Latest Articles By Simon Collyer

FURLOUGH SCHEME - Johnson said that the government’s furlough job protection scheme, which had been expected to expire within hours, would be extended through November, with the state guaranteeing 80 percent of furloughed workers wages. This is...

NEGATIVE INTEREST RATES – Simon Collyer appeared on BBC Essex, Radio Breakfast Show, this morning talking about negative interest rates. Negative interest rates are used when a central bank such as the Bank of England (BoE) wants to create infla...

NEW REPORT - Almost half of Scottish workers faced pay cuts due to Covid-19 Pressure is mounting on the UK Government to enhance the job support scheme and make the £20 uplift to Universal Credit payments permanent - after a new report revealed that...

MAJIC BREAKFAST -The School Breakfast Bill was presented to Parliament by Emma Lewell-Buck MP on 13th October, and successfully passed its first reading. The second reading of the Bill is currently scheduled for 5th February, 2021. Six children...

CHILDCARE - Working parents who are on the Government’s coronavirus support schemes will still be eligible for childcare support even if their income falls below the minimum threshold requirement. The Government has confirmed that from Sunday 1 Novem...

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT - Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned that youth unemployment in Scotland could hit 100,000 in the winter. The former Labour prime minister has called for the UK and Scottish Government to offer a...

PARLIAMENT - Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has issued a further call for evidence on the impact of Covid-19 on tenants, landlords, rough sleepers and homelessness. In an interim report published in May, the Committee found...

ENERGY ASSISTANCE - More than 90,000 vulnerable pensioners in Scotland will receive a winter windfall of £140 off their fuel bills thanks to UK Government efforts working with energy firms to cut their costs. Eligible Pension Credit customers wh...

UNEMPLOYMENT - New analysis from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that the UK unemployment rate grew to 4.5% in the three months to August, compared with 4.1% in the previous quarter. While redundancies have risen to their h...

US BENEFITS UPLIFT - Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 1.3 percent in 2021, the Social Security Administration announced today. The 1.3 percent cost-of-living adjustme...