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Best podcasts about national statistics ons

Latest podcast episodes about national statistics ons

Coffee House Shots
Westminster waits for Donald's decision

Coffee House Shots

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2025 13:40


Westminster waits with bated breath to discover whether Donald Trump will ally with Israel in striking Iranian nuclear sites. The President called for ‘UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!' from Tehran overnight. The day to day of domestic politics appears diminished by comparison with the ever-looming threat of an escalated conflict…But the show must go on: today's PMQs saw Chris Philp (why not Robert Jenrick?) and Angela Rayner deputising for their absent leaders; Liz Kendall introduced legislation to enact cuts to personal independence payments for disabled people; the Commons voted to decriminalise abortion at any point until birth; and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is up to its old tricks, announcing that inflation has fallen when the reality is much more complicated. Can we trust the forecasters? And did anyone ask for this amendment on abortion? James Heale speaks to Michael Simmons and Kate Andrews.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Coffee House Shots
The economy is growing!

Coffee House Shots

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2025 10:32


Finally, some good news for your Friday: the economy is growing! Just when everyone seems to be revising down expectations of growth, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that GDP grew by 0.5 per cent in February. It also revised January's figures upwards to give growth for the last quarter of 0.6 per cent, and annual growth of 1.4 per cent. It looks – for now – that the Reeves recession has been put on hold and that Labour's growth agenda could be working. That said, Labour cannot afford to celebrate just yet. There is reason to believe the figures could be overstated, and there are some trust issues with the ONS – the government last week announced a review of its ‘performance and culture'. These figures also do not take into account the tumult caused by Trump's tariffs. So what can we read into them? Will Trump undo Labour's progress? Lucy Dunn speaks to Michael Simmons and Katy Balls. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Spectator Radio
The Edition: migration mystery, Ipso's trans muddle & are you a ‘trad dad'?

Spectator Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 30, 2025 45:38


This week: why don't we know how many people are in Britain? How many people live in the UK? It's a straightforward question, yet the answer eludes some of the nation's brightest statistical minds, writes Sam Bidwell for the cover this week. Whenever official figures are tested against real-world data, the population is almost always undercounted. For example, in England alone, nearly 64 million patients are registered with GP practices – higher than the Office for National Statistics (ONS)'s estimated population of 58 million. Sam argues there are serious consequences for our society at large, including for tax, housing and our utilities. Who is to blame for this data deficiency? And why is Britain so bad at tackling illegal migration? Sam joined the podcast alongside the broadcaster Trevor Phillips. (1:03) Next: has gender ideology taken over the press regulator? Two months ago, the press regulator Ipso upheld a complaint against The Spectator for the way in which writer Gareth Roberts referred to transgender author Juno Dawson. One person who wasn't surprised by the ruling was Conrad Roeber, who was lead author of a report for the regulator examining how the press treats trans-related issues. In the magazine this week, he argues: ‘It effectively asked me to mark its homework,' and he worries that the case demonstrates that a contentious ideology has taken over the  regulator. What does this case mean for the intersection of equality, free speech and a free press? Conrad joined us to discuss, alongside The Spectator's editor Michael Gove. (21:35) And finally: trad dads vs female breadwinners Arabella Byrne argues in favour of ‘trad dads', saying that she is quite happy with her traditional family life with her husband as the main breadwinner. Her piece was (in part) a response to an article by Theo Hobson, published in The Spectator several weeks ago, where he shared his conflicting feelings about his wife being the main earner in his family. How much have societal norms really changed? What impact is there on a spouse who isn't the breadwinner? And for all the talk of gender parity professionally, can it ever truly be achieved in the familial home? Both Arabella and Theo joined us to discuss. (36:00) Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

The Edition
Migration mystery, Ipso's trans muddle & are you a ‘trad dad'?

The Edition

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 30, 2025 45:38


This week: why don't we know how many people are in Britain? How many people live in the UK? It's a straightforward question, yet the answer eludes some of the nation's brightest statistical minds, writes Sam Bidwell for the cover this week. Whenever official figures are tested against real-world data, the population is almost always undercounted. For example, in England alone, nearly 64 million patients are registered with GP practices – higher than the Office for National Statistics (ONS)'s estimated population of 58 million. Sam argues there are serious consequences for our society at large, including for tax, housing and our utilities. Who is to blame for this data deficiency? And why is Britain so bad at tackling illegal migration? Sam joined the podcast alongside the broadcaster Trevor Phillips. (1:03) Next: has gender ideology taken over the press regulator? Two months ago, the press regulator Ipso upheld a complaint against The Spectator for the way in which writer Gareth Roberts referred to transgender author Juno Dawson. One person who wasn't surprised by the ruling was Conrad Roeber, who was lead author of a report for the regulator examining how the press treats trans-related issues. In the magazine this week, he argues: ‘It effectively asked me to mark its homework,' and he worries that the case demonstrates that a contentious ideology has taken over the  regulator. What does this case mean for the intersection of equality, free speech and a free press? Conrad joined us to discuss, alongside The Spectator's editor Michael Gove. (21:35) And finally: trad dads vs female breadwinners Arabella Byrne argues in favour of ‘trad dads', saying that she is quite happy with her traditional family life with her husband as the main breadwinner. Her piece was (in part) a response to an article by Theo Hobson, published in The Spectator several weeks ago, where he shared his conflicting feelings about his wife being the main earner in his family. How much have societal norms really changed? What impact is there on a spouse who isn't the breadwinner? And for all the talk of gender parity professionally, can it ever truly be achieved in the familial home? Both Arabella and Theo joined us to discuss. (36:00) Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Coffee House Shots
Why would the government pay Gerry Adams?

Coffee House Shots

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2025 10:47


With rumours swirling around Westminster and after Keir Starmer's less than convincing defence of his Chancellor earlier in the week, Rachel Reeves has found some brief respite. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed that inflation dipped to 2.5 per cent in the 12 months to December, down from 2.6 per cent the month before. It's welcome news for a Chancellor who is under pressure, so is she safe? Elsewhere, there is a fresh row emerging concerning Gerry Adams. The government is proposing to repeal legislation, enacted in 2023, that prevents Gerry Adams and 400 others from claiming ‘compensation' for having been detained in the 1970s for suspected involvement in terrorism. Keir Starmer has said that he and his ministers will look at ‘every conceivable way' to block Gerry Adams from receiving government money, but will they end up paying out? And who is Lord Hermer KC, and why is he at the centre of all of this? Katy Balls speaks to Michael Gove and Kate Andrews. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

ARA City Radio
What's right: Redefining economic growth

ARA City Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2024 2:49


The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) is adopting a new measure, Gross Inclusive Income (GII), to redefine economic growth beyond GDP. Unlike GDP, which measures only monetary transactions and often misrepresents harmful activities as economic progress, GII includes non-monetary factors like renewable energy benefits and voluntary care. GDP, originally a wartime tool, fails to account for wellbeing, sustainability, and social value, ignoring crucial aspects of life such as peace, environmental health, and relationships. Alternative metrics like the Human Development Index, Better Life Index, Positive Peace Index, and Genuine Progress Indicator offer broader views of societal progress by emphasizing health, education, environmental costs, and community wellbeing. Advocates suggest combining such measures for a comprehensive understanding of progress. The ONS is integrating these ideas, using data from 2005 to develop GII. During the COVID-19 pandemic, GII grew faster than GDP, driven by renewable energy's positive impact on emissions and pollution. Economist Diane Coyle lauds this as "pioneering work," hoping other nations follow suit.

Psycho Killer: Shocking True Crime Stories
Kids Who Kill: Mary Bell; The James Bulger Tragedy; And The Machete Murder Of Shawn Seesahai

Psycho Killer: Shocking True Crime Stories

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2024 65:48


"They chopped him." Those three words from the parents of Shawn Seesahai starkly describe their teenage son's death at the hands of two machete-wielding boys aged just 12, during a confrontation in a park in Wolverhampton, England.So, are murderers getting younger? Broadly speaking, the answer is 'yes'.Figures from the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the percentage of homicide convictions going to under-16s compared with other ages doubled over 10 years, from about one in 50 in 2012/13 to one in 25 in 2022/23.Sky News reports that the 2022/23 figure is the highest since at least 2008/09. But they caveat – since the percentage of under-16s is low overall, the averages can be heavily skewed by relatively few convictions.In this podcast, former major crime detective Jacques Morrell is joined by broadcaster Karl Cooper. They look at three murders carried out by children and discuss how the law balances retribution and rehabilitation.AcknowledgementsWe are grateful to the following news organisations for the illustrative clips used in this podcast:BBC ArchiveBBC NewsChannel Five NewsChannel Four NewsSky NewsThames TelevisionWest Midlands PoliceThe song, 'Just Know That I Bleached That', was performed by stackban6z.28(Casper Caponè) on TikTok.Watch the complete video recording of Mrs Justice Tipples' sentencing remarks in the Shawn Seesahai murder trial.Learn more about reporting restrictions for children in criminal cases with this plain English guide.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/psycho-killer-shocking-true-crime-stories--5005712/support.

The Happier Life Project
The Long Haul: Life with Long COVID & Chronic Fatigue with Lexi Boreham

The Happier Life Project

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2024 52:00


Long COVID, refers to a range of symptoms that persist for weeks or months after the acute phase of a COVID-19 infection has been resolved. At least 2 million people in England and Scotland say they are experiencing long COVID, with many reporting their symptoms have lasted two years or longer. The figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) cover the period from November 2023 to March 2024 and further breakdown that among those who reported having long COVID, approximately 1.5 million people - about three-quarters - felt their daily activities were impacted, while 381,000 people - about a fifth - said their ability to perform these activities was "severely limited." One significant aspect of long COVID is its impact on mental health, contributing to a range of psychological and cognitive symptoms. Many individuals with long COVID report experiencing anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Insomnia, brain fog, memory problems and confusion are also extremely common. Studies have shown that these symptoms can be as debilitating as the physical symptoms of long COVID which include; chronic fatigue, frequent or severe headaches, persistent aches and pains in joints and muscles, shortness of breath, fever, nausea, digestive and bladder issues, skin rashes and heart palpitations. Addressing these issues requires a multifaceted approach, including medical treatment, mental health support, and lifestyle modifications. Continued research and awareness are critical in managing and mitigating the mental health effects of long COVID. As is supporting our friends, colleagues and loved ones who are going through it. Lexi Boreham was a fit, healthy and active lawyer who in September 2022, at 29 years old, was struck down with long COVID. Lexi started sharing her recovery journey publicly on Instagram in May 2023, to create a safe space for those with long COVID to find comfort and community, and to raise awareness of the illness. Lexi openly vocalises the ups and downs of life with long COVID, including feelings of loneliness, frustration and sadness, but also the brief moments of hope and joy. Talking to host Gabby, Lexi speaks candidly about what life has been like since becoming afflicted with long COVID. Lexi shares her own struggles with debilitating fatigue, how her mental health has been affected, and explains about the spectrum of the condition. Lexi also talks about how her battle with long COVID has affected her family and loved ones, whilst offering advice on how we might show our support to anyone facing the challenges of long COVID. Lexi highlights what the most current research is providing and vocalises her frustrations with the flippant comments Rishi Sunak made, about those struggling to work due to chronic health conditions. Lexi also offers some words of hope and encouragement to anyone experiencing long COVID, whilst sharing what tools and resources she has found to be helpful in managing her own symptoms. To download the My Possible Self App: https://mypossibleself.app.link/podcast To follow My Possible Self on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mypossibleself To follow Lexi on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/positively_fatigued To follow Lexi on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@positively_fatigued To download the UCL resources pdf on long COVID referred to in the interview: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/covid-19-longitudinal-health-wellbeing/sites/covid_19_longitudinal_health_wellbeing/files/a-guide-to-long-covid-and-mental-health.pdf

