TOP 100 ENGLAND SITES
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| Too many mouths? Are large families a serious drain on the welfare budget? bbc.co.uk |
Record times spent in captivity As the Chilean miners' ordeal ends after more than 69 days trapped in a San Jose mine Telegraph.co.uk looks at other long periods spent either voluntarily or forcibly in captivity. telegraph.co.uk |
Transport infrastructure projects spared but rail fares to jump in 2012 Spending review: rail fares to rise by 5.8% in January but Campaign for Better Transport claims commuters will pay 30% more when cap lifted in 2012Rail passengers face higher than expected fare increases from 2012- equivalent to a 30% rise over the next five years – as the government spared a number of major infrastructure projects, including the £16bn Crossrail scheme.Philip Hammond, the transport secretary, shielded rail users from the immediate pain of higher fares in January after deferring price rises for one year. This means that the price cap on increases for regulated tickets – such as season tickets and off-peak long-distance trips – will stay at one percentage point above inflation, pegged at the retail prices index figure for July. As a result, fares will rise by 5.8% in January.However, the fares cap will be lifted from January 2012 in a move that will squeeze commuters in southern England, in particular. Regulated fares will be allowed to rise by 3% above RPI for three years from 2012, helping the government reduce its £5bn annual expenditure on the railways. The Campaign for Better Transport said the move represented a 30% increase in fares by 2015. Under the RPI+1% regime, the increase would have been 20% over the same period.Stephen Joseph, CBT's executive director, said: "These eye-watering rises are unacceptable at a time when we should be growing the railways in order to tackle congestion on our roads and reduce carbon emissions." According to CBT, the cost of a season ticket from Milton Keynes to London will rise by £1,194 to £5,026 by 2015. A season ticket from Brighton to London will rise by just under £1,000 to £4,071 over the same period. Passenger Focus, the rail user watchdog, said many passengers would find the rises "difficult to stomach".The Department for Transport (DfT) defended the rises, saying they represented a 10% increase in regulated fares to 2015 once the effects of inflation were included. Bus fares also face increases, with some rural routes under threat, as a 20% cut was announced in the £500m fuel subsidy for bus companies by 2015. However, the reduction is more lenient than many were expecting.The DfT's capital-spending programme also suffered less stringent cuts than other departments, after George Osborne gave the go-ahead to £10bn worth of investment in projects including the Mersea Gateway bridge project, a revamp for the Tyne and Wear Metro and widening sections of the M1. Other projects fell by the wayside, including a £1bn improvement to the A14 in Suffolk.Hammond said a focus on long-term projects would benefit the economy. "I am confident we can continue to build a transport system that supports economic growth and reduces carbon," he said.Overall, the DfT's total spending will be cut by 15%.Transport policySpending review 2010Budget deficitTransportRail transportRail travelRoad transportLondonEconomicsDan Milmoguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Anton Ferdinand given driving ban Sunderland footballer Anton Ferdinand is banned from driving after being caught using a mobile phone while at the wheel of his car. bbc.co.uk |
Private pensions to become compulsory for workers Companies will be forced to enrol staff into private pension schemes from 2012 in a bid to make the UK save moreThe coalition government is to press ahead with a Labour scheme to force all UK firms, regardless of size, to automatically enrol their staff into a pension scheme from 2012.Companies will be told pay in a minimum of 1% of every worker's salary into a pension, rising to 3% by 2017. Workers will have to pay in a portion of their salary, phased in over five years, starting at 1% of pay and rising to 4% by 2017.Every employer, large and small, will have to participate, although not the self-employed. It will mean that hundreds of thousands of small firms that currently do not offer or pay into a pension scheme will have to begin making payments. Many are expected to opt to use a new government-run pension scheme, called "Nest" (National Employment Savings Trust), which promises low costs and charges.But pensions minister Steve Webb has stepped back from earlier proposals to make workers pay in from the first day of employment. Instead there will be a "waiting period" of three months before an employee is automatically enrolled, unless they ask to join earlier.The level of earnings at which employees will be enrolled will also rise from Labour's proposed figure of £5,035, to £7,475 (the personal allowance for income tax from April 2011).Webb said that the reforms will "end decades of decline of membership in workplace pension schemes." He estimated that an additional four to eight million people will start to build up savings for retirement, but dismissed critics who warn of a "levelling down" of existing corporate provision.Employers currently pay an average of 6.1% of workers' salaries into their pensions. Critics say the changes may lead to some employers reducing their contributions to a minimum, with the norm dropping towards 3%.There are also fears that low-income earners will simply lose means-tested pension benefits, such as pension credit, as they are forced to accumulate a small pot of money for retirement. Webb said: "We will be trying to make sure that saving is rewarded and we want to make sure that the issues around making it worthwhile to save are tackled."Earlier this week plans for a new universal pension worth £140 a week per head were leaked, but Webb would not be drawn on details of the scheme, which will be published in a green paper in November.But there is speculation that once Britain moves towards a higher basic state pension, plus greater private saving through Nest, there may be the progressive withdrawal of other schemes such as pension credit and the state second pension, formerly known as Serps.Pensions will also be paid later, with the government already committed to raising the state retirement age to 66 in 2020.John Lawson, head of pensions policy at Standard Life said he welcomed the introduction of a three-month waiting period, which will significantly cut administration costs."Under the old rules employers and employees would have had to pay contributions from their first day of eligibility, even if they subsequently decided to opt out. This would have meant hundreds of thousands of savings accounts being created every year that would have been cancelled within weeks of being opened. This huge inefficiency has now been removed."It is expected that Nest will grow to become one of the biggest pension funds in the country. Nest officials project that it will grow to between £50bn-£100bn in size within thirty years.The money will be invested in shares and bonds, although Nest says it will be a low-risk fund, largely invested in 'passive' instruments such as index-tracking funds.Employers who fail to make payments on behalf of their workers will face sanctions from the Pensions Regulator, which will have the power to fine recalcitrant companies.Employees will still have the right to opt out of the pension arrangements, but officials believe that auto-enrollment will mean that many more will start saving than at present."Around 20% of people choose to opt out of auto-enrollment, but that compares to more than twice that number that don't take out a pension if they have to opt-in," said Nest Corporation chief executive Tim Jones.But the Institute of Directors said that forcing micro-firms to enrol staff may backfire. "While we understand the reasoning behind this, the reality will be that very few employees of micro-businesses will actually be auto-enrolled. It is going to place a huge burden on the Pensions Regulator to attempt to police hundreds of thousand of micro-businesses whose employees may well choose not to engage with pension's saving."But financial advisers welcomed the proposals. Andrew Strange, policy director at the Association of Independent Financial Advisers, said: "We support the use of societal nudges to encourage the restoration of a savings culture in the UK, and we are therefore pleased to see the roll out of the requirement for all employers to automatically enrol staff into pension arrangements."Building a more widespread savings culture is absolutely essential to prepare people for their financial future. The UK has the second lowest savings rate of all OECD countries, with 13 million people in the UK saving inadequately. Nest will provide a crucial component in the development of more prudent and financially protected consumers."PensionsSavingsBanks and building societiesWork & careersSmall businessPatrick Collinsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |