three decades ago, during which time the world of business had "changed beyond recognition".

He also acknowledged business rates "are a considerable cost" and wanted to ensure the system is "fair, efficient and effective".

The move comes amid further evidence the High Street is continuing to struggle in the face of online sales and changing consumer habits with a three-fold increase in the number of shops closing last year.

The Treasury review, which will report back by next year's budget, follows the commitment made by Chancellor George Osborne in last year's autumn statement that the tax would be revamped.

Launching the review, Mr Alexander told Sky News; "For small businesses especially the retail environment has changed a lot in the last 30 years since business rates were first invented. There's more competition online for example.

"But also we have seen through the recent economic difficulties, the business rates system has not responded to the economic cycle, actually in some cases it has made it worse."

He added: "I've been impressed by the representations made by the business community and I know that business rates are a considerable cost.

"This government has taken measures to help businesses by capping rates and introducing reliefs for smaller businesses.

"But now the time has come for a radical review of this important tax. We want to ensure the business rates system is fair, efficient and effective."

Measures being introduced next month will see small business rate relief doubled for a further year, and business rates discounts for smaller retail premises increased.

The current business rates system was introduced in 1990 and covers around 1.8 million non-domestic properties, including shops, offices and factories.

The tax raised £20.5bn in 2013/14.

But Labour's Shabana Mahmood said: "Britain's businesses need more than just a re-announced review.

"Labour will take immediate action by cutting and then freezing business rates for 1.5 million small business properties.

"We will also devolve to city and county regions 100% of the additional business rates revenue generate by growth."

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Bankers To Face 'Annual MOT' Under FCA Rules

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Lenders will be required to annually certify the fitness of staff to perform their roles under a new framework that will reinforce the City watchdog's new-found status as one of the world's toughest banking supervisors.

Sky News understands that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will announce on Monday that proposed final rules for banks operating in the UK will put the onus on affected companies to assess and certify the propriety of thousands of staff working in the industry.

The new rules will be confirmed in a speech by Martin Wheatley, the FCA chief executive, and will demonstrate the extent to which banking regulators are attempting to increase industry accountability following a series of mis-selling and market-rigging scandals in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Industry sources described the development as a blow to the banking industry's hopes of limiting the bureaucratic burden of the new regime.

Following a report in 2013 by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, which recommended a new template for supervising bankers' behaviour, some banks had argued that the FCA itself should be responsible for certifying those working in the industry.

In a consultation document last year, the FCA said: "The (Banking Reform) Act has introduced… the requirement for firms to certify certain employees as being fit and proper to perform certain functions.

"This originated from the PCBS's recommendation that a 'licensing regime' be introduced to address concerns that the existing Approved Persons Regime brought too narrow a set of individuals within the scope of regulation, and that firms took insufficient responsibility for the fitness and propriety of their staff."

Mr Wheatley hinted in December that banks should expect the new rulebook to increase the burden on them, saying: "The management of conduct and culture, as issues that have escalated over the last few years, are perhaps complicated by a lack of institutional attention to dealing with them in the past.

"What should not be difficult… is for individuals to take responsibility for their actions. You should not need a rule book to determine right from wrong.

"Indeed, it would be impossible and, frankly, undesirable for any regulator to attempt to codify the limits of what is, or is not, morally acceptable."

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which sits within the Bank of England, has also issued a new rulebook covering the responsibilities of senior managers, who will be presumed to be responsible for the failure of an institution unless they can demonstrate that they took reasonable steps to prevent it.

Last month, the two watchdogs said they would limit the presumption of responsibility to non-executive directors carrying out delegated duties, absenting some board members from the scope of the framework.

The PRA is also planning to publish further details of its plans for regulating banks on Monday, covering those working at UK branches of overseas firms.

The FCA and PRA both declined to comment on Sunday.

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Six Key 'Leaks' Ahead Of Wednesday's Budget

Here are the six main points that have emerged about the likely content of Wednesday's pre-election Budget.

1: Pensions Giveaway

Up to five million people will be able to sell their retirement annuities for cash without facing a hefty tax bill, according to an authoritative and reliable briefing reported by Sky News, other broadcast media and the Sunday papers.

2: North-South Divide

George Osborne will promise a "truly national recovery", with measures to boost the English regions such as investment in infrastructure, science, energy and housing. This was revealed by the Chancellor in an article for The Sun on Sunday.

