Three businessmen from southeast England each claimed the maximum £50k Bounce Back Loan and one dissolved his company to avoid repayment. Ivan Hristov Fratev, 57 and Bradley Malone, 57, both from London, and Ryan William Moir, 34, from East Sussex, have been banned from running businesses for a total of 26 years, after each separately claimed £50,000 for their companies in breach of the loan scheme's rules.
Russia has suspended substantially all material provisions of many of its Double Taxation Agreements by Presidential decree dated 8 August 2023. This action affects 38 countries' Double Taxation Agreements including the 1994 UK-Russia Double Taxation Convention, in respect of which the UK received notification from Russia on 15 August 2023.
ritain's energy bill crisis is not over: Ofgem's imminent confirmation of the Q4 2023 price cap is expected to show that annualised typical energy bills will be above £1,900 from October, close to double those before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This is only a little below the effective level of £2,100 from last winter that resulted from the combination of the Energy Price Guarantee and universal £400 payments through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
It costs more to build new roads, railways and tramlines in Britain than it does almost anywhere else in the world. With major infrastructure projects like HS2 at risk of cancellation due to spiralling costs and frequent delays, it is worth reflecting on the fact that it doesn't seem to be this hard everywhere.
There's been further improvement in the confidence businesses in the Highlands and Islands have in Scotland's economic outlook and on the performance of individual enterprises. However, concerns over finances remain prominent.
Despite the disappointment of losing to Spain in the final, England's women's football team had a very good World Cup, on and off the pitch. Viewing figures were huge, media coverage was unprecedented and excitement about potential future achievements seems high.
COVID boosters will be available to buy from high-street pharmacists and private healthcare providers across the UK in 2024. The news comes just weeks after the UK government announced that free boosters would only be available on the NHS for over-65s this autumn.
If you're due to file accounts with Companies House by the end of September, allow plenty of time before your deadline. All limited companies, whether they trade or not, must deliver annual accounts to us each year.
Energy regulator Ofgem has today (Friday, 25 August, 2023) announced a further reduction in the energy price cap for the last quarter of 2023 (Oct to Dec). The change will bring the average dual-fuel energy bill below £2,000 a year for the first time since April 2022, saving households an average of £151 on the previous quarter.
The public is being asked for views on alkaline hydrolysis (water cremations), burials, funeral director licensing and funeral sector inspections in four separate public consultations. The regulations proposed in the consultations aim to protect the dignity of the deceased and increase confidence in the funeral sector by ensuring minimum standards of good care and services are maintained.
Members of the Caithness Area Committee, who met on Monday, 21 August 2023, considered and agreed funding for an application submitted to the area's Community Regeneration Fund. The Wick Development Trust successfully secured £90,000 towards Phase 2 of their overall development plan, with this phase focusing on the development of a Toilet Block & Facilities building at Wick River Campsite.
The company blamed soaring costs and difficulty finding workers in the area. Six people have lost their jobs after a glass-making business in the Highlands went into liquidation.
Stagecoach employees across the Highlands now have discounted access to all High Life Highland leisure facilities, thanks to the charity's most recent corporate deal with Stagecoach Highlands. Emma Thomson, High Life Highland's highlife Development Officer, said: "We are absolutely delighted to have another high-profile Highland business signed up to our corporate membership deal.
Differences in health outcomes are an important and well-documented dimension of inequality. As discussed in Case and Kraftman (2022), there are marked differences in life expectancy and mortality by regions, gender, education groups, and measures of deprivation.
The vast majority of ScotRail services are set to operate as normal when members of the RMT trade union take part in strike action this weekend. Members of the RMT at a number of train operating companies across the UK plan to take strike action on Saturday, 26 August.
High Life Highland's Adult Learning for Refugees team recently hosted a creative project for Afghan resettler communities, funded by the Scottish Refugee Council as part of the ‘Scottish Refugee Festival'. The theme of the Festival this year was ‘Hope' hence the event was aptly titled ‘The Afghan Kites of Hope' in honour of the tradition of kite-making, a custom now prohibited by the Taliban in their home country.
Police Scotland have warned about a been a recent increase in scammers posing as police officers. One woman from Renfrewshire lost £25,000 after being cold called by someone claiming to be from the fraud department of her bank, who said that her bank account had been compromised.
‘Reducing re-traumatisation will promote equality' - report. Work to reduce the re-traumatisation of victims and witnesses of crime will help promote equality in Scotland's justice system, according to some of the most senior women leaders in the sector.
New funding will support more affordable homes and facilities in remote and rural areas. Provided jointly by the Scottish Government and Nationwide Foundation, funding for Communities Housing Trust and South of Scotland Community Housing over three years will deliver affordable housing projects.
The Scam Cold callers have been contacting people and saying they work for an alarm company and are working in partnership with Police Scotland. They ask to make an appointment to visit the property.