Statistically Speaking
AI: The Future of Data

Statistically Speaking

Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2024 33:54


  With the public release of large language models like Chat GPT putting Artificial Intelligence (AI) firmly on our radar, this episode explores what benefits this technology might hold for statistics and analysis, as well as policymaking and public services.  Joining host, Miles Fletcher, to discuss the groundbreaking work being done in this area by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and across the wider UK Government scene are: Osama Rahman, Director of the ONS Data Science Campus; Richard Campbell, Head of Reproducible Data Science and Analysis; and Sam Rose, Deputy Director of Advanced Analytics and Head of Data Science and AI at the Department for Transport.  Transcript MILES FLETCHER Welcome again to Statistically Speaking, the official podcast of the UK's Office for National Statistics. I'm Miles Fletcher and, if you've been a regular listener to these podcasts, you'll have heard plenty of the natural intelligence displayed by my ONS colleagues. This time though, we're looking into the artificial stuff. We'll discuss the work being done by the ONS to take advantage of this great technological leap forward; what's going on with AI across the wider UK Government scene; and also talk about the importance of making sure every use of AI is carried out safely and responsibly. Guiding us through that are my ONS colleagues - with some of the most impressive job titles we've had to date - Osama Rahman is Director of the Data Science Campus. Richard Campbell is Head of Reproducible Data Science and Analysis. And completing our lineup, Sam Rose, Deputy Director of Advanced Analytics and head of data science and AI at the Department for Transport. Welcome to you all. Osama let's kick off then with some clarity on this AI thing. It's become the big phrase of our time now of course but when it comes to artificial intelligence and public data, what precisely are we talking about? OSAMA RAHMANSo artificial intelligence quite simply is the simulation of human intelligence processes by computing systems, and the simulation is the important bit, I think. Actually, people talk about data science, and they talk about machine learning - there's no clear-cut boundaries between these things, and there's a lot of overlap. So, you think about data science. It's the study of data to extract meaningful insights. It's multidisciplinary – maths, stats, computer programming, domain expertise, and you analyse large amounts of data to ask and answer questions. And then you think about machine learning. So that focuses on the development of computer algorithms that improve automatically through experience and by the use of data. So, in other words, machine learning enables computers to learn from data and make decisions or predictions without explicitly being programmed to do so. So, if you think about some of the stuff we do at the ONS, it's very important to be able to take a job and match it to an industrial classification - so that was a manually intensive process and now we use a lot of machine learning to guide that. So, machine learning is essentially a form of AI. MILES FLETCHERSo is it fair to say then that the reason, or one of the main reasons, people are talking so much about AI now is because of the public release of these large language models? The chat bots if you like, to simpletons like me, the ChatGPT's and so forth. You know, they seem like glorified search engines or Oracles - you ask them a question and they tell you everything you need to know.  OSAMA RAHMANSo that's a form of AI and the one everyone's interested in. But it's not the only form – like I said machine learning, some other applications in data science, where we try in government, you know, in trying to detect fraud and error. So, it's all interlinked.   MILES FLETCHERWhen the ONS asked people recently for one of its own surveys, about how aware the public are about artificial intelligence, 42% of people said they used it in their home recently. What sort of things would people be using it for in the home? What are these everyday applications of AI and I mean, is this artificial intelligence strictly speaking?  OSAMA RAHMANIf you use Spotify, or Amazon music or YouTube music, they get data on what music you listen to, and they match that with people who've been listening to similar music, and they make recommendations for you. And that's one of the ways people find out about new music or new movies if you use Netflix, so that's one pretty basic application, that I think a lot of people are using in the home.  MILES FLETCHERAnd when asked about what areas of AI they'd like to know more about, more than four in 10 adults reported that they'd like to know better how to judge the accuracy of information. I guess this is where the ONS might come in. Rich then, if I could just ask you to explain what we've been up to, what the Data Science Campus has been up to, to actually bring the power of artificial intelligence to our statistics. RICHARD CAMPBELLThanks Miles. Yeah, a few things that ONS has been doing in this very broad sphere of artificial intelligence, and it's really in that overlap area that Osama mentioned with data science, so I'd pick out a few sorts of general areas there. So, one is automation. You know, we're always keen to look at how we can automate processes and make them more efficient. It frees up the time of our analysts to conduct more work. It means that we are more cost effective. It means that our statistics have better quality. It's something we've done for years but AI offers some new opportunities do that. The other area which Osama touched on is the use of large language models, you know, we can get into the complexities of data. We can get much more out of data; we can complete tasks that would have been too complex or too time consuming for real data scientists. And this is good news, actually, because it frees up the data scientists to add real valuable human insights. Some of the places we've been using this. So, my team for example, which is called reproducible data science and analysis, and we use data science and engineering skills to develop computer systems to produce statistics where the data is a bit big, or what I tend to call a bit messy or a bit complex for our traditional computer systems. We use AI here through automation, as I mentioned, you know, really making sure that we're making systems as efficient and high quality as possible. Another thing we're interested in doing here is quite often we're doing something called re-platforming systems. So, this is where we take a system that's been used to produce our statistics for years and years and look to move it on to new technology. Now we're exploring with Osama's team the potential for AI to do a lot of the grunt work for us there to sort of go in and say, right, what is going on in this system? How is it working, how we can improve it? One other thing I'll mention, if Osama doesn't mind me treading on the territory of his team, is the Stats Chat function that we've used on the ONS website. So, this is using AI to enable a far more intelligent interrogation of the vast range of statistics that we've got, so it no longer requires people to be really knowledgeable about our statistics. It enables them to ask quite open questions and to be guided to the most relevant data.  MILES FLETCHERBecause at the moment, if you want to really explore a topic by getting into the depths of the data, into the granular data, you've really got to know what you're looking for haven't you? This again is an oracle that will come up with the answers for you and just present them all ready for your digestion.  RICHARD CAMPBELLThat's right. And I tend to think of these things as a starting point, rather than the whole answer. So, what it's enabling you to do is to get to the meat of the issue a lot quicker. And then you can focus your energy as a user of our statistics in doing the analysis that you want rather than thinking “how do I find the right information in the first place?” MILES FLETCHEROsama, that sounds like an intriguing tool. Tell us precisely how it works then, what data does it capture, what's in scope? OSAMA RAHMANSo the scope is publicly available documents on the ONS website. And there's a specific reason for that. So, these AI tools, you can have it look at the whole internet, you can have it look at subsets of data, you can point it to specific bits of data, right? And what's important for us is actually the work of the ONS, that statistics we produce are quality assured and relevant. And by providing these guardrails where you know, Stats Chat only looks at ONS published data, we have a degree of assurance that the data coming back to the user is likely to be of good quality and not based on who knows what information. MILES FLETCHERBecause when you use, to name one example, ChatGPT for example, the little warning comes back saying “ChatGPT can make mistakes, consider checking important information.” And I guess that's fundamental to all this isn't it. These tools, as intelligent as they might be, they're only as good - like any system - as the information that's going in the front end.  OSAMA RAHMANThat's absolutely correct, which is why we have these guardrails where, you know, the functionality on Stats Chat is focused on published ONS information.  MILES FLETCHERThat does mean that something that's offered by an organisation like the ONS does have that sort of inbuilt potential to be trustworthy and widely used. But of course, you might say, to have a really good tool it's got to be drawing on masses of information from right across the world. And it's interesting how, and you mentioned that it's open-source data, of course, that's most available for these tools at the moment, but you're seeing proprietary data coming in as well. And this week, as we're recording this, the Financial Times, for example, has announced that it's done a deal with one of the big AI firms to put all of its content into their database. Do you think there's scope for organisations like the ONS around the world to collaborate on this and to provide you know, really powerful tools for the world to exchange knowledge and data this way? OSAMA RAHMANSo there is collaboration going on. There's collaboration, both within government - we're not the only department looking at these sorts of tools; there's also collaboration internationally. I think the difference you know... our information on our website is already publicly available. That's why it's on the net, it is a publication. But there's a difference in situation with the FT where, you know, a lot of the FT information is behind a paywall. MILES FLETCHERYeah, it has a sort of democratising tendency that this publicly available information is being fed into these kinds of sources and these kinds of tools. That's big picture stuff. It's all very exciting work that's going on. But I'll come back to you Rich just for a second. What examples practically, because I think that the Stats Chat project is still a little way off actually being available publicly, isn't it? RICHARD CAMPBELLYeah, I think it is still a little way off. So, I think the key thing that we're doing at the moment and something we've done for years, but AI is helping is the use of automation principles. Just making things quicker. Now in a data science context, this might be going through very, very large data sets, looking for patterns that it would take an analyst a huge amount of time and probably far too much patience than they would have to find. MILES FLETCHERSo for example, in future then we might find that - and this is one issue that recurs in these podcasts - obviously about the limitations of official statistics is they tend to lag.  This is another way of making sure that data gets processed faster. And therefore, the statistics are more timely, and therefore the insights they provide are really much more actionable than perhaps they might be at the moment.  RICHARD CAMPBELLYeah, that's spot on. There's potential in there for pace of getting the statistics from the point that the data exists to getting it into published statistics. There's potential there for us to be able to combine and bring more sources together. There's also some behind the scenes stuff that helps as well. So, for example, quite often we are coding up the systems to produce new or improved versions of official statistics. And we're looking at the possibility of AI speeding up and supporting that process, perhaps for example, by giving us an initial draft of the code. Now, why does that matter for people in the public, you know, does anybody actually care? Well, what it means is that we can do things quicker and more to the point we can focus the time of our expert data scientists and other analysts in really helping people understand the data and the analysis that we're producing.  MILES FLETCHEROkay, so lots of interesting stuff in the pipeline there. But I'd like to bring in Sam now to talk about how AI is actually being used in government right now. Because in your work Sam at the Department for Transport, you've actually been working on some practical projects that have been gaining results in the real world. SAM ROSEWe have - we've been doing loads actually, and my poor team probably haven't had any time to sit still for the last 18 months or so. And I think like most ministerial departments, we're doing lots and lots of work to automate existing processes, so much like Rich has alluded to in your space, we're looking at the things that take up most of the time for our policy colleagues and looking at how we can automate those. So, for example, drafting correspondence, or automating policy consultation processes, or all of that kind of corporate memory type stuff. Can we mine big banks of data be it text or otherwise and summarise that information or generate new insights that we wouldn't have been able to do previously? But I think slightly more relevant maybe for you guys, is the stuff we're doing on creating new datasets or improving datasets. So, a few things. We're training a machine learning model to identify heavy goods vehicles from Earth observation data. And that's because we don't have a single nationally representative data set that tells us where these heavy goods vehicles park or stop outside of existing kind of service stations, and what we want to understand is where are those big areas of tarmac or concrete where they're all parking up as part of their routine journeys, so that we can look at when we're rolling out the green infrastructure for heavy goods vehicles, we're looking at where the important places that we need to put that infrastructure are. And that data doesn't exist at the moment. So we're using machine learning to generate a new dataset that we wouldn't otherwise have. MILES FLETCHERAnd how widespread are these kinds of projects across government in the UK now? SAM ROSESo I think that there are loads of different things and I wouldn't be able to speak on behalf of everybody but I know lots of different areas of government are looking at similar kind of automation and productivity projects like our kind of drafting all of the knowledge management area. I think there's things like Osama alluded to where DEFRA for example, I think they're using Earth observation data to assess biodiversity for example. So, there's lots of stuff that's common between lots of government departments, and then there's lots of stuff that's very specific to individual departments. But all along the way there's lots of collaboration and working together to make sure we're all learning continuously and where we can collaborate on a single solution that we are. MILES FLETCHERI guess one of the central public concerns about the spread of AI once again that it will cost jobs, that it will do people out of the means of making a living that they've become used to. And I guess from government's point of view, it's all about doing much, much more with the resources that we have and making government much more effective.  SAM ROSEYes, absolutely. And it's not necessarily - and I think Rich mentioned this earlier - it's not necessarily about doing our jobs for us. It's about improving how we can do our jobs and being able to do more with less, I think, so freeing up the human to do the bit that the human really needs to do and enabling the technology to do their very repeatable very automatable parts of the job. And indeed, in some instances, this technology can actually do the work better than humans. So be it identifying really complex patterns and datasets, for example. Or a good example from us in transport is we've trained machine learning model to be able to look at images of electric vehicle charge point installations and be able to identify that similar or the same image that has been submitted more than once. Now that's estimated to have saved over 130 man years of time, you know, that's not a task that we would have been able to do with just humans. MILES FLETCHERAnd you would have to be pretty alert as a human and have a very high boredom threshold to process all that material yourself and spot the fraudsters. SAM ROSEYeah, well, quite. And that's, I think, a really nice example of where again, it's not taking our jobs, but it's enabling us to do something that we wouldn't have been able to do previously and improve the service that we're providing. MILES FLETCHERNow, our ability collectively, whatever sort of organisation we're involved in, our ability to make the most of AI depends on of course having the right skills, and Osama I guess this is where the Data Science Campus comes in as the government's Centre of Excellence for data science, principally, but I guess also in this context, artificial intelligence as well. What work have you been involved in to make sure that the supply of those skills and knowledge is on tap for government? OSAMA RAHMANSo firstly, I would say we are a (one) centre of excellence within government. I think you know, what's been brilliant to see since the campus was set up has been that actually more and more government departments have excellent data science, AI teams. Sam leads one at DfT. There is, of course, 10DS (or 10 Data Science) at number 10 [Downing Street]. There's a Cabinet Office team. So, there's lots of teams that now work in this area. Some of the stuff we've been doing is we have various training programmes that we have run. We have senior data masterclasses so that actually, senior leaders within government can understand better the power of data. 10DS, Sam's area, have all been running hackathons, which actually improve skills as well. So, it's no longer just us who are building capability. I think it's great to see that across government and across departments there are teams improving skills within their departments, bringing in others from outside to work with them. So, there's a lot going on there. SAM ROSEJust really quickly, it's important to think that skills are not just skills of data scientists, but skills of everybody's ability to use this kind of technology. There's a lot of work going on at the moment looking at what we need to do both internally to government, but also out there in all of our sectors to make sure that our workforce has the skills it needs to be able to more rapidly kind of adopt and be able to take advantage of all the benefits that this technology brings to us. I mean from a very personal point of view, and I don't really know all of the answers to this, but you know, I'm thinking about what actually, if large language models can help us to generate efficient code, then actually, what skills do I need in my data scientists? If it's not writing code, is it actually the analytical thinking and being able to understand how to apply these kinds of technologies? So, I think it changes what we need in the workforce that we have.  MILES FLETCHERInevitably, though, if we're talking about this kind of technology being rolled out across government and thereby increasing the power of government to know more about more people, then concerns obviously, about the ethical use of data come in...  RICHARD CAMPBELLMaybe if I can just come in on that one Miles. Using data safely and responsibly - it's built into our very DNA in ONS and across government. And our keenness to sort of learn how to do new tools new techniques is always going to be tempered by our need to ensure that we are responsibly using the data that's been entrusted to us. And I think we need to sort of strike a balance here. We need to ensure that we don't take this responsibility as an excuse to not try and adopt new technology such as AI, but it also means we have to do so with care and responsibility and to do it at an appropriate pace. The key thing, I think, for me is ensuring that we can retain control of the data that we've been entrusted with. And so, understanding what AI is doing with that data, considering what data we're giving access to it, what data is being processed, and what data is being generated. And this is really at the forefront of our minds and our collective use of this. I think our approach - and Osama touched on this earlier - is to sort of be novel and start with open source and non-sensitive data first, so that will help us learn how we can effectively use it before we go on to some of the more sensitive data that we hold. SAM ROSEWe have to have ethics and data protection at the heart of everything we do, which then does have the tendency I think necessarily to reduce the pace of our ability to roll things out a little bit. But as government we do, I think have more responsibility. We can't have those kind of oops moments that some of the big tech companies have had when they're trying to reverse engineer the data to remove bias and that you know, things like that that then fundamentally undermine the output of their models. I think when you're doing a job that affects individual people, and providing services that affect citizens then we don't really have the luxury of getting it wrong like that, and we have to try to make sure we get it right first time. So, all of the things that Richard said about starting with, you know, safer datasets and working our way up before we deploy these models is kind of fundamental to how we're going to learn and ensure that we're doing it safely and securely MILES FLETCHEROsama what's your take on the ethics question?  OSAMA RAHMANFirst of all, I would echo everything just said. You know the Statistics Code of Practice is an annex to the Civil Service Code, it applies to all of us not just statisticians - I'll point that out. It is I think, not just in the ONS, I think for analysts and data scientists and specialists across government, this is kind of built into their DNA. Central Digital and Data Office has put together guidance and circulated it across government on the safe use of AI within government. So, within government, we do take this quite seriously. And then actually in terms of the use of some of these techniques, I think pointing these tools at data and information that we know is accurate is an important starting point - so having those guardrails. If it's going to be used for decision making, then having a human in the loop is quite important to make sure that the use is ethical. So, there's a bunch of safety checks that we do put in which I think allow for us to have some assurance that the use of these tools will be safe and ethical.  RICHARD CAMPBELLI think just as one additional point is you know; this isn't a new challenge for us. It's a different flavour of a challenge that we faced in considering new technology in the past. So, we can think in fairly recent times the use of cloud technology to securely and safely store data. If we go further back the use of the Internet, go back further, again, the use of computers to hold data. And what I think we've demonstrated time and time again, is that we do approach these things responsibly and maturely. But we do find opportunities to use all of them to improve the quality of statistics and analysis and the service that we offer the public. MILES FLETCHERLooking to the future then, and this is a very fast-moving future of course, I'd like to get your takes on also where you see us in five years' time in 10 years' time with this. I mean starting with the Office for National Statistics – Osama and Rich particularly on this. How will we start to see the published statistics and the big key topics, but also the granular insights that we provide on all kinds of areas. How will we see that changing and developing do you think? Where are you going to put your money? RICHARD CAMPBELLI think predicting the future in this way is quite a dangerous game. I'm thinking back to you know, if we had this podcast in the year 2000 and we asked ‘'how would the internet form part of our working lives?' We would have predicted something which would have been quite different from the impact that it had. Saying all that I think it will make a fundamental difference to the way that we work. I see that it will be integrated in the day-to-day tasks that we do in a similar way that we used computers to speed up and change the way that we produced statistics. I think it will enable our users to far better interact and engage with data and analysis. So, it will be less of us producing a specific finalised product for them, and more for them to be able to sort of get in ask questions, probe and really, really interact. And I think lastly, it will give us more potential to work and analyse data because one thing, and I think this is really important to say, AI will give more opportunities for analysts. It won't take them away. It will give them more space, more tools to work with to produce better, more complex, more useful datasets and analysis for ONS and for its users. SAM ROSEI was just going to add that I think it will fundamentally change the nature of what we do. A little bit like Rich said, the sort of work that we do will be different, but really critically, I think in a few years' time we won't really notice that change. I was thinking that most people have forgotten that 10 or more years ago before you left the house to go somewhere new, you would have consulted your map. Whereas actually nobody, or very few people, do that anymore. So, I think we're going to forget very quickly that lots of what we will be doing will be AI driven. MILES FLETCHERSo it's a big evolutionary step forward, if not quite a revolution. Do you agree with that Osama? OSAMA RAHMANAbsolutely, because some of us have actually been using sort of transformers-based models, which is what these large language models are based on for... My team has been working with those for at least the last eight years. But I wanted to just pick up on what Rich just said. And it is an evolution right. And you can't separate the tools from the data. And one of the things we're getting now is data that is much more granular and of much higher velocity than the data we were used to. So that allows us to look at things at a more local level, at a more timely level. What I do completely agree with Rich on is actually a lot of these tools and methodologies allow the technical production of statistics to get more efficient, which then allows you to produce more statistics at a disaggregated level - at a regional level or local authority area level or looking at different sub populations. It allows us to update statistics more frequently. But then also what it allows us to do, because it's not just about the production of the statistics, it's about what those statistics actually tell you is going on. And I think it allows the people we have at the ONS and other government departments to spend more time on the real value added which is “what does this mean?”  MILES FLETCHERIt's interesting if you're researching a particular topic, it must be good to sort of evolve your methodology quickly and to refine your processes on the run as it were to explore a particular topic. One thing of course we need in statistics is consistency of methodology and approach. Does that limit do you think, either of you, the ability for statistics to get more insightful to get more germane to issues because we have to stick to accepted methodologies to provide that consistency over the long run? RICHARD CAMPBELLI don't think it does Miles. I mean, you're right there. There's always a challenge for us in that, that consistency is really important, that comparability in a time series. Equally, users do want us to look for improvements, more detail, whether that's granularity or whatever else. And actually, we've got a really good successful track record of both maintaining the consistency of our statistics, while at the same time introducing new and improved methods. We do it with GDP. We do it with inflation, we do it with population, it's something that we do time and time again. And, actually, I think automation AI offers up some really exciting opportunities here in terms of methods that can be applied. There's actually an element of it, which will help us in the understanding and documentation and consistent application of the methods as well. It's perhaps one of the less – if you don't mind me using the word - “sexy” applications of AI but using it to ensure that our documentation is absolutely spot on and done quickly. To ensure that we are applying methods really quickly and consistently. I think AI offers us potential to do that even better. MILES FLETCHER“Sexy” in the particular way that we refer to progress in data science. RICHARD CAMPBELL Yes, quite. OSAMA RAHMANCan I just come in on this? And it's possibly worth using a specific example of putting out statistics on prices. In the old days you'd basically have people going out into the field, and that's where you'd find a basket of goods, and using pen and paper would collect prices. Now where a lot of national statistical organisations are going to is actually getting scanner data, because most things when you pay for them nowadays in many parts of the world, it's scanned first, electronically rather than rung up through a cash register of some sort. So, scanner data provides a lot of information about what is being purchased, and at what price it's being sold at various retail outlets. And so, you have this data which again is much more granular and has much higher velocity then price data you can collect through surveys, and you know, how you integrate that into the production of pricing statistics and other economic statistics is really, you know, a really interesting question and work that a lot of national statistical organisations are working on. So, there's still the basic methodology remains the same. It's you know, kind of defined a basket of goods, but you expand the scale of the basket, we'll get prices on at what each of the elements are those baskets are being sold at, and then produce a price measure an inflation measure, right. But these tools and the increasing quantity of data allow us to do that. But you know, the basic methodology is kind of the same, but actually the increase in this data allows us to do that in kind of a different way. It's an evolution. MILES FLETCHERIt does all suggest though, that perhaps the survey might finally be replaced - the big social surveys that the ONS runs. Do you think that the surveys days are numbered, therefore because of AI?  RICHARD CAMPBELL No. OSAMA RAHMAN No. [LAUGHTER] MILES FLETCHER A resounding no. RICHARD CAMPBELLThat was a resounding no, and it's not a pre-rehearsed one. And maybe I'll just take us back Miles. So, if we went back about the best part of 10 years, everyone was talking about big data. You know, the days of a survey was gone. What we needed was these big, complex, sometimes quite messy data sources that were collected for a variety of other reasons, and that we could utilise those to sort of answer all of the statistical questions that we had. Now, what we found out actually is that yes, these data sources can give us a lot of potential; data science is helping us make the most of them; AI is helping us make even more from them. What we also learned though, is that they work best when they're complementing the surveys, rather than trying to replace. Think of it a bit as horses for courses. Actually, though, I want to give an example of where AI might be able to help us improve the response rates on surveys. So, AI might be able to help respondents navigate through some of the surveys, helping them understand what it is that they're being asked. Helping them answer a bit more efficiently. So that might actually remove a barrier that some people, some businesses have to respond to surveys. So, you never know we might see a bit of an uptick in response rates with a bit of AI's help.  OSAMA RAHMANAnd I think the other thing I would add is what surveys are particularly good at is getting information on the extremes of the distribution. It's great if you think everything's going to be generated through digital footprints data and online services, but actually not everyone... some people... apparently dumb phones are coming back into fashion. Or there are groups that you know, for whatever reason, are not picked up in other forms of data. And actually, surveys are really important for accessing, getting information about hard to reach groups at the end of the distribution. MILES FLETCHERI think that's kind of reassuring that for all the promise of AI in this brave new world, that we hope won't be a dystopian future, but whether it will deliver all those things that we've been talking about in terms of better insights, faster statistics, and all that. It's still good to hear though, isn't it, that there is no substitution from speaking to real human beings directly.? OSAMA RAHMANI agree entirely. MILES FLETCHERWell, that's it for another episode of Statistically Speaking and, in summary, I suppose the use of AI feels like a natural evolution with a number of potential benefits, and potentially huge benefits, but with its adoption we need as always to be thoughtful and ethical. So, thanks to all our guests: Sam Rose, Osama Rahman, and Rich Campbell, and of course, thanks to you as always for listening. You can subscribe to future episodes of this podcast on Spotify, Apple podcasts and all the other major podcast platforms. You can also follow us on X - formerly known as Twitter - via the @ONSfocus feed. I'm Miles Fletcher and from myself and producer Steve Milne. Until next time, goodbye.  ENDS

Coffee House Shots
The UK leaves recession – but is it too late for the Tories?

Coffee House Shots

Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2024 10:13


The Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed this morning that the UK confined its technical recession to 2023. The economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the first three months of the year, thanks in large part to stronger-than-expected growth in March, which reached 0.4 per cent. But is the plan really working?  Also on the podcast, Keir Starmer gave a speech in Dover this morning on Labour's plans to stop the boats. He also took the opportunity to unveil new Labour MP Natalie Elphicke. Is there any clear blue water between Labour and the Tories when it comes to migration?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Kate Andrews and James Heale.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson. 

The Pension Confident Podcast
E26: Are you ready for your 100-year life? With Andrew J. Scott, Jennifer Howze and Becky O'Connor

The Pension Confident Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 29, 2024 31:50


Enjoying the podcast? Tell us what you think below and give us a rating. As always we'd love to hear your suggestions and feedback. Send us an email: podcast@pensionbee.com. You might be surprised to learn that living to 100 years of age is no longer a rare feat. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that almost one-in-seven boys and one-in-five girls born today are expected to reach this milestone in the UK. The trend is clear: with advancements in technology and healthcare, a centenarian life is becoming the norm. But what does this mean for our everyday lives, especially in terms of work, planning, and even our mindset? This month on The Pension Confident Podcast we're discussing the increasing likelihood of the 100-year life. Join our host, Philippa Lamb, and our expert panel as they discuss both the emotional and financial realities of longer living: Economist and best-selling Co-Author of ‘The 100-Year Life', Andrew J. Scott; Editorial Director at Noon, Jennifer Howze; and Director (VP) Public Affairs at PensionBee, Becky O'Connor.   Episode Breakdown:  02:20 Rising life expectancy 04:31 Adapting to a multi-stage life 06:03 The emerging adulthood trend 07:59 Saving for retirement 10:01 Portfolio careers in midlife 13:46 Multi-generational households 15:03 How long will people be working for? 18:05 Budgeting your time and money 19:10 State Pension versus Retirement Living Standards 23:29 Investing in your human capital   Further reading: To learn more about the 100-year life, check out these articles from PensionBee: Episode 26 transcript Are you ready for your 100-year life? Can you live off of the State Pension? How much money is enough to save in your pension for your future retirement? How you could build a million pound pension Is it too late to start a pension? 6 reasons why you should delay taking your pension   Other useful resources: British workers increasingly likely to work into their 70s, research suggests (The Guardian) One in six over-55s have no pension savings yet (Unbiased) Queenagers: research portrait of midlife women (Noon) The 100-Year Life – Living and Working in an Age of Longevity     Catch up on the latest news, read our transcripts or watch on YouTube: The Pension Confident Podcast The Pension Confident Podcast on YouTube   Follow PensionBee (@PensionBee) on X, Threads, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn. Follow Andrew J. Scott (@ProfAndrewScott) on X and LinkedIn.  Follow Jennifer Howze (@jhowze) on X and LinkedIn.

American Conservative University
Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich, Edward Dowd, Peter Navarro, Bill Maher. Stop Paying Your Taxes, Biden Giving Illegal's Access to  Firearms, You Can't Hide the Dead Bodies…

American Conservative University

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2024 43:43


Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich, Edward Dowd, Peter Navarro, Bill Maher. Stop Paying Your Taxes, Biden Giving Illegal's Access to  Firearms, You Can't Hide the Dead Bodies…   "Stop PAYING your taxes right now, it's the only way to stop them!" Anthony Hudson | Redacted News 'As I Ready Myself For A Prison Cell...': Peter Navarro Speaks At CPAC Before Heading To Prison "You Can't Hide the Dead Bodies" - Edward Dowd ATF - illegal immigrants access to Firearms Newt Gingrich: 'It's all a lie' Ann Coulter Corners Bill Maher with Ugly Fact He Can't Deny   "Stop PAYING your taxes right now, it's the only way to stop them!" Anthony Hudson | Redacted News Watch this video at- https://youtu.be/E5kBa4B_19A?si=7BoPPXReA_ooPuTn Redacted 2.31M subscribers 250,104 views Feb 23, 2024 #claytonmorris #redacted #natalimorris ✅Videos we recommend:    • REDACTED RECOMMENDS   U.S. congressional candidate Anthony Hudson says Americans need to do something drastic to stop the collapse of the U.S., stop paying taxes! ✅

Walker Crips' Market Commentary
Bank of England balancing act: Control inflation and support the economy

Walker Crips' Market Commentary

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2023 8:16


Last week saw the UK October inflation figures witness a significant drop, with the headline Consumer Price Index (“CPI”) standing at 4.6% year-on-year, below the consensus expectations of 4.8% and a substantial decrease fromthe prior month's 6.7%. Core inflation also moderated to 5.7% versus a consensus estimate of 5.8% and September's 6.1% reading. The breakdown from the Office for National Statistics (“ONS”) attributed this decline primarily to housing and household services, where the annual rate for CPI was at its lowest level since records began in 1950. The Bank of England (“BOE”) has also been closely monitoring service prices and noted a decrease to 6.6% from 6.9% last month. This, combined with softer labour market data, reinforces expectations that the BOE's rate cycle has peaked, with the possibility of an interest rate cut coming as early as next May. However, The Times reported that money markets have been pricing in rate cuts from as early as March after the slowdown in inflation. BOE policymakers continue to signal caution over rate cut bets, maintaining the narrative that rates will remain higher for longer....Stocks featured:Experian, Ocado Group and HalmaTo find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management's own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The SharePickers Podcast with Justin Waite
2555: Should I go for a 1 year or 2 year fixed mortgage?

