BBC Trust may have quit over free licences October 20, 2010 THE Trustees of the BBC board considered resigning en masse if the coalition pressed ahead with plans to shoulder the institution with the cost of providing free licences to over 75s. The dramatic move was prevented by an eleventh hour deal that involved a six-year licence fee freeze – which will cost it 16 per [...]
Rail prices to rise by up to 30pc by 2015 October 20, 2010 COMMUTERS will face more misery as the price of rail fares rockets over the coming years. The capped regulated price of train tickets will rise by three per cent over inflation over three years, starting in 2012. The price for those commuting long distances into the capital could rocket, with a season ticket from Brighton [...]
Capital spend is silver lining October 20, 2010 AN unexpected perk of the Comprehensive Spending Review was an increase of £2m in capital expenditure on the figure announced in the June budget. Osborne says capital spending will be £59.5bn this year, falling to £50.7bn in 2011-12, £48.5bn in 2012-13, £45.6bn in 2013-14 and rising again to £47.2bn in 2014-15. This is a full [...]
US backs the UK military as details of cuts emerge October 20, 2010 THE CUTS to the defence budget announced on Tuesday were fleshed out yesterday, as the US government gave its support to the UK’s military. The Ministry of Defence’s budget will be cut to £33.5bn a year in 2104–15, but will rise slightly in 2011. Day-to-day and capital spending will be cut by a cumulative 7.5 [...]
Cuts to local governments could push outsourcing firms into administration October 20, 2010 LOCAL government will bear the brunt of some of the harshest cuts in the entire spending review, prompting one expert to predict the collapse of a number of companies that rely on outsourcing work. The department of communities and local government will see its day-to-day spending cut by 33 per cent in real terms over [...]
Aid to China and Russia is cut from DfID’s budget October 20, 2010 OVERSEAS aid was shielded from yesterday’s cuts, though the department for international development (DfID)?will halt aid payments to China and Russia and reduce its administration costs to help bring the deficit down. The department’s budget will rise to £11.6bn over four years to meet UN aid commitments, which will include spending £500m to help fight [...]
Osborne promises affordable properties to cushion large social housing savings October 20, 2010 CHANCELLOR George Osborne said yesterday that 150,000 affordable homes will be built by 2015, in a bid to ease the housing shortage. The spending review also promised to make it simpler to get permission to build new homes. The plans are intended to support private sector growth to balance out cuts to the housing welfare [...]
Spending Review Reaction October 20, 2010 THE GILTS EXPERT Killik & Co provides advisory services to private investors of all sizes. It offers advice on a wide range of financial matters, including CFDs, equities, fixed income markets and funds of funds INVESTMENT STRATEGIST PATRICK GORDON “The gilts market reaction has been fairly muted to the spending review although we did see [...]
Child benefit cuts hit more October 20, 2010 THE withdrawal of child benefit from higher rate taxpayers in 2013 will hit 300,000 families more than the government had first believed, it emerged yesterday. Chancellor George Osborne said child benefit would remain in place until young people left education “at the age of 18 or even 19” rather than being reduced from 19 to [...]
Sixth forms set to suffer, but spending on schools is safe October 20, 2010 SIXTH forms and further education colleges face stark cuts, though schools have been granted a real term budget rise, the coalition confirmed yesterday. The education maintenance grant, introduced by Labour to encourage 16 to 19 year olds to remain in education, will be scrapped to save £500m. Chancellor George Osborne said it would be replaced [...]