Income tax allowance raised 2.5pc higher than expected December 5, 2012 PERSONAL income tax allowances are to rise by more than planned to reach £9,440 from April 2013, it was announced yesterday. The move is £235 higher than anticipated and means an annual increase of £1,335 in the threshold at which people start paying tax. The Treasury predicts the move will benefit 24.4m people and take [...]
Gove’s free school programme gets boost with £1bn injection December 5, 2012 ALMOST £1bn will be spent on building up to 100 new free schools and academies by the end of this parliament. The £980m fund, which will also be spent on expanding the size of top-performing schools, has been created in a bid to combat a squeeze on places in areas with the greatest pressure. The initiative [...]
Thousands of civil servants face the sack December 5, 2012 THOUSANDS of Whitehall staff are set to lose their jobs over the next two years, following yesterday’s confirmation that most departments face budget cuts from next financial year. With some departments – such as health – enjoying a ringfenced budget, others face being decimated in order to raise billions of pounds to fund infrastructure projects. [...]
Statement brings halt to £425m rates hike on small businesses December 5, 2012 BUSINESS rate relief will not halve in April, as planned, but will be extended into 2014, it was revealed yesterday. Businesses using only one property, with a rateable value of £6,000 or less, currently pay nothing whatsoever in business rates – but were set to lose half their rate relief as the measure expired at the [...]
Developers given grace period from empty property rates December 5, 2012 A MOVE to grant retailers and developers a grace period free from paying empty rates on new buildings has been dismissed by industry insiders as “not going far enough”. The chancellor said yesterday that all newly built commercial property completed from October 2013 to September 2016 will be free from empty property rates for the [...]
Thumbs up for Tube plan and £1bn roadworks December 5, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT’S ambitious plans to boost the economy through large infrastructure projects got a shot in the arm yesterday, as the chancellor pledged more than £5bn in new funding. The regeneration of Battersea was one of the focal points, with George Osborne revealing that the state will backstop a £1bn loan to extend the Northern [...]
Building firms offer a cautious welcome to the revamped PFI December 5, 2012 COMPANIES yesterday gave a lukewarm reaction to a new plan to privately fund infrastructure projects, replacing the controversial Private Finance Initiative (PFI). In a widely-trailed move, George Osborne said the new PF2 scheme will try to attract more money from long-term investors such as pension funds, to ensure PF2 has a more stable funding structure [...]
No information on the next stage of HS2 until new year December 5, 2012 THE HIGH Speed 2 rail link was among the transport plans to be left out of the Autumn Statement yesterday, with the chancellor stating that details on the second phase of the route have been delayed until next year. The £33bn HS2 proposal will link London to Birmingham, and later Leeds and Manchester. A decision [...]
Drivers swerve to avoid planned 3p per litre rise in cost of petrol December 5, 2012 MOTORISTS cheered yesterday, as an increasingly influential wing of the Conservative party convinced the chancellor to scrap a planned 3p per litre rise in petrol duty for good. This was the biggest victory yet for a loose collective of Tory MPs, many representing marginal constituencies in the south east of England, who want the government [...]
Loan export agency to dish out £1.5bn overseas to aid UK firms December 5, 2012 FOREIGN companies will be given up to £1.5bn of loans by the UK government to encourage them to buy British goods, under plans announced yesterday. UK Export Finance, led by minister Vince Cable, will get the cash from Treasury coffers to provide loans of up to £50m to any firm overseas that wants to buy [...]
