This video is from the Institute for Fiscal Studies on 30 June 2023. The topic may bore the pants of you but it may well be critically important for your future financial well-being in retirement.
US-based Westinghouse Electric Company has signed a contract extension with EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Limited (NGL) to supply fuel for the UK's Advanced Gas Cooled Reactors (AGRs) from its Springfields fuel fabrication facility in the UK. NGL will continue to generate electricity at its four operational AGR NPPs at Heysham (units 1&2), Torness, and Hartlepool.
UNISON, the union for police staff, says Scotland's police budget cut will see even more crime going unreported and crimes not being fully investigated. The union says around 230 police staff could be cut, including fingerprint examiners, forensic examiners, 999 call handlers, custody staff, high-speed driving instructors, cybercrime experts, payroll, HR and IT staff.
Early years workers in North Lanarkshire have voted overwhelmingly for strike action over the council's ‘fire and rehire’ plans which would leave workers thousands of pounds worse off. The council is proposing to make early years practitioners (grade 9) redundant or asking them to work at a lower wage (grade 7).
Data in 2023 so far has shown that the economy has performed better than was expected only a few months ago, according to the Fraser of Allander Institute. The Institute's quarterly Economic Commentary, which includes an assessment of all the latest key data on the UK and Scottish economies, is published on 30 June 2023.
Johanna Baxter, UNISON Scotland head of local government, said: "If COSLA and the Scottish government are to achieve any of the shared priorities in this deal their warm words will have to be matched by action. After a decade of under-funding, our public services and the workers who deliver them need additional investment and the Verity House Agreement said little about that.
We have revised up our outlook for 2023 considerably - a few months ago, we were expecting that the UK and Scottish economies would be in the midst of a shallow recession before returning to growth in the second half of the year. However, the data that has come out for the first quarter has been considerably more positive than this, showing 0.4% growth in quarter 1.
The Scottish Government's troubled National Care Service Bill faced a further blow as UNISON, the UK's biggest union called on the Scottish government to withdraw the Bill. The call came from a resolution approved at the UNISON annual conference held in Liverpool recently.
The Scottish Government has issued a report about a new agreement with local government. It smacks of panic in the face of council budgets that have been struggling for the past few years with evermore cuts to services and deteriorating roads just the tip of the iceberg in Scotland.
Zero Waste Scotland delivers Government-commissioned review. Up to 26 million disposable vapes were consumed and thrown away in Scotland in the last year, of which an estimated 10 per cent were littered and more than half were incorrectly disposed of, according to a report published today.
This year will see the biggest reform of alcohol duties for more than 140 years. The government will introduce a new, simplified alcohol duty system based on the principle of taxing alcoholic drinks by their alcohol content (ABV).
Improvements to the way crisis support is delivered in Scotland are set out in a plan published on Friday 30 June 2023 The Scottish Welfare Fund provides a vital safety net which has paid out more than £380 million in emergency funds to more than half a million households over the last ten years. The plan sets out 22 commitments to help the Fund better address unmet need and make decisions more consistent across the country.
Applicants for public sector grants must support better pay and conditions for workers in order to qualify, under new strengthened criteria which has come into force. From today, organisations will need to demonstrate they pay at least the real Living Wage and provide channels for workers to have an effective voice, as a condition of the application.
A heated debate ensued at the full meeting of Highland council on 29th June 2023. The highly politicised debate included accusations on both sides of the argument.
Following a report agreed by Full Council in May 2023 on the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport (ICFGF), Council members have received a further update (Thursday 29 June 2023) on the current Outline Business Case (OBC) stage of the Green Freeport process and the work to date. Leader of the Council, Raymond Bremner said: "Work continues at pace to develop a robust Outline Business Case (OBC).
This latest report published yesterday (29 June 2023) is pertaining to places in England but maybe interest here in the north of Scotland with connections in Caithness at Dounreay. The Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) Report has been published today and sets out significant progress of the programme to deliver a safe and permanent solution for the UK's most radioactive waste.
ParcelHero has been analysing the latest OECD data and says the UK experienced the steepest monthly rise in exports of any G7 nation in April, up by 5.86%. In contrast, US exports came bottom of the table, down -5.30%.
Speech by Sheldon Mills, Executive Director, Consumers and Competition of the FCA, delivered at the CityUK Annual Conference 19 June 2023. Sheldon was speaking ahead of Royal Assent for the Financial Services and Markets Act which is expected to be granted on 29 June 2023.
The Financial Conduct Authority has updated its advice on access to cash in the UK. We are committed to making sure people can access the cash they need.
The demise of traditional defined benefit pension plans (which provide a guaranteed income from retirement to death) and the abolition of near-compulsory annuitisation of defined contribution pensions in 2015 has led to increasing interest. Or even concern, around how people access their defined contribution (DC) pension wealth.
