Council trialling four-day work week ordered to ‘end experiment immediately’ July 3, 2023 A council undergoing a four-day work week trial has been ordered to stop the experiment by a minister over concerns about local residents not getting value for money. South Cambridgeshire District Council was the UK’s first local authority to launch a trial of a shorter working week for employees, and said it planned to extend [...]
‘Lean in’ to artificial intelligence, education secretary urges firms June 29, 2023 Businesses need to “lean in” to the power of artificial intelligence (AI), education secretary Gillian Keegan has said. The education secretary told City A.M. indulging in fears about AI wiping out jobs and opportunities was unproductive. Asked whether she was concerned about the impact of the new technology such as ChatGPT and Bard altering or [...]
Dorries and Rees-Mogg ‘waged campaign to undermine’ privileges committee probe into Johnson June 29, 2023 Boris Johnson allies Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg were among MPs who attempted to undermine the privileges committee’s investigation into the ex-prime minister. Eight current and former MPs – Dorries, Rees-Mogg, Lord Zac Goldsmith, Mark Jenkinson, Michael Fabricant, Brendan Clarke-Smith, Andrea Jenkyns, and Priti Patel – were involved in a “campaign waged outside Parliament… to [...]
Johnson’s ‘unambiguous’ breach over Daily Mail column shows need for reform, Tory peer warns June 27, 2023 Boris Johnson’s “unambiguous rule breach” over his Daily Mail column shows the urgent need to reform the approach to post-ministerial jobs, the government has been warned. Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) chairman Lord Eric Pickles wrote to deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden with his concerns today. The Conservative peer said the former prime minister’s [...]
Sunak’s five pledges laid to waste as most Brits say he’s doing a ‘bad job’ – especially on inflation June 23, 2023 Rishi Sunak asked Brits to ‘judge me on my record”, and it seems that’s exactly what people have done, as three quarters think the prime minister is “doing badly” at cutting inflation. A fresh poll by YouGov laid bare the lack of confidence in the PM this morning, after the group surveyed the public on [...]
Government accuses peers of seeking to delay controversial strike reforms June 21, 2023 The government has accused peers of trying to delay controversial strike reforms that unions fear will make it easier to sack workers. The House of Lords had made a series of amendments to the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill aimed at protecting workers and trade unions, plus requiring the government to consult further on the [...]
Safety tech firms get £350k boost to tackle ‘plague’ of online child abuse June 15, 2023 Safety tech firms are set to receive a £350,000 investment to help tackle the “plague” of online child abuse. Researchers have revealed UK firms boast a 25 per cent market share of the global safety tech sector, as three UK start-ups win government cash to rocket power their innovation. Tech minister Paul Scully said: “The [...]
Government price tag for making tax digital has ballooned, report warns June 12, 2023 The credibility of the government’s plans to allow people to file their tax bills digitally has been undermined by repeated delays and a bill that has increased about sixfold, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said. The official auditors said that the final bill is currently expected to be £1.3bn, an increase of more than [...]
Danone UK boss urges government to raise fat, sugar and salt taxes June 11, 2023 The UK boss of a major food firm has called on ministers to link VAT rates to the “health credentials” of products containing fat, salt and sugar, in the first example of such a demand coming from business rather than government. James Mayer, president of Danone UK & Ireland, which sells the Actimel yoghurt drink [...]
Retailers urge rethink on net zero ‘grocery tax’ as public blame Brexit for rising costs June 4, 2023 Top retailers have urged the government to rethink plans for green levies to fund the recycling of food packaging in a bid to avoid a further rise in spiralling food costs. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned the scheme, dubbed the ‘net zero grocery tax’, could push up shopping bills by up to £4bn [...]