Latest Articles By Simon Collyer

KICKSTART - Delivering his Summer Economic Update in Parliament, the Chancellor announced a package of measures to support jobs in every part of the country, give businesses the confidence to retain and hire, and provide people with the tools they ne...

SUPREME COURT - Judgment has been given this morning by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom via video link in the following cases:  R v Hilton (Respondent) (Northern Ireland) – UKSC 2018/0075 On appeal from the Court of Appeal Crim...

DWP UPDATE - From 1/8/2020, the government has announced its intention to remove Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for those who have been told to shield because they are 'clinically extremely vulnerable'. Advice to shield will be paused from 1/8/2020. Over 2...

DWP - Jobcentre Plus say they are expanding their service offer in jobcentres, a point already covered here at the ABC.   Working with local managers the DWP aim to start expanding their service offer in jobcentres to help get Britain...

JOBCENTRE PLUS - Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to pledge £800m to recruit 13,500 extra staff as part of an economic recovery package announced on Wednesday states the BBC. The Treasury says 4,500 of them will be in position by October, with...

JOBS OUTLOOK - The number of working hours lost across the world in the first half of 2020 was significantly worse than previously estimated, while the highly uncertain recovery in the second half of the year will not be enough to go back to pre-pand...

BENEFIT SANCTIONS - Benefit sanctions are set to resume from Wednesday despite calls for the £20 a week coronavirus increase in Universal Credit to be made permanent to avoid thousands of claimants falling into poverty.   &nb...

CRIME - Discount chains are thriving in the US. However, this excerpt from an article by By Alec MacGillis in the New Yorker gives an idea about the danger of working or shopping in stores that have gradually replaced the more upmarket shop...

ROUGH SLEEPING - Rough sleepers will receive further support after the government set out plans to fund 83 areas with the highest numbers of people at risk over the next 2 years. Following on from the launch of its Rough Sleeping Strategy&n...

JOB CUTS - A finance company is predicting that two million workers could be made redundant in October A new report, by lender MarketFinance Ltd, found 45 per cent of firms plan on bringing up to half of their staff back from furlough in July. Anothe...