3: 'No Gimmicks'

Appearing on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Osborne declared: "No giveaways, no gimmicks. A Budget for the long term. Everything we do in this Budget has to be paid for. That has been the central argument I've made all along."

4: Tax Cuts

A rise in the income tax threshold from £10,600 to £11,000 has been widely predicted for some weeks and was reported in The Sunday Telegraph and The Sun on Sunday. A rise in the 40% tax threshold from £41,865 to £50,000 was reported in the Sunday People.

5: Inheritance Tax

A signal that the Tory election manifesto will include a pledge to raise the threshold from £325,000 was reported in the Sunday Express. "We've said on the record it's one for the election, in the manifesto," a senior source told Sky News.

6: Beer And Baccy

A cut in the duty on beer and cider is expected, meaning 1p or 2p off a pint, a move campaigned strongly for by Tory MPs.

Another 16p is expected off a bottle of spirits, as well as a freeze on wine duty; and 28p on a pack of 20 cigarettes - reported in The Sun on Sunday.

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City Investors Swoop For Â£1.2bn Car Dealer BCA

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 15 Maret 2015 | 16.01

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Britain's biggest secondhand car dealer is gearing up to change hands in a £1.2bn takeover engineered by some of the City's largest investors.

Sky News has learnt that British Car Auctions (BCA) is in detailed talks about a deal that would involve it being bought by a listed vehicle called Haversham Holdings.

Haversham was set up last year to swoop on "substantial companies and businesses in the UK and European automotive, support services, leasing, engineering or manufacturing sectors".

Fronted by Avril Palmer, who ran Autologic and had a short-lived spell as boss of Stobart, the haulier company, Haversham has backing from a funding group comprising including Aviva Investors, Artemis, Invesco and Schroders.

The firm set up by Neil Woodford, the UK's best-known fund manager, is also understood to be a key supporter of the proposed takeover.

Insiders said on Saturday that Haversham planned to raise £1.2bn from its investors to fund the deal.

A statement responding to news of the plan to take control of BCA could be made to the stock exchange as early as Monday, although a source cautioned that it was not yet certain to happen.

If the deal proceeds, it will be the second time in six months that Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), the private equity firm which acquired BCA in 2009, has looked at offloading BCA.

It would also coincide with a £2.5bn flotation of Auto Trader, which is owned by rival buyout firm Apax Partners.

Last autumn, CD&R pulled a flotation of BCA, blaming volatile global equity markets.

At the time, it said: "The board and shareholders were very encouraged by the broad engagement and interest in BCA shown by investors and remain excited about supporting the next phase of the group's growth.

"BCA has an excellent track record as Europe's leading used vehicle marketplace with strong revenues and earnings growth on the back of momentum across its physical and digital platforms."

Operating from more than 200 locations across Europe, BCA claims to be more than two-and-a-half times the size of its nearest competitor.

BCA owns the online vehicle buying operation webuyanycar.com, which acquired 120,000 vehicles in 2013.

It said last autumn that over the three-year period to the end of 2013, BCA saw revenues rise 74% to £442.3m, with adjusted pre-tax profit growing by 27% to £62.5m.

In total, more than 900,000 vehicles were sold using BCA in 2013, with 37% of those transactions taking place online, highlighting the growing importance of digital channels in the sector.

The proposed structure of the BCA takeover would echo a plan used last year by a group of heavyweight City figures to take control of the AA, the roadside recovery service, and list it through a form of accelerated initial public offering.

Haversham's broker Cenkos Securities and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are understood to be among the advisers working on the BCA deal, which is said to have been driven by the group of City investors.

CD&R is thought to have been open-minded about a more conventional flotation effort later in the year.

Cenkos also worked on the AA listing, for which it is understood to have received a fee in excess of £30m.

None of the parties involved in the BCA talks would comment.

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Co-op Bank Taps Funds Over Â£6bn Optimum Sale

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The‎ troubled Co-operative Bank has approached some of the world's biggest distressed investment funds about a sale of billions of pounds of British mortgages as part of its revival plan.

Sky News‎ has learnt that advisers to the Co-op Bank have held talks with funds including Apollo Management, Blackstone and CarVal about potential deals for parcels of the £6.6bn Optimum portfolio.

The ‎talks with prospective investors are ongoing and are likely to result in a series of transactions involving different structures for the assets, which the banking regulator has ordered the Co-op Bank to sell.

A number of other unidentified parties have also held talks with the Co-op Bank about buying parts of Optimum, which the lender adoped after its merger with the Britannia Building Society in 2009.‎

The ‎Optimum assets were partly responsible for the Co-op Bank being the only one of eight big lenders to fail stress tests set by the Bank of England in December.

News of the talks with potential buyers of Optimum's assets comes just days before the formerly mutually owned lender releases its annual results for 2014.

Sky News revealed last month that the chief executive of the Co-operative Bank was in talks about extending his contract amid continuing pressure from regulators for management continuity at the top of the company.

Sources said that Niall Booker, who took over in 2013 as the bank faced the threat of collapse, is likely to sign a rolling six-month contract to take him beyond his existing deal, which expires in June.

An announcement about his position is expected to be made either before or alongside the results, which are likely to be published next week.

Mr Booker, a former head of HSBC's North American operations, is understood to have had a difficult relationship with some of the bondholders who became major Co-op Bank investors as part of its rescue restructuring just over a year ago.

As a consequence of its stress test failure, the Co-op Bank postponed a vote on incentive awards for Mr Booker and senior colleagues because the proposals "include measures which may no longer be appropriate".

There have been no subsequent disclosures about revised terms for those payouts, although details may emerge alongside or soon after the results.

Some of the US hedge funds which now control a majority of the Co-op Bank's equity have pressed for Mr Booker to work to restructure the organisation more aggressively, insiders say.

At the time of the stress test failure, Mr Booker said: "We have achieved the target of building our capital base and the actions we have taken during the first year of our business plan have made the Bank more secure for the benefit of all stakeholders.

"Our key ratios around capital, liquidity and leverage at the present time are significantly strengthened, we're ahead of schedule in the disposal of Non-core assets and the stability of our core franchise is improving.

"However, given we are in the early stage of our plan, the original capital deficit and the nature of our assets, it is no surprise that we have not met the severe stress test hurdle."

The Co-op Bank was plunged into financial chaos even as it attempted to pursue a takeover of 632 Lloyds Banking Group branches.

Its former chairman, Paul Flowers, brought the bank into disrepute when his drug-taking and sexual activities were exposed by a tabloid newspaper, while his financial competence was questioned by MPs after he failed to correctly state the size of the Co-op Bank's balance sheet.

A spokesman for the Co-op Bank declined to comment.

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Budget: Osborne To Extend Pension Freedoms

Chancellor George Osborne is expected to extend pension freedoms to some five million people who have already purchased an annuity.

The change - due to be announced in Wednesday's Budget - will remove limits on buying and selling existing annuities.

The reform lets people cash in their annuity without incurring heavy tax penalties.

It also allows pensioners the same access to their retirement funds as the Chancellor announced last year for people who have yet to take their pensions.

Under those changes, from 6 April people can cash in their pension savings when they retire, rather than purchase an annuity.

With just weeks to go before the General Election, the announcement is expected to be popular with elderly voters.

The Chancellor is also reportedly considering cutting inheritance tax in a move which could allow millions to pass on their homes to their children tax free.

The Sunday Express reports that Mr Osborne is considering raising the death tax threshold from £325,000 to £1m, or abolishing the tax for a main family home.

The reform will either be announced in the Budget or as part of the Conservative manifesto, according to the newspaper.

Mr Osborne is expected to say on Wednesday that his Budget will deliver "a truly national recovery".

The Chancellor will outline measures to invest in industries around Britain, not just in London and the South East.

The measures are expected to include increased support for regional technology clusters and investment in the chemical sector in the North East.

Writing in The Sun On Sunday, Mr Osborne said: "We mustn't go back to the bad old days of just relying on the City of London for growth.

"New analysis shows that if all parts of England outside London and the South East grew at the national average then the UK economy as a whole could be an extra £90bn bigger by 2030.

"And it can be done. Between 2010 and 2013 Yorkshire and the Humber alone created more jobs than the whole of France, and in the South West over the last year someone has got a new job every 10 minutes."

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Co-op Bank Taps Funds Over Â£6bn Optimum Sale

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 14 Maret 2015 | 16.01