Bosses at Britain’s biggest companies saw their pay surge by 16 per cent last year despite ordinary workers’ wages being outstripped by inflation, research has found.

Adam Forrest www.independent.co.uk

Chief executives for firms on the FTSE 100 enjoyed a pay bump amounting to around £500,000 in 2022, according to the High Pay Centre.

Unions said it showed that Britain had become “a land of grotesque extremes”, with well-off company chiefs benefiting from pay rises while hard-pressed families struggle during the cost of living crisis.

The gap between average top bosses and average workers widened further over the year – with the median CEO paid 118 times the median UK full-time worker in 2022, up from 108 times in 2021.

Median pay for a FTSE 100 CEO increased from £3.38m in 2021 to £3.91m 2022, the High Pay Centre said. It represents an upward trend after it dropped to £2.46m in 2020 after companies were hit by the Covid pandemic.

Pascal Soriot, boss of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, was the highest-earning FTSE 100 chief after receiving pay of £15.3m for the year.

Other particularly highly paid bosses in 2022 – the year in which the energy crisis saw gas and electricity bills soar – included Bernard Looney of BP and Ben van Beurden of Shell.

The High Pay Centre has called for new requirements for companies to include a minimum of two elected workforce representatives on the remuneration committees that set executive pay.

Luke Hildyard, director of the High Pay Centre, said: “At a time when so many households are struggling with living costs, an economic model that prioritises a half-a-million-pound pay rise for executives who are already multi-millionaires is surely going wrong somewhere.

“How major employers distribute the wealth that their workforce creates has a big impact on people’s living standards,” said the campaigner.

Mr Hildyard added: “We need to give workers more voice on company boards, strengthen trade union rights and enable low and middle-income earners to get a fairer share in relation to those at the top.”

It comes a week after official figures showed that average wages are continuing to grow behind rises in the cost of living, despite progress in tackling price rises.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said regular pay growth, which excludes bonuses, reached 7.8 per cent over the three months to June compared to a year earlier, but actually dropped by 0.6 per cent once inflation was taken into account.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “While millions of families have seen their budgets shredded by the cost of living crisis, city directors have enjoyed bumper pay rises.”

The union boss added: “This is why workers must be given seats on company boards to inject some much-needed common sense and restraint. We need an economy that delivers better living standards for all – not just those at the top. But under the Tories, Britain has become a land of grotesque extremes.”

Meanwhile, Labour said the economy is “stuck in a low-growth trap” under the Tories, as its analysis of the latest economic forecasts suggests that UK growth will be the slowest in the G7 in 2024.

The Bank of England’s August Monetary Policy Report suggests that economic growth is expected to be weaker next year than previously expected, downgraded from 0.75 per cent to 0.5 per cent.

Labour said this meant the UK would experience the slowest growth among the G7 group of countries, with shadow Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq warning low growth was now a “hallmark” of Rishi Sunak’s premiership.

A Tory party spokesperson responded: “The biggest threat to growing our economy is a Labour government, with the same old plans that would push up debt, inflation and interest rates.

They added: “Since 2010, the UK has grown faster than France, Japan and Italy, and we are determined to meet the prime minister’s pledge to grow the economy further whilst halving inflation – something Labour have no plan to do.”

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22 Aug 2023

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Government blasted as award-winning Devon pub shuts

Local leaders have lamented the closure of a popular pub in Devon and pinned the blame on the Government for not stepping in to curb the crippling impact of the cost of living crisis. The Swan closed recently after 16 years in the town of Bampton in Mid Devon.

[Simon Jupp nowhere to be seen, well Bampton isn’t in his constituency but that doesn’t seem to have deterred him recently. Photos of him supporting the hospitality sector, pint in one hand, used to be one of Simon’s things! Though his widely publicised campaigns have proved ineffectual. – Owl]

Lewis Clarke www.devonlive.com

The Swan, which had four AA Gold Stars and two Rosettes for culinary excellence, reached number 25 in the 2022 ‘Estrella Damm’ Top 50 Gastropub Awards. Alongside its sister restaurant, Spelt, it was also featured in the 2021 Michelin Guide and was named by the AA as the nation’s ‘Inn of the Year’ in 2019.