The SharePickers Podcast with Justin Waite

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2023 38:28


Paddy asks the question: I need to renew my mortgage, should I get a 1 year fixed mortgage or a 2 year fixed? “UK inflation is set to drop markedly for October amid continued efforts to tackle the higher cost of living, the governor of the Bank of England has said. Andrew Bailey indicated inflation will return to its recent pattern of slowdowns after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recorded a surprise pause last month, leaving inflation at 6.7 per cent in September. The Bank of England previously forecast that Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation would hit 4.9 per cent by the end of the year. Inflation is expected to fall significantly this month due to a comparison against sharp energy price increases seen over the same month last year.” INTEREST RATE WISE - WHERE DO YOU THINK WE ARE IN REGARDS TO THE AVERAGE?  Interest Rate in the United Kingdom averaged 7.11 percent from 1971 until 2023, reaching an all time high of 17.00 percent in November of 1979 and a record low of 0.10 percent in March of 2020. Companies talked about: Destiny Pharma #DEST Silver Bullet Data Services #SBDS Good Energy #GOOD Getec #GTC  Polarean Imaging #POLX

Walker Crips' Market Commentary
Have UK interest rates peaked?

Walker Crips' Market Commentary

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2023 6:33


Last week saw inflation and interest rates take centre stage as the latest figures were released. Forecasts at the beginning of the week showed that August inflation was expected to accelerate to 7% from a prior reading of 6.8% in July, with economists attributing the acceleration to rising fuel prices. However, August inflation came in weaker than expected at 6.7% alongside a much softer core inflation figure of 6.2%, compared to a consensusforecast of 6.8%. The Office for National Statistics (“ONS”) said that the largest downward contribution came from food prices and accommodation services, which offset fuel price increases. This inflation reading led to a shift in momentum from consensus expectations for an interest rate hike, as markets priced in less than a 50% probability of a 0.25% rate rise compared to previous forecasts which anticipated there would be a quarter percent increase....Stocks featured:JD Sports Fashion, Dunelm Group and HalmaTo find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management's own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many Happy Returns
Macro Mysteries: The Shocking Revision to UK GDP

Many Happy Returns

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2023 35:23


The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published revised GDP figures, upending the post-pandemic economic narrative. It turns out that Britain's economy recovered much quicker than previously thought and is no longer an international outlier. So how did the ONS find a load of economic output down the back of the sofa? And in today's Dumb Question of the Week: What could we measure instead of GDP? Selected links Impact of Blue Book 2023 changes on gross domestic product - Office for National StatisticsWhat is GDP and how do we measure it? | National Statistical China's Official Economic Data: Is It Accurate? | St. Louis FedBeyond GDP: Three Other Ways to Measure Economic Health | St. Louis FedGet in touch

Walker Crips' Market Commentary
ONS data suggests inflation may be easing more quickly than expected

Walker Crips' Market Commentary

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 29, 2023 7:13


The UK market experienced a relatively quiet week last week as the FTSE 100 closed approximately 1% higher at 7,339. Inflation and interest rates continue to be the main influencing factors at present with the market continuing to forecast UK interest rates peaking at 6%. The Times reported on the most recent Office for National Statistics (“ONS”) inflation data published last week which suggested that inflation may be easing quicker than initially expected. The ONS calculations showed that core inflation fell to 6.8% in July from 6.9% in June and from a peak of 7.3% in May, compared with original data for July showing that core inflation had held steady at 6.9%. This update is a welcome development; however, services inflation is at multi-decade highs of 7.4% and wages continue to be at record levels, meaning that the updated ONS figures are unlikely to shift near term market or Bank of England (“BOE”) expectations. A Reuters poll of economists also showed that 61 of the 62 economists surveyed expect a 0.25% rate hike in September with a narrow majority thinking that this will be the end of the rate tightening cycle. Out of the 62 economists surveyed, 27 still said that rates could peak at 5.75% and two said 6%, with underlying inflation remaining too high and elevated wage growth continuing to be the most challenging aspect of BOE policy making...Stocks featured:BAE Systems, CRH and JD Sports FashionTo find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management's own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Walker Crips' Market Commentary
FTSE 100 rallies on better-than-expected UK inflation figures for June

Walker Crips' Market Commentary

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2023 6:37


Inflation once again dominated the news in the UK last week as Office for National Statistics (“ONS”) figures showed headline inflation eased sharply in June to 7.9%. Core inflation also fell to 6.9% in June, versus consensus expectations of 7.1% and a prior reading of 7.1%. This is the lowest level of inflation since March 2022 with the ONS stating that falling motor fuel prices were one of the largest downward contributors, alongside no large offsetting upward contributions. The previous month's inflation figures surprised to the upside and caused the Bank of England (“BoE”) to raise interest rates by 0.5% against an expectation of 0.25%, which led to markets increasing their peak rate expectations to 6.5%. The market therefore reacted positively to the June inflation figures as investors began to unwind their expectations of continued aggressive rate hikes by the BoE. Markets now anticipate the base rate to peak below 6%, which caused the FTSE 100 to rise more than 3% last week. It should be noted that the June figures are still high, but they have reinforced market expectations that the BoE is nearing the pivot point in the battle against inflation...Stocks featured:Ocado Group, Wise and PersimmonTo find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management's own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stuff That Interests Me
The Rise and Fall of UK House Prices

Stuff That Interests Me

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2023 9:50


Before we begin today's piece, a quick reminder for those who might find themselves in the Scottish neck of the woods this August, I am doing one of my lectures with funny bits at the Edinburgh Fringe this year all about gold.It's from August 4th to 20th at 2pm. Please come if you are in town - you can get tickets here.Plus an added bit of history: it takes place in the room in which Adam Smith wrote Wealth of Nations. Hopefully, I will see you there.And, if you would like me to speak at your event or to advertise on these pages, please drop me a line. Right, house prices …Despite being built of bricks, a house is, in many ways, a financial asset. This is because, for the most part, we use finance - debt - to buy real estate. Mortgages, aka “death grips”, have been around for hundreds of years. Debt has been around since before human beings settled on the fertile plains between the Tigris and the Euphrates. But mortgages in the UK only hit the mainstream in the 20th century. First, after WWI, following Prime Minister David Lloyd George's 1918 promise to build “homes fit for heroes”, and then, probably more so, in the 1950s and 1960s as the Tory government reduced Stamp Duty and lent money to building societies as part of its pledge to create a “property-owning democracy”. In the 1950s and 60s home ownership went from below 30% to above 60%.On the one hand, the mortgage enabled many people to get on the housing ladder in the first place. The financing also enabled more properties to be built. But on the other hand, introduce debt into a market, you introduce more money into that market with the consequence of higher prices. See student loans for more details. If house prices were determined only by the amount of available cash, they would be lower and more in line with earnings. But they are not.House prices are determined by the amount of debt that is available, which in turn is determined by the cost of money (interest rates), general risk appetite and so on. That is why prices are now so out of kilter with earnings. Once upon a time, and not so long ago, house prices were 3 times earnings. Now in London they are north of 10 times.Why houses cost so muchThe widely accepted view is that houses are unaffordable because we do not build enough and this has lead to a shortage of supply. The stats I would always call on to counter this argument are that between 1997 and 2007 the housing stock grew by 10%, but the population only grew by 5%. If house prices were a function of supply and demand, they should have fallen slightly over this period. They didn't. They rose by more than 300%. The cause of house price rises is the unrestrained supply of something else: money. Mortgage lending over the same period went up by 370%.I was just doing some research this morning as those numbers are so out of date, but the latest numbers do not tell such a different story. In the ten years to 2021 the housing stock in England and Wales grew by just above 6%. The population grew by a similar amount - 6.5% in England and quite a bit less - 1.4% - in Wales. But average UK house prices over the same period went from £167,000 to to £270,000 (more in England). Mortgage lending, meanwhile, more than doubled (from £153bn to £316bn) over the same period.The relationship between money supply, aka credit, and house prices is obvious.Research by thinktank Positive Money shows that over 50% of the money created by banks when they lend now goes into mortgages. All that newly created money going to into a market where supply is constrained by planning laws will inevitably push up pricesThese two charts from Positive Money illustrate the relationship between credit creation and house prices.Here is London.I'm not saying population growth doesn't affect house prices. It does. So do dumb planning laws and the restrictions they place on new build. But neither to the same extent as money or credit supply.Even the Telegraph admitted this yesterday, albeit accidentally, saying: “The jump in house price cuts corresponds directly with a doubling of mortgage rates”.The Bank of England does not factor money supply or house prices into its measures of inflation, it only includes a basket of consumer goods and services. These goods and the services are prone to the deflationary forces of globalisation and increased productivity: that is to say the shirt on your back has got a lot cheaper because it is now made in Bangladesh where labour is a lot cheaper than it was in Manchester, or wherever it was made a few decades ago.Thus the Bank has been able to say inflation is low for decades, it has kept interest rates too low for decades, money has been too cheap for decades, people have borrowed for decades and house prices have risen for decades.Quick - tell someone about this amazing article.Peak cheap labourOf late, we have hit something of a deflationary limit, albeit a temporary one. First, Covid-19 hit supply chains and that has pushed up prices. Second, the trend is towards more not less government intervention, regulation and taxation, which also puts upwards pressure on prices. Third, where does the world now go to find cheaper labour than in Bangladesh or China? Africa, maybe, or machines. But, for the time being, we have hit peak cheap labour.Thus has inflation spread, even by the Bank's measures, and it is forced to raise interest rates. Rising rates push up the cost of borrowing. Many that have borrowed can no longer service their debts, and so look to reduce their debts or offload the assets they have borrowed against. This puts selling pressure on the market.Rising rates reduce people's appetite to borrow, the amount they can afford to borrow and banks' willingness to lend. This takes buying pressure out of the market.The result is the panic we now have in the housing market. Falling prices, bearish sentiment and more. A third of all listed homes are now discounted. But, at 5%, the Bank of England base rate is still too low. Its own measures say inflation is 8.7%. Truflation has it at 11%. If you can borrow at 6%, and real inflation is 11%, in a way you're making 5%, though few will see it like that.What happens if rates go to 8.7 or 11%? It's not like this hasn't happened before.I'm now 53. I've watched and been dumbfounded by the UK property market for too long. It is awful what it has done to this country, in my view, pricing out an entire generation, reducing family size and all the rest of it. For years every other government policy, it seems, is aimed at propping up the market, rather than letting it correct. That makes me reluctant to go all-out-bear in the way that many have done, and call for 35% corrections in the housing market. There are two ticking time bombs, however. First, the Bank really does lose control of inflation and we get some kind of currency crisis. This would tie in with my cycle, Frisby's Flux, which suggests we could see lows in sterling next year. Second, the sheer number of fixed deals that are coming up for renewal in the next couple of years. This will see something in the region of two million households faced with mortgage repayments of at least double the level they were when the original deal was taken out (see below chart). Many are not going to be able to meet those repayments. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) says 57% of UK fixed rate mortgages were fixed below 2%. Forced sellers will quickly drive down prices. The government will no doubt find ways to prop up the market. It knows this is coming. But housing markets move slowly. Housing crashes are only called crashes in retrospect. I think houses almost certainly get cheaper before they get more expensive again. If you are looking to buy a home, unless it's really urgent, I would find an excuse to wait, perhaps until 2025, as this 18-year cycle suggests.This August Dominic will be performing one of “his lectures with funny bits” at the Edinburgh Fringe, at Panmure House, the room in which  Adam Smith wrote Wealth of Nations. This one is about gold. You can get tickets here.Interested in buying gold to protect yourself in these uncertain times? My recommended bullion dealer is The Pure Gold Company, whether you are taking delivery or storing online. Premiums are low, quality of service is high. They deliver to the UK, US, Canada and Europe, or you can store your gold with them. More here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

The Flying Frisby
The Rise and Fall of UK House Prices

The Flying Frisby

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2023 9:50


Before we begin today's piece, a quick reminder for those who might find themselves in the Scottish neck of the woods this August, I am doing one of my lectures with funny bits at the Edinburgh Fringe this year all about gold.It's from August 4th to 20th at 2pm. Please come if you are in town - you can get tickets here.Plus an added bit of history: it takes place in the room in which Adam Smith wrote Wealth of Nations. Hopefully, I will see you there.And, if you would like me to speak at your event or to advertise on these pages, please drop me a line. Right, house prices …Despite being built of bricks, a house is, in many ways, a financial asset. This is because, for the most part, we use finance - debt - to buy real estate. Mortgages, aka “death grips”, have been around for hundreds of years. Debt has been around since before human beings settled on the fertile plains between the Tigris and the Euphrates. But mortgages in the UK only hit the mainstream in the 20th century. First, after WWI, following Prime Minister David Lloyd George's 1918 promise to build “homes fit for heroes”, and then, probably more so, in the 1950s and 1960s as the Tory government reduced Stamp Duty and lent money to building societies as part of its pledge to create a “property-owning democracy”. In the 1950s and 60s home ownership went from below 30% to above 60%.On the one hand, the mortgage enabled many people to get on the housing ladder in the first place. The financing also enabled more properties to be built. But on the other hand, introduce debt into a market, you introduce more money into that market with the consequence of higher prices. See student loans for more details. If house prices were determined only by the amount of available cash, they would be lower and more in line with earnings. But they are not.House prices are determined by the amount of debt that is available, which in turn is determined by the cost of money (interest rates), general risk appetite and so on. That is why prices are now so out of kilter with earnings. Once upon a time, and not so long ago, house prices were 3 times earnings. Now in London they are north of 10 times.Why houses cost so muchThe widely accepted view is that houses are unaffordable because we do not build enough and this has lead to a shortage of supply. The stats I would always call on to counter this argument are that between 1997 and 2007 the housing stock grew by 10%, but the population only grew by 5%. If house prices were a function of supply and demand, they should have fallen slightly over this period. They didn't. They rose by more than 300%. The cause of house price rises is the unrestrained supply of something else: money. Mortgage lending over the same period went up by 370%.I was just doing some research this morning as those numbers are so out of date, but the latest numbers do not tell such a different story. In the ten years to 2021 the housing stock in England and Wales grew by just above 6%. The population grew by a similar amount - 6.5% in England and quite a bit less - 1.4% - in Wales. But average UK house prices over the same period went from £167,000 to to £270,000 (more in England). Mortgage lending, meanwhile, more than doubled (from £153bn to £316bn) over the same period.The relationship between money supply, aka credit, and house prices is obvious.Research by thinktank Positive Money shows that over 50% of the money created by banks when they lend now goes into mortgages. All that newly created money going to into a market where supply is constrained by planning laws will inevitably push up pricesThese two charts from Positive Money illustrate the relationship between credit creation and house prices.Here is London.I'm not saying population growth doesn't affect house prices. It does. So do dumb planning laws and the restrictions they place on new build. But neither to the same extent as money or credit supply.Even the Telegraph admitted this yesterday, albeit accidentally, saying: “The jump in house price cuts corresponds directly with a doubling of mortgage rates”.The Bank of England does not factor money supply or house prices into its measures of inflation, it only includes a basket of consumer goods and services. These goods and the services are prone to the deflationary forces of globalisation and increased productivity: that is to say the shirt on your back has got a lot cheaper because it is now made in Bangladesh where labour is a lot cheaper than it was in Manchester, or wherever it was made a few decades ago.Thus the Bank has been able to say inflation is low for decades, it has kept interest rates too low for decades, money has been too cheap for decades, people have borrowed for decades and house prices have risen for decades.Quick - tell someone about this amazing article.Peak cheap labourOf late, we have hit something of a deflationary limit, albeit a temporary one. First, Covid-19 hit supply chains and that has pushed up prices. Second, the trend is towards more not less government intervention, regulation and taxation, which also puts upwards pressure on prices. Third, where does the world now go to find cheaper labour than in Bangladesh or China? Africa, maybe, or machines. But, for the time being, we have hit peak cheap labour.Thus has inflation spread, even by the Bank's measures, and it is forced to raise interest rates. Rising rates push up the cost of borrowing. Many that have borrowed can no longer service their debts, and so look to reduce their debts or offload the assets they have borrowed against. This puts selling pressure on the market.Rising rates reduce people's appetite to borrow, the amount they can afford to borrow and banks' willingness to lend. This takes buying pressure out of the market.The result is the panic we now have in the housing market. Falling prices, bearish sentiment and more. A third of all listed homes are now discounted. But, at 5%, the Bank of England base rate is still too low. Its own measures say inflation is 8.7%. Truflation has it at 11%. If you can borrow at 6%, and real inflation is 11%, in a way you're making 5%, though few will see it like that.What happens if rates go to 8.7 or 11%? It's not like this hasn't happened before.I'm now 53. I've watched and been dumbfounded by the UK property market for too long. It is awful what it has done to this country, in my view, pricing out an entire generation, reducing family size and all the rest of it. For years every other government policy, it seems, is aimed at propping up the market, rather than letting it correct. That makes me reluctant to go all-out-bear in the way that many have done, and call for 35% corrections in the housing market. There are two ticking time bombs, however. First, the Bank really does lose control of inflation and we get some kind of currency crisis. This would tie in with my cycle, Frisby's Flux, which suggests we could see lows in sterling next year. Second, the sheer number of fixed deals that are coming up for renewal in the next couple of years. This will see something in the region of two million households faced with mortgage repayments of at least double the level they were when the original deal was taken out (see below chart). Many are not going to be able to meet those repayments. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) says 57% of UK fixed rate mortgages were fixed below 2%. Forced sellers will quickly drive down prices. The government will no doubt find ways to prop up the market. It knows this is coming. But housing markets move slowly. Housing crashes are only called crashes in retrospect. I think houses almost certainly get cheaper before they get more expensive again. If you are looking to buy a home, unless it's really urgent, I would find an excuse to wait, perhaps until 2025, as this 18-year cycle suggests.This August Dominic will be performing one of “his lectures with funny bits” at the Edinburgh Fringe, at Panmure House, the room in which  Adam Smith wrote Wealth of Nations. This one is about gold. You can get tickets here.Interested in buying gold to protect yourself in these uncertain times? My recommended bullion dealer is The Pure Gold Company, whether you are taking delivery or storing online. Premiums are low, quality of service is high. They deliver to the UK, US, Canada and Europe, or you can store your gold with them. More here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

Data Today with Dan Klein
Data Transformation with Heather Savory

Data Today with Dan Klein

Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2023 25:28


When moving and transforming data, how do you make sure it retains its accuracy?That's the question that drives today's guest, Heather Savory. Heather has 30 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. She currently holds Non-Executive Director roles in the UK Parliament and Ministry of Justice and was previously the Director General for Data Capability at the Office of National Statistics (ONS).We discuss connecting siloed data sources, how to communicate the importance of data with the public, and the benefits of sharing data.00:00 - Intro01:52 - How did Heather experience data and information handling in Parliament? 07:13 - Heather's journey from VLSI chips to government10:59 - There's no digital without the data - what does this mean to Heather?23:57 - Dan's final thoughtsLINKS:Heather Savory: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-savory-63055b/?originalSubdomain=ukDan Klein: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/dplkleinZühlke: https://www.zuehlke.com/enWelcome to Data Today, a podcast from Zühlke.We're living in a world of opportunities. But to fully realise them, we have to reshape the way we innovate.We need to stop siloing data, ring-fencing knowledge, and looking at traditional value chains. And that's what this podcast is about. Every two weeks, we're taking a look at data outside the box to see how amazing individuals from disparate fields and industries are transforming the way they work with data, the challenges they are overcoming, and what we can all learn from them.Zühlke is a global innovation service provider. We envisage ideas and create new business models for our clients by developing services and products based on new technologies – from the initial vision through development to deployment, production, and operation.

Walker Crips' Market Commentary
UK inflation remains stickier than forecasted as CPI remains above 10%

Walker Crips' Market Commentary

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2023 7:02


The UK is showing that inflation continues to remain stickier than forecasted as consumer price inflation for March slowed by less than expected to 10.1% from 10.4% in February. The largest downward contributions came from motor fuels and heating oil prices, alongside soaring food prices which weighed heavily. Notable rising food prices included olive oil prices rising 49% in the year to March, sugar up 32% with milk, cheese and other dairy products all up over 30%. Food price inflation remains a thorn in the side to the Bank of England (“BoE”) achieving its inflation target of 2%. The Office for National Statistics (“ONS”) stated that this is the strongest increase in food prices in more than four decades. Retailers said that food inflation is a delayed effect of energy and commodity price rises during the past year along with poor harvests and a period of sterling weakness. As we enter the UK growing season, we are more likely to see a slowdown in food inflation, which hopefully will provide some ease to consumers...Stocks featured:Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Anglo American, Glencore, Meta Platforms (Facebook) Microsoft, Teck Resources and TeslaTo find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management's own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Academy of Ideas
Have Brits fallen out of love with work?

Academy of Ideas

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2023 83:17


Recording of the Academy of Ideas Economy Forum discussion on Tuesday 21 February 2023. Please note that this event was recorded via Zoom and there are occasional, short-lived issues with the audio. INTRODUCTION The Covid pandemic created huge disruption to the UK labour market. Millions of people were forced to stop working, with most receiving furlough payments. Millions more had to work from home. With lockdowns and pandemic-related business closures in the past, what has been the lasting impact of this disruption? Statistics for employment and earnings published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for September to November 2022 show that unemployment remains low (3.7 per cent) while the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in employment continues to hover around 75 per cent. But the number of people defined as ‘economically inactive' – not working or seeking work – in this age group grew markedly over the course of the Covid pandemic and in its aftermath. Meanwhile, job vacancies for October to December 2022 remained well over one million, although the vacancy rate has started to decline. As the Spectator noted in November 2022, ‘more than 20 per cent of working-age Brits are economically inactive, meaning they are neither in work nor looking for it. More than five million are claiming out-of-work benefits.' Yet this exists alongside widespread staff shortages. Meanwhile, unprecedented numbers of doctors, nurses and teachers are threatening to leave their jobs due to burnout. Although the unions lay the blame for this on low pay and poor working conditions, it co-exists with an oft-remarked decline in the quality of public service. Is this a temporary phenomenon that will subside as the impact of the pandemic fades or an acceleration of existing trends? Have many people used the lockdowns as a moment to reflect about their attitude to work – and decided that if they can afford not to work, they won't? What impact will rising living costs have on these trends? What is the impact on the UK economy of having so many working-age people not working? SPEAKER Linda Murdoch is a researcher on well-being and the work ethic. She is also former director of careers at the University of Glasgow.

