BIG: The basis for a sustainable Voluntary & Community Sector - The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) has launched a multi-million pound programme that will fund support for the voluntary & community sector (VCS) in England - the new £155 million BASIS programme (Building and Sustaining Infrastructure Services).
BASIS is the first Big Lottery Fund programme to focus solely on developing VCS infrastructure and it aims to fund a more expert, consistently available & sustainable set of support services for front line voluntary & community organisations across
The BASIS programme will support work by infrastructure organisations that increases the:
· voluntary and community organisations skills in management & fundraising
· influence voluntary sector organisations have on national and local policy & practice
· ability voluntary and community organisations have to learn from their work and share that learning
· diversity & skills of voluntary and community organisations trustees
· pools of resources available to voluntary and community organisations
There will be three rounds of grants made, in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and funds will be allocated following a two-stage process, with the deadline for 2006 bids on
Press release ~ Big Lottery Fund ~ BASIS programme - Building and Sustaining Infrastructure Services (Scroll down for documents) ~ BASIS leaflet ~ Stakeholder events – contact Regional offices ~ Change Up ~ Capacity Builders ~ NACVS (National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service) ~ NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations)
DCA: Bad news comes in ….? – The Law Society has had a bad week with multiple criticisms from Zahida Manzoor CBE. Firstly in her role as Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (see Legislation / Legal section) and secondly as Legal Services Ombudsman (LSO).
In her role as LSO, she reports that the Law Society has failed to properly investigate miners' complaints against their solicitors, who had made claims on their behalf for Vibration White Finger and/or Obstructive Pulmonary Disease from a government funded compensation scheme.
She is concerned:
· that some solicitors may have breached their code of conduct & not acted in the best interest of their clients
· that the Law Society did not investigate whether miners were being adequately advised
· about the relationship between some solicitors and the claims-handling agents to whom money was paid
· that some miners had been contacted directly by the Law Society when they had provided written authority that the complaint should be dealt with on their behalf by Mr Mann MP
She has formally criticised the Law Society on that last point and also called for compensation to be paid for any inadequate professional service and for any distress & inconvenience caused.
Press release ~ Legal Services Ombudsman website ~ Miners’ Report ~ LSO Background information ~ The Law Society ~ Vibration White Finger ~ Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ~ External review of the Coal Health Compensation Scheme ~ BBC article: Record payout for sick miners
Defra: Two weeks too late for PM - Environment Minister Elliot Morley has urged holidaymakers planning to travel abroad at Easter to reduce their effect on the environment. Mr Morley made the appeal to coincide with the start of the Government's own voluntary scheme to offset carbon emissions arising from official flights.
Money contributed by Government Departments under this offsetting initiative will purchase emissions reductions generated by renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, which reduce carbon emissions in developing countries.
The central feature of the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund (GCOF) will be a portfolio of projects under the Kyoto Protocol Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which will deliver the required emission reductions.
He also welcomed a new
Press release ~ The Travel Foundation ~ Climate change: Carbon offsetting ~ Sustainable Environment Action Plan ~ Kyoto Protocol Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Watch ~ UN CDM website ~ Defra - CDM ~ Carbon Tax calculator ~ Sustainable Aviation website ~ A strategy towards sustainable development ~ Sustainable Travel International website
DH: Speedier recovery at best hospitals - Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has highlighted analysis from the National Institute for Innovation and Improvement saying there is very wide variation between hospitals in the average length of time patients stay in for particular treatments.
By improving the discharge process so that patients are discharged when they are ready, not when the system is ready, the NHS can both improve patient care & save money.
For example, there is a range between the top 10 trusts and the lowest performing trusts of:
· 10.9 days to 44.5 days for the average length of stay for patients with a fractured neck of femur (broken hip)
· 7.4 days to 29 days for average length of stay for hip replacement
· 13 days to 55 days for average length of stay for an acute stroke
· 6.4 days to 20 days in for average length of stay for knee replacement
The NHS can help reduce variations in length of stay by employing measures like:
· starting to plan a patient's discharge on arrival
· providing clear indications for all staff about when the patient is due for discharge and
· co-ordinating with families & carers to ensure arrangements are in place for timely discharge
Press release ~ 'Delivering Quality and Value' ~ National Institute for Innovation and Improvement ~ Integrated Care Network ~ Care Services Improvement Network
DWP: Nothing for ages and then 3 come along all at once – In their third & final report, the Pensions Commissioner's have restated their belief that the recommendations on pension reform which the Commission presented last November provide the most balanced way forward.
