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 [...]
What does the chancellor’s budget mean for you? December 5, 2012 Catherine Gannon, 50 Managing director of law firm Gannon Having started her own business 10 years ago, she earns around £100,000, though says this is getting more difficult to achieve, and while she has a share portfolio, she doesn’t have much in the way of a pension plan. Lives with her two children aged 10 [...]
Coalition hopes to fill UK energy gap with gas December 5, 2012 THE DASH for gas came a step closer yesterday as the chancellor talked up the importance of the fuel for Britain’s energy security. But there were fears that the incentives offered to gas producers would not be enough to tempt firms to generate enough power to bridge the UK’s looming capacity gap. In the Department [...]
TV and video game industries get duty cut December 5, 2012 BRITAIN’S creative industries were boosted by new tax incentives yesterday. The video game, animation, and “high-end” TV production sectors will receive a credit to offset corporation taxes, amounting to 25 per cent of qualifying spending, George Osborne announced. The policy had been announced in March’s Budget, but the level of tax relief was not made [...]
Treasury expecting £3.5bn 4G auction windfall December 5, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT expects to raise £3.5bn from next year’s auction of the mobile airwaves needed to run high-speed 4G services, George Osborne said yesterday. The windfall will boost the Treasury’s coffers, and will flatter this year’s deficit figure, but will be far less than the £22.5bn raised in 2000’s 3G auction. In fact, the £3.5bn [...]
Investors shrug off chancellor’s statement and growth revisions December 5, 2012 CHANCELLOR George Osborne’s rejigging off his fiscal policies failed to jolt markets yesterday, while investors would not allow themselves to be spooked by lower growth forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility. The UK’s fiscal watchdog slashed its estimate of UK growth for 2012 to minus 0.1 per cent, down from its previous estimate of [...]
