Business rate supplements proposed
‘Business
Rate Supplements: A White Paper’ (Cm. 7230) sets out the Government's
proposal to introduce a power for local authorities and the Greater London
Authority (GLA) to raise and retain local supplements on the national business
rate.
Restructuring the Post Office
The Government believes that the current network of Post
Offices is unsustainable and has outlined plans for restructuring, which
involve closures, relocations and new delivery mechanisms.
This Report
‘Stamp
of Approval? Restructuring the Post Office Network’ (HC 276) examines
this proposed restructuring strategy.
UK minimum wage to rise to £5.52
In this report,
'National
Minimum Wage' (Cm. 7056), the Low Pay Commission recommends a 3.2% increase
in the minimum wage for adults to £5.52 in October 2007, which is a moderate
increase compared with the past two years.
Discrimination ban welcomed
The Government intends to use its powers in Part 3 of the
Equality Act 2006 to make regulations prohibiting discrimination on the grounds
of sexual orientation in the provision of goods, facilities and services in
education and in the exercise of public functions.
Gowers Review on importance of intellectual property
This Report examines the importance of intellectual property (IP) - ranging from patents, copyright and design to trade marks.
"Banking the unbanked": promoting financial
inclusion
Financial exclusion can impose significant costs on
individuals and be a barrier to employment and enterprise.
Many people
are still facing problems in opening basic bank accounts and operating them to
maximise their value.
Major changes in company law reform
The Companies Act 2006 makes it easier to set up and run a
company. Small businesses will benefit and, for the first time, a statutory
statement of directors' duties has been created.
15m mail items lost, stolen or damaged a year
In March 2006, Royal Mail accepted a new quality of service and price control regime proposed by Postcomm, the regulator of mail services in the UK. The new arrangements run from April 2006 to March 2010.
In addition to allowing Royal Mail to raise the price of first- and second-class stamps, Royal Mail also has new quality of service targets and associated financial incentives aimed at improving mail services.
£1.8bn spent on public sector consulting
In 2005-06, central government spent £1.8 billion on consulting, while an estimated £2.8 billion public sector funding in total was spent on consultants. This Report examines the use of consultants in central government during 2005-06.