Average pensioner incomes and pensioner poverty. Before, and during, the Great Recession, average pensioner incomes were catching up with working-age incomes.
Commenting on the Climate Change Committee's latest UK Progress Report, Jonny Marshall, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said, "As well as setting out why the new government needs to be massively ramp up progress on net zero, this report sets out clear priorities on how to do this. "Lowering the cost of electricity will play a key role in fast-forwarding the net zero transition - making heat pumps and electric cars cheaper to run, but potentially increasing household gas prices.
Responding to the latest CPI inflation figures, which show headline inflation remaining at 2.0% and food inflation falling 0.2 percentage points to 1.5%, Kris Hamer, Director of Insight of the British Retail Consortium, said: "While headline inflation remained at 2.0%, households will benefit from falling inflation rates in retail, with Food and Clothing & Footwear both dropping compared to last month. Falling energy prices and a stronger pound combined with fierce competition between retailers are helping to bring down prices for many goods, including essential items like pasta and margarine.
The Government has introduced to Parliament the Budget Responsibility Bill and published a draft update to related provisions of the Charter for Budget Responsibility. The Bill would amend the 2011 Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act and require any fiscally significant measures announced by the Government to be accompanied by an independent assessment by the OBR, except in certain circumstances.
Income tax is the UK's single biggest tax stream, making up a quarter of total public sector receipts in 2024-25 (£302.7 billion or 10.9 per cent of GDP). Given the progressive nature of the income tax system (the more you earn, the higher the average rate of tax you pay) getting the distribution of income right is a key judgement for our income tax forecast.
Ben Zaranko, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies said, "The new government's ‘fiscal lock’ is broadly sensible but largely performative. It is, in effect, a rather theatrical way of promising not to do another Mini Budget - or at least not to do another Mini Budget without some accompanying independent analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility.
The project is expected to continue to attract innovative marine businesses, creating new well-paid job opportunities, particularly for young people, and encouraging entrepreneurship. A new £8.1m facility is to be built in Argyll to help meet increasing demand for offices and laboratory facilities from companies in the growing marine science sector.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President of France Emmanuel Macron released a joint statement on Wednesday 18 July 2024. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the President of the French Republic met today at Blenheim Palace.
President Zelenskyy will be hosted by the Prime Minister at an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet tomorrow morning. President Zelenskyy will be hosted by the Prime Minister at an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet tomorrow morning, as the UK spearheads a major initiative to crack down on Russia's ‘shadow fleet’.
HIE has appointed a new director of area operations. Joanna Peteranna took up the new post on 1 July 2024 after being promoted from area manager for Innse Gall and will retain specific responsibility for Outer Hebrides.
The King's Speech announces the Armed Forces Commissioner who will be a strong, independent champion to improve life for UK service personnel and their families, while the Government reinforces the UK's unshakeable commitment to NATO. The new Government's commitment to defence and Armed Forces personnel has been strengthened in the King’s Speech, with the announcement of a new, independent Armed Forces Commissioner.
Following CMA action, Wowcher will change the way it promotes products and services to customers - as well as providing over £4 million in refunds. Wowcher to change its sales practices to avoid potentially misleading or unfairly pressuring consumers into making quick purchases.
The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), that provides independent advice to former Ministers and the most senior servants on appointments they wish to take up on leaving government, has today published a report covering its work from 2020 - 2024. The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), that provides independent advice to former Ministers and the most senior servants on appointments they wish to take up on leaving government, has today published a report covering its work from 2020 - 2024.
Speaking after the King's Speech, Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said, "This is a King’s Speech which will deliver the change our country needs. It will deliver for all four nations of the UK and all four corners of Scotland.
The Prime Minister has appointed leads of a new ministerial taskforce to begin work on the Child Poverty Strategy. New ministerial taskforce to hit the ground running on delivering the child poverty strategy.
Border Security will be at the heart of the Government's reset with Europe, the Prime Minister will tell world leaders at a major European summit on Thursday 18 July 2024. The Prime Minister is set to tell the meeting of the European Political Community that he believes the magnitude of compounding challenges facing Europe cannot be solved alone, and that countries must work collectively to deliver solutions that rebalance the equation.
Oxford University Press has today published the IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities in a special edition of its journal Oxford Open Economics. The multi-year IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities, launched in 2019 and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, is a rich and comprehensive treatment of this complex, multifaceted and important topic, involving many of the top academic minds from across the world.
The Scottish Governments key strategic stakeholders have come together in a formal partnership arrangement to drive the delivery of activities that will achieve the outcomes of The Strategic Framework for a Cyber Resilient Scotland. The CyberScotland Bulletin is designed to provide you with information about the latest threats, scams, news and updates covering cyber security and cyber resilience topics.
Boosting economic growth rightly lies at the heart of the new Government's legislative agenda, with at least a dozen of the 40 Bills announced in the King’s Speech centred around that welcome objective. But bold ambition must be matched with careful implementation if the Government is to deliver its economic reform agenda successfully, the Resolution Foundation said.
CPI inflation remained at 2 per cent in the 12 months to June 2024 - but there were some worrying indications that key measures of domestic inflation remained stubbornly high, denting hopes that the Bank of England might cut interest rates in the near term, the Resolution Foundation said. This steady rate of inflation did see some changes beneath the surface, with falls in the price of clothing and footwear pushing down on inflation by 0.1 percentage points in June, although this was offset by a sharp increase in the price of hotels, which added around 0.1 percentage points.
