South Yorkshire has been named as the UK’s first Investment Zone by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. The status could bring £1.2 billion in funding and see up to 8,000 new jobs created in the area, according to the government. In March, Mr Hunt said 12 new UK Investment Zones would each receive £80 million in government… Read more…

Almost a million young people have yet to access savings contained in Child Trust Funds (CTFs), according to a report by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The PAC said over £1.7 billion is waiting to be claimed by a million young adults, at an average value of £1,900 each. It says ‘failure in long-term planning’… Read more…

A new fuel finder scheme to enable drivers access to live fuel prices and revitalise competition in the retail road fuel market, according to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The scheme would be made possible by new compulsory open data requirements and backed by a new ‘fuel monitor’ oversight body. The proposals are the… Read more…

The UK’s rate of inflation fell to 7.9% in the year to June while the country’s economy shrank in May, according to the latest Consumer Prices Index (CPI) published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The inflation rate is currently at its lowest annual rate since March 2022, the ONS said. Price rises have… Read more…

HMRC has extended the voluntary national insurance contributions (NICs) deadline until 2025. Extending the voluntary NICs deadline until 2025 will give people more time to consider whether paying voluntary contributions is right for them, and also ensures individuals do not miss out on the possibility of boosting their State Pension entitlements. The original deadline was… Read more…

HMRC is planning to close its self assessment tax helpline for three months over the summer to focus call centre resources on dealing with other problem calls. All calls to the helpline will be redirected to digital services over the period to give HMRC time to deal with other more urgent phone enquiries. The helpline… Read more…

A report published by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that HMRC’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative is expected to cost around £1 billion more than its initial £226 million budget, which was forecast in 2016. MTD is intended to modernise the tax system for income tax self assessment, VAT and corporation tax. It… Read more…

The UK’s rate of inflation plateaued at 8.7% in May, data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has shown. Inflation was expected to fall in May but remained at 8.7% – the same rate as was recorded in April. The rate of 8.7% is higher than economists had expected, and many now anticipate… Read more…

The Bank of England has raised UK interest rates to a 15-year high of 5% as it continues its battle against inflation. Despite concerns that mortgage-holders face a timebomb of higher rates, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to raise its benchmark rate from 4.5% to 5%, an increase of half a percentage point.… Read more…

Over 200 employers have been named by the government for failing to pay their lowest paid employees the minimum wage. The 202 employers were found to have failed to pay their workers almost £5 million in a clear breach of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) law, leaving around 63,000 workers out of pocket. Companies named… Read more…