Announcing the news, owners Paul and Donna Berry said: “The strain we have been under for the last couple of years has been immense.

“We are extremely proud to have had The Swan over the last decade. We’ve had amazing customers and staff in that time. Thankfully most of the time has been positive. Clearly Covid was tough and today’s climate is very challenging.”

Councillor Chris Adcock, Liberal Democrat for Clare and Shuttern said: “This is a real blow to Bampton residents and the local economy. The Swan’s reputation brought people in to Bampton from across Devon, the UK and abroad. We would like to thank Donna, Paul and their team for all their hard work and wish them well with “Spelt”, their other restaurant on Brook Street.”

Councillor Rachel Gilmour, Liberal Democrat for Clare and Shuttern added: “This is a sign of the economic times. With the cost of living crisis, higher energy bills, enormously inflated mortgages and wages which don’t keep up with inflation, only the Conservatives are to blame for this and other pub closures. They have trashed our economy, leaving a trail of lost jobs and shattered dreams.”

Following the news, tributes and sadness at the closure of the pub poured in.

One said: “So sorry to hear this Paul as I know how much time and effort both you and Donna have invested in The Swan. You should both be very proud of yourselves for what you have given Bampton. Give yourselves a big pat on the back for all your achievements over the years and well done to all at Team Swan. Xx”

Another added: “Nooooooooo!!! Absolutely devastated for you. You’ve put your all in to it , what a challenge it’s been. Thank you for all our fabulous evenings with you. We will miss you all at the Swan soooo much Xx”

A third said: “Very sad news, quite understandable considering the financial climate. Glad you’ve still got Spelt to continue to deliver exceptional food and hospitality.”

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22 Aug 2023

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UK housebuilders’ shares fall amid fastest drop in asking prices in five years

In its effort to push down inflation, the Bank of England has raised interest rates from 0.25% in late 2021 to 5.25% at its meeting earlier this month, the highest level since the financial crisis in 2008. That has prompted mortgage rates to rise rapidly, making borrowing for housing more difficult for many prospective buyers.

The widespread expectation is that the Bank will have to raise interest rates further. E.g. “The Bank of England should increase interest rates again to at least 5.5 per cent next month even though inflation is falling, a group of leading experts have told i.“

Jasper Jolly www.theguardian.com

Britain’s housebuilders were the top stock market fallers on Monday after one of the sector’s biggest companies issued a profit warning and data revealed the fastest drop in asking prices in five years.

Housebuilder Crest Nicholson said it expected to make a profit of about £50m this financial year, compared with about £74m expected in June, as the number of house purchases had fallen in recent weeks.

The alert sent housebuilding shares tumbling. Taylor Wimpey led the fallers on the FTSE 100, down 4%, with Persimmon, Berkeley and Barratt down more than 2% as more than £500m was wiped off the value of Britain’s largest housebuilders. The property website Rightmove also fell nearly 2% and Crest Nicholson was the biggest faller on the FTSE 250, down 10%.

It was the latest sign that rising interest rates to combat high inflation, a slowing economy and the wider cost of living crisis are weighing on the UK housing market. Home sellers reduced their asking prices by 1.9% on average in August, the most since 2018, according to data from Rightmove.

In its effort to push down inflation, the Bank of England has raised interest rates from 0.25% in late 2021 to 5.25% at its meeting earlier this month, the highest level since the financial crisis in 2008. That has prompted mortgage rates to rise rapidly, making borrowing for housing more difficult for many prospective buyers.

Crest Nicholson said the number of transactions was dropping. The amount of first-time buyers, who have generally not built up as much equity as older property owners, has dropped particularly sharply because of the end of the help to buy housing subsidy, the company said.

