Tories’ ‘triple lock’ pension pledge could cost Treasury £4bn June 16, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak will have to stump up £4bn on pensioners from next year to cover the Conservative Party’s ‘triple lock’ pledge, despite efforts to cut back spending after the pandemic. The headline growth rate of average UK earnings rose to 5.6 per cent in April — an artificial inflation caused by last year’s furlough [...]
Number of Uber UK rides back to pre-pandemic levels June 7, 2021 Uber this morning said that the number of rides booked by UK users has now returned to pre-pandemic levels. The ride-hailing app said that the loosening of restrictions on hospitality venues had been the main driving force behind the return of demand. Most of the trips currently being taken are in the evening, Uber added, [...]
Longer lockdown based on hypotheticals would come with serious economic costs June 2, 2021 The penny is finally beginning to drop. The health service’s focus on giving absolute priority to the treatment of Covid-19 generates costs and problems on a massive scale. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, has warned of the huge pressures on the NHS from the backlog of non-Covid cases. Many of these are life-threatening [...]
Uber strikes deal with GMB union over driver representation May 26, 2021 Union GMB will now represent Uber drivers after striking a deal with the ride-hailing firm, it was announced this evening. The firm’s 70,000 drivers will now be able to choose to be represented by the union if they wish, in a first for the sector. The deal comes months after Uber said it would treat [...]
Keir Starmer was right on one thing in his reshuffle – we need a Future of Work Secretary May 15, 2021 After a poor set of local election results and a botched reshuffle, Labour hasn’t had the best of weeks. But one thing it may have gotten right is the appointment of Angela Rayner as “shadow secretary for the future of work”. While it is easy to mock the elaborate titles bestowed on the deputy leader [...]
Aspire – Better for us May 7, 2021 An organisation that campaigns for better public procurement has won a 2021 Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the promotion of opportunity through social mobility category. For 17 years Aspire Community Works has been pursuing a better deal for local people, firstly as a charity and latterly as a community business. In the last year, the [...]
Mayor of London election: Where do the major candidates stand on the Covid recovery? May 5, 2021 With the 6 May mayor of London election just one day away, City A.M. is producing a four-piece series on where the four leading candidates stand on different issues. Today, we look at Covid recovery policies from the candidates from Labour, the Conservatives, the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats. Sadiq Khan The incumbent mayor [...]
Millions of workers set to benefit as UK hikes minimum wage April 1, 2021 Around 2m of the UK’s lowest-paid workers will receive a “well-earned” pay rise from today following increases in statutory minimum wages. Workers are being urged to check their pay packets as the National Living Wage rises by 2.2 per cent to £8.91, the equivalent of more than £345 a year for a full-time employee. It [...]
What 175 years of data tell us about house price affordability in the UK March 29, 2021 What we’ve learned from nearly 200 years of housing data – and is property really a better investment than a pension? We dug into the treasure trove that is the Bank of England’s Millennium of data resource to analyse the history of house prices. We found that the average house in the UK currently costs more than [...]
Screenshot: Will workers’ rights put a puncture in Deliveroo’s IPO? March 26, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Farewell to the real McCoy **Will workers’ rights put a puncture in Deliveroo’s IPO? **A watchdog bares its teeth Media Moment of the Week: Farewell to the real McCoy In a shock bit of transfer news this week, BBC presenter Simon McCoy announced he was leaving the Beeb [...]