Commission Chair, Lord Turner said:
"There is significant agreement around the proposed direction of reform to the state system - that the state pension should be made more generous and less means-tested but available at a gradually rising age.
And on the private side, there is almost universal support for automatic enrolment as a means strongly to encourage individuals to save whilst still leaving them ultimately free to make their own decisions about saving.
There is also considerable support for a level of ‘contingent employer’ compulsion although business organisations have raised legitimate concerns about the costs of this for small businesses."
Press release ~ Final Statement and related documents ~ Pension Commission portal page ~ National Pensions Debate ~ DWP website ~ Pensions Service ~ Pensions Advisory Service ~ Pensions Ombudsman ~ Pensions Regulator ~ Pensions Policy Institute ~ Pensions Management Institute ~ Pension Credit ~ FSA Pensions Calculator ~ HMRC Stakeholder pensions
Home Office / Defra: Clean that up at once! - All local authorities in England and Wales now have the power to issue the owners of 'street furniture', such as phone boxes, bus shelters & railway property, with an order to remove graffiti – a Defacement Removal Notice - following the commencement of section 31 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, which extends the system to cover fly posting as well.
To assist the proper use of this power, interim guidance was published in January and this has now been replaced by statutory guidance which is available now. Local Authorities will be expected to issue 'Defacement Removal Notices' to companies & organisations whose property is defaced, requiring them to remove both graffiti & fly posting off their property within 28 days. If this is not done, the local authority has the power to clean up the affected sites and recover costs from the owner.
Other powers that came in to force from
· Litter
· Graffiti
· Fly-posting
· Noise
· Dogs
· Waste (including fly-tipping)
· Nuisance Parking
· Abandoned Cars
· Shopping trolleys
· Statutory nuisances
Home Office press release ~ Defra press release ~ Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 ~ Section 31 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 ~ Defacement Removal Notices ~ Statutory Guidance on Defacement Removal Notices ~ Revised Code of practice on Litter and Refuse ~ Together website ~ Defra Clean Neighbourhoods website ~ Defra Local Environment Quality website ~ Legislation and enforcement ~ EnCams ~ Cleaner Safer Greener Communities
Industry News: What did you do after the war Father / Grandfather? - To many people, when you say the word ‘Archives’, it conjures up an image of rows of dusty shelves or, at best, a collection of electronic documents on their computer that neither they, nor anybody else, will probably ever want or need to look at ever again.
However, thanks to work at the National Archives, that situation is now changing and, when parents are asked to help children with their history homework, or serious social historians seek visual data, they can now be directed to a website that provides a visual social history (among thousands of other things) from 1945 right up to the present day.
Joining with the Central Office of Information (COI) to celebrate their 60th Anniversary, they have featured a selection some of the most memorable & influential COI public information films that cover some fascinating events from
Full article ~ National Archives ~ Central Office of Information (COI) ~ Historical Public Information Films 1945 - 2005
For other Industry News please click HERE
SPiN has teamed up with The Scottish Executive, SOCITM Insight, and the Improvement Service to organise a conference that features opportunities to meet people from the information & improvement sectors, developers and an exhibition showcasing new third party products.
The conference is also the occasion for announcement of the winners of the 2006 Scottish SPiN/Socitm website awards, and presentations will be made at the conference.
