Fact Service November 2012
Issue 48 (29/11/2012) - Millions face low pay, no pay poverty; Improvements required in apprenticeships; Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2012; Blacklister grilled by Scottish MPs; Party funding down; Economic growth confirmed at 1%
Issue 47 (22/11/2012) - Reform of capability assessments too slow; Warning about burned-out workers in Britain; Global unions warn against net grab; Forecasts for economy in medium-term; Employees win over pay deductions; Flexible working changes in 2014; Experiences over Public Sector Equality Duty
Issue 46 (15/11/2012) - No good news on earnings growth; Parents to share leave; Cuts to injury scheme; Privatisation halted; Unemployment falls; Rebound for inflation
Issue 45 (08/11/2012) New Living Wage set; Double-dip recession for pay in 2011-12; Manufacturing output is positive; Council pension fund investment strategy; Long-term bonuses boost executive pay; Bold action to halt fall in living standards
Issue 44 (01/11/2012) Official data for deaths at work show fall; Too many earn less than Living Wage; Unitary taxation would stop avoidance; Families count high cost of childcare; Concerns raised over impact of job cuts; Low-paid hit by poor pension provision; Civil liability in health and safety removed
Issue 48
Millions face low pay, no pay poverty (457 words)
The extent of in-work poverty is laid bare in a new Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) report, which highlights the insecurity faced by millions of ...
Subscribers only
Improvements required in apprenticeships (452 words)
The quality of apprenticeships needs to be improved and they should be more focused on the needs of employers, said Doug Richards in his ...
Subscribers only
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2012 (614 words)
Full-time average weekly earnings fell in real terms but the gender pay gap narrowed slightly in April 2012, according to official figures. ...
Subscribers only
Blacklister grilled by Scottish MPs (353 words)
Construction firms working on landmark projects including the London Olympics, Wembley Stadium and the Millennium Dome were among those who used a ...
Subscribers only
Party funding down (258 words)
Nine political parties registered in Great Britain reported accepting a total of just over £7 million in donations between 1 July and 30 ...
Subscribers only
Economic growth confirmed at 1% (121 words)
The UK economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) did grow at 1% in the third quarter, the second estimate from the Office for National ...
Open access
Issue 47
Reform of capability assessments too slow (515 words)
Too many people still find the process of undergoing eligibility assessments for sickness benefit “more challenging than it should ...
Subscribers only
Warning about burned-out workers in Britain (422 words)
More than half of British employees are now working longer hours than they were three years ago, a new report suggests. Three out of five workers (58% ...
Subscribers only
Global unions warn against net grab (350 words)
Proposals to place the internet under the control of a UN technical body could restrict political freedoms and harm civil society, the TUC has warned. ...
Subscribers only
Forecasts for economy in medium term (157 words)
The economy is expected to grow on average by 1.1%, according to the Treasury’s round-up of around 40 independent forecasts. ...
Open access
Employees win over pay deductions (254 words)
More than 400 employees have been successful in an unlawful pay deductions complaint against employer Greencore. ...
Subscribers only
Flexible working changes in 2014 (479 words)
Employees will be entitled to new flexible working arrangements, following a government consultation. The new rights were announced at the same time ...
Subscribers only
Experiences of Public Sector Equality Duty (124 words)
The government has decided to review the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in line with its “strong desire to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy ...
Open access
Issue 46
No good news on earnings growth (516 words)
Earnings growth slumped back in September according to the latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics. ...
Subscribers only
Parents to share leave (392 words)
Reforms that will allow parents to share up to a year’s leave after the birth of a child have been announced by deputy prime minister Nick ...
Subscribers only
Cuts to injury scheme (145 words)
Coalition MPs have voted to support proposed cuts to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme that will slash or axe altogether the financial ...
Open access
Privatisation halted (170 words)
Gloucestershire NHS campaigners have been celebrating victory as Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust has announced that the county’s eight ...
Open access
Unemployment falls (549 words)
Unemployment under the Labour Force Survey count fell by 49,000 to 2.51 million in the three-month period ending September. The unemployment rate is ...
Subscribers only
Rebound for inflation (453 words)
The rate of inflation jumped back up on both of the main measures last month, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show. ...
Subscribers only
Issue 45
New Living Wage set (539 words)
The Living Wage should rise by 3.5%, poverty campaigners have said in the run up to the Living Wage Week. ...
Subscribers only
Double-dip recession for pay in 2011-12 (367 words)
Pay — just like the economy as a whole — suffered a double-dip recession in the 2011-12 pay round that ended in July, according to an ...
Subscribers only
Manufacturing output is positive (242 words)
Factory output is showing some recovery, the latest official figures show. ...
Open access
Council pension fund investment strategy (262 words)
Council pension funds could double the amount they are allowed to invest in local infrastructure by a further £22 billion, according to ...
Subscribers only
Long-term bonuses boost executive pay (447 words)
Pay and benefits of top business executives rose by 27% last year to an average of £4 million each, despite a backlash against big basic ...
Subscribers only
Bold action to halt fall in living standards (544 words)
Millions of households are heading for a long period of stagnant living standards unless bold steps are taken to ensure that growth over the next ...
Subscribers only
Issue 44
Official data for deaths at work show fall (339 words)
The number of workers fatally injured at work in 2011-12 edged down by just two, according to the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) annual figures. ...
Subscribers only
Too many earn less than Living Wage (289 words)
One in five workers in the UK — some 4.82 million people — are paid less than the Living Wage, new research from accountancy firm KPMG ...
Subscribers only
Unitary taxation would stop avoidance (260 words)
One way of stopping the multinationals avoiding corporation tax in the UK would be a system of unitary taxation, campaigners say. ...
Subscribers only
Families count high cost of childcare (387 words)
High childcare costs mean that a woman working full-time could bring home as little as £4 a week in extra pay a new report from the Resolution ...
Subscribers only
Concerns raised over impact of job cuts (266 words)
The coalition government is largely flying blind on the damage public sector workforce cuts could be doing to the labour market, according to an ...
Subscribers only
Low-paid hit by poor pension provision (371 words)
Low-paid workers are far less likely to have a workplace pension, and those that do have far lower employer contribution rates, according to a new ...
Subscribers only
Civil liability in health and safety removed (518 words)
A basic right of injured workers has been removed by the coalition government at the very last minute in an amendment to the Enterprise and ...
Subscribers only