Money Tips Podcast
Rents Rising At Fastest Rate As UK Net Migration SOARS To All-time Record 504,000

Money Tips Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2023 11:39


UK net migration reached a record 504,000 in the year to June, The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports.  Check out my new training to help you get control of your finances in 28 days! Click to join: https://bit.ly/3isugCr  At the same time, the ONS also reports that rents are rising by the fastest rate since records began, despite a slowdown in property sales. Rents in the private sector have increased by 3.8pc in the 12 months to October 2022 - the biggest annual percentage change since records began in January 2016, according to the ONS rent inflation index. Business demand more migrants However, business leaders have called for higher immigration to boost growth and fill millions of job vacancies in the UK.  The number of recorded Asylum applications which includes illegal migrants trafficked in small boats across the English Channel, hit 73,000 in the year to September, around 15% of all those who arrive in the country in any given period. Migration figures reveal that a large numbers coming here from outside the European Union - 170,000 from Ukraine and 76,000 from Hong Kong under a scheme to resettle people who count as British citizens. International students Included in the net migration figures, 277,000 overseas students came to the UK study, double the number of student visas from the previous year – possibly influenced by the lifting of travel restrictions, according to the ONS.  The increase in immigration coincides with soaring rents at a time when the property sales market has slowed and thousands of landlords quit the buy-to-let property market - https://youtu.be/NME3nEu8dAQNationwide providers like Serco have earned millions housing asylum seekers and will work with private landlords.  If you live or work in the North London, Watford or Herts area you might be interested in a face-to-face networking meeting at the Beech House, 49 High Street, Watford, England, WD17 1LJ, Thursday 1 December 10am-12. For more information see: https://www.business-buzz.org/hertfordshire/business-networking-watford With the UK entering the worst recession since records began, there's never been a more important time to get your own finances in order and learn how to manage your money and increase your wealth.  Check out my new free training to help you get control of your finances in 28 days! Free to join: https://bit.ly/3isugCrThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media

Focus economia
Berlino rivede al rialzo stime crescita 2023, si allontana l'ipotesi recessione in Europa?

Focus economia

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2023


La Germania evita la recessione nel 2023, secondo le stime del Governo tedesco. Berlino, ha, infatti, rivisto la previsione sulla crescita del Pil nel 2023 da -0,4% a +0,2 per cento. E' quanto emerge dal rapporto economico annuale approvato dal gabinetto e pubblicato dal ministero dell'Economia a Berlino. Si allontana quindi la possibilità di recessione nel Vecchio Continente? Per quanto riguarda il nostro Paese, nei giorni scorsi, la Banca d'Italia migliora ancora la stima per il pil del 2022 che sarebbe salito del 3,9% mentre, per il 2023, l'economia frenerà a +0,6%, qualche punto in più comunque del +0,4% previsto a dicembre e del +0,3% di ottobre. Nel mentre, oggi, il presidente della Bundesbank, e membro del Consiglio Bce, Joachim Nagel in un'intervista allo Spiegel ha dichiarato che la Bce deve guardarsi dal dichiarare "troppo presto" vittoria contro l'inflazione, e non c'è ragione per deviare dal corso delineato dalla presidente Christine Lagarde", perché "siamo ancora molto lontani dall'obiettivo d'inflazione al 2%". Ne parliamo con Franco Bruni, docente economia monetaria internazionale università Bocconi, vice presidente ISPI. Gb, il debito pubblico alle stelle e la Brexit si fa sentire Il debito pubblico del Regno Unito, con un deficit mensile indicato a dicembre a quota 27,4 miliardi di sterline, è il più alto mai registrato da quando si è iniziato calcolarlo pubblicamente nel 1993, ossia 30 anni fa. Lo ha reso noto ieri l' Office for National Statistics (Ons), che nel suo report spiega che la spesa per interessi a carico dello Stato sia raddoppiata nel 2022 fino a 17,3 miliardi. Ad aver inciso principalmente su questa fiammata ci sono gli aiuti messi in campo dal governo Tory in questi mesi per alleggerire l'impatto dei costi dell'energia sul caro bollette di famiglie e imprese. Intanto sono sempre di più gli indicatori che lasciano intendere un effetto molto pesante della Brexit sull'economia britannica. L'ultimo in ordine cronologico arriva da Gwendoline Cazenave, la nuova amministratrice delegata di Eurostar, il servizio ferroviario che collega Londra al continente tramite il tunnel della Manica. I treni, in servizio su queste tratte, trasportano un terzo di passeggeri in meno nelle ore di picco e questo dipenderebbe da ritardi causati dai controlli dei documenti introdotti dopo la Brexit. Approfondiamo il tema con Giorgia Scaturro, corrispondente Radio 24 da Londra. Inflazione da costi. La tempesta perfetta sul largo consumo Il 30% delle aziende industriali del largo consumo rischiano di operare con margini negativi e il 18% del fatturato dell'industria del largo consumo sarebbe a rischio per l'aumento dei prezzi. Sono questi i due principali dati emersi dall'indagine di Centromarca redatta insieme a Prometeia presentata oggi che ha fotografato un quadro di forti criticità nel mondo dei beni di largo consumo afflitto dalla "tempesta perfetta" dell'inflazione. "La più alta inflazione esogena da costi degli ultimi decenni". Per il settore alimentare e bevande, dove le materie prime incidono in media per il 63% del fatturato. Secondo le stime di Prometeia, dunque, soltanto la metà delle aziende oggi sarebbe in grado di assorbire il 50% degli aumenti dei costi operativi senza portare in negativo la marginalità. Approfondimo il tema con Francesco Mutti, amministratore delegato di Mutti SpA e presidente di Centromarca.

Money Tips Podcast
BONUS EPISODE: Rents Rising At Fastest Rate In 7 Years As Landlords Face Rising Costs, Red Tape And More Legislation

Money Tips Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2023 18:17


Average rents and house prices were still rising late last year, according to official data, although experts a property market slowdown in 2023. Private rental properties owned by private landlords increased at the highest level since comparable records began seven years ago, figures reveal. House prices were still rising in the year to November 9 but falling month on month), but the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the pace of growth slowed. Private rental prices in the UK rose by 4.2% in the year to December. Private landlords have been hit by tax and mortgage rate rises, as well as increased compliance costs, which some are passing on to tenants. The average tenant spends more proportionally on housing costs than homeowners do, and rents are usually higher than a typical first-time buyer mortgage. Other figures from the ONS showed that property prices increased by 10.3% in the year to November, slowing from 12.4% in October 2022. A 10.9% annual increase in England A 10.7% rise in Wales A 5.5% jump in Scotland and 10.7% growth in Northern Ireland. England's prices increased the most in the northwest, up 13.5% over the year, and the slowest in London, a 6.3% increase. The average UK house price in November was £295,000 - £28,000 higher than a year earlier, a decrease from the previous month's record high of £296,000. Home buyers have been hit by the rise in mortgage costs as the Bank of England raised base rates during 2022. The average cost of a two-year fixed-rate mortgage has started to fall since last year's market turmoil following the mini-budget, but far higher than the start of last year. The ONS reports that hundreds of thousands of UK homeowners face higher mortgage costs when their current fixed-rate deal expires this year. More than 1.4 million households will be renewing their fixed-rate mortgage in 2023 - 57% of them currently paying an interest rate of less than 2%.  A ‘ fixed-rate renewal peak' between April and June 2023 will hit 371,000 mortgage holders when their deals expire. George Osbourne's buy-to-let tax hike and increased legislation has led to 85,000 private landlords quitting the property rental market in the last 5 years – see https://youtu.be/NME3nEu8dAQ. Although oil and gas prices have come down in recent months, millions of people are still facing a cost of living and have no savings.  Watch YouTube video - https://youtu.be/mPvjb6MN7To How can you: Not only survive, but thrive in a recession or depression? Get control of your finances and spending? Save and invest for your future? Learn about money and finance? To help you, I am running a free training webinar.  I want to take you to the next level, help you get control of your money and become financially free.  Join me online on my free live training Wednesday at 7.30PM.  Places are limited, so register now below to avoid disappointment. https://bit.ly/3QPp8IH #money #savings #invest #costoflivingcrisis #inflation #freetraining #interestrates #recession #economy #financialfreedom #rentalprices #propertyprices #privatelandlords #buytoletlandlordThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of
Rents Rising At Fastest Rate In 7 Years As Landlords Face Rising Costs

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 21, 2023 17:31


Average rents and house prices were still rising late last year, according to official data, although experts a property market slowdown in 2023. Join me online on my free live training Wednesday at 7.30PM. Places are limited, so register now below to avoid disappointment - https://bit.ly/3QPp8IH Private rental properties owned by private landlords increased at the highest level since comparable records began seven years ago, figures reveal. House prices were still rising in the year to November 9but falling month on month), but the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the pace of growth slowed. Watch video version on my YouTube channel - https://youtu.be/mc8_fWf0R_c Private rental prices in the UK rose by 4.2% in the year to December. Other figures from the ONS showed that property prices increased by 10.3% in the year to November, slowing from 12.4% in October 2022. · A 10.9% annual increase in England · A 10.7% rise in Wales · A 5.5% jump in Scotland and 10.7% growth in Northern Ireland. England's prices increased the most in the northwest, up 13.5% over the year, and the slowest in London, a 6.3% increase. The average UK house price in November was £295,000 - £28,000 higher than a year earlier, a decrease from the previous month's record high of £296,000. Home buyers have been hit by the rise in mortgage costs as the Bank of England raised base rates during 2022. The average cost of two-year fixed-rate mortgage has stated to fall since last year's market turmoil following the mini-budget, but far higher than the start of last year. The ONS report that hundreds of thousands of UK homeowners face higher mortgage costs when their current fixed-rate deal expires this year. More than 1.4 million households will be renewing their fixed-rate mortgage in 2023 - 57% of them currently paying an interest rate of less than 2%. A ‘ fixed-rate renewal peak' between April and June 2023 will hit 371,000 mortgage holders when their deals expire. George Osbourne's buy-to-let tax hike and increased legislation has led to 85,000 private landlords quitting the property rental market in the last 5 years – see https://youtu.be/NME3nEu8dAQ. Although oil and gas prices have come down in recent months, millions of people are still facing a cost of living and have no savings. Watch YouTube video - https://youtu.be/mPvjb6MN7To How can you: · Not only survive, but thrive in a recession or depression? · Get control of your finances and spending? · Save and invest for your future? · Learn about money and finance? To help you, I am running a free training webinar. I want to take you to the next level, help you get control of your money and become financially free. Join me online on my free live training Wednesday at 7.30PM. Places are limited, so register now below to avoid disappointment. https://bit.ly/3QPp8IH

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of
Rents Rising At Fastest Rate In 7 Years As Landlords Face Rising Costs, Red Tape And More Legislation

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 21, 2023 17:23


Average rents and house prices were still rising late last year, according to official data, although experts a property market slowdown in 2023. Join me online on my free live training Wednesday at 7.30PM. Places are limited, so register now below to avoid disappointment - https://bit.ly/3QPp8IH Private rental properties owned by private landlords increased at the highest level since comparable records began seven years ago, figures reveal. House prices were still rising in the year to November 9but falling month on month), but the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the pace of growth slowed. Private rental prices in the UK rose by 4.2% in the year to December. Private landlords have been hit by tax and mortgage rate rises, as well as increased compliance costs, which some are passing on to tenants. The average tenant spends more proportionally on housing costs than homeowners do, and rents are usually higher than a typical first-time buyer mortgage. Other figures from the ONS showed that property prices increased by 10.3% in the year to November, slowing from 12.4% in October 2022. · A 10.9% annual increase in England · A 10.7% rise in Wales · A 5.5% jump in Scotland and 10.7% growth in Northern Ireland. England's prices increased the most in the northwest, up 13.5% over the year, and the slowest in London, a 6.3% increase. The average UK house price in November was £295,000 - £28,000 higher than a year earlier, a decrease from the previous month's record high of £296,000. Home buyers have been hit by the rise in mortgage costs as the Bank of England raised base rates during 2022. The average cost of two-year fixed-rate mortgage has stated to fall since last year's market turmoil following the mini-budget, but far higher than the start of last year. The ONS report that hundreds of thousands of UK homeowners face higher mortgage costs when their current fixed-rate deal expires this year. More than 1.4 million households will be renewing their fixed-rate mortgage in 2023 - 57% of them currently paying an interest rate of less than 2%. A ‘ fixed-rate renewal peak' between April and June 2023 will hit 371,000 mortgage holders when their deals expire. George Osbourne's buy-to-let tax hike and increased legislation has led to 85,000 private landlords quitting the property rental market in the last 5 years – see https://youtu.be/NME3nEu8dAQ. Although oil and gas prices have come down in recent months, millions of people are still facing a cost of living and have no savings. Watch YouTube video - https://youtu.be/mPvjb6MN7To How can you: · Not only survive, but thrive in a recession or depression? · Get control of your finances and spending? · Save and invest for your future? · Learn about money and finance? To help you, I am running a free training webinar. I want to take you to the next level, help you get control of your money and become financially free. Join me online on my free live training Wednesday at 7.30PM. Places are limited, so register now below to avoid disappointment. https://bit.ly/3QPp8IH

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of
Rents Rising At Fastest Rate As UK Net Migration SOARS To All-time Record 504,000

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2022 11:21


UK net migration reached a record 504,000 in the year to June, The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports. Check out my new training to help you get control of your finances in 28 days! Click to join: https://bit.ly/3isugCr At the same time, the ONS also reports that rents are rising by the fastest rate since records began, despite a slowdown in property sales. Rents in the private sector have increased by 3.8pc in the 12 months to October 2022 - the biggest annual percentage change since records began in January 2016, according to the ONS rent inflation index. Business demand more migrants However, business leaders have called for higher immigration to boost growth and fill millions of job vacancies in the UK. The number of recorded Asylum applications which includes illegal migrants trafficked in small boats across the English Channel, hit 73,000 in the year to September, around 15% of all those who arrive in the country in any given period. Migration figures reveal that a large numbers coming here from outside the European Union - 170,000 from Ukraine and 76,000 from Hong Kong under a scheme to resettle people who count as British citizens. International students Included in the net migration figures, 277,000 overseas students came to the UK study, double the number of student visas from the previous year – possibly influenced by the lifting of travel restrictions, according to the ONS. The increase in immigration coincides with soaring rents at a time when the property sales market has slowed and thousands of landlords quit the buy-to-let property market - https://youtu.be/NME3nEu8dAQNationwide providers like Serco have earned millions housing asylum seekers and will work with private landlords. If you live or work in the North London, Watford or Herts area you might be interested in a face-to-face networking meeting at the Beech House, 49 High Street, Watford, England, WD17 1LJ, Thursday 1 December 10am-12. For more information see: https://www.business-buzz.org/hertfordshire/business-networking-watford With the UK entering the worst recession since records began, there's never been a more important time to get your own finances in order and learn how to manage your money and increase your wealth. Check out my new free training to help you get control of your finances in 28 days! Free to join: https://bit.ly/3isugCr

The Wonkhe Show - the higher education podcast
Cost of living, innovation, strikes

The Wonkhe Show - the higher education podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 24, 2022 44:51


This week on the podcast the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has new stats on students and cost of living. Will more support for students ever come? Plus Rishi Sunak declares the UK an innovation nation, strikes have begun across the sector, and Hidden History looks back at the end of the binary divide between universities and polytechnics in 1992.With Richard Brabner, Director at the UPP Foundation, Smita Jamdar, Partner and Head of Education at Shakespeare Martineau, Sunday Blake, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, Mike Ratcliffe, academic registrar and sector historian, and presented by Mark Leach, Editor in Chief at Wonkhe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Disability Download
Fuel poverty and food banks: Why disabled people are turning to the Trussell Trust

The Disability Download

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2022 27:37


Follow Leonard Cheshire and the Trussell Trust You can follow Leonard Cheshire on Twitter or Instagram @LeonardCheshire. Find out more at leonardcheshire.org You can follow Trussell Trust on Twitter or Facebook @TrussellTrust or via trusselltrust.orgAbout the Trussell TrustThe Trussell Trust exists so we can all be free from hunger.Together, the Trussell Trust has more than 1,300 local food bank centres across the UK, providing practical support for people facing hardship. But emergency food isn't a long-term solution to hunger.People need food banks when they don't have enough money for essentials. It's not right that anyone needs a food bank to get by. This can be changed this by ensuring everyone has enough income to eat, stay warm and stay dry. That's why the Trussell Trust also work with communities across the UK to change the things that push people to need a food bankAbout fuel povertyMartin refers to fuel poverty. According to the common understanding of fuel poverty, someone is in fuel poverty when they find it extremely difficult to find the money to heat their home.According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), someone in fuel poverty finds themselves in the following situation: when they spend the required amount to heat their home, they are left with a residual income below the official poverty lineandthey are living in a property with a fuel poverty energy efficiency rating of band D or below 

Money Tips Podcast
7 Inflation Busting Tips As UK Inflation Hits 10.1%, A New 40-Year High, Food Costs Soar 14% And Wages Fall Behind Cost Of Living

Money Tips Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2022 21:17


Food costs are rising by over 14% which has helped push UK inflation into double digits for the first time since 1982.  Prices are now rising at their fastest rate for more than 40 years. Official inflation rates reach 10.1% in the 12 months to July, up from 9.4% in June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Soaring living costs are eating into family household budgets, with prices rising faster than wages for the last decade. The Bank of England has predicted that inflation will peak at 13% this year – having previously claimed it was “temporary” and would start to fall this year – and admitted that the country was heading towards a recession. The price of energy, petrol and diesel costs are contributing to inflation, say the ONS, as well as staples such as bread, cereals, milk, cheese and eggs rising the fastest, while the cost of vegetables, meat and chocolate were also higher.  In short, the cost of just about everything a family needs is going through the roof. But housing and mortgage costs are also hitting pockets, especially as fixed rate mortgages expire and cause a nasty shock when they jump in price. What can you do to avoid the recession? What will you do to survive and even thrive in this recession? Here are my 7 inflation-busting tips: Loyalty cards and money saving and rewards websites can save you thousands Maximise your returns on savings and investments  Clear credit card debts as fast as you can or transfer to interest free offers Abandon ‘brand loyalty' for better deals on similar products and services Get control of your finances and stop spending more than you earn EARN more, generate more cashflow with a side hustle or property business  Invest in yourself, upgrade your skills and earning potential and power! The economy is in winter, but winters are tough but they never last forever. Like the farmer who prepares for the next season's work, now is the time get ready and come out even stronger when the recession ends. To help you get through this and come out stronger at the other end I have prepared a brand-new training, which you can access right now from the comfort of your home. Check out my new training to help you get control of your finances and learn how to become financially free in 28 days! Click to join: https://bit.ly/3isugCr #money #business #stockmarket #property #foodprices #freetraining #financialfreedom #inflation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Money Tips Podcast
Halifax Report First UK House Price Fall In Over A Year As UK Economy Shrinks In Second Quarter

Money Tips Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2022 16:22


UK house prices suffer their first drop in a year according to figures compiled by Britain's biggest lender. Average property worth £293,221 Annual growth strongest in Wales at 14.7% UK Economy shrinks and heads into recession Average UK house prices dipped slightly in July 2022 for the first time in over a year, according to property market data from Halifax, part of the Lloyds banking group. The lender's house price index revealed that price growth slowed by 0.1%, or £365, month-on-month since June, valuing an average UK home at £293,221. The annual rate of house price growth eased to 11.8%, down from 12.5% last month. This month, separate house price data from the Nationwide building society and Zoopla also indicated a slight slowdown of the UK's property market. Last week I reported that HMRC property transactions data for June shows there were 96,920 sales, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the third slowest June for a decade and down 4% on June 2019. Sales are down 55% compared with 2021 and on a monthly basis down 3.1%, according to the HMRC data based on stamp duty submissions. Watch video version - https://youtu.be/Q4ycEfF7ER4 Bank of England rate rises for the sixth time in seven months to 1.75% are making mortgages more expensive, which means lenders are reducing borrowing levels. Halifax said that price gains for larger properties are noticeably outpacing those for lower homes. The price of a detached house has jumped by 15.1%, the equivalent of £60,860, over the past year, compared to a rise of just 7.7% (£11,962) for flats. Wales topped the table in July with annual inflation up by 14.7%, valuing an average property in the principality at £222,639. This was followed by the south west of England (up by 14.3%) and Northern Ireland (up by 14%). London again recorded slower annual house price growth compared with other parts of the UK, although 7.9% was the capital's largest increase in five years. Russell Galley, Halifax's managing director, said: “Looking ahead, house prices are likely to come under more pressure as market tailwinds fade further and the headwinds of rising interest rates and increased living costs take a firmer hold.” Housing sales expectations are now at their lowest level since March 2020, experts have revealed. Sales expectations for the coming 12 months have fallen 36% in July, down from June's 21%, according to a survey conducted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) before the Bank of England last week announced its biggest rate hike since 1995. Britain's housing market, like that in many other rich nations, boomed during the pandemic as people sought more space to work and socialise at home. However, a quarter of property professionals now report new buyer enquiries falling in July, the third month in a row of an overall decline. Contributing factors include higher interest rates and the cost-of-living crisis, which affects affordability and confidence. Half of estate agents reported that average selling prices are no longer exceeding asking prices for properties worth up to £500,000 and vendors properties priced at £1m or more are forced to accept lower offers. Only 39% say average sales prices of properties £500,000 to £1m are over asking price. Open House South Herts is advertising property deals in the north of the UK from just £30,000 asking price with yields of between 10 and 15%. – see https://www.facebook.com/estateagentswatfordelstreeandborehamwood UK economy shrinks Q2 as recession looms The UK economy officially shrank between April and June as the Bank of England predicts the country will fall into recession later this year. The economy or GDP contracted by 0.1% in the second quarter of the year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports, but is not yet in recession because it grew by 0.8% in the first quarter. A recession is defined as the economy getting smaller for two consecutive three-month periods. The US economy has declined in the first two quarters, but is not officially in recession by their measures. Banks not passing on interest rate rises to savers! See: video  - https://youtu.be/5Z1DVXkCcfo to see what can you do to make more of your savings. Make your money work harder for you…See: 6 Tips to get on the property ladder - https://youtu.be/F4spqKpYZo4 Learn how to get started as a first-time property buyer. A slowdown in the property market means more opportunities for buyers and investor! Find out more about property investing. You can learn the secrets of professional property investors who have built huge portfolios with other people's money. FREE TRAINING – BEGINNERS PROPERTY SECRETS This Beginner Property Investing Secrets free training webinar is designed by the industry's top investing trainers to bring you valuable content; providing you with the tools to successfully invest in buy-to-let properties, raise finance and build a mighty portfolio from the ground up. Live training Wednesday at 7pm UK time. CLICK TO JOIN THE LIVE ONLINE EVENT  https://bit.ly/3DlSlCL #property #freetraining #propertysecrets #money #banks #savemoney #buytoletinvestor #propertyinvestor See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Fraser of Allander Institute Podcast
Weekly Update: Director Mairi Spowage answers your GERS questions

The Fraser of Allander Institute Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 26, 2022 19:14


Link to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data on Country and Regional Public Sector Finances, mentioned in the podcast:https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/articles/countryandregionalpublicsectorfinances/financialyearending2021Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of
7 Inflation Busting Tips As UK Inflation Hits 10.1%, A New 40-Year High, Food Costs Soar 14% And Wages Fall Behind Cost Of Living

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 18, 2022 20:33


7 Inflation Busting Tips As UK Inflation Hits 10.1%, A New 40-Year High, Food Costs Soar 14% And Wages Fall Behind Cost Of Living Food costs are rising by over 14% which has helped push UK inflation into double digits for the first time since 1982. Prices are now rising at their fastest rate for more than 40 years. Official inflation rates reach 10.1% in the 12 months to July, up from 9.4% in June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Soaring living costs are eating into family household budgets, with prices rising faster than wages for the last decade. The Bank of England has predicted that inflation will peak at 13% this year – having previously claimed it was “temporary” and would start to fall this year – and admitted that the country was heading towards a recession. The price of energy, petrol and diesel costs are contributing to inflation, say the ONS, as well as staples such as bread, cereals, milk, cheese and eggs rising the fastest, while the cost of vegetables, meat and chocolate were also higher. In short, the cost of just about everything a family needs is going through the roof. But housing and mortgage costs are also hitting pockets, especially as fixed rate mortgages expire and cause a nasty shock when they jump in price. What can you do to avoid the recession? What will you do to survive and even thrive in this recession? Here are my 7 inflation-busting tips: 1. Loyalty cards and money saving and rewards websites can save you thousands 2. Maximise your returns on savings and investments 3. Clear credit card debts as fast as you can or transfer to interest free offers 4. Abandon ‘brand loyalty' for better deals on similar products and services 5. Get control of your finances and stop spending more than you earn 6. EARN more, generate more cashflow with a side hustle or property business 7. Invest in yourself, upgrade your skills and earning potential and power! The economy is in winter, but winters are tough but they never last forever. Like the farmer who prepares for the next season's work, now is the time get ready and come out even stronger when the recession ends. To help you get through this and come out stronger at the other end I have prepared a brand-new training, which you can access right now from the comfort of your home. Check out my new training to help you get control of your financesand learn how to become financially free in 28 days! Click to join: https://bit.ly/3isugCr #money #business #stockmarket #property #foodprices #freetraining #financialfreedom #inflation

Open Data Institute Podcasts
How access to real time national data could help businesses recover from the pandemic

Open Data Institute Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 15, 2022 16:14


ODI Inside Business: How access to real time national data could help businesses recover from the pandemic In this special edition of the Inside Business podcast, Stuart Coleman, Director of Business Development at the Open Data Institute (ODI) speaks exclusively to Fiona James, the new Chief Data Officer and Director of Data Growth and Operations at the Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of
House Prices FALL For First Time In Over A Year Say Halifax As UK Economy Shrinks In Second Quarter

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 12, 2022 15:33


UK House Prices FALL For First Time In Over A Year Say Halifax As UK Economy Shrinks In Second Quarter · UK house prices suffer their first drop in a year according to figures compiled by Britain's biggest lender. · Average property worth £293,221 · Annual growth highest in Wales at 14.7% · UK Economy shrinks and heads into recession Average UK house prices dipped in July 2022 for the first time in a year, according to property market data from Halifax. Watch video version https://youtu.be/EAFwHV0VQWQ The lender's house price index revealed that price growth slowed by 0.1%, or £365, month-on-month since June, valuing an average UK home at £293,221. The annual rate of house price growth eased to 11.8%, down from 12.5% last month. This month, separate house price data from the Nationwide building society and Zoopla also indicated a slight slowdown of the UK's property market. Last week I reported that HMRC property transactions data for June shows there were 96,920 sales, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the third slowest June for a decade and down 4% on June 2019. Sales are down 55% compared with 2021 and on a monthly basis down 3.1%, according to the HMRC data based on stamp duty submissions. Watch video - https://youtu.be/Q4ycEfF7ER4 Open House South Herts is advertising property deals in the north of the UK from just £30,000 asking price with yields of between 10 and 15%. – see https://www.facebook.com/estateagentswatfordelstreeandborehamwood UK economy shrinks Q2 as recession looms The UK economy officially shrank between April and June as the Bank of England predicts the country will fall into recession later this year. The economy or GDP contracted by 0.1% in the second quarter of the year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports, but is not yet in recession because it grew by 0.8% in the first quarter. Banks not passing on interest rate rises to savers! See: video - https://youtu.be/5Z1DVXkCcfo to see what can you do to make more of your savings. Make your money work harder for you…See: 6 Tips to get on the property ladder - https://youtu.be/F4spqKpYZo4 Find out more about property investing. You can learn the secrets of professional property investors who have built huge portfolios with other people's money. FREE TRAINING – BEGINNERS PROPERTY SECRETS This Beginner Property Investing Secrets free training webinar is designed by the industry's top investing trainers to bring you valuable content; providing you with the tools to successfully invest in buy-to-let properties, raise finance and build a mighty portfolio from the ground up. Live training Wednesday at 7pm UK time. CLICK TO JOINTHE LIVE ONLINE EVENT https://bit.ly/3DlSlCL

Statistically Speaking
Labour & Wages: The tracking of employment and pay across the UK