·
OFT: The Office of Fair
Trading has launched a market study to look in depth at the payment protection insurance (PPI)
sector. The study follows a
super-complaint from Citizens Advice (CitA) which was based upon the CitA
report - Protection racket: CAB evidence
on the cost and effectiveness of payment protection insurance. Three main
areas of concern have been highlighted: ·
Consumers pay excessive prices for PPI ·
The
protection consumers buy is partial, with evidence of high pressure &
unfair sales tactics ·
The
administration of PPI claims can be slow & unfair and can leave consumers
facing additional charges or serious debt enforcement
action. Press release ~ Citizens
Advice (CitA) ~ Protection
racket: CAB evidence on the cost and effectiveness of payment protection
insurance ~ OFT: Response to the super-complaint on payment protection insurance made by
Citizens Advice ~ OPDM: The
government says that local authorities should appoint a councillor or officer
to act as a ‘champion’ to help individuals & groups play a greater role in
shaping their communities by engaging with the planning
process. According to the government the ‘Champions’ will act
as a bridge between groups who often do not understand: ·
the
complexities of the planning system ·
how they
can make their views known and ·
the help
that is available to them through the independent Planning Aid Service, which provides
free advice & support on planning issues to people & communities who
couldn't otherwise afford it Press release ~ Planning Aid
Community Champions brochure ~ Planning Aid
website ~ Planning Aid for London ~ Planning Aid Concordat ~ Local
Government Environment Board ~ Royal Town Planning
Institute (RTPI) ODPM: Fourteen more councils have asked to
develop housing Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes to build more social
rented homes as part of a drive to regenerate their local communities. Nine new build schemes and five
decent homes & local regeneration schemes have been submitted as
expression of interest bids to the fifth bidding round. The outcome of
successful fifth round bids will be made known in the
summer. In May a new bidding round for ALMOs and housing transfer
for those local authorities not yet on a decent homes programme will be
launched. This bidding round will close at the end of
July with the outcome
announced in the Autumn. Press release ~ Sustainable Communities Plan ~ Arms
Length Management Organisation (ALMO) ~ Public Private Partnerships
Programme (the 4Ps) ~ Procurement Pack ESRC: Although World Health
Day was celebrated last week, significant opportunities
to help bring lasting peace to countries previously torn by civil war - through
re-building and improving their local health systems - are largely being missed
by the world’s major aid donors, according to important new research funded by
the Economic and Social Research Council
(ESRC). Health is increasingly an international matter,
with foreign policy & security implications. But issues
are too often portrayed only as threats, says
Professor Colin McInnes, of the Centre
for Health & International Relations, Press release ~ Global Health, Security and Foreign
Policy ~ London School of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine ~ World
Health Organisation’s ‘Health as a
Bridge for Peace’ programme ~ Department for International
Development ~ World Health Day DfES: The
Government has published its Action Plan
for the Ten Year Childcare Strategy, which sets out how they claim that
they will deliver on the commitments they have made to ‘transform the range of childcare, early
years and extended schools services available to parents’. The Action Plan also
sets out: ·
a
framework for local authorities to meet their duties under the Childcare Bill which will come in to
force from
2008 ·
the
latest thinking on consultation on the Early Years Foundation Stage and
·
how the
Department can support local authorities and providers in implementing
it Press release ~ 10-year Childcare Strategy Action Plan ~ Sure Start ~
4Children website ~ Childcare Bill ~ Guidance on the Extended Schools Initiative and the provision of
pre-school childcare ODPM: Twenty towns
around the country are to get the help of experts to ‘accelerate’ the economic
revival of their town centres in a two-year project, which is intended to help
to reduce crime & anti-social behaviour and improve the local environment
by working towards engaging business in developing Business Improvement Districts
(BIDs). Local business partnerships in the 20 selected areas
will receive free management, technical & communications support from town
centre experts, to establish sustainable partnerships between businesses, the
public sector and the local community. The project is a strand of the ‘How to’
programme, which aims to support councils and local agencies in taking
action to improve the quality of life in communities across
Press release ~ Cleaner Safer
Greener ~ ‘How to’ guides: Parks & open spaces ~ Improve residential areas ~ Manage Town Centres ~ BIDs ~ London BIDs ~
Safer Parking Scheme ~ Scottish BIDs ~ Living Places: Caring for Quality ~ Living
Places: Cleaner, Safer, Greener ~ ODPM
Cleaner Safer Greener communities website ODPM: The latest national framework setting
out a vision of the Fire & Rescue Service for the next two years has been
published by the Government. The framework stems from the Fire White Paper, Our Fire and Rescue Service, which was
published in June 2002. The Fire and Rescue National Framework
2006-08 outlines: ·
the Government's expectations for the Fire
& Rescue Service ·
what fire & rescue authorities are expected to
do and ·
what support Government will
provide Its central
theme is the Government's claimed commitment to reducing fire deaths &
deliberate fires through placing a greater emphasis on fire prevention. It also takes account of progress on
modernisation including Integrated Risk Management Plans (IRMPs), Resilience,
Regional control centres and Equality & diversity issues. Press release ~ Fire and
Rescue National Framework 2006-08 ~ Fire
White Paper, Our Fire and Rescue
Service ~ Fire and Rescue Service Online website ~ Integrated Risk Management Plans (IRMPs) ~ Resilience ~ FiReControl
project - Regional control centres website ODPM: Following
the Chancellor's announcement in the Budget of an Extra Homes Pilot, local authorities
and housing associations in London will be invited to put forward proposals to
help reduce the number of households living in insecure temporary accommodation
in the capital. The new pilot will build on the range of existing
& emerging 'temporary to permanent' housing schemes including the
Newham, the 'Local Space'
scheme, which is working to provide more affordable & settled homes
over the long term by capturing funding that was previously being used to pay
for costly temporary accommodation. In particular, the pilot scheme will explore new
approaches which help families to overcome barriers to work, provide settled
homes and reduce the cost of funding expensive temporary homes through housing
benefit. The Report for London
highlights: ·
·
An
increase in social housing for families in ·
An
action plan between Government, the ALG and GLA is being drawn up to start
addressing overcrowding in the Capital. Press release ~ Building on Success: London's challenge for 2012
(2.4 Mb) ~ ODPM –
Allocation of Accommodation ~ Empty
Management Orders ~ ODPM
Homelessness website ~ Newham, the 'Local Space'
scheme FSA: The
Financial Service Authority has published its consultation paper (closes
This follows
changes set out by the Treasury in a recent consultation which will bring SIPPs
within the FSA's remit. Under the new regime all those who operate a SIPPs
scheme will need to apply for additional permission or authorisation if not
already authorised. Press release ~ CP06/5 ~ Previous consultation - "Proposed changes to the eligibility
rules for establishing a pensions scheme"
~ Response statement ~ FSA – SIPPs ~ FSA Pensions
website ~ FSA related publications Defra: The
government claims that new measures to tackle air pollution could extend life
expectancy, cut environmental damage from acidic air pollution and generate
benefits of £1.4billion a year.
Air pollution is currently estimated
to
reduce the life expectancy of every
person in the Measures outlined for consultation in a review of the Air
Quality Strategy for An updated strategy should be published at the end of the
year drawing conclusions from this consultation and providing a
clear, long-term vision for air quality. Press release ~ Air
Quality Archive ~ <
FONT color=#800080>Consultation on the review of the Air Quality
Strategy ~ HSE: Having
consulted the nuclear industry on drafts of its Safety Assessment Principles for nuclear installations, the Health
& Safety Executive is now seeking wider public views on revisions to it
(closes 31 May
2006).
The safety of a nuclear plant is the responsibility
of the licensee, who is required to submit to HSE a written demonstration of
safety, or safety case, which is periodically updated to reflect changing
conditions. The Safety Assessment Principles (SAPs) provide a
framework for the technical judgements that HSE inspectors have to make to
establish whether safety cases are adequate, thus ensuring a consistent
approach to the assessment process. Press release ~ Safety
Assessment Principles (includes consultation documents) ~ International Atomic Energy
Agency ~ Nuclear Decommissioning Agency ~ Reducing
Risks, Protecting People (R2P2) ~ Guidance on
ALARP - As Low as Reasonably Practicable ~ Western European
Nuclear Regulators' Association DCMS: Culture Minister David Lammy launched a
consultation (closes
The
government claims that a number of measures will be incorporated into the
transfer, in order to ensure that the integrity of the system is retained. The
Secretary of State will continue to decide on valuations, having been advised
by the Treasure Valuation Committee. Press release ~ Consultation Paper on Amendments to the
Treasure Act 1996 Code of Practice (Revised) England and Wales ~ Current Treasure Act 1996 Code of Practice England and
Wales ~ Treasure Valuation Committee ~ British
Museum HSE: The potential exposure of
teachers & pupils to asbestos remains low, but the Health & Safety
Executive is re-issuing the guidance on managing asbestos in schools to remind those responsible of
their duties relating to the management of asbestos. The government's scientific advisory committee,
WATCH, (Working Group on Action to Control Chemicals) recently examined
the potential exposure of teachers to asbestos fibres from pinning or
tacking children's work to walls containing asbestos insulating board (AIB). WATCH concluded that the potential level of exposure
created by this practice is low, but also concluded that inserting &
removing drawing pins into AIB or other asbestos containing material is an avoidable
practice. Press release ~ Asbestos
- An important message for schools ~ DCA: The government claims that there is widespread public
support for reforming & modernising the burial system, as nearly 400
responses were received to the consultation paper Burial law and policy in the 21st Century:
the need for a sensitive and sustainable approach, published in January
2004. In addition, a new guide for burial ground
managers aimed at
improving standards for the bereaved and the wider public & community, has
been published. The guide will not replace existing sector specific
guidance, but will help to draw attention to sources of further
information & training opportunities. Press release ~ The Burial Law and
Policy in the 21st Century: The Need for a Sensitive and Sustainable
Approach ~ Guide for
Burial Ground Managers DfT: The
Department for Transport has published the national statistics of Vehicle speeds in
The latest figures show that the proportion of
motorists exceeding the speed limit in 2005 changed very little from
2004,although driving in excess of the speed limit remains at a high level on
all types of road. Press release ~ Vehicle Speeds in Great Britain
2005 ~ Effective Interventions for Speeding
Motorists ~ DfT Speed Management
website RA Eng: New research by the Henley Management College for The Royal Academy of Engineering has
revealed that over one third of engineering firms in the UK believe that
engineering graduate shortages and skills deficiencies are costing them money
through delays in new product development and additional recruitment
costs. The study,
'Educating Engineers for the 21st
Century: the Industry View', found specific graduate skill gaps
in problem solving, application of theory to real problems, breadth of
knowledge and ability in maths. Almost half
a million engineering graduates emerge each year from India and China, while in
the UK, in the 10 years up to 2004, the numbers of students opting for
engineering courses remained almost static at 24,500 and, of those, less than
half chose to enter the engineering profession after
graduating. Press release ~ The Royal
Academy of Engineering ~ Henley report and commentary ~ Henley Management
College DWP: Research published by the Department for Work and Pensions
explores the characteristics & circumstances of families & children in
2004. The report is based on analysis of the Families and Children Study (FACS), which provides information
about children, their parents & families as a whole across a wide range of
subjects. The first
part of the report describes findings on: family characteristics, parental
health, education, work, family income, benefits & tax credits, savings,
housing and material deprivation. The second part of the report describes findings on child
characteristics, health, schooling, activities & leisure, maintenance and
childcare. Press release ~ DWP Research Report No. 340 'Families With Children in Britain: Findings from the 2004 Families
and Children Study (FACS)' ~ Summary version
~ Families and
Children Study (FACS) DWP: New research published by the Department for Work and
Pensions examines public bodies'
approach to implementing the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995
and provides evidence for a baseline against which to assess the extent
to which the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 prompts authorities to promote
equality of opportunity for disabled people. Press release ~ Research Report 343 - The
Public Sector and Equality for Disabled People (1Mb) ~ Summary Version DCA: The Legal
Services Complaints Commissioner has announced that she has declared as
‘inadequate’ the Law Society's final Plan for securing effective and efficient complaints handling for the
period The targets set by
Commissioner included Improving the
speed with which complaints are handled by the Law Society and Improving the quality of complaints
handling by the Law Society, but the
Law Society's final Plan, submitted to the Commissioner on 10 March
2006, did not include all of the targets which the Commissioner
set. The Commissioner now proposes to proceed to consider
whether to impose a penalty and, if so, in what sum. The maximum penalty that can be imposed is the lower of £1
million and 1% of the annual income of the Law Society. Press release ~ Office of the Legal
Services Complaints Commissioner ~ Legal Services
Ombudsman (LSO) ~ Law Society Complaints Procedure ~ Summary of Performance Measures and Statistics: Consumer Complaints Service January
2006 ~ MOD: The
government claims that the protection of the Ministry of Defence's (MOD)
most sensitive sites has been ‘strengthened’ by the implementation of the
Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCAP) which, from 1 April 2006, has
made it a criminal offence to trespass on designated
sites. The only defence to a charge of criminal
trespass is that
the trespasser did not know and had no reasonable cause to suspect, that the
site where the offence was committed was designated under SOCAP. Any person found guilty of criminal
trespass is liable to a fine of up to £5,000, or a custodial sentence of up to
51 weeks in England and Wales, (up to 12 months in Scotland), or
both. The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act
2005, as amended
by the Terrorism Act 2006, will in due course also provide for the offence of
criminal trespass at nuclear sites licensed by the Health &
Safety Executive. Press
release ~ Serious Organised Crime
and Police Act 2005 ~ MOD note on SOCAP ~ Ministry of Defence website ~ Terrorism Act
2006 DCA: Those who
fail to pay fines handed down by magistrates' courts or sums of money
ordered in High Court judgments will now find their names recorded in a new
public register. The new
Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines will include these details
together with county court judgments, county court administration orders and
Child Support Agency liability orders. For the first time the Register will bring together
details of all those defaulting on various financial judgments, replacing the
Register of County Court Judgments established in 1852. Information from the Register is used
by lenders to assess a person's creditworthiness and those who try to avoid
payment may find their ability to obtain employment, housing or other services
restricted. Press release ~ County Court Judgments ~ DCA –
Enforcement Review ~ Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines Regulations
2005 ~ Registry Trust Ltd DCA: All 99 Crown courts in
On average,
19,000 hearing updates and nearly 2,000 documents per day, including lists,
orders & results are sent to the XHIBIT Portal, helping court users, such
as the police, prosecutors and witness groups, to obtain necessary case details
in minutes rather than days. The
public can also track court hearings online or via public display screens in
the court building. Only 3% of
police time in court is spent giving evidence and only 54% of witnesses gave
evidence on the day called with 17% waiting more than four
hours. Press release ~ Victim
Support ~ National Offender Management Service (NOMS) ~ XHIBIT ~ Her
Majesty's Courts Service ~ UK Police
Service ~ CPS ~ HSE: The Offshore
Installations (Safety Case) Regulations 2005 become law last week,
replacing the Offshore Installations
(Safety Case) Regulations 1992.
The 2005 Regulations reflect the experience & changes in the
offshore oil & gas industry since 1993 and are intended to cut bureaucracy
for industry and allow Health & Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors to carry
out more planned interventions. Transitional
arrangements will apply to all existing safety cases. Operations Notice 69 was published on
HSE's website in November 2005 and provides guidance for duty holders on
these. Press release ~ Offshore Installations (Safety Case) Regulations 2005 SI No
205/3117 ~ Transitional arrangements ~ HSE
information sheet ODPM: New powers,
under the Housing Act 2004, to
improve management of private rented sector properties through licensing, to
bring long-term empty homes back into use and to improve the health &
safety of occupants in dwellings, have come into force. Further measures to safeguard tenants' deposits are scheduled to
come into force in October. Press release ~ Housing
Act 2004 ~ ODPM
Private Renting website ~ Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) ~ Selective Licensing ~ The
Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) ~ Management Orders ~ Empty
Dwelling Management Orders (EDMO) ~ HMRC: HM Revenue
& Customs is simplifying the way tax is collected from retirement annuities
as part of a plan to help make sure that retired people don't pay more tax
than is due on their annuities paid out of retirement annuity contracts
(RACs). HMRC is also offering help
to them to reclaim any tax overpaid on this income in recent
years. There are 1.2 million retirement annuity contracts
(RACs) in payment at present, of which around 80% are less than £3,000 per
annum. Up to 2 million more are due to enter into payment over the next 15
years. Currently, basic rate tax of 22% is deducted from
retirement annuities unless people have declared that they are not liable to
tax. As a result people who are only liable to pay basic rate tax on part of
their annuity, as well as lower rate or non-taxpayers, can have tax taken off
and then have to claim this back at the end of the tax year. From
Press release ~ HMRC
- retirement annuity contracts ~ and HERE OFT: Credit card default
charges have generally been set at a significantly higher level than is
legally fair according to the OFT and these current practices have led to
unlawful penalty
charges currently in excess of £300m a year.
The OFT now expects all credit card
issuers to recalculate their default charges in line with
the principles set out in a statement just published and to take urgent action
where needed to reduce the level of credit card default fees. The industry has
until 31 May to respond
to the statement. These principles also
apply to default charges in other consumer contracts
such as those for bank overdrafts, store cards and
mortgages Press release ~ Calculating fair default charges in credit card
contracts ~ Guide for consumers ~ Credit Card Repayment Calculator The Working
Group also concluded that members of the LINK card scheme and Post Office Ltd
should continue to explore if a way acceptable to all parties can be found that
would allow free cash withdrawals at Post Office counters for all consumers
holding a current account with a major financial
institution. Press release ~ Pensions Regulator: The Pensions Regulator's final
draft code of practice - Member-nominated trustees and directors - putting arrangements in place
- has been published on the regulator's website. This will give trustees and other
interested parties the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the intended
code of practice. It will provide trustees with practical guidance on
how to comply with legislation regarding the appointment of member-nominated
trustees and member-nominated directors.
Trustees are required to ensure that arrangements are in place (and
implemented) for at least one third of trustees to be member-nominated; or at
least one third of directors of the trustee company to be member-nominated.
The arrangements must include a nomination process
& selection process and comply with other statutory requirements. Guidance will be published shortly
covering timings and transitional issues. Trustees of occupational schemes and
their advisers should note that they must comply with regulations that come
into force on Press release ~ Member-nominated trustees and directors - putting arrangements in
place FSA: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has issued a
consultation paper (closes
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