Issue 13

Budget aftermath hits council workers (532 words)

Chancellor George Osborne is under pressure from public services union UNISON to explain why local council workers are being denied the £250 pay increase ...

Household incomes hit by rising inflation (86 words)

Household incomes have fallen for the first time since 1981, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). ...

Economy shrinks (146 words)

The economy is back to where we thought it was back at the end of January. ...

UK’s trading position deteriorates in 2010 (300 words)

Britain’s trading with the rest of the world worsened last year, according to early estimates from the Office for National Statistics. The current account ...

Ryanair pay-off to pilot (225 words)

A former Ryanair pilot has won a £40,000 pay-off from the airline after he was sacked. James Anderson, a member of pilots’ union BALPA, ...

Two nationalised banks back in profit (144 words)

There was a return to the black in 2010 for Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock Asset Management, according to the state-owned firm UK ...

Top pay in boardroom (638 words)

To paraphrase David Cameron — “They are all in this together” — that is knee-deep in big pay cheques and big pay rises. ...

Issue 12

RPI inflation spirals to 20-year high (404 words)

Inflation is at its highest level since June 1991, official figures show. The rate of inflation under the Retail Prices Index (RPI) reached 5.5% ...

Bare rise in R&D spend (200 words)

If Britain is to get further down the road of recovery, it needs to innovate, but the “latest” figures on research and development (R&D) ...

Budget 2011 (491 words)

The UK economy will grow much more slowly this year than previously forecast, the chancellor George Osborne said in his second Budget. ...

Unions unimpressed with Osborne's Budget (578 words)

Unions found little comfort in George Osborne’s second Budget — a “no budge Budget", said one. ...

Hutton on pensions (476 words)

Millions of public sector employees should work for longer and receive smaller pensions, according to the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission headed by the ...

Issue 11

Huttton links top public pay to performance (499 words)

Senior public servants’ pay should be directly linked to their performance and should be explained transparently to the public, says Will Hutton. In return, ...

New technology added to shopping basket (380 words)

Smart phone handsets and phone apps that run on them are two additions to the 650-strong basket of goods used by the Office for ...

Unemployment breaks 2.5 million barrier (548 words)

Unemployment has broken through the 2.5 million barrier and is at a 17-year high, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show. ...

City bonuses impact on growth in earnings (408 words)

City bonuses have distorted upwards the rise in average weekly earnings, the latest figures show. ...

Economy expected to expand during 2011-12 (188 words)

The economy is expected to grow by anywhere between 1.3% and 3.1%, according to the Treasury’s summary of around 40 forecasts from independent and ...

Issue 10

Vote gives more power to Welsh Assembly (228 words)

Voters in Wales have given a resounding ‘Yes’ in the referendum on direct law-making powers for the National Assembly for Wales. ...

Unions’ victory in landmark court ruling (565 words)

The Court of Appeal has given a landmark judgment on industrial action, which makes it more difficult for employers to stop strikes. The decision ...

Safety checks at risk as HSE cuts bite (435 words)

Plans by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to cut unannounced workplace inspections by a third have been exposed in a BBC radio programme. ...

Record closure rate of pension schemes (297 words)

Final salary pension schemes are closing their doors to future contributions from existing members at a record rate, the leading voice of workplace pensions ...

Rise in childcare costs hits working families (435 words)

Significant rises in costs for all forms of childcare are highlighted in the 10th annual childcare costs survey from the Daycare Trust, the national ...

Manufacturing goes onwards and upwards (208 words)

Manufacturing continued its recovery and posted its 15th consecutive three-monthly rise in the three months to January, according to the Office for National Statistics. ...

Issue 9

HSBC disclosures on pay at the top (336 words)

The HSBC bank has become the first of the big banks to provide more information on top pay. ...

Merger activity is at historic low level (379 words)

Merger activity in the UK by UK companies was at its lowest since 1994, according to figures published the Office for National Statistics (ONS). ...

Economy shrank more than first thought (97 words)

The UK economy shrank by more than previously thought in the last quarter of 2010, revised figures from the Office for National Statistics show. ...

NHS prescriptions to be free in Scotland (136 words)

The Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee has passed the legislation that will result in prescriptions for all patients in Scotland being free from 1 April. ...

Older people in the labour market (375 words)

Over the past decade, an increasing number of older people (those aged 65 and over) have stayed in work. This increase is seen in ...

Quotas ruled out on boardroom balance (377 words)

At the current rate of change it will take over 70 years to achieve gender-balanced boardrooms in the UK, according to a government-sponsored report ...

Missing company taxes (303 words)

While the people at the top of tree at HSBC can break out the bubbly on the back of their 2010 pay packets, the ...