“Against a backdrop of persistently high inflation and rising interest rates, trading conditions for the housing market have worsened during the summer of this year,” it said in a statement to the stock market. “While pricing has remained resilient in a market with limited supply and few distressed sellers, the economic uncertainty is deterring prospective home movers.”

Victoria Scholar, the head of investment at the share trading website Interactive Investor, said: “Expensive mortgages, wider cost-of-living pressures and a general backdrop of macroeconomic unease with sluggish growth and increasing slack in the labour market are taking their toll on house prices, which are expected to feel further pain as the year progresses.”

While the slowdown is expected to affect builders’ profits, the drop in asking prices comes in the context of decades of rises which have put home ownership out of reach for many first-time buyers. The 1.9% drop in asking prices – equivalent to a £7,012 price cut – left the average asking price on Rightmove’s platform at £364,895, the company said. Even after the drop, average prices were £59,000 higher than in August 2019, a 19% increase.

Government data showed that the average UK house price was £288,000 in June, £5,000 higher than 12 months ago, albeit £5,000 below the recent record in November 2022.

Tim Bannister, who oversees Rightmove’s data, said: “There is no glut of properties for sale, with the number of available properties still lower than at this time in 2019 and homes still selling more quickly, with the average time to find a buyer now 55 days compared with 61 days in 2019.

“The lower level of agreed sales compared with this time in 2019 indicates the affordability challenges that many buyers currently face.”

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Lucy Letby inquiry: Will ministers be forced to hand chair statutory powers?

(And the reasons why it may be reluctant to do so).

Ministers are under mounting pressure to grant the inquiry into serial killer nurse Lucy Letby legal powers following fears that it lacks the “teeth” needed to unearth potential failings.

Archie Mitchell www.independent.co.uk

The 33-year-old was found guilty on Friday of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others between June 2015 and June 2016 in the hospital where she worked.

The murders, which Letby carried out during her shifts on the neonatal ward at the Countess of Chester Hospital, will be subject to an independent inquiry, health secretary Steve Barclay has announced.

Mr Barclay said the probe would “ensure mothers and their partners rightly have faith in our healthcare system”.

But in order to ensure that the families of Letby’s victims receive justice, and that similar incidents do not occur in future, critics say it must be given statutory powers.

Here, The Independent looks at the difference it could make, and why the inquiry has been set up in the way it has.

What are public inquiries for?

Ministers establish public inquiries into events of major public concern or controversial policy issues.

They typically assess what happened, why it happened, who is to blame, and what can be done to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

Previous examples include the ongoing inquiry into the government’s handling of the Covid pandemic, and the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, which looked at the mass shooting of Catholic demonstrators in Derry by British paratroopers in 1972.

What is a non-statutory inquiry?

Non-statutory inquiries lack the power to take evidence under oath that statutory ones have.

They also offer more flexibility over how they are run, which can make it easier to hear sensitive evidence in private where it is deemed necessary.

Mr Barclay has said that the families of Letby’s victims will be able to have their voices heard in shaping the scope of the inquiry.

But what do critics say?

Such an inquiry lacks the power to compel witnesses to produce evidence or give evidence under oath, leading critics to claim it is “not good enough”.

Lawyers representing the families of two of Letby’s victims say the inquiry will be forced to “rely on the goodwill of those involved”.

In a joint statement, Richard Scorer and Yvonne Agnew, of law firm Slater and Gordon, said: “The failings here are very serious and an inquiry needs to have a statutory basis to have real teeth.”

The lack of statutory powers has raised fears that key pieces of evidence will be missed – for instance, those that could provide the answer to how Letby was able to continue working in the hospital’s neonatal unit for more than a year after concerns about her conduct were first raised.

Why has the government chosen to hold a non-statutory inquiry?

One legal expert told The Independent that a statutory inquiry could “open up a can of worms” in exposing wider failings in the NHS – particularly in relation to allegations that bosses prioritised reputational damage over the concerns of hospital staff.