Statistically Speaking

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2022 36:40


David Freeman and Nicola White join Miles to discuss how the Office for National Statistics (ONS) tracks employment and pay across the UK.   Transcript: Hello and welcome again to Statistically Speaking, the Office for National Statistics podcast. In this episode, we enter the world of work and clock on for a shift with the ONS labour market team. We'll explore how they keep track of employment and pay across the UK and find out how the figures we hear so much about in the news should really be interpreted. At your service, are employees of the month, our head of labour market and household statistics David Freeman, and later on his colleague, senior statistician Nicola White.   David, let's start with the basics. And one common misconception you still hear around the official statistics on unemployment is that they're based on the number of people claiming out of work benefits. And so, the theory goes therefore, that they're subject to manipulation in some way. But to be absolutely clear, the figures don't come from any other government department. This is data that comes from the ONS talking directly to real people, in their tens of thousands.    DAVID FREEMAN  That's absolutely right, Miles. The bulk of the information that we publish as part of our labour market statistics come from something called the ‘Labour Force Survey'. As this is one of our big household surveys, every three months we sample 40,000 households across the UK. And we go and we interview the people in those households about their labour market status. So, are they working, are they not working. We also gather a lot of information about the people in those households, what age they are, whether they have got a disability, what ethnic group [they belong to], which gives a us rich picture of the UK labour market.    MILES FLETCHER  And by the standards of any survey, any regular survey, that's a huge sample isn't it. I know we don't go in for superlatives, but it's possibly the biggest household survey regularly undertaken of any kind?    DAVID FREEMAN  I think it is the biggest one in the UK, outside of the Census of course, and again, through the data that we use, we'll learn about the labour market, but the data will also feed into things like population estimates. So quite a wide range of uses, but its core purpose is really trying to measure the UK labour market.    MILES FLETCHER  And it's that time spent with people to gather a whole raft of data from them, and at scale, that can give a localised picture, which is so important too.    DAVID FREEMAN  Absolutely, we get a lot of information from the Labour Force Survey, either by age groups, by country of birth, also by regional level, and we have an annual version of the Labour Force Survey where we put the data together across a longer time period, which means we can get data down to things like local authority levels as well which is important for local government.    MILES FLETCHER  And how do we choose people to take part?    DAVID FREEMAN   It's a totally random process. So we have access to the postcode directory for the UK, which is effectively a list of all the households in the UK, and we take a random sample of those. However, we make sure within taking that sample that we're represented across the country. So within each local authority area, we've got enough people to be able to give us a robust estimate of what's happening there.   MILES FLETCHER  You stay in the survey a little while, don't you?  DAVID FREEMAN  You do, that's right, and that's one of the strengths of the Labour Force Survey. If you're selected to take part, you are in there for what we call “five waves”. So if you're selected in January, we'll also come back and talk to you again in April, July, October and the following January. And that's important because not only do we find out what people are doing now, as you say we find out how people have changed, and whether they have moved into employment, out of employment, how have their circumstances changed. And that gives a deep insight into how people are flowing through the labour market and changing over time.    MILES FLETCHER  So, big sample, lots of data coming in. When it comes to the analysis though, essentially, we group people under three big categories. Now the first of those is employment. It sounds self-evident, but what is the definition of an employed person?    DAVID FREEMAN  To be employed is to be someone who has done paid work in the reference week, so when we interview people we'll say, what were you doing in the week before we're interviewing you? They are considered employed if they have done paid work for a minimum of one hour in that week. So the bar is, you could say it's quite low, in terms of one hour of work a week. But we have looked, and not that many people work that little in a week – less than 3% of people work less than five hours. So, as well as you'll get paid, we have a couple of other areas as well. We cover people who are employees, so employed by a company, the self-employed, people in government training schemes and people who work for their family business and might not get a wage packet but benefit from working for that business.    MILES FLETCHER  What is the average number of hours that employed people do?    DAVID FREEMAN   Overall, the average is around about 31 hours a week, and that does differ between if you're full time or part-time. So if you're full time, then the average is around 36. If you're part time, the average is around 16 hours a week.    MILES FLETCHER  Okay, so that's a working week. Now who is unemployed? Technically speaking.    DAVID FREEMAN  The technical definition of unemployed, there are three elements to it. Firstly, you've got to be not employed, so not doing any paid work. But you must also be actively seeking work in the previous four weeks. So that means applying for jobs, going to interviews, looking through listings, etc. And finally, you must be available to start work in the next two weeks. So you have got to be available to start a job within the next fortnight after we interview you. Again, another international definition used across the world to define who's unemployed.    MILES FLETCHER  And how long do you have to be unemployed to be classed as long-term unemployed? Because that's a very important category to understand as well.    DAVID FREEMAN  To be considered long-term unemployed, a person must have been in that position for a year or more.    MILES FLETCHER  What's the average time that people are currently spending unemployed?    DAVID FREEMAN  It's a bit hard to say, we don't have a technical age or an average time, but the majority of people who are unemployed have been unemployed for less than six months. So people moving into unemployment after having recently lost a job or moving through unemployment to get to a job. And it's just under 1 in 3, who have been unemployed for more than a year.    MILES FLETCHER  So if you don't satisfy any of those two definitions. You're not doing any kind of paid work and you're not actively seeking it in the way you've described, where does that leave you?    DAVID FREEMAN  Well, that leaves you in a third group that we call the “economically inactive”. And so these people are not in work, and are either not actively seeking work, or are unavailable to start work. So you can be looking for work and not available, and you'd be economically inactive, or you might be available and not looking, and again, you'd be economically inactive there. And the sort of people included in this category are the sort of people who may be looking after family or home, they are stay-at-home parents, or they have caring responsibilities that mean they can't work. They might have a long-term illness or disability which means they are not able to work, or they may have retired. It's the people who aren't working and are not looking or available for work.    MILES FLETCHER  One contentious area under this definition of the economically inactive is a group that swells and contracts according to the economic cycle, and it's that group of people who are unable to work and are collecting benefits. What do we understand about that group at the moment?    DAVID FREEMAN  That group as you say, it does change over time. And the reason for that is because people on benefits depend on the rules around those benefits. So, over the years we have published something we call the “claimant count”. This counts people claiming benefits and the main reason they're claiming benefits is because they're out of work.   MILES FLETCHER  And that used to be the main measure of our unemployment, as it was understood.    DAVID FREEMAN  You're absolutely right. If we go back to the early mid 90s, it was a lead measure. But at that point the rules around the benefits were such that the official unemployment count and the benefit count was about the same. However, when we moved to Jobseeker's Allowance in the late 90s, the rules changed on benefits. So fewer unemployed qualified for the benefits, and the two measures did diverge there.    MILES FLETCHER  It's been said that there's a very large group now who are on out of work benefits alone, and that is hidden unemployment?     DAVID FREEMAN  Some of these people will be unemployed if they're out of work, and actively seeking or available to work. However, out of work benefits will also include people who we would class as economically inactive. Such as people who have a long-term illness or disability that prevents them from working. They'll be getting out of work benefits because they're not working, but because they're not able to look for work, or not actively looking for work, we wouldn't count them in our unemployment statistics. So yes, there are a lot of people on out of work benefits, more than we would count as unemployed. But not all these people would fit that definition of unemployed that we use.    MILES FLETCHER  But nonetheless a very important indicator when you're thinking about how people might be helped into work.    DAVID FREEMAN  That's right. Yeah, and and it indicates what that potential workforce could be. But obviously, some of these people may need some help to get themselves into a position where they're able to look for work and gain employment.    MILES FLATCHER  Okay, well what that briefly explained, is how the headline measures - you might like to call them your classic ONS measure of employment and unemployment - work. But one criticism that you might care to make about this system is that it takes a while to process and the numbers when they come out...there's a bit of a lag isn't there.    DAVID FREEMAN  There is a little bit of a lag, again because of the size of the sample, the amount of data we have to process and the fact that we have to make sure we're getting enough responses in. There's about a six-week lag between the end of the period we're looking at and the data being published into the public domain.    MILES FLATCHER  So in order to speed things up a bit, and to have a timelier indicator of what was happening with employment, and this came in very useful with the arrival of the pandemic, we've been using faster sources of information to supplement the headline employment figures. Can you talk us through that? What progress has been made and how useful these other sources of data have been?    DAVID FREEMAN  Yeah, so probably the biggest one that we've been using throughout the pandemic has been the counting of people for the real time tax information from the Revenue and Customs department. So this is a big database that HMRC hold, and it contains information about everyone on a payroll. So if you are on a pay as you earn scheme, all your information is collated in HMRC for the purposes of calculating your tax. At the end of 2019, we started working with HMRC on publishing regular data from that system. I counted the number of people on payroll schemes and how much they're earning. The benefits of this are that it is a complete count of people on the pay as you earn scheme, so it gives us lots of information, meaning we can analyse smaller levels and small groups of people without impacting on the confidentiality of the data. When the pandemic started, we worked with HMRC to see if we could speed the data up, because previously it was at the same sort of pace as the Labour Force Survey, so about six weeks, and we managed to move to what we call a flash estimate. This means we can publish the data for a particular month within three weeks of the end of that month, which is so much faster and was a real benefit at the beginning of the pandemic. Getting information quickly about what was happening to employees on tax schemes.    MILES FLETCHER  And that was vital wasn't it, to inform the policy response to the pandemic when it arrived. Because you know, waiting a few weeks could have been too late for a lot of people.    DAVID FREEMAN  It could have been, and this is a big step forward in using this local administrative data in the labour market, and we've carried on doing that flash estimate. And as well as that we've been, over the pandemic period and up to the present day, adding more and more information from the pay as you earn tax data. So, a company produces data for a local authority level, we also do it by regional and industry. So, lots of information much more quickly than we can get it from our survey data.    MILES FLETCHER  You could say we've got the best of both worlds now. We've got the rich data coming out of the Labour Force Survey. But on the other hand, we've also got the much quicker data coming hot off the systems of HMRC to give that flash picture as you described it.    DAVID FREEMAN  One of the things that has been very developed over the pandemic is having this extra data and it provides a very, very rich picture. And when you put it together, you do get a very, very good picture of what's happening in the economy. I mean, the next step is to try and actually bring these data sources together. So linking data from the tax system to survey data, and trying to exploit even more, the benefits of having these sorts of information available.    MILES FLETCHER  Do you think we'll get to the point where we replace the survey completely? Or will it continue to have that very important central role?    DAVID FREEMAN  I think surveys will always have a central role. The tax data is brilliant. It does only cover employees, so we don't we don't cover the self-employed, you don't cover government trainees or people working for their family business. Also, the level of information we get from the Labour Force Survey is much bigger than we get from administrative data. On the tax system, we merely have information that's relevant to people paying tax. So that means we don't get a lot of the information that we get from labour force surveys - whether someone's got a disability, what their ethnic group is, what their nationality is - and these are all important variables in terms of informing government policy and giving a picture of what's happening in the UK.    MILES FLETCHER  You mentioned that the tax data was a development that was already in progress before the pandemic, but it was sped up given the urgency of that situation, but other sources of data have been coming in as well?    DAVID FREEMAN  Another big source of data that we've been working with over the pandemic period has been the online job vacancies data from a company called Azuna, who we've been partnering with over the period. And this has been another big step forward in calculating the number of vacancies in the UK economy. The data we are getting is really really timely, so we can take a download of data on the Friday, and we're publishing it the next week. So really timely. And, the information you're getting in an online job vacancy means we can look at things like where the vacancy is, so what geography it's located in, and some indication of the skills or the occupation of that vacancy as well.  MILES FLETCHER  Obviously, if you think about impacts of the pandemic for quite a period, over the last two years, when you add it all up, we spent a lot of time chained to our laptops, in many cases, working from home. How has that rubbed off on the workforce now, and what do we think is the lasting impact of the working from home trend?    DAVID FREEMAN  Certainly, on the latest data we've got, it does look like there's been a bit of a shift in terms of the number of people who work at home on a regular basis. Prior to the pandemic, fewer than three in 10 people had ever worked from home at any point, whereas if you look at the most recent data, around 35% of people are working from home regularly. So that 1 in 3 people are now doing some work at home during the working week.    MILES FLETCHER  So that's a huge change and we reckon that is, to some extent, showing signs of lasting?    DAVID FREEMAN  It does look like it is lasting. Home working doesn't necessarily work for everyone. When we did the analysis, there's quite a few professions or occupations where homework is relatively low. That's particularly in the caring occupations, retail, catering and construction, where it's hard, or if not impossible, to work from home.    MILES FLETCHER  We'll have to see how that develops over the months ahead. But another phenomenon that was spotted as we emerged from the pandemic was what's been called ‘The Great Resignation'. Over 50s apparently disengaging with the labour market, and that I guess, is them going from employment in large numbers into the ‘economically inactive' category? What do we know about that?    DAVID FREEMAN  You're absolutely right. This is something we've seen particularly in the last 12 months, people over 50 are moving out of the labour market into economic inactivity. Some of these people are retiring, so particularly the over 60s, most of those people are retiring. However, for the people aged 50 to 59, a lot of them are retiring for health reasons. They've developed a long-term illness, which again may be related to COVID, which is preventing them from carrying on with work. And this is having an impact on the overall labour market because the employment rate is still lagging behind where we were pre-pandemic, and a lot of that is down to these people moving outside into economic inactivity.    MILES FLETCHER  That's an important factor because other ONS statistics tell us that there were some 800,000 people who report, or we estimate, are suffering the effects of long COVID. So that would be a big factor in this, one might think, and it really isn't a question then of people having had a taste of being at home all the time and thinking, “Oh I just don't want to go back to work. Let's call it a day now”.    DAVID FREEMAN  You're right. So the older people aged 60+, again, particularly people who have got a private pension and won't rely on the state pension, it is that retirement. But say for those 50-59s, while some of them are retiring early, there are people who believe themselves too ill to work    MILES FLETCHER  And what do we understand then from our lifestyle survey? About how people's patterns of leisure and work have changed?    DAVID FREEMAN  There are a few things to think about again, will the people who have moved out of the workforce want to go back into the workforce. Looking at those over 60, only about 18% of those want to go back and will consider returning to work. Whereas those in their 50s, just over half would consider returning to work, but looking for a job that suits their skills and would suit their lifestyle. So, people wanting more flexible work and something that will fit around their caring responsibilities as well.    MILES FLETCHER  So overall, how do we think the UK did in terms of dealing with a pandemic? And particularly its impact on the labour market compared with other countries? Did they see these kind of impacts as well?    DAVID FREEMAN  It's quite interesting when you look at the impact of the pandemic across different countries. In terms of the UK, we have a very similar pattern to the rest of Europe. We saw a drop off in employment rate at the start of the pandemic and then gradual increases. But that drop off in employment was about 2 to 3% of the employment rate, and that's in stark contrast to the USA and Canada where the pandemic impact was much greater in terms of falling employment - about nine to 10 percentage points of the employment rate. Moving onto inactivity, what seems to be the difference is the coronavirus job retention scheme in the UK, and similar schemes across Europe, kept people linked to their job and in employment, rather than moving into unemployment. Unemployment remains, again in the UK and across Europe, relatively low. But all countries, including the USA and in Europe as well, saw an increase in the level of inactivity during the pandemic.    MILES FLETCHER  So overall the UK not too exceptional really, in how governments responded to the impacts of a pandemic, and how those effects played out on the labour force.    DAVID FREEMAN  Not very different at all at the beginning of the pandemic. We're seeing a little bit of a difference now, and we touched on it earlier in terms of economic inactivity, is that the UK employment rate is still a bit below where it was pre pandemic, whereas the EU and USA and Canada, they've got back to about where they were at the beginning of 2020. This links to the over 50s moving out of the workforce. We're still a little bit behind other European countries at the moment.    MILES FLETCHER  And explains perhaps why the over 50s are the subject of particular research, extra research going on now to understand what's really going on there.    DAVID FREEMAN  Yeah, absolutely. Because that does seem to be the difference between us and the rest of Europe.    MILES FLETCHER  Okay, well I mentioned earlier on, the richness of the data that we get from the Labour Force Survey, and when you delve into the data, you get to explore some quite interesting topics. And one of them we uncovered the other day was that even in 2022, there are still some jobs that are dominated by one gender. Tell us about that.    DAVID FREEMAN  Yeah, so this is a really interesting thing. We do put out regular data, where we go right into the detail of some of the occupations. And it is interesting when you look at the sort of gender split in some of these jobs. So, there are a few jobs where we have hardly any women at all doing them, so that includes ship officers and metal workers, and at the other end of the spectrum, we've got very few men who say they are dancers or choreographers.    MILES FLETCHER  You might be less surprised to hear that pipelayers tend to be all male, but also veterinary nurses are almost exclusively female.    DAVID FREEMAN  That's right. And again, if you look at other occupations, that are predominantly female, they are things like midwives, school secretaries, PA's and secretaries, child minders, nursery nurses and medical secretaries. And then if you go to the occupations that are predominantly male, they're very much in the construction space, so carpenters, bricklayers, electricians and plumbers.     MILES FLETCHER  How do we classify people into jobs? We don't just listen to how people describe themselves. You have to fit into some classification, don't you? How does that work?    DAVID FREEMAN  Well, we have got a classification, it's called a ‘standard occupational classification', and that gets updated regularly. The latest version was updated in 2020. And the way we classify people, when we do the interviews as part of the Labour Force Survey, we ask them what their occupation is. And then we take that description, and we match it onto our list of occupations. There are hundreds of potential occupations. We've got a computer programme that helps when you put the description in, it'll narrow it down to a few options, and then the interviewer can pick the most suitable of those options to match what the person has told us.    MILES FLETCHER  And that makes the figures internationally comparable. Again, you can't tell the Labour Force Survey, well, I'm an image consultant. They'd have to find a way of matching that against one of the definitions, and I see we were asked the other day whether ‘Social Media Influencer' was a classified job, it turns out it isn't. They're either marketing associates, or actors and presenters, it turns out. These classifications, they're reviewed every 10 years or so aren't they, perhaps the next update will recognise a job like that.    DAVID FREEMAN  If it grows in terms of importance and the number of people doing it, it's quite likely it could end up with a classification. I mean, the latest update started including programmers as a separate job description. They were lumped in with other things in earlier classifications, again because of a growing occupation.    MILES FLETCHER  It's quite a good test this. If your mum asks you if you've got a proper job yet. If you can point to the standard occupational classification, I think that that'll answer the question for her quite satisfactory wouldn't it. By the way, recent additions are coffee shop workers, not surprisingly, given the huge growth in coffee serving establishments, what other ones have been officially designated recently?    DAVID FREEMAN  Lots of jobs linked around the internet and web development and website development as well. You go back 15 or 20 years and it didn't even exist. And things like ‘Play Workers' as well, with the use of child minding and child play facilities, they're also new additions to the list.    MILES FLETCHER  So, working in the gig economy, you know, the hours might be irregular, you might be on a zero hours contract, but nevertheless, chances are you're your job is officially recognised.    DAVID FREEMAN  Almost certainly, even if your job may not have an official designation, you would still be fitting into the framework somewhere.    MILES FLETCHER  And it might be worth noting since we're sitting in the ONS, that data analysts have only been recently recognised as an official classified occupation.  Well, just as important as finding out what people do is the whole question of how much they get for doing it. And who better to talk to about that than our Head of Earnings at the ONS Nicola White, how does the ONS find out what's on people's salary cheques every month.     NICOLA WHITE  We use several surveys to estimate wages. So, one is a monthly survey, which gives us the latest picture of what's happening, and the other is once a year, and this allows us to measure not only weekly earnings but also annual earnings, hourly earnings and it enables us to also look at detailed characteristics such as age, sex, region and occupation. It's a much richer data source.    MILES FLETCHER  Again, this is a big national level, thousands and thousands of people.    NICOLA WHITE  For the monthly survey, we ask to provide us with the number of employees in their business, and then what they're paying out in wages that month, and then we just calculate the average weekly earnings. The annual survey is slightly different. It's filled in again by businesses, but we ask for a selection of employees so that we can collect the additional data that we require.    MILES FLETCHER  So, we're not just trusting people to come clean about how much they're earning because I wonder if people might be concerned about what the tax authority might say.    NICOLA WHITE  As we collect this from businesses, we think the quality of the data might be much better than giving the individual data.  MILES FLETCHER  For statistical purposes, what is the average wage in the UK?  NICOLA WHITE  So, the average weekly earnings for all employees at the moment is around 565 pounds a week. Then if we include bonuses into this, it increases it to around 600 pounds a week.  MILES FLETCHER  And what's been the trend recently?  NICOLA WHITE  It's been quite difficult to interpret earnings recently given the pandemic, and one reason for is because COVID has impacted the workforce. So many workers were on furlough or had their hours reduced during 2020 and 2021. And this meant that people saw their earnings fall, pushing down weekly earnings, but in the following year, fewer people were on furlough and hours returned to normal, so then weekly wages were higher. Making that year-on-year comparison was quite difficult to interpret. And adding to that, the actual makeup of the workforce during 2020 and 2021 changed and because our statistics is an average this will impact on the average. During the pandemic we saw that lower paid people were at a greater risk of losing their jobs. So where fewer people were in the workforce, this increased average earnings. The way I like to think about it is as thinking about height. So, if the shortest person in the room leaves, the average height of those remaining will rise, but no one in that room has got taller, have they. It's just the makeup of the people in the room that has changed the average, so if you think about that in terms of earnings, if someone's paid less than the average earnings per week, they then lose their job. Other things being equal, average earnings will increase and this was quite prominent during 2020 and 2021. But we're now seeing things return to normal levels.    MILES FLETCHER  Shaking out that furlough effect, if you like. Compared to pre pandemic levels, how do we stand now?    NICOLA WHITE  So at the moment, we're seeing when we compare to pay for this time, the latest papers are 12 months ago, we're seeing increases in regular pay, and in total pay which is regular pay plus bonuses. And we're seeing some high bonuses that have been paid out, particularly in March this year when we normally get the bonus months. We're seeing levels we haven't really seen before .  MILES FLETCHER  And what's been driving that then?    NICOLA WHITE  The main sectors that are contributing to this is the finance and business services sector, and within here are financial and insurance activities. That's banking, it's not unusual for these sectors to see large bonus payments, and they're just continuing to be quite large, although we did see some smaller bonuses paid during the pandemic. We've then seen this rise to levels we haven't really seen before.    MILES FLETCHER  And how disproportionate is the effect of these city slickers getting Ferraris?    NICOLA WHITE  If you look at the data split by private sector and public sector, you'll see public sectors very minimal bonus payments there, whereas it is all being driven by the private sector, and in particular the finance and insurance activity sector.    MILES FLETCHER  Any other sectors in which people have been getting bonuses?     NICOLA WHITE  Yes so there are other sectors such as manufacturing and construction and wholesale and trade. They've also been seeing quite large bonuses, particularly in March.    MILES FLETCHER  And that's perhaps a reflection of the shortages of appropriately trained and skilled workers in those industries, and employers are having to shell out extra to get people in.    NICOLA WHITE  Yeah, so bonuses are a way of retaining staff, and that will not impact on basic pay. They were not included in pay rises, but it's a way to keep staff from moving on.    MILES FLETCHER  Overall then, of course real pay has suddenly become a talking point again. For years and years when inflation was relatively low it was a concept that wasn't discussed that much. Now inflation has gone back up and people are concerned about the real value of their earnings. Just talk us through how we measure that, and why it's so important.    NICOLA WHITE  Yes, we do produce a real average weekly earnings estimate which adjusts for inflation. So here we look at the growth rates of wages, and we then adjust this by the latest inflation rates. So as you've just said, inflation is currently very high, so it is having a big impact on real wage growth rates. Following the recent increases in inflation, pay has now clearly fallen in real terms, both including and excluding bonuses, so that's excluding bonuses. Real pay is now dropping faster than any time that we've seen since records began in 2001.    MILES FLETCHER  What's the benchmark for the rate of inflation that the ONS uses?    NICOLA WHITE  So, we use the CPIH version of inflation. And that's what we adjust our estimates by.    MILES FLETCHER  Because the ONS believes that's the most reliable? If we were to take RPI, which of course we don't recommend, the real base situation would look even more pronounced.    NICOLA WHITE  Inflation as measured by CPI, which at the moment is slightly higher than CPIH. This would have an even bigger impact on growth and real growth rates if we were to use CPI, which is often used by the Bank of England.    MILES FLETCHER  So Nic, another issue in recent years, of course, has been the gender pay gap, which we've heard a great deal and that's not, it's important to explain isn't it, it's not the difference between men and women getting different pay rates for doing the same work, because that's been illegal for some time. This is about women as a group being paid less than men as a group. How does the ONS measure that, and how have things been changing?    NICOLE WHITE  We use our annual survey to measure the gender pay gap, and what we do is we calculate the difference between the average hourly earnings of men and women as a proportion of men's average earnings. For example, we'd say that the gender pay gap currently is at 7.9%. What this means is that women earn 7.9% less on average than men. If we had a negative gender pay gap, for example, negative 4%, this would mean that women earn 4% more on average than men. As you just said, it's not a measure of the difference of the same job being paid. It's a measure across all jobs in the UK.    MILES FLETCHER  But that's all men, compared to all women. But if you start to break it down, then a slightly different pattern emerges, doesn't it?    NICOLA WHITE  Yeah, that's right. It's interesting to look at this by age group, because there's a clear difference for those aged over 40 and those aged under 40. With those full-time employees under 40, they have a gender pay gap of around 3%. And for those aged 40, this is around 12%. And this reflects the type of jobs and the fact that women have had children at that age.    MILES FLETCHER  So, it's those family responsibilities, taking people out of their careers?    NICOLE WHITE  And maybe working more part-time. It's very much at the younger ages when the gender pay gap isn't as big, but as you go into those older age groups it does become more prominent.    MILES FLETCHER?  And perhaps there is an occupational skills divide as well?    NICOLE WHITE  Yes, there is. So looking at ‘occupay gap' in this gender pay gap, the biggest gap is for processing and machine operatives, which is at 16.2%. Women earn 16.2% less on average than men, which probably you'd expect because these jobs are generally held by men. But if we look at this at the other end of the scale, so we'll look at the largest negative gender pay gap. This is in the occupation of secretarial and related, where women earn 7.4% more on average than men. So, the occupations kind of tie in with the kind of jobs that men and women do tend to do.    MILES FLETCHER  If I knew someone for whom the world of statistics had just become too exciting and they had to go work in a less dynamic field, but were out to make a bit more money, what should I recommend they do?    NICOLE WHITE  Okay, for full time employees, the highest paid occupations are chief executives and senior officials, and they're paid around about 90,000 pounds per year. The lowest occupation for full-time employees is playworkers, which includes teaching assistants, child minders and nannies, and these are paid around 14,000 pounds per year. But if you want to look at all employees, the highest occupation is still the same group, which is chief executives and senior officials. But the lowest paid occupation changes here, and it's more school mid-day and crossing patrol occupations. And these have a medium of around 3000 pounds per year. And this is because much of these jobs are part-time.    MILES FLETCHER  So that's what's going on with pay. But what's the current situation with employment in the labour market overall then, suffice to say, David, it's complicated really, isn't it?    DAVID FREEMAN  A very accurate description, I think complicated or a very mixed picture at the moment. As we touched on earlier, there are a lot of people who removed themselves from the labour market and go into economic activity, particularly in the over 50s age group. So that means it's held all the unemployment down a bit. There's also a record number of vacancies, which you would normally say is good news, but it's been at a record high for quite a while, so over 1.3 million vacancies and that for the first time is slightly more than the number of unemployed people. So that means companies are struggling to fill the jobs that are available particularly in things like the health sector, hospitality and the retail sector.    MILES FLETCHER  So that's speaks of skill shortages then isn't it, employers need people, but they haven't got the right people.    DAVID FREEMAN  Yes, if you haven't got the right people, or not people in the right areas of the country, there's plenty of challenges there in trying to make sure that these jobs get filled and we find the right people in the right place. We're also seeing falling self-employment as well. This is the one area where we're still lagging behind where we were before the pandemic started. So the number of employees has reached its pre pandemic level, but the number of self-employed is over three quarters of a million below where it was before COVID-19 struck. So that's again another challenge. Where have these people gone? Have they gone into inactivity or employment or are they struggling to restart their business after the pandemic.    MILES FLETCHER  Is that perhaps because of the disruptive effects of the pandemic, when it was easier for a lot of people to take one of the many jobs that are available rather than to go back into self-employment with all the risks and uncertainty that then implies.    DAVID FREEMAN   Potentially we have seen lots of people moving into employment and leaving self-employment over the pandemic period. I mean particularly with a lot of jobs that are offering flexible hybrid working, people are finding it much more constant, a bit more reliable than perhaps they were in their self-employed jobs. And lots of jobs in self-employment would have been hit by the pandemic. There were lots of jobs in construction, in catering and in the service sector, which would have been hit by the pandemic.    MILES FLETCHER  We said the picture was complicated, but anytime where we have record high employment and a record number of vacancies, there's good in this labour market too isn't there.     DAVID FREEMAN  There is some good news, they say the number of employees is back above where it was pre pandemic, so a lot of people in employment. What's holding it back is the self-employed. And, the level of unemployment is one of the lowest we've seen since the mid 70s. It's down below 4%. So, there are very few people out-of-work actively seeking work. That again shows there's certainly scope for the labour market to expand with the number of unfilled vacancies that we're seeing.    MILES FLETCHER  On that largely positive note, it's back to the daily grind we go. Thanks to Nicola and to David for joining me, and thanks to you for listening. To comment on this podcast or ask us a question please follow us on Twitter at @ONSfocus. I'm Miles Fletcher and our producers at the ONS are Julia Short and Steve Milne.  

Sky News Daily
The missing million: Why are so many people choosing not to work?

Sky News Daily

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2022 20:37


One in five working-age people are currently "economically inactive", according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - that is, out of work and not looking for a job. Whilst the reasons vary, the consequences are potentially dire for the UK economy. On Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson speaks to our Business correspondent Paul Kelso, who's been speaking to people in that group about why they've said no to work, and to Tony Wilson from the Institute for Employment Studies about the impact of so many unfilled job posts on the economy. Editor - Philly Beaumont Producer -Rosie Gillott Digital producer - David Chipakupaku

Rodcast
Zoopla's Head of Research - Grainne Gilmore

Rodcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2022 45:24


I was so fortunate to be joined by Zoopla's Head of Research, Grainne Gilmore to discuss the UK residential market.In this episode we discuss;Grainne's background and how she came to be Head of Research at Zoopla?How does data from the portals typically differ from the likes of Land registry and Office for National Statistics (ONS) data?Benchmarking performance year on year can not give the clearest picture as the start point may have been in the pandemic but how is the market comparing to the longer term trends?How have cities performed and what does the data show for their future vs suburban areas?What data points are important when looking at forecasting House and rental prices?The biggest risks to the housing market and what can be done to mitigate them? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

HR Most Influential Podcast
4. Building outcomes-based cultures with Philippa Bonay

HR Most Influential Podcast

Play Episode Play 22 sec Highlight Listen Later Jul 5, 2022 34:27


Philippa Bonay, the  HR director for the Government Analysis Function and director of people and business services for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) discusses the creation of an outcomes-based culture within the civil service.Data and its value in HR is a persistent theme - in conversation with HR magazine editor Jo Gallacher, the HR Most Influential 2021 #26 practitioner shares tips for how data can be used to empower staff and drive towards outcomes on an individual and a large scale.She also gives her advice for a successful career in the people profession.Check out hrmagazine.co.uk for all the latest news, in-depth features, research, new thinking and best practice.Follow us on Twitter at @hrmagazine and LinkedIn @hr-magazineuk 

CFR News & Sports
Polish man was savagely attacked on a busy Westminster street & UK inflation Rise 9.1%

CFR News & Sports

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2022 14:57


A Polish man was savagely attacked on a busy London street shortly after arriving in London. Kamil Sobala asked for directions after getting off a coach at Victoria station before being beaten unconscious when asked where he was from. UK inflation has risen further to 9.1%, the highest rate in 40 years as the cost of living crisis deepens. It's up from 9% in April to 9.1% in May, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said, with the increase being driven largely by the increase in food prices, which added more than 0.2 percentage points to the inflation number. Chancellor Rishi Sunak sought to reassure people that he will be able to reduce inflation but did not reject a prediction from many economists that the UK is heading for recession. Inflation is the rate of increase in prices for goods and services. If a loaf of bread costing £1 rises in price by 5p, the bread inflation is 5%.. SPONSORED BY https://www.instagram.com/supremeoftheuk/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/cfr_news/?hl=en

ReadytoBuyPodcast
#22 - What is Affordability and how does it affect me?

ReadytoBuyPodcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2022 26:11


It might sound like a really simple concept, and ultimately it is - is something affordable?  In a mortgage context, the concept of affordability is a relatively new term and concept. Historically - income multiples determined how much you could borrow. Background In the early 2000s, lenders used to lend you 2.5 x your combined annual income if applying for a mortgage as a couple or 3 x your income if applying alone. With the explosion of house prices in the last 25-30 years, there is a need to have greater flexibility when it comes to affordability.  Regulation in this industry has increased during this time, initially by Financial Services Authority (FSA), and more recently renamed the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority). As a result - affordability was introduced – which goes a step further than simply looking at income multiples, which was quite a crude measure of how much you can borrow.  Whilst many lenders still use income multiples that sit behind their calculations, there's very much more emphasis placed on the affordability on a monthly basis – i.e. how much is coming in each month and how much is going out. In very simple terms, affordability is what's left after deducting your outgoings from your income. IncomeIt's rarely this simple though as there are so many different types and parts to your income. In the simplest example, you might be an employee with a fixed basic annual salary. However, you might have additional income such as: Bonus (monthly, quarterly or annual) Commission Overtime Allowances (Car, Shift etc) If self-employed, you could be a sole trader, a limited company director, contractor or Limited Liability Partner (LLP). We saw in episode 21 how lenders may use different income depending on your set up and their own internal rules. You may receive other types of income such as; child benefit, tax credits, child maintenance etc Lenders often have a different approach to each other too – which explains why you may be offered differing mortgage amounts from different lenders. OutgoingsMany different forms of outgoings and again may be treated in a different way by different lenders Credit commitments – loans, car finance, credit cards, store cards etc Childcare costs – nursery, childminder, nanny etc Child Maintenance Travel Costs Household expenditure Lenders will tend to use the Office of National Statistics (ONS) data, when they factor in a lot of these, so that will tend to take an average.  Lending DecisionsLenders will balance two main things when deciding whether to grant your requested mortgage: Affordability - Ultimately, how much of your income is left over after all of the above outgoings is the important figure to them. Is it sufficient for your mortgage payment now and if rates increase? Credit Risk - is essentially the lender gauging the risk of you as a borrower not paying your mortgage back They'll look at all sorts of data that they've got for people in similar situations to you historically, along with viewing the conduct of your credit agreements on your credit file before reaching their decision As with affordability, credit risk policy will vary between lenders – explaining why some may provide different decisions “DEFINITELY NOT A SILLY QUESTION” Feature Q – I've got a loan I intend to repay before my new mortgage starts. Will this affect the affordability calculation? A – It may do, depending on the lender. Most lenders will ignore credit commitments due to be repaid prior to the start of the new mortgage as they'll no longer be a credit commitment. However, some lenders take a more skeptical view that many people don't actually clear commitments they declare that intend to, so still deduct this commitment in their affordability calculation to determine how much they'll lend you. REMEMBER: 1)    Always SEEK ADVICE for your own circumstances, and; 2)    A mortgage is

Open Data Institute Podcasts
Data to Measure UK Wellbeing

Open Data Institute Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2022 30:32


How better data ecosystems can help the UK understand national wellbeing. As part of the ODI's Data Ecosystems & Innovation programme, we have been looking at data to measure the recovery in the UK. We often see headlines in the news about how GDP is down, or inflation is up, or CO2 emissions are rising. But how are these numbers created? Where does the data come from? What are the ecosystems, or the flows of data, that make these measurements possible? More importantly, how can we improve this data for better decision making? We first looked at the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and how it uses data from alternative sources to get a more real-time view of the economy. Next, we analysed some of the data to measure net zero. Particularly greenhouse gas emissions data from the ONS and the database on potential CO2 storage sites from the British Geological Survey. In our final part of this work, we look at data to measure wellbeing in the UK. Measuring wellbeing is a topic with a real breadth of research behind it and drives policymaking in a number of countries. There have been quite a number of indexes to measure wellbeing. These include the Human Development Index, the Genuine Progress Indicator, the Better Life Index, and the ONS's National Wellbeing Dashboard. To help us gain a better understanding of this topic, we spoke to two experts on wellbeing in the UK: Jennifer Wallace, Director at the Carnegie UK Trust, and Nancy Hey, Executive Director at the What Works Centre for Wellbeing. LINKS Jennifer Wallace, Director at Carnegie UK: - Carnegie UK: https://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/ - Carnegie's 'Gross Domestic Wellbeing' report: https://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/publications/gross-domestic-wellbeing-gdwe-an-alternative-measure-of-social-progress/ - Jennifer's book 'Wellbeing and Devolution': https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-02230-3 - Jennifer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jen_CarnegieUK Nancy Hey, Executive Director at What Works Centre for Wellbeing: - What Works Wellbeing: https://whatworkswellbeing.org/ - Nancy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/work_life_you Wellbeing reports – Office of National Statistics: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing ODI's work on data to measure the economy and net zero: - Real-time data to measure the economy: insights from the ONS: https://theodi.org/article/real-time-data-to-measure-the-economy-insights-from-the-ons/ - Build Back Better: the data behind UK's net zero transition: https://theodi.org/article/build-back-better-the-data-behind-uks-net-zero-transition/ - Analysis on the data to measure the UK's net zero goals: https://github.com/theodi/data-ecosystems-net-zero/blob/main/UKNetZero.ipynb Some other indexes of social progress: - Human Development Index: https://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi - Better Life Index: https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/ - Thriving Places Index: https://www.centreforthrivingplaces.org/ - Happy Planet Index: https://happyplanetindex.org/ - Community Needs Index: https://ocsi.uk/2019/10/21/community-needs-index-measuring-social-and-cultural-factors/ - Genuine Progress Indicator: https://sustainable-economy.org/genuine-progress/

Foundation for Science and Technology
Sir Ian Diamond - The work of the ONS during the covid pandemic

Foundation for Science and Technology

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2022 21:04


In this podcast we will be discussing the work of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in providing crucial data during the Covid pandemic.

Impactus podcast
EP 35: Young, Dumb & Married – Young Men Edition

Impactus podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2022 38:21


Why are young men getting married later? What is the worst marriage advice we've ever been given? In 1971, the average age of a man getting married was 24.4. In 2020, the average age was 38 according to the latest official figures available from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Why is this? And is it something that should be concerning? This is one of the topics Jordan & Andrew discuss as well as the importance of celebrating singleness, tips for newly married men, and they also share some marriage advice given to them that wasn't very helpful.

通勤學英語
回顧星期天LBS - 疫情相關時事趣聞 All about COVID

通勤學英語

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2022 8:57


Topic: What can employers do if workers avoid COVID-19 vaccines?   若員工不想打疫苗,雇主可以採取哪些措施應對? What can employers do if workers avoid COVID-19 vaccines? 美國企業雇主可以要求全體員工打疫苗並開除那些不願意配合的人,或是取消公司福利、加收健康保險金等。 They can require vaccination and fire employees who don't comply or take other actions such as withholding company perks or charging extra for health insurance. 企業在過去數個月以來一直鼓勵員工打疫苗,有時更會祭出休假、發放禮卡等獎勵措施。不過,現在有更多企業採取強硬的立場要求還沒施打的員工完成接種,這種做法在輝瑞疫苗獲得美國食藥署(FDA)核准通過後變得更加普遍。 Businesses for months have been encouraging workers to get vaccinated, in some cases offering incentives like time off or gift cards. But more are taking a harder stance and requiring vaccinations for any remaining holdouts, a push that has gained momentum since Pfizer's vaccine recently received full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 美世諮詢公司(Mercer)的合夥人西蒙斯(Wade Symons)表示,「雇主認為除非公司採取重大的措施,否則這些員工不會去施打疫苗」。 Employers “feel like they've sort of hit that point where the unvaccinated are not going to do it unless there's something significant making them do it,” said Wade Symons, a partner with Mercer, a benefits consultant. 目前,雇主要求員工打疫苗在美國是合法的,他們也有權開除不願意配合的員工。在一些企業裡,未接種疫苗的員工會被要求戴口罩並定期接受篩檢,有的公司則考慮提高未接種者的健康保險金額。 It's legal for businesses to require the shots, and they could fire employees who don't comply. In other cases, workers might be required to wear masks or get regular tests for the virus. Some companies also are considering making the unvaccinated pay more for their health insurance. 在達美航空,公司的健康計畫則針對未接種疫苗的員工加收一個月200美金的費用,以分擔未來可能染疫住院所需的開銷。 At Delta Air Lines, unvaccinated employees on the company health plan will be charged $200 a month to help cover costs for possible COVID-19 hospital stays. 西蒙斯表示,其他公司則多會從員工每個月的薪水中小額扣款20-25美金費用(約等同於新台幣600元至750元),並在員工接種完疫苗後將款項退還。 Symons said other employers will more likely add smaller charges of $20 or $25 per paycheck that might be refunded once the employee is vaccinated. 雇主也可能限制公司的公共空間使用權,只允許打過疫苗的員工上公司健身房運動,或進行商務旅行。在拉斯維加斯,美高梅國際酒店集團(MGM Resorts International)則規定未接種疫苗的員工若被確診出染疫,公司將不會在其隔離期間給薪。 Employers might also restrict the use of office space, company gyms or business travel only for the vaccinated. In Las Vegas, MGM Resorts International has said unvaccinated employees will not be paid for time off to quarantine if they test positive for the virus. 西蒙斯也指出,這類強制員工打疫苗的規定大多來自需要員工在辦公室工作的企業。 Vaccine requirements will mainly come from businesses that need workers on a job site, Symons said. 不過,針對一些因醫療或宗教因素不打疫苗的員工,雇主必須提出豁免或調解方案。 Employers have to offer exemptions or accommodations from vaccine requirements for some who don't get the shots for medical or religious reasons. 迪士尼和俄亥俄州立大學(The Ohio State University)是強制員工打疫苗的機構中規模較大的集團,他們表示輝瑞疫苗已經得到食藥署的完整批准,因此將強制要求員工施打。美國國防部長奧斯丁(Lloyd Austin)也表示,軍人必須立刻開始接種疫苗。 Walt Disney World and Ohio State University are among the large employers that said they'll make vaccination mandatory since Pfizer's shot was given the FDA's full approval. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also has said that military troops must immediately begin to get the vaccine. Source article: https://chinapost.nownews.com/20210903-2749357   Next Article   Topic: Covid 'vaccination persuasion' teams reap rewards in Turkey   A coronavirus "vaccination persuasion" initiative is gearing up to be rolled out across Turkey after proving a resounding success in a district in the country's south-east. 一項新冠病毒「接種疫苗勸說」倡議在土耳其東南部一個地區證明成效卓著後,正加緊在全國各地推出。 Since February, doctors and healthcare workers in the mainly Kurdish city of Adıyaman have been calling people in age groups already eligible for the vaccine to ask why they have not come to clinics for appointments. 醫師和醫護人員2月起在以庫德族為主的阿德亞曼市,打電話給符合接種年齡資格的族群,詢問他們為什麼沒有到診所預約接種。 Then, equipped with cooler boxes full of vaccine vials, they fan out across the rural area to visit patients who are still reluctant. 然後,他們帶著裝滿疫苗針劑的保冷箱,在這個鄉村地區四處拜訪仍不願去接種疫苗的患者。 It is working, boosting the vaccine take-up rate among the 250,000 strong population scattered across the province's central district by nearly 30%. 此舉確實發揮作用,將散佈該省中心地區約25萬人口的疫苗接種率,提高了將近30%。   Next Article   Topic: Vax and scratch - NY offers $5M lottery for newly vaccinated 接種疫苗刮刮樂:紐約提供500萬美元彩券給最近接種者 Anyone who gets vaccinated at select state-run vaccination sites in New York next week will receive a lottery scratch ticket with prizes potentially worth millions, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo tries to boost slowing vaccination rates. 由於紐約州長古莫試圖提高趨緩的疫苗接種率,下週在該州選定的州設疫苗接種站施打疫苗者,將會拿到一張可能包含價值高達數百萬美元獎金的刮刮樂彩券。 The pilot program will offer prizes from $20 up to $5 million and run from Monday, May 24 to Friday, May 28 at 10 state-run sites. 這項試行計畫將提供從20美元到上看500萬美元的獎金,從5月24日週一到5月28日週五,在10個州設站點執行。 The governor said there's a one in nine chance of winning a scratch ticket prize in New York, which is joining other states, including Ohio, with similar lottery incentives. Only residents 18 and older are eligible. 包括俄亥俄等其他州也提供類似的彩券誘因,這位州長說,紐約刮刮樂中獎機率為9分之1。僅18歲及以上居民有資格。 New York also plans to set up pop-up vaccination sites at seven airports across the state for U.S. residents, including airport workers. 紐約州也打算在該州境內7處機場為包含機場工作人員在內的美國居民設立臨時接種站。 Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1452359;https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1451604   Next Article   Topic: Britons working at home spend more time on job in COVID-19 crisis   People working from home during lockdown spend more time at their jobs and are less likely to be promoted or take time off sick, but are paid above average wages, according to an official study in the UK. 英國一項官方研究顯示,封城期間在家上班的人花在工作上的時間更多,而獲晉升或請病假的可能性較小,但他們的薪水高於平均工資。 Documenting the shift to remote work during the pandemic, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of people who did some work at home in 2020 rose by 9.4 percentage points from a year earlier to 35.9 percent of the workforce — representing more than 11 million employees. 英國國家統計局記錄了疫情期間轉為遠距工作的情況,並表示,二○二○年在家做部份工作的人數,佔勞動力的百分之三十五點九,比前一年增加了九點四個百分點,亦即逾一千一百萬名員工。 However, there were substantial variations between occupations and parts of the country, reflecting the differing experiences of the pandemic for workers as some were hit harder by the crisis than others. 但是,此情況因職業及國內各區域之不同而有很大的差異,反映出勞工在疫情中的不同經歷,因為有的人在此危機中所受到的衝擊更大。 Although suggesting that the majority of people continued to travel to work during the pandemic, the figures reveal a divergent impact on home workers. According to the research, those using office studies, converted bedroom workplaces and kitchen tables did two-thirds more unpaid overtime in 2020 and were more likely to work after 6pm. 儘管這些數據表示多數人在疫情期間仍繼續通勤上班,但它顯示居家辦公者所受到的影響不同。根據此研究,那些平常在辦公室上班,而將臥室及餐桌轉為辦公空間的人,在二○二○年的無薪加班時間增加了三分之二,且晚上六點後仍在工作的可能性更高。 However, they were generally higher qualified and better paid, took longer and more frequent breaks, and started work later in the day. 但是,他們通常學經歷較高,薪水也較高,休息時間更長、更頻繁,每天開始工作的時間較晚。 Staff based at home took less than half the amount of sick leave, with two days compared with four for other employees, reflecting the reduced risk of catching an infection. The ONS said people might also feel well enough to work from home while sick if they did not have to travel. 在家工作的員工請病假的時間不到一半,只有兩天,而其他員工則為四天,反映出在家工作降低了感染疾病的風險。英國國家統計局表示,員工生病的時候,若不必出門去上班,待在家也可能會覺得舒服一點,身體狀況足以勝任工作。 However, while there is no daily commute and apparent greater flexibility, the research found that those who work consistently from home are less likely to be promoted, in a sign that they could be overlooked due to reduced face-to-face interaction with colleagues and managers. 在家工作雖然不用每日通勤,且更有彈性,但研究發現,一直在家工作的人很少獲得晉升,表示員工與上司面對面的互動減少後,可能會被忽視。 The study comes as companies across advanced economies adapt to new ways of working, accelerated by the pandemic and facilitated by technological advances, Zoom and video conferencing, and consider making more permanent changes to where staff are based after lockdown. 此研究之進行,正值經濟發達國家之企業尋求適應新的工作方式之際。這種轉變因疫情而加速進行,並有科技進展、視訊軟體Zoom及視訊會議等為助力。這些企業考慮在封城結束後,對員工的上班地點做更永久性的變更。Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2021/05/31/2003758310  

Money Tips Podcast
Almost 5 million Granted UK Residence Under EU Settlement Scheme

Money Tips Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2021 26:24


Almost 5 million Granted UK Residence Under EU Settlement Scheme  Despite warnings of a mass ‘Brexit exodus' of European migrants, it has emerged that just under five million people were granted the right to live and work in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme so far, according to official estimates. Home Office figures reveal that, as of the end of June, some 4,908,760 EU citizens had been granted an immigration status to remain in the country as full freedom of movement to live and work in the UK came to a close following Brexit transition. EU citizens – as well as people from Iceland Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – and their families were invited to apply to the scheme by the June 30 deadline. Quarterly data published this week showed that the Home Office had processed 5.5 million applications for settlement by the deadline, with the highest numbers of applications coming from Polish, Romanian and Italian nationals The latest figures are much higher than the official estimate of how many EU nationals are living in the UK. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicated that in mid-2020 this was 3.5 million. More than six million applications (6,050,860) were submitted between the launch of the scheme in March 2019 and the June 30 2021 cut-off date. Over 2.8 million applicants were granted settled status, allowing them permanent leave to remain in the UK. A further 2.3 million (2,327,850) were granted pre-settled status, meaning they need to reapply after living in the country for five years to gain permanent residence or indefinite leave to remain in the UK. Included in this number, immigration status was granted to 295,890 people from countries like India, Pakistan and Brazil under the scheme, which allows family members who are not EU or European Economic Area nationals to also apply. The Home Office said: “Across all nationalities, the highest numbers of applications received were from Polish, Romanian and Italian nationals. This has been the trend throughout the life of the scheme.” There were 109,430 applications refused, 80,600 withdrawn or void, and 79,730 were deemed invalid, where the Home Office decides someone is not eligible to apply or has failed to provide sufficient proof of residence. The Home Office said 8% of the applications were from “repeat applicants” (472,220). Among the applications were more than one million from children (1,002,280). Some 772,260 of the applications from under-18s finalised by the end of June were granted an immigration status, while 32,870 requests were refused, withdrawn, void or invalid, the figures indicate. In London, Newham saw the highest number of applications to the scheme (142,120). Outside London, the highest number was in Birmingham in the West Midlands (138,490). It is still not known how many people in the UK are eligible for the scheme but could remain in the country undocumented. Anyone who has not yet applied may have lost their lawful immigration status after the deadline, although late applications can be made under limited reasonable grounds and the Government has said there is no cut-off date for doing so. Those who applied before the deadline but have yet to receive a decision are protected under existing rights, subject to the outcome of the application and any appeal. Anyone who does not apply and continues to live in the UK without being able to prove their immigration status could face enforcement action. Most migrating EU citizens will in future need a work permit to live and work in the UK. The UK has one million job vacancies including a shortage of lorry drivers and builders, much of which has been blamed on Brexit. However, the latest Home Office settlement figures appears to contradict this claim. The mainstream media keep spreading rumours that there will be empty supermarket shelves this Christmas because of the lorry driver shortage and Brexit, yet everywhere I look there's a lorry or van thundering down my street! You can't move for delivery vans dropping off goods to people who for whatever reason prefer not to go to a shop. Finally, if most of our food is imported, would that not be delivered by a lorry from the country from which the food is being sent? Of course it would! That's why our motorways are clogged up with juggernauts from Spain, Netherlands, Romania, Poland and just about every other EU country.  Trending Tensions rise as China denounces AUKUS Pact between US, UK and Australia Highest price rises since CPI records began as inflation hits 3.2% - https://youtu.be/wv7-WPv-mHs  Emma Raducanu becomes instant millionaire at 18 and could earn £150m! - https://youtu.be/koAbiFVlgqg Time to get out of stocks and shares? Market Warning - https://youtu.be/_vOblIQYxqo The new world order is here The world of business has changed and unless you adapt your business will decline like it has for thousands of small businesses as well as companies like Debenhams and Gap. What can you do to take advantage of the changes rather than hoping things will go back to ‘normal' again? They won't. The biggest revolution is the explosion in online trading and social media marketing. Businesses which have adapted have boomed while others are no longer in business. Can you make money on social media? I notice that kids are very good at creating videos and posts on social media. Unlike me, they have grown up with IT and social media, but that doesn't mean us oldies can't get in on the act! We can all learn to not only how to use social media,  but also how to make money on social media… "Stop Wasting Time On Social Media And Start Making Money Instead" You can learn how to make money on social media from my mentor Paul O'Mahony, founder of the ReThink Academy, who has made millions online starting from nothing. In this FREE webclass you're going to see: How to​ use the time you're already spending on the internet to build a digital business in your spare time. How to​ get a product to sell if you don't have one already and... how to get it for nothing. The exact strategy​ "he used to make my first million and quit my job permanently without a big budget, or any experience with social media." You'll discover all this and more when you watch the webclass below. I'M READY TO WATCH THE FREE TRAINING NOW! WATCH THIS TRAINING IF: You own a business. You want to own a business without quitting your job yet. You are serious about building a profitable online business. You're tired of wasting time on social media and want to make money instead. "Stop Wasting Time On Social Media And Start Making Money Instead" (even if you lack time, resources, experience, or expertise). I'M READY TO WATCH THE FREE TRAINING NOW! CLICK HERE TO WATCH https://bit.ly/38rzLvZ Spots Fill Up Fast - Limited Seats Available!    #eusettlement #immigration #makemoney #socialmediamarketing #makemoneyonline #euimmigration #ukresidence #workpermit See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of
UK Job Vacancies Hit Record Levels As Amazon Offers £50 Bonus For Turning Up For Work On Time!

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2021 7:43


UK Job vacancies hit a record high as the labour market bounced back, according to official figures. The number of job vacancies in the UK hit 953,000 in the three months to July, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports. Watch video version. The unemployment rate fell to 4.7% in the three months to June, while the annual growth in average pay was 7.4%. Firms like Amazon and Tesco are offering up to £1000 signing-on bonuses with the former giving staff a £50 per week bonus for 100% attendance. Amazon recently advertised that new starters who start working before 18 September would receive a £1,000 ‘golden hello' fee. A shortage of HGV drivers is threatening to cause empty supermarket shelves by Christmas. Nurses and care staff are again in short supply. The NHS has 168,000 job vacancies in the UK. This contrasts sharply with last year's deep recession when unemployment rising job vacancies under 400,000 and millions of people were on the government funding furlough scheme. The economy is rebounding has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. The government has printed billions to stave off economic collapse and unprecedented debt levels are near 100% of GDP. In June 2021 there were 1.6 million people unemployed and millions more claiming universal credit and disability benefits. "Stop Wasting Time On Social Media And Start Making Money Instead" You can learn how to make money on social media from my mentor Paul O'Mahony, founder of the ReThink Academy, who has made millions online starting from nothing. In this FREE webclass you're going to see: · How to​ use the time you're already spending on the internet to build a digital business in your spare time. · How to​ get a product to sell if you don't have one already and... how to get it for nothing. · The exact strategy​ "he used to make my first million and quit my job permanently without a big budget, or any experience with social media." You'll discover all this and more when you watch the webclass below. I'M READY TO WATCH THE FREE TRAINING NOW! WATCH THIS TRAINING IF: · You own a business. · You want to own a business without quitting your job yet. · You are serious about building a profitable online business. · You're tired of wasting time on social media and want to make money instead. · "Stop Wasting Time On Social Media And Start Making Money Instead" (even if you lack time, resources, experience, or expertise). I'M READY TO WATCH THE FREE TRAINING NOW! CLICK HERE TO WATCH https://bit.ly/38rzLvZ Spots Fill Up Fast - Limited Seats Available!

