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Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to close 162 further branches across England and Wales, with the loss of around 792 jobs.

Meanwhile BT is to shed 6,500 jobs worldwide from their 106,000 strong workforce to try and save up to £500 million.

The SNP’s George Adam has condemned the Tory government’s record of failure after a report estimated that one million more children have been pushed into poverty under the Tory Government since 2010.
 
Research for the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has estimated that the Tories’ benefit cuts will leave 3.1 million children with working parents below the official breadline this year.

This is revealed the same day a Channel 4 investigation has found that seven out of ten frontline Department for Work and Pensions staff want the roll-out of Universal Credit to be halted.

A Resolution Foundation report, State of Working Scotland, concluded over two years ago that Universal Credit could reduce work incentives and cuts to in-work support would “have a large impact” on incomes.

George Adam MSP, who sits on Holyrood’s Social Security Committee, said:

“Revelations that this Tory Government is responsible for leaving 3.1 million children with working parents in poverty this year expose how profoundly flawed their welfare policies are.

“The Tories were warned time and again that their dismantling of the welfare state would drive millions of children into poverty, and while working parents are being forced to turn to emergency aid and food banks just to feed their children, they continue to claim that the system is working in the face of all the evidence.  

“With our limited powers over welfare in Scotland we are building a social security agency with dignity and respect at its heart, and we are spending more than £100m a year mitigating some of the cruel welfare cuts.

"But as long as the UK Government persist with such damaging, callous policies we will be tackling poverty with one hand tied behind our backs.”

According to the Institute of Fiscal Studies shows that 40% of the growth in the UK’s workforce since 2008 has come from people working for their own business. IFS researchers are using administrative tax records to learn more about the self-employed and company owner-managers, including their characteristics, how these groups have been changing in recent years and how they respond to the tax system.

Over 50 employers from wide range of sectors will be recruiting.

Event in association with EURES Cross-Border Partnership.

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, in collaboration with the EURES Cross-Border Partnership, is delighted to announce that the Dundalk Careers and Jobs Fair 2018 will be held in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dundalk, on Tuesday, 15th May, from 2pm - 7pm. The event is launched by Dundalk F.C. Manager, Stephen Kenny.

Over 50 employers will be in attendance on the day, including PayPal, First Derivatives, the Irish Hotel Federation, An Garda Síochána and the Public Appointments Commission. Sectors represented include healthcare, customer service, finance, retail, engineering, IT, hospitality and the food industry.

The Careers Fair provides a fantastic opportunity for graduates, jobseekers, commuters and people looking to change careers to meet face-to-face with employers who are actively recruiting on both sides of the border.

One-to-one coaching clinics will provide tailored recruitment and CV preparation advice to candidates on the day and a range of seminars will take place throughout the event to share advice and information. As well as local job opportunities, a range of vacancies and positions in the county, cross border, and throughout Europe will be on display at the event.

The event is free for jobseekers to attend but places are limited. Jobseekers should register as soon as possible at:

“Tories letting young people down with discriminatory minimum wage rates” say the SNP

SNP MP David Linden will lead a House of Commons debate today calling on the UK government to change the law to end pay discrimination against young people.

Under current UK legislation, younger workers can be paid lower wages - despite doing the same job. Since 1st April, workers over the age of 25 are entitled to a minimum wage of £7.83 an hour, while those aged 21 to 24 are only entitled to £7.38, 18 to 20 year olds are entitled to just £5.90, those under 18 are entitled to just £4.20, and apprentices can be paid as little as £3.70 an hour.

The 27-year-old MP for Glasgow East, who left school at the age of 16 and started work as an apprentice, is calling on the UK government to “stop discriminating against young people”, and urgently change the law to ensure that all workers are entitled to a real Living Wage – currently £8.75 in Scotland, £10.20 in London.

Image: SNP David Linden MP

Commenting, David Linden MP said:

“The UK government must stop discriminating against young people – and change the law to ensure that all workers are entitled to a real Living Wage.

“It is completely unacceptable that younger workers are being penalised just because of their age, and with no account being taken of their needs, responsibilities and living costs.

“The Tories are letting young people down by refusing to end this pay discrimination - with many workers losing out on thousands of pounds a year.

"If the UK government won’t change the law then it must devolve the powers so that the SNP Scottish Government can introduce a real Living Wage for all workers in Scotland.”

Image: Young Scottish workers need a better deal say SNP. 