They said a “more rigorous” statutory public inquiry raised the risk of negative publicity for the government in the run-up to a general election, which is expected to be held next year.

But the government said a non-statutory inquiry was chosen in order to allow it to focus on “lessons that can be learned quickly”.

Will ministers change their minds?

The health secretary has so far refused to listen to calls from families, doctors and MPs to give the inquiry statutory powers, insisting that the current set-up will ensure that victims’ parents and families get the answers they need.

But Emma Norris, the Institute for Government think tank’s expert on public inquiries, said there was a “reasonable chance” that Mr Barclay will be forced to upgrade the inquiry to a statutory one.

She told The Independent that the case had similarities with the government’s inquiry into serial killer Harold Shipman, which was set up as a non-statutory inquiry but was changed following a judicial review.

When will the inquiry begin?

The Department of Health and Social Care said on Friday that it will appoint a chair and publish the inquiry’s proposed terms of reference “in due course”.

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“Small Boats”, then the “NHS”. Does “Crime” lead this week’s grid?

Is Alison Hernandez on stand-by and on side?

Can she deliver a police force that will follow up “all reasonable lines of enquiry” to solve crimes that are reported to them? – Owl

Braverman set to launch crime blitz in reset after Cabinet infighting over small boats

Hugo Gye inews.co.uk

Suella Braverman is preparing to launch a crime crackdown in a drive to get the Home Office back on track after an eruption of damaging infighting.

The Home Secretary is set to announce that police must follow up “all reasonable lines of enquiry” to solve crimes that are reported to them.

The move, which will particularly cover offences such as the theft of cars and mobile phones which often go unpunished, comes after a period of turbulence in the Home Office.

An attempt to promote the Government’s policy on preventing asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel in dangerous small boats ended in farce earlier this month when dozens of migrants had to be evacuated from a barge where they were staying after legionella was discovered on board days after their arrival.

There are widespread reports of disagreements between Ms Braverman, department officials, and the immigration minister Robert Jenrick who is a close ally of Rishi Sunak.

Growing numbers of Conservative MPs want the Home Secretary to be fired in a reshuffle expected in the coming weeks, although her allies insist she remains indispensable as a leading figure from the right of the party within the Cabinet.

The Home Office is poised to issue new guidance to police which will specify that they are expected to investigate every crime after concerns that officers are ignoring potential evidence such as mobile phone tracking data. In London, as many as 98 per cent of phone thefts go unsolved.

Ms Braverman said in comments first reported by the Sunday Telegraph: “All victims of theft deserve more from the police and justice system than simply a crime number, and they should expect all reasonable lines of enquiry should be followed up.”

A senior Home Office source told i that the new policy was made possible by an increase in the overall number of officers and a reduction in other obligations such as responding to calls of mental health emergencies. The source said: “Now that we have record levels of police we have the resources to do this, and we’ve also lessened the burden of bureaucracy and red tape on officers.”

Government insiders are understood to be concerned about dysfunction in the department amid a failure to cut the number small boats arrivals significantly. “The whole thing resembles a circular firing squad,” a minister told the Sunday Times.

And Tory MPs have reacted with anger to claims that Home Office officials are told not to interrogate asylum seekers over sensitive details of their past, or to turn down their claim if they are found to have lied.

Planning applications validated by EDDC for week beginning 7 August

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**** you, Jack, I’m alright

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Government blasted as award-winning Devon pub shuts

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UK housebuilders’ shares fall amid fastest drop in asking prices in five years

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Lucy Letby inquiry: Will ministers be forced to hand chair statutory powers?

What are public inquiries for?

What is a non-statutory inquiry?

But what do critics say?

Why has the government chosen to hold a non-statutory inquiry?

Will ministers change their minds?

When will the inquiry begin?

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“Small Boats”, then the “NHS”. Does “Crime” lead this week’s grid?

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