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APRIL 2014 PRO INSTALLER
PRO BUSINESS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
Government gets tough
with employers failing to
pay minimum wage
Employers who owe their workers
thousands of pounds for failing to
pay them the correct National Minimum Wage were named and shamed
by Business Secretary Vince Cable
on 28 February.
The government is introducing a series of
tougher measures to crack down on employers who flout National Minimum Wage
law. The first of these, a tougher naming
and shaming scheme, came into effect on 1
October 2013.
Five employers are the first to be named
under the stricter rules, who between
them owe workers a total of over £6,800
in arrears and have been charged financial
penalties totalling £3,381.40.
As well as being publicly named, employers
who fail to pay their workers the National
Minimum Wage will face higher financial penalties of up to £20,000 as of 7 March 2014.
The government also plans to legislate at
the earliest opportunity so that employers
will also be given penalties of up to £20,000
for each individual worker they have
underpaid, rather than the maximum fine
applying to each employer. In the most serious cases, employers can also face criminal
prosecution.
‘face higher financial
penalties’
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “Any
worker who is entitled to the minimum
wage should receive it. It’s not only fair, it’s
the law. If anyone suspects they are not being paid the wage they are legally entitled
to they should call the Pay and Work Rights
helpline. (0800 917 2368).
TOO MUCH FOCUS
ON NEW HOMES IN
BUDGET, SAYS TFT
Tuffin Ferraby Taylor warns budget measures to
stimulate the construction industry could be undermined
by lack of human resources and basic materials.
Property and construction consultancy Tuffin
Ferraby Taylor (TFT)
has warned that the
government’s measures to stimulate the
construction industry
focus too much on
boosting demand for
new homes and pay
little attention to the
current skills shortages and long delivery
lead times of basic
building materials.
Continued measures to
stimulate demand, coupled
with constrained supply
risks pushing up house
prices further.
David Mann, Executive
Partner at TFT, said:
“The measures announced in the Budget,
such as the extension of
help-to-buy, only focus
on increasing demand
for new homes. However,
severe supply constraints
are limiting the construction industry’s capacity.
The gap between rising
yet been replaced. This is
combined with a backlog
of planning applications
arising from slimmed
down local authority planning departments. Added
to this are shortages and
‘There is a skills shortage’’
demand and the lack of
supply of new homes to
fill it will add to further
house price increases,
particularly in London and
the South East.
“Supply constraints
arise from the fall out of
the downturn. There is a
skills shortage owing to
retrenched skilled workers
being permanently lost to
the sector, who have not
long delivery lead times
of materials such as bricks
and tiles as manufacturers
permanently closed or
mothballed plants across
Europe and the UK. The
increased demand and
lack of supply of these
basic building materials is
pushing the cost of construction upwards too.”
www.tftconsultants.com
GGF ADMITS
TO ‘MIXED
FEELINGS’ ON
BUDGET 2014
No movement
on the VAT rate.
The GGF said it had
“mixed feelings”
after George Osborne
announced his 2014
Budget.
While the Chancellor
promised a raft of positive
measures for SMEs, manufacturers and exporters,
the Federation felt more
could have done more to
support the recovery in the
construction industry, and
in particular the need to improve the energy efficiency
of the UK’s building stock.
Nigel Rees GGF Group
Chief Executive commented:
“Of course we are delighted to hear the Chancellor’s
measures to help SMEs with
plans such as the creation
of the Builders Finance
Fund and the doubling
of the Annual Investment
Allowance (AIA). It was also
good to see the Government’s intention to fund
the regeneration of housing
estates and we welcome the
extension to the “Help to
Buy” Scheme.
“However, we are disappointed that there was no
movement on the VAT rate
on home improvements, repair and maintenance work.
In addition, the distinct lack
of incentives in this Budget
to encourage homeowners
to invest in energy efficient
home improvements was
‘we are
disappointed
that there was
no movement
on the VAT rate’
quite incredible; particularly when you consider the
extremely poor uptake of
the Green Deal and how
ambitious the Government
was four years ago with
its plan to reduce carbon
emissions.”
Business Investment
Has A Hand In Robust
Growth, Says CBI
Growth and recovery of the UK economy remains robust, the CBI says, and
business investment has had a bigger
part to play than previously thought.
While the business body’s latest monthly
indicator shows consumer spending has
still contributed the lion’s share of growth,
investment made greater contribution than
had been thought.
A slight slowing down meant growth in
February hit an eight-month low, but the
CBI remained confident that recovery was
embedded.
Anna Leach, CBI head of Economic Analysis, said: “Although growth has slowed from
record levels last month, it remains strong
and firms are optimistic it will pick up again
in the next quarter.
“As this year progresses, we expect further
increases in business and consumer confidence....However, global developments
continue to pose a risk to UK growth, not
least the risk of renewed problems in the
Eurozone. And although our direct trade and
financial links with the Ukraine and Russia
are relatively small, the crisis could have
potential implications for global commodity
prices which may impact inflation in the
UK.”