Fact Service December 2011

Issue 50 (15/12/2011) - Proposed tribunal fees will price out justice; Average earnings; Inflation down; Unemployment figures make grim reading; Community members targeted by union; Winter weather advice from Acas

Issue 49 (08/12/2011) - Income inequality; Manufacturing output heads for a fall; Workplace rights; 'Lost decade; for living standards in Britain; MPs fear Southern Cross mark 2; Banks must reform pay at the top; Affordable housing disgrace in England

Issue 48 (01/12/2011) - Austerity statement; Measures to tackle youth unemployment; Health and safety regulation under attack; Auto-enrolment delay on pensions; Public sector pay cap - 'insult to injury'; Pay settlements show little movement

Issue 50

Proposed tribunal fees to price out justice (278 words)

Options on a draconian fees system for tribunals have been outlined in a Ministry of Justice consultation paper. ...

Average earnings (379 words)

Average weekly earnings, including bonuses, for the whole economy posted an annual rise of 2.0% in October against 1.9% for September. ...

Inflation down (242 words)

Inflation fell on a slowdown in the rise in food prices and non-alcoholic drinks. Under the Retail Prices Index (RPI), it was down to ...

Unemployment figures make grim reading (463 words)

Youth unemployment hit another grim record high in October as the total number of jobless hit a 17-year high. ...

Community members targeted by union (178 words)

A new membership scheme to ensure that those pushed to the margins of society can benefit from collective power has been launched by the ...

Winter weather advice from Acas (218 words)

Advice on a number of winter problems has been posted on the website of the employment relations experts Acas. ...

Issue 49

Income inequality (676 words)

The gap between rich and poor in OECD countries has reached its highest level for over 30 years, and governments must act quickly to ...

Manufacturing output heads for a fall (336 words)

The omens do not appear to be favourable as manufacturing output has fallen for the first time in two years, according to the latest ...

Workplace rights (258 words)

A guide to the UK’s key enforcement agencies has been published by the TUC. Enforcing basic workplace rights aims to raise awareness of basic ...

‘Lost decade’ for living standards in Britain (269 words)

Britain faces a “lost decade” for living standards due to the financial crisis, which has created a lasting legacy of slow growth and government ...

MPs fear Southern Cross mark 2 (315 words)

The government is not doing enough to monitor the finances of England’s care homes, a House of Commons public accounts committee (PAC) has said. ...

Banks must reform pay at the top (304 words)

UK banks have been urged to end "rewards for failure" by slashing senior pay and bonuses and creating better links between reward and performance ...

Affordable housing disgrace in England (141 words)

The number of affordable housing starts in England has slumped, according to the official figures. ...

Issue 48

Austerity statement (497 words)

Forecasts for UK government borrowing have been increased, the chancellor has announced in his Autumn Statement. ...

Measures to tackle youth unemployment (490 words)

UK businesses are to be offered £2,275 to take on unemployed people aged between 16 and 24 as the government tries to tackle joblessness ...

Health and safety regulation under attack (539 words)

The government is launching a consultation on the abolition of “large numbers” of health and safety rules in its attack on the so-called “compensation ...

Auto-enrolment delay on pensions (269 words)

The government has announced that firms with fewer than 50 staff will be given more time before they have to start auto-enrolling employees into ...

Public sector pay cap — ‘insult to injury’ (282 words)

Unions have slammed plans for a 1% pay cap for public sector workers announced by chancellor George Osborne in his Autumn Statement. Osborne said ...

Pay settlements show little movement (170 words)

Pay settlements have been flatlining at 2.5% over the past three months, according to an analysis of the Labour Research Department’s Payline database of ...