6:52 am, August 10, 2022
Chancellor to hold crisis talks with gas and electricity bosses
Energy sector bosses will take part in crisis talks with chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng as the price cap was forecast to hit more than £4,200 in January.
There has been widespread anger at Shell, BP and British Gas owner Centrica announcing bumper financial results while households struggle to cope with soaring bills.
The Sun reported gas and electricity executives will meet with the Cabinet ministers on Thursday morning, when the bosses will be asked to submit a breakdown of expected profits and payouts as well as investment plans for the next three years.
Cost-of-living talks before Tory leadership concludes branded ‘bizarre’ by Truss
Liz Truss has branded proposals to agree support for rising energy bills with the government and Rishi Sunak before the Tory leadership contest is over as ‘bizarre’.
The front runner in the race to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister made the comments as she and her opponent faced growing calls to spell out how they will deal with a spike in energy prices.
Sunak said he would welcome a meeting to agree emergency support ahead of the winter, but Truss branded the proposal a ‘kangaroo committee’ and ruled out widespread cash handouts to deal with the cost-of-living crisis as ‘Gordon Brown economics’.
Inflation could wipe out billions pledged for public services, warn experts
The Treasury would need to top up spending by more than £8bn this year and more thereafter to compensate for the squeeze on public services dealt by sky-high inflation, experts have warned.
As public service budgets are set in cash terms – and therefore do not enjoy an automatic boost from higher prices, unlike tax revenues – the government’s spending plans are now ‘considerably less generous’ than originally intended last autumn, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
The think tank estimates that the average, real-terms, growth rate in day-to-day public service funding for the next three years has dropped from 3.3 per cent under original plans to 1.9 per cent per year. In other words, higher inflation is expected to ‘wipe out’ a significant chunk – more than 40 per cent – of planned real-terms rises, it said.
Areas in UK hit by water shortages and grass fires as temperatures start to rise
Parts of the UK have been hit by water shortages and grass fires ahead of a Met Office amber warning for extreme heat coming into force later this week.
Thames Water has been pumping water into the supply network following a technical issue at Stokenchurch Reservoir in Oxfordshire. The firm later said it had managed to ‘improve the situation’ and that all customers in the nearby area should now have water but warned that pressure could be lower than normal.
Elsewhere, grass fires broke out with about 70 firefighters and 10 fire engines battling a blaze between Junction 25 and Junction 26 of the M25, near Enfield, north London, on Tuesday afternoon
London and Manchester mayors join forces to criticise reduction of train services
London mayor Sadiq Khan and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham have criticised Avanti West Coast for drastically reducing its timetables, branding the decision ‘completely unacceptable’.
In a letter to transport secretary Grant Shapps, the regional leaders said the train operator’s recent timetable cuts were a ‘national outrage’.
Avanti West Coast slashed its timetables and suspended ticket sales on Monday due to ‘unofficial strike action’ by drivers. It said it will run as few as four trains per hour from Sunday in an attempt to halt the short-notice cancellations which have plagued its operations in recent weeks. Avanti West Coast said the limited timetable will be in place “until further notice”.
Bentley’s Batur set to launch firm’s new design direction
Bentley is due to unveil a new hand-built grand tourer that will launch a new ‘design language’ for the firm.
Called the Bentley Mulliner Batur, it’s due to be fully revealed during Monterey Car Week on Sunday, August 21. It follows on from the Bacalar, which was a bespoke convertible model of which only 12 were destined to be made. Hand-built by Mulliner – Bentley’s in-house bespoke division – the Bacalar sold out immediately.
Bentley has said that the Batur will reveal an all new type of design that will ‘define Bentley’s future range of battery electric vehicles (BEVs)’.
Tuesday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
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- Car dealers reveal their most bizarre experiences from the past year
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- Vospers sees profit soar by 175 per cent to a record £5.5m
- Van manufacturers have ‘mountain to climb’ on switch to electric as figures highlight slow growth
- Parkway bosses celebrate as dealer group doubles profits during ‘exceptional’ 2021
Average rents soar by 12.6 per cent as supply of homes plunges
Market rents in the second quarter of this year were an average of 12.6 per cent higher than the same period a year earlier, according to the latest report from property website Daft.ie.
The average market rent nationwide between April and June was 1,618 euro per month, up 3.3 per cent on the first three months of the year, the report states. The annual inflation rate of 12.6 per cent nationally is the highest recorded in the Daft.ie report since its launch in 2006, surpassing the previous peak of 11.8 per cent in late 2016.
Nationwide, there were just 716 homes available to rent at the beginning of August, down from almost 2,500 a year ago and another new all-time low in a series that extends back to 2006.
Government cuts student loan interest rates again amid rising inflation
Student loan interest rates in England and Wales will be slashed further to protect borrowers from rising inflation rates amid the soaring cost of living.
Rates will be cut to 6.3 per cent from September, the Department for Education (DfE) said. The government announced in June that the student loan interest rates were to be reduced from 12 per cent to 7.3 per cent.
Minister for skills, further and higher, Andrea Jenkyns, said the new cap was being introduced ‘to align with the most recent data on market rates’.
Weather outlook
Dry and sunny for most of the UK today, although there will be a few spells of rain in the very far north of Scotland, reports BBC Weather. Hot in the south of England – highs of 30C in London.
A dry and clear night for many tonight. Cloudy with spells of rain in the north-west of Scotland and the odd fog patch in Northern Ireland and eastern England.
