Latest News
13/10/2024
Scotland's Former First Minister Alex Salmond Dies Age 69
Alex Salmond, former first minister of Scotland, died aged 69. Reports suggest he collapsed on Saturday in North Macedonia.
13/10/2024
Cutbacks Ahead - Considering The Impact Of Proposed Changes To Disability Benefits On Living Standards And The Public Finances
A Resolution Foundation report published today 13 October 2024 examines some of the changes to benefits already announced by the former chancellor Jeremy Hunt last year. The new chancellor Rachel Reeves and the Labour government have a huge challenge to sort this one out.
13/10/2024
Scottish Start-ups Go Global - Techscaler Entrepreneurs Taking Tech Solutions To Singapore
Twelve Scottish business founders are being given the opportunity to showcase their products and attract international investment in one of the world's biggest tech economies. As part of a three-week programme in Singapore, developed in collaboration with the Singapore Government and beginning later this month, they will operate out of BLOCK71, which houses more than 1,000 of the city's start-ups.13/10/2024
Industrial Strategy Launch To Hardwire Stability For Investors
Government launches a modern Industrial Strategy and new Advisory Council ahead of International Investment Summit. The Business Secretary and Chancellor announce steps to deliver long-term growth through a modern Industrial Strategy, including appointing a Chair of the new Industrial Strategy Advisory Council.
12/10/2024
Are The Rich Going To Leave? - Richard Murphy
In the run up to the budget I have seen claims that as many as one in five people are planning to leave the UK because taxes are too high. If they are, they're in for a shock.
12/10/2024
Check If You Might Be Due to Claim Pension Credit - A Calulator
You can do a quick check if you might be due Pension Credit. If you need more help, you might be able to use the Pension Credit calculator to check if you're eligible and how much you could get.12/10/2024
Energy Sector Taskforce Unites To Tackle Radio Teleswitch Challenge
Energy suppliers and other stakeholders have committed to working together to replace 800,000 Radio Teleswitch (RTS) meters across the United Kingdom before the service is switched off next summer. The agreement follows a summit, organised by the energy regulator Ofgem, gathering suppliers and stakeholders including Energy UK and Citizens Advice to find a joint solution to the challenge of migrating households from the ageing technology before the service ends on 30 June 2025.12/10/2024
FCA Fines TSB £10.9m Over Treatment Of Customers In Financial Difficulty
The Financial Conduct Authority has fined TSB Bank plc (TSB) £10,910,500 for failing to ensure customers who were in arrears were treated fairly. It also lacked suitable systems and controls to secure fair outcomes.12/10/2024
Embracing Strategic Energy Plans
The connections queue now stands at 722GW across transmission and distribution, a 3GW drop on last month. Whilst this reduction is obviously welcome, there remains much to do.12/10/2024
Scottish Government Reveals The Cuts In Budgets To Come - The Devil Is In The Details
When the Scottish Government presented their Fiscal Statement to parliament in early September, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance said that impact assessments had been done to understand the impact that the announced cuts could have on different groups. Why the delays and hardly any mentions subsequently to these significant cuts affecting so many areas.12/10/2024
Closing The Disability Employment Gap In Scotland
This week the Economy and Fair Work Committee of the Scottish Parliament published its latest report - Closing the Disability Employment Gap in Scotland. A summary of recommendations is at the start of the report and a link to the full report is at the bottom of this page.
11/10/2024
Provisional Cereal And Oilseed Production Estimates For England 2024 - Wheat Production Drops
This release contains the first estimate of the 2024 English cereal and oilseed harvest. Data are not yet available for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but will be included within the final production estimates for the United Kingdom in December 2024.
11/10/2024
Employment Rights Bill A Major Step Forward In Improving Working Life For Low Earners - But It Is Far From Job Done
The package of measures included in the Employment Rights Bill should deliver a marked improvement in working conditions for millions of low earners across Britain, who are most likely to benefit from stronger protection from unfair dismissal, improved access to sick pay, and greater security in working hours. But the job is far from done, with further work needed to flesh out key details of the new measures and then to ensure employment rights are properly enforced, the Resolution Foundation said on Thursday 10th October 2024.11/10/2024
A New Pro-growth UK-EU Relationship Will Require Both Closer Alignment And Managed Divergence
The new Government needs to be both pragmatic and strategic about where to pursue closer regulatory alignment with the EU, if it's to make its reset of relations with the EU a growth-boosting one, according to new Resolution Foundation briefing published 9th October 2024. With the new Government pledging to reset its relationship with the EU, while also maintaining strict ‘red lines' on future agreements that limit its room for manoeuvre, EU-turn examines how the Starmer administration might seek to pursue ‘pro-growth' trading relations with the EU.11/10/2024
Index Of Production Uk - August 2024
Monthly production output was estimated to have increased by 0.5% in August 2024; this follows a decrease of 0.7% (revised up 0.1 percentage points) in July 2024. The monthly output increase in August 2024 resulted primarily from an increase of 1.1% in "manufacturing", supported by smaller contributing increases in "water supply and sewerage" (1.5%) and "electricity and gas" (1.2%); these rises were partially offset by a fall in “mining and quarrying” (down 4.0%).11/10/2024
Some Mortgage Rates Predicted To Rise From Today
Falls in mortgage rates could come to "an abrupt halt", according to brokers, with expectations that home loan costs may rise in the coming days. Lenders have been locked in intense competition for borrowers in recent weeks, which has led to consistent falls in the interest rates charged on new fixed mortgage deals.11/10/2024
Construction Output In Great Britain - August 2024
Monthly construction output is estimated to have increased by 0.4% in volume terms in August 2024; this follows a decrease of 0.4% in July 2024. The increase in monthly output came from growth in new work (1.6%) as repair and maintenance fell by 1.0%.11/10/2024
GDP Monthly Estimate UK - August 2024 - Marginal Changes
Monthly real gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have grown by 0.2% in August 2024, after showing no growth in July 2024 (unrevised from last publication). Real GDP is estimated to have grown by 0.2% in the three months to August 2024 compared with the three months to May 2024.
11/10/2024
Next Phase Of Auto-enrolment Should Focus On Flexing Pension Saving
The first decade of auto-enrolment has improved private pension coverage and boosted people's pension pots. The Government should now make the next decade focus additionally on flexing pension savings - in order to address the different savings challenges that low, middle and higher earners face - according to major new research published on Thursday 10th October 2024 by the Resolution Foundation.
11/10/2024