ABC Note: Accoring to the DWP, between 2017 – 2022 the population aged 50 years and over will increase, whilst the younger population will decline; It is estimated that there will be an increase of 800,000 individuals aged 50-64 and a decline of 300,000 individuals aged 16-24.

Most of England goes to the polls today for the annual round of local authority elections. 150 councils and 4,000 council seats are up for grabs in the English local elections, none of the parties is banking on anything.

The ABC are official Electoral Commission Partners. Use your vote. To have one at all took centuries of struggle. So make it count.

The trend of councils waiting to start their counts until Friday morning means we won’t get the full picture of what’s happened until Friday night. But there are still plenty of big results coming in overnight to keep you interested. The Beeb has its election night special on BBC1 from 11.45 p.m., with coverage led by Huw Edwards and featuring the legend Prof John Curtice. Sky News has rival coverage with Niall Paterson at the helm kicking off at midnight. Both shows run through until 6 a.m. online. The lobby’s resident election boffin Stephen Bush will be live-blogging all night on the New Statesman website.   

ABC Note:  Do remember to cast your own vote. Polling booths opened at 7 a.m. and they close at 10 p.m.

UK Government investment as a share of GDP was below the OECD average between 1997 and 2015, according to new analysis of OECD figures published today by ONS. In 2015, UK government investment equalled 2.6% of GDP, compared with an OECD average of 3.6%.

UK government investment as a share of GDP was the third lowest in the G7 in 2015, with Germany (2.1% of GDP) at the bottom. UK Non-government investment was also lower than the OECD average, although further analysis suggests countries with a smaller manufacturing sector often have lower levels of non-government investment. UK non-government investment equalled 14.0% of GDP in 2015, compared with 17.9% across the OECD as a whole. In 2015 non-government investment in the UK was the lowest in the G7 as a share of GDP, with Canada at the top.

However, UK non-government investment has grown more strongly than in other G7 countries in recent years, increasing from 12.0% of GDP in 2009 to 14.0% in 2015. 

Employment Affairs and Social Protection Minister, Regina Doherty, T.D., has welcomed the latest monthly unemployment figures announced today by the CSO. The monthly unemployment rate has continued to fall month-on-month over the past year to 5.9% in April 2018. This represents a total fall in the unemployment rate of 0.9 percentage points since April 2017 when unemployment stood at 6.8% and is the lowest monthly unemployment rate since May 2008.

Minister Doherty said:

“The figures published today are further evidence that our growing economy is continuing to generate strong employment, and that we have made significant progress in reducing unemployment. Today is the first time monthly unemployment has fallen to under 6% in 10 years.

"This is a significant milestone, considering unemployment was at 16% just six years ago.

“These figures show that the employment supports provided by my Department to both jobseekers and employers are working well. Our activation measures are working well. As Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection I will ensure that the Department continues to provide this wide range of comprehensive supports and services to jobseekers.”

ABC Note: We apologise to our Irish audience for this Spike Milligan sketch. However, it has us in stitches. Who could seriously accuse Spike Milligan of racial stereotyping.  Spike allegedly has, ‘I Told You I Was Ill’ carved on his gravestone!

The two bank holiday weekends in May will cause some disruption to people who receive benefit payments.

The bank holidays on Monday, May 7 and three and  on Monday, May 28 mean that quite a few people won't be getting their money at the usual time.

Child benefit and tax credits are normally paid on a Monday or Tuesday.

Child Benefit is paid weekly if you're a single parent or also receiving a benefit like Income Support, a lot of people are guaranteed to be affected.

Other benefits including Working Tax Credits, Child Benefit and other tax credits could all be affected to - although other types of benefit payments should go ahead as normal.

When will benefits be paid in May?

• Payments due on Monday, May 7 - paid on Friday, May 4.
• Payments due on Monday, May 28 - paid on Friday, May 25.

The ABC had a suprise invitation today to the launch of the Guardian Public Service Awards. 

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Good afternoon, 

You are invited to celebrate the launch of The Guardian Public Service Awards 2018 on Monday 14 May, 2018 from 12-2pm. Join us at The Guardian offices:

Kings Place

90 York Way

London

N1 9GU

Please arrive at noon for the formal launch at 12.30pm. Drinks, nibbles and informal networking will follow. To reserve your place, please RSVP to the Guardian by Wednesday 9 May detailing any dietary or access requirements. This event is by invitation only as spaces are limited.

A invitation very much appreciated. We have a rather light hearted way of looking at these 'award' events.

ABC Note: A good excuse to skive off for the day.