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of
UK Staffing Crisis – 953,000 Vacancies, 84,000 NHS Job Vacancies, 38,000 Nurse Jobs

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 18, 2021 13:00


The UK has a serious shortage of workers in various industries such as, healthcare, hospitality and building. The NHS has a staffing crisis according to the 2020 King's Fund report into NHS workforce, which revealed the following: · NHS hospitals, mental health services and community providers report a shortage of 84,000 FTE staff. · There are 38,000 are nursing vacancies, or 1 in 10 posts. · The immediate workforce shortfall is so severe that at least 5,000 nurses a year must be recruited from overseas. As the UK economy recovers and restrictions are eased, the hospitality sector is suffering from a post-brexit shortage of chefs and restaurant staff, and the building trade needs more skilled workers, plasterers, engineers and electricians. Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show an upsurge in the number of people in employment, which rose by 182,000 to 28.9 million last month, but still 201,000 lower than a year ago. The unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent in the three months to the end of June from 4.8 percent previously, according to the ONS. Job vacancies have soared to a record high of 953,000 in May to July — up by more than 168,000 from last year. The British Chambers of Commerce warned the recruitment crisis could have a detrimental effect on the economy, as well as pushing up wages to above inflation levels. Shortages have already driven up headline pay statistics, with wage growth hitting 7.4 percent over the period, the ONS said. Higher wages, labour shortages and increased raw material prices are indicators of higher inflation. Printing trillions of dollars, Euros and Pounds will add to inflationary pressures and decrease the buying power of the money in your pocket. Average House Prices Falling For First Time In 2021 But Will Property Crash? Houses prices in the UK and US appeared to have peaked with small declines recently. Property investors should see a return to a more normal buyers property marketin the coming months as we enter into the traditionally quieter autumn and winter seasons. Watch my latest video on the property market outlook - https://youtu.be/O4SSsJ0sRt4 Professional property investors make money in property in any market – UP, DOWN or SIDEWAYS! You can make money in property if you know how, and you do not even need to use your own money. You can start with zero capital using many of the ‘no money down' strategies. Would you like to learn more about making money from property? Click HERE for free updates, courses and webinars on how to become a professional property investor in your spare time using other people's money. FOR MORE PROPERTY INFORMATION FOLLOW - https://bit.ly/3sjxRa

Macro Musings with David Beckworth
Arthur Turrell on Economic Data, Modeling, and the Future of Nuclear Energy

Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2021 52:13


Arthur Turrell is the deputy director at the data science campus for the UK Office of National Statistics (ONS). Arthur is also a former researcher at the Bank of England and a nuclear fusion scientist. He joins Macro Musings to talk about his work at the Bank of England, the future of economic data, and his new book on nuclear fusion titled, *The Star Builders: Nuclear Fusion and the Race to Power the Planet*.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Arthur's Twitter: @arthurturrell Arthur's website: http://aeturrell.com/ Arthur's Bank of England profile: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/research/researchers/arthur-turrell   Related Links:   *The Star Builders: Nuclear Fusion and the Race to Power the Planet* by Arthur Turrell https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Star-Builders/Arthur-Turrell/9781982130664   *Coding for Economists* by Arthur Turrell https://aeturrell.github.io/coding-for-economists/intro.html   *Why Software Is Eating The World* by Marc Andreessen https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111903480904576512250915629460   *Solving Heterogeneous General Equilibrium Economic Models with Deep Reinforcement Learning* by Edward Hill, Marco Bardoscia, and Arthur Turrell https://arxiv.org/pdf/2103.16977.pdf   Princeton's *Net-Zero America* Project: https://netzeroamerica.princeton.edu/?explorer=year&state=national&table=2020&limit=200   David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

Open Data Institute Podcasts
Keynote - Dr Jeni Tennison - Experimentalism and the fourth industrial revolution

Open Data Institute Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2021 7:33


Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The first roundtable took place on Monday 19 July and focuses on new parameters in data policy and practice. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS)and the Behavioural Data Science Group at the Alan Turing Institute.

Open Data Institute Podcasts
Opening remarks - Dr Milly Zimeta - Experimentalism and the fourth industrial revolution

Open Data Institute Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2021 2:45


Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The first roundtable took place on Monday 19 July and focuses on new parameters in data policy and practice. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS)and the Behavioural Data Science Group at the Alan Turing Institute.

Open Data Institute Podcasts
Keynote - Sigrit Siht - Experimentalism and the fourth industrial revolution

Open Data Institute Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2021 6:47


Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The first roundtable took place on Monday 19 July and focuses on new parameters in data policy and practice. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS)and the Behavioural Data Science Group at the Alan Turing Institute.

Open Data Institute Podcasts
Provocation 1 - Tom Smith - Experimentalism and the fourth industrial revolution

Open Data Institute Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2021 8:26


Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The first roundtable took place on Monday 19 July and focuses on new parameters in data policy and practice. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS)and the Behavioural Data Science Group at the Alan Turing Institute.

Open Data Institute Podcasts
Provocation 2 - Prof Ganna Pogrebna - Experimentalism and the fourth industrial revolution

Open Data Institute Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2021 6:15


Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The first roundtable took place on Monday 19 July and focuses on new parameters in data policy and practice. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS)and the Behavioural Data Science Group at the Alan Turing Institute.

Open Data Institute Podcasts
Provocation 3 - Hetan Shah - Experimentalism and the fourth industrial revolution

Open Data Institute Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2021 9:25


Experimentalism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an ambitious new ODI policy project, which explores how data policy makers and data practitioners can work in more innovative and experimental ways to adapt to, and leverage, the fast-moving societal and economic challenges and opportunities around new data availability and associated digital technologies. The first roundtable took place on Monday 19 July and focuses on new parameters in data policy and practice. It was convened by the Open Data Institute in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS)and the Behavioural Data Science Group at the Alan Turing Institute.

Savage Minds Podcast
Nicola Williams

Savage Minds Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2021 68:04


Nic Williams, PhD discusses her work as director of Fair Play for Women in providing advice to policy makers on how to fairly balance the rights of women and those who identify as “transgender.” Williams covers the push to keep women's spaces single-sex detailing her work on prisons and sports from the grassroots level, to chatting with Martina Navratilova over the sports debate and to having invited herself to a meeting hosted by World Athletics in Switzerland about the rules for trans athletes. Williams describes the climate over the past four which where she was left ostracised and where she was often times the only voice at the table speaking up for women’s rights. She also covers the triumphs such as the recent high court victory against the Office for National Statistics (ONS) after Fair Play for Women took the ONS to court to stop them redefining sex in the census. Williams also expounds upon her concern for young lesbians underscoring how being a scientist has informed her approach to this debate where evidence and facts matter. Get full access to Savage Minds at savageminds.substack.com/subscribe

Money & Plants
The Subvention - What does Northern Ireland ACTUALLY cost the UK exchequer?

Money & Plants

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2021 60:22


For the last few years I have become very interested in this central part of any Irish Unity discussion - the UK subvention to NI.  Northern Ireland relies on the UK exchequer, to provide a subvention (grant) so it can pay it's bills every year.  In essence we run what's called a fiscal deficit, in that we don't generate enough money in the NI economy to pay our bills. If NI was a business it would be labelled as insolvent, but in relation to the UK, it is not the only region that is technically "insolvement". The UK government claim, through the Office of National Statistics (ONS) that the current subvention is £9.5BN, which is a payment they claim to make every single year to NI.  However over the last couple of years as the unity discussion has gathered legs, more and more people are starting to look into things like the subvention, to find out what is the real figure, as it's kind of important to know, as in all likelihood, we are going to have a border poll on the island of Ireland in the next 10 years.  John Doyle is the Director of DCU Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction, and in June of this year, he published a peer reviewed paper to look into the subvention and try and figure out what the actual cost is, should there be a United Ireland over the next number of years. In this conversation, John sets out his body of work, which took him around nine months to produce, which really is a very educational and fascinating listen.  The big ticket items on this subvention payment list are Pensions, (£3.5bn) National Debt (£1.6bn) Defence Expenditure (£1,14bn) Outside Expenditure (765M) and an underestimate of the tax revenues of some £500M. Following his investigations, John is of the view that any subvention is actually closer to £2.8BN, if there were ever to be a United Ireland.  For me it was very interesting to get into the detail on this, as ultimately should the occasion arise where the majority of people on the island of Ireland want Irish Unity, this negotiation on the subvention, and to keep it simple, will ultimately end up in a kind of a "horse deal", between both sets of governments, which is fascinating in itself. Over the last twelve months I have gravitated to a position where the subvention for me is somewhat of a red herring, and this conversation proved that academically and financially, there is now no reason to assume that the Republic of Ireland cannot afford to take on N Ireland.  In fact If you revert to the Hübner report of 2016, it sets out in more detail that over the first eight years of a new Ireland, with an all island economy, there would be a €35BN positive net swing in revenue, as a result of the new economic structure. This is one of the key parts of any Unity discussion, and I am very grateful to John for speaking to me earlier this week on this issue, and I congratulate him on his paper, and would encourage you to download it and read it yourself. If you have any questions in relation to the episode, you can get me at conor@conordevine.com  If you get a moment, please rate the podcast, and if you don't mind, send it onto to one of your pals. Look after yourself, and speak to you again soon, CD

通勤學英語
每日英語跟讀 Ep.K139: 英國人在家上班發現工時較長

通勤學英語

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 16, 2021 3:42


每日英語跟讀 Ep.K139: Britons working at home spend more time on job in COVID-19 crisis   People working from home during lockdown spend more time at their jobs and are less likely to be promoted or take time off sick, but are paid above average wages, according to an official study in the UK. 英國一項官方研究顯示,封城期間在家上班的人花在工作上的時間更多,而獲晉升或請病假的可能性較小,但他們的薪水高於平均工資。 Documenting the shift to remote work during the pandemic, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of people who did some work at home in 2020 rose by 9.4 percentage points from a year earlier to 35.9 percent of the workforce — representing more than 11 million employees. 英國國家統計局記錄了疫情期間轉為遠距工作的情況,並表示,二○二○年在家做部份工作的人數,佔勞動力的百分之三十五點九,比前一年增加了九點四個百分點,亦即逾一千一百萬名員工。 However, there were substantial variations between occupations and parts of the country, reflecting the differing experiences of the pandemic for workers as some were hit harder by the crisis than others. 但是,此情況因職業及國內各區域之不同而有很大的差異,反映出勞工在疫情中的不同經歷,因為有的人在此危機中所受到的衝擊更大。 Although suggesting that the majority of people continued to travel to work during the pandemic, the figures reveal a divergent impact on home workers. According to the research, those using office studies, converted bedroom workplaces and kitchen tables did two-thirds more unpaid overtime in 2020 and were more likely to work after 6pm. 儘管這些數據表示多數人在疫情期間仍繼續通勤上班,但它顯示居家辦公者所受到的影響不同。根據此研究,那些平常在辦公室上班,而將臥室及餐桌轉為辦公空間的人,在二○二○年的無薪加班時間增加了三分之二,且晚上六點後仍在工作的可能性更高。 However, they were generally higher qualified and better paid, took longer and more frequent breaks, and started work later in the day. 但是,他們通常學經歷較高,薪水也較高,休息時間更長、更頻繁,每天開始工作的時間較晚。 Staff based at home took less than half the amount of sick leave, with two days compared with four for other employees, reflecting the reduced risk of catching an infection. The ONS said people might also feel well enough to work from home while sick if they did not have to travel. 在家工作的員工請病假的時間不到一半,只有兩天,而其他員工則為四天,反映出在家工作降低了感染疾病的風險。英國國家統計局表示,員工生病的時候,若不必出門去上班,待在家也可能會覺得舒服一點,身體狀況足以勝任工作。 However, while there is no daily commute and apparent greater flexibility, the research found that those who work consistently from home are less likely to be promoted, in a sign that they could be overlooked due to reduced face-to-face interaction with colleagues and managers. 在家工作雖然不用每日通勤,且更有彈性,但研究發現,一直在家工作的人很少獲得晉升,表示員工與上司面對面的互動減少後,可能會被忽視。 The study comes as companies across advanced economies adapt to new ways of working, accelerated by the pandemic and facilitated by technological advances, Zoom and video conferencing, and consider making more permanent changes to where staff are based after lockdown. 此研究之進行,正值經濟發達國家之企業尋求適應新的工作方式之際。這種轉變因疫情而加速進行,並有科技進展、視訊軟體Zoom及視訊會議等為助力。這些企業考慮在封城結束後,對員工的上班地點做更永久性的變更。Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2021/05/31/2003758310     通勤學英語15mins.Today榮獲 Apple Podcast 2020年十大熱門節目 KKBox 2020年十大Podcast風雲榜 (唯一語言學習Podcast) Himalaya 人氣票選播客總冠軍 更多Podcast單元: 每日英語跟讀Podcast,就在http://www.15mins.today/daily-shadowing 精選詞彙 VOCAB Podcast,就在https://www.15mins.today/vocab 語音直播 15mins Live Podcast, 就在https://www.15mins.today/15mins-live-podcast 文法練習 In-TENSE Podcast,就在https://www.15mins.today/in-tense 用email訂閱就可以收到通勤學英語節目更新通知。  

Scrubbed In
E90: Public Health, Social Media and the Pandemic - Prof. Azeem Majeed

Scrubbed In

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2021 40:33


In this week's episode we meet Prof. Azeem who shares with us his story from the very beginning. We delve into his illustrious career from medical student, GP to his role in public health and primary care as co-director of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Head of department at Imperial College London. Tune in to discover what it takes to get to the top and become a leader in your field, the role of leadership and why collaboration is so important for research as demonstrated in the pandemic.  Prof. Azeem shares his advice on how to pursue a career in research and how we can all develop research skills through mentorship and guidance. We discuss the similarities and differences in public sector roles from his experience working at the ONS and clinical medicine. We end by discussing the recent popularity in social media as a medium for public health communication, the advantages as well as the pitfalls. Prof. Azeem Majeed is a Professor of Primary Care and Public Health, and Head of the Department of Primary Care & Public Health at Imperial College London. He is accredited in both General Practice and Public Health Medicine alongside NIHR Senior Investigator. He played an international role in public health and primary care as co-director of the World Health Organization (WHO). Prior to moving to Imperial College London, he worked for seven years at the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS). Twitter: @Azeem_Majeed Learn more about Scrubbed In: YouTube: Scrubbed In with Amz & Abdul Twitter - @ScrubbedIn_ Instagram - @Scrubbedin_ Download the PodCases Mobile app Now - iOS (App Store) or Android (Google Play) PodCases lets you Step into the shoes of Doctors to experience medicine. Listen to high quality audio cases and reinforce your learning with interactive quizzes.  www.scrubbedin.co.uk Hello@scrubbedin.co.uk

Company Watch Coronavirus Podcast
55: Job Vacancy Figures, Government Borrowing & Furlough Scheme Data Release

Company Watch Coronavirus Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2021 30:28


Jo and Nick are once again joined by Company Watch Data Scientist, Adam Stones. Adam explains Company Watch's latest release - information on claims made by employers under the furlough scheme, which is now available to users in the Angelia platform. He talks about how the data was gathered and how it can be of use when conducting financial risk analysis on companies. Also discussed in the episode is some job vacancy data - that shows large increases in the number of job vacancies compared to February 2020 (pre-pandemic). Government borrowing figures are astronomically high and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) now estimates that the government borrowed a total of £300.3bn in the financial year to March. Finally, the trio look at the ONS business confidence index and European economic data.

Money Tips Podcast
Growing ‘Buy-Now-Pay-Later’ Crisis Charity Warns

Money Tips Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2021 28:32


A group of charities has sounded warning bells over the growing use of buy-now-pay-later to buy goods. Citizens Advice, a network of legal, money and consumer groups, said many users were getting into debt and struggling to pay for food and bills. Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) is increasingly popular among young people buying online, and at some High Street outlets. Citizens Advice said many consumers regretted using it and is calling for tougher regulation. It found that an alarming 45% of 18-to-34 year olds have used the payment option in the last year. The repayment option is advertised at online checkouts as an easy way of splitting or delaying payments on items such as clothing or electronics, with incentives such as it being "interest-free". In my experience, “Interest free” is a "slippery slope into debt". More worrying is that CA discovered that almost two-in-five (5.7 million) who have used BNPL in the last year didn't think it was "proper borrowing" and six million didn't fully understand what they were signing up for. It found a quarter of consumers regretted paying using these platforms, with consumers frequently saying they cannot afford repayments or are spending more than they expected. Citizens Advice said firms must overhaul their checkout processes and improve affordability checks. Both the Financial Ombudsman Service and Financial Conduct Authority had a greater role to play in the protection of consumers and regulation of the industry, it said. Alistair Cromwell, acting chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: "Buy Now Pay Later borrowing can be like quicksand - easy to unwittingly slip into and much more difficult to get out of. "It shouldn't be possible for people to sign up for credit without realising, and the fact this is happening so often signals that a drastic overhaul is needed. "This industry more than trebled in 2020, and while these products work for many shoppers, the regulator has rightly recognised the potential for harm. It must ensure robust consumer protection keeps pace with changes in how we shop," Mr Cromwell said. Several big - and smaller - names now operate in the fast-growing BNPL market, including Klarna, Clearpay, and Laybuy. PayPal launched a BNPL service last year. The charity warned that four-in-10 of those who've used BNPL in the last 12 months are struggling to repay. Source: BBC and Citizens Advice. If you are struggling with debt repayments in the UK, you can talk to the charity Citizens Advice. Other Money News City of London Plans To Convert Thousands Of Office Into Residential Units As Workers Staty At Home Over 50’s Hardest Hit By Unemployment The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found older workers are amongst the hardest hit by unemployment over the last year. The decline in the employment rate for the over-50s has double the rate for those aged between 25 and 49. The Resolution Foundation added that after losing work, older workers take the longest to return. The effects of last year’s recession have not fully hit most people. The job furlough scheme, rent and mortgage payment holidays, tenant eviction ban, Stamp Duty Holiday and other government financial stimulus packages have cushioned people from the full blow of the economic downturn.  Similar packages are running in the US and many are coming to an end or about to expire. Whilst the government needs people to go out and spend to boost the economy, this is not the time to spend £600 of money you don’t have to buy clothes you cannot afford on credit!  There is good debt and bad debt.  An example of good debt is borrowing to buy assets, such as a business or property which put money in your pocket. An example of bad debt is the lady mentioned above or someone buying an expensive car they cannot really afford on credit.  Another example of bad or even crazy debt is borrowing to buy more risky investments such as Bitcoin or shares. See also: 95% Mortgages are back in the UK Property buyers overpaying to beat the Stamp Duty Holiday Get your business online today free  Free…FREE LIFETIME ACCESS. NO credit card needed to start building your website yourself. https://groovepages.groovesell.com/a/uy9VcdqIvopT #investment#money#taxreturns#makemoneyonline#groovefunnels#FREE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Company Watch Coronavirus Podcast
46: EU Import/ Export & January GDP

Company Watch Coronavirus Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2021 27:04


UK goods exports to the EU fell 40.7% in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), while imports tumbled 28.8%. The ONS also state that the economy shrank 2.9% in January this year after it was hit with a third national lockdown. Whilst it was not surprising to see the UK's economy go back into reverse given the lockdown, the bigger question will be what impact this lockdown will have on long-term growth - especially given the real unlocking of the economy does not come until April. Also covered, Small Business Finance Markets report and insolvency rule review.

Alcohol Alert Podcast
Alcohol Alert – February 2021

Alcohol Alert Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2021 28:22


Hello and welcome to the Alcohol Alert, brought to you by The Institute of Alcohol Studies. In this edition:Pubs pray for Easter resurrection – government roadmap out of lockdown urges hospitality to wait a little longer for salvationSeveral studies uncover more evidence of the impact of home drinking during the COVID-19 pandemicThe European Union promises to beat cancer by tackling alcohol labellingDr Elena Dimova presents a review exploring men’s drinking habits in the context of becoming a father 🎵 Podcast feature 🎵Alcohol policy experts and public policy think tank urge the chancellor to raise duty for the good of the nation‘s health ahead of Budget 2021Child calls about parental alcohol misuse soar during pandemic, say NSPCCRoad safety group urge the government to follow other nations’ drink-driving policiesWe hope you enjoy our roundup of stories below: please feel free to share. Thank you.Lockdown: Easter resurrection for pubs?This month saw rumours about pubs reopening post-lockdown reach a crescendo among the British press. The Sun and The Telegraph reported that as part of ministers’ determination ‘to open properly this time’, they planned to phase in the sale of alcohol, first by ‘allowing pubs to serve takeaway alcohol in April’, before a full reopening in May (05 Feb).However, headlines such as ‘Pubs and restaurants could reopen in April – with no alcohol’ drew ire from several sources. According to The Mirror (06 Feb), ‘a senior Government source was dismissive about the idea, telling PA: “We are not going to open pubs that can't sell booze. What would be the point of that?”’Many industry figures echoed this sentiment, such as Emma Clarkin of the British Beer & Pub Association, who wrote: ‘Opening pubs without selling alcohol is not “reopening” pubs at all’ (Morning Advertiser, 08 Feb). The trade body also claimed that the proposal wouldn’t help almost 30,000 of the country’s pubs – 60% – which would remain shut ‘because their beer gardens are too small for social distancing‘ (Mail Online, 16 Feb).A study from Stirling University suggests that the government may have had good cause to treat the prospect of reopening pubs with caution (Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 16 Feb). Observing a varied range of venues operating under detailed guidance from government intended to reduce COVID-19 transmission risks over the summer of 2020, researchers found that practices were variable and a number of incidents of greater concern were observed, including close physical interaction between customers and with staff, which frequently involved alcohol intoxication and were rarely effectively stopped by staff.Professor Niamh Fitzgerald, Director of the University