NGOs including Oxfam and Save the Children call on Covid-19 Inquiry to probe global impact of UK vaccine buying August 22, 2022 A string of NGOs, including Oxfam, have called on the chair of the Government’s Covid-19 Inquiry to probe the impacts of UK pandemic policy on the global stage. In a letter to chair Baroness Hallett today, the NGOs said: “Given the inquiry’s focus on the impact of the pandemic on inequalities, this should include [...]
Criminal Barristers vote to escalate strike action over legal aid fees August 22, 2022 Criminal barristers today voted in favour of plans to cancel their bi-weekly court walkouts and run a continuous strike from 5 September onwards. The Criminal Bar Association’s members overwhelmingly backed the decision to strike on an “indefinite basis” on Monday morning. 2273 members backed escalation of strikes by 79.5 per cent, with 11 per cent supporting a continuation [...]
Soaring energy bills could plunge Britain into a ‘humanitarian crisis,’ NHS leaders warn August 19, 2022 NHS leaders have warned that soaring energy bills could plunge the UK into a “humanitarian crisis” by driving a surge in hospital admissions. The heads of NHS trusts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland called on the government limit price hikes and offer greater financial support to prevent a “public health emergency”. The NHS chiefs [...]
Less than 62,000 of UK’s one million trusts registered with HMRC just two weeks before deadline August 19, 2022 Only a tiny proportion of those who own non-taxable trusts have registered them with HM Revenues and Customs’ (HMRC’s) Trust Registration Service (TRS), just weeks before the deadline on 1 September. A total of 61,700 of the UK’s estimated one million trusts were registered with the HMRC service in the first six months of 2022, [...]
UK government to launch overseas hiring spree to fill Brexit care sector labour shortages August 19, 2022 The UK government is seeking to hire thousands of overseas workers to fill 160,000 vacancies in the UK’s care sector. The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is exploring ways to make it easier for workers form countries including India and the Philippines to work in the UK’s social care sector, The Times reported. [...]
City Exclusive – Criminal barristers lured to law firms as strikes set to escalate August 19, 2022 City law firms are making concerted efforts to capitalise on the collapse of the criminal justice system by hiring disgruntled barristers into their firms, recruiters and law firms exclusively told City A.M. Legal sector recruiters said they’ve seen a sharp uptick in law firms approaching them seeking to bolster their teams by hiring criminal [...]
Liz Truss to launch ‘war on technocrats’ by merging City watchdogs August 18, 2022 Tory leadership frontrunner Liz Truss is planning an immediate shakeup of the City’s major regulators if she wins the race to become prime minister. Truss is planning to merge the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and Payments System Regulator (PSR) into a single, new body. The Conservative party MP’s plans comes [...]
Auditor BDO quits Tory co-chair’s concierge service Quintessentially August 17, 2022 BDO is reportedly resigning as auditor of Quintessentially, the members-only concierge service founded by Tory party co-chair Ben Elliot, following a breakdown in their relationship. The auditing firm has cut ties with Quintessentially’s travel service, and is also set to exit its relationship with the wider group, the Financial Times reported. BDO declined to comment on the report. [...]
Harrods threatens to become first major employer to use agency staff as strikebreakers August 16, 2022 The staffing agency industry’s trade body has hit out at Harrods after the luxury department store threatened to take advantage of new laws allowing it to break strikes using temporary workers. Harrods told its staff it is willing to use temporary workers to keep its shop running after employees at the Knightsbridge shop threatened to [...]
UK’s professional services sector weathers economic headwinds August 13, 2022 The UK’s professional services sector has continued to grow its turnovers in the face of major economic headwinds, new UK government data shows. The accountancy sector’s turnovers increased 3.7 per cent, from £3.41bn in May to £3.54bn in June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows. The country’s legal sector also saw its turnovers [...]