Magistrates court workers vote to strike over digital system August 11, 2022 Members of the union representing Magistrates’ court workers today voted in favour of plans to strike over complaints about the digitalization of England and Wales’ court systems. Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) are calling on the government to reconsider its plans to digitalise the courts through the launch of its Common Platform. [...]
UK audit body opens consultation on plans to update public sector accounting guidance August 9, 2022 The UK’s Public Audit Forum (PAF) has opened a consultation on revising the guidance on auditing public sector entities. The PAF, a consortium of the UK’s four national audit agencies, are calling on auditors and other stakeholders to offer their views on plans to amend Practice Note 10, which provides guidance on auditing public [...]
KPMG restarts UK government contract bids August 8, 2022 KPMG has restarted competing for UK government contracts, after the Big Four accounting firm withdrew from public sector tenders last December, following a series of high-profile accounting scandals. The Big Four accountancy firm re-commenced bidding for UK public sector contracts in early-June, after it pulled out of competing for lucrative UK government contracts at the [...]
Dominic Raab weighs up plans for further barriers to judicial reviews August 8, 2022 Justice secretary Dominic Raab is considering introducing new measures to make it harder to challenge government decisions via judicial reviews, leaked documents seen by the Guardian show. The plans could also see judges subject to new more stringent criteria in bringing forward cases, that could see courts banned from hearing cases in certain areas of [...]
Bain & Co weighs up legal action against UK government over contract ban August 5, 2022 Bain & Co is considering taking legal action against the UK government after Britain banned the US consultancy from competing for contracts over its role in alleged “state capture and corruption by the South African government”. The US consultancy is considering “all options” including launching a judicial review, in a bid to overturn the UK [...]
UK government bans Bain & Co from competing for contracts over role in South African corruption scandal August 3, 2022 US consulting firm Bain & Co has been banned from competing for UK government contracts, after a review by the Cabinet Office determined the Boston consultancy “guilty of grave professional misconduct” over its role in alleged “state capture and corruption by the South African government”. As first reported by the Financial Times, Cabinet Minister Jacob [...]
Workers on UK government’s DBS contract to strike after rejecting pay deal August 2, 2022 Workers at the outsourcing company that runs the call centres for the UK government’s criminal record checking services today set out plans to strike over pay and working conditions. The action is set to see 80 members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) launch a six-day strike against government contractor Hinduja Global Solutions [...]
Insolvencies surge to highest rates since financial crash as voluntary bankruptcies hit record levels August 2, 2022 The UK government’s Insolvency Service today said it recorded a higher number of insolvencies over the past three months than at any other point in more than a decade, after the numbers of companies declaring voluntary bankruptcies hit their highest levels since records began. The past three months saw a total of 5,629 English and [...]
UK small businesses scrap hiring plans in face of mounting economic uncertainty August 2, 2022 The proportion of UK small businesses seeking to expand their headcounts has plummeted over the previous quarter, according to new figures from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Just 12 per cent of UK small and medium enterprises (SME’s) are currently looking recruit new staff, compared to 37 per cent in March, figures from [...]
Trade unions challenge government’s strike breaking law July 27, 2022 A COALITION of trade unions have launched a legal challenge against the government, over claims its new law, allowing companies to bring in agency workers as strikebreakers, breaches the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) and violates the UK’s Brexit trade deal. The challenge comes after the government last week overturned laws forbidding companies from hiring angency [...]