Business and Other Briefings
LR: Land Registry has recently made its historical price paid records available to download for FREE as part of its open data programme. This will allow developers & businesses to use & reuse one of the world's largest property datasets, comprising over 17m residential cash & mortgage sales in England & Wales.
The raw data was previously only available as a commercial product, often seen on property websites. It is also used to calculate Land Registry's popular House Price Index.
FRC: The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published The Accountancy Scheme which updates the independent disciplinary arrangements applying to members & member firms of the participating bodies. The FRC deals with cases of potential misconduct which raise or appear to raise important issues affecting the public interest in the UK.
NIESR: New migration routes for investors and entrepreneurs are popular among potential applicants and have been well received – but a series of barriers remains that may discourage investors & entrepreneurs from basing themselves & their businesses in the UK. These are highlighted by a new report published last week by the Government’s Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).
WAG: The Sell2Wales website, which has advertised more than 11,000 public sector contracts valued in excess of £33bn, has been revamped & revitalised to help companies win more business. It has merged with the Buy4Wales site to provide an increased range of services & information for suppliers & buyers, making the process easier to use.
Sell2Wales will continue to be a FREE service and public sector buyers will also now be able to manage the full tender process through Sell2wales.gov.uk for contracts with a value of up to £113,057. Sell2Wales can also be used by Tier 1 contractors to advertise sub-contracts.
BIS: A successful partnership that brings together promising businesses and successful entrepreneurs along with government & private sector investment has been extended across the UK, Business Minister Michael Fallon has announced.
The Angel CoFund invests amounts of £100,000 to £1m into SMEs with high growth potential, working in partnership with syndicates of experienced business angels to help companies fulfil their promise. As well as providing much-needed funding for ambitious small firms, the fund is using government backing to encourage the expansion of the business angel culture.
MoD: The government and a group of Britain's leading defence & security companies are working together to bolster the UK's cyber security. The Defence Cyber Protection Partnership (DCPP) aims to meet the emerging threat to the UK defence supply chain by increasing awareness of cyber risks, sharing threat intelligence, and defining risk-driven approaches to applying cyber security standards.
TNA: The National Archives has recently launched the Open Government Licence version 2.0 following consultation with users & other stakeholders in the open data community on how the Licence could be developed further to reflect new & emerging thinking on the licensing of public sector information – See ‘General News’ section for more information.
BIS: Speaking at the recent Government Construction Summit, Business Minister Michael Fallon unveiled the industrial strategy for construction – ‘Construction 2025’ – which will set out how the government and industry will ensure the UK continues to thrive in the face of increasing global competition. The strategy includes an action plan of 10 joint commitments to ensure industry is best placed to achieve its ambitions by 2025 – See ‘Policy Statements & Initiatives’ section for more information.
DfE: Skills Minister Matthew Hancock announces technical level qualifications & applied general qualifications. Employers & trade associations will be asked to endorse the best occupational qualifications - to be known as ‘tech levels’ - so young people know which courses have the best job prospects – See ‘Policy Statements & Initiatives’ section for more information.
BIS: The successful employee ownership model will be easier to understand and quicker to set up following the publication of new guidance by Business Secretary Vince Cable. The government is committed to supporting this business model and has also launched a consultation on providing 2 new tax reliefs to encourage employee ownership. Consultation closes on 28 September 2013 - See 'Guidance Notes & Best Practice Guides’ section for more information.
This brief provides clarification about HMRC's policy on when laboratory pathology services are exempt from VAT.
Withdrawal of non-statutory Board & Lodging agreements and business mileage deductions. Application of the simplified expenses.
This Brief confirms the VAT treatment of loss adjusting services supplied in connection with marine and aviation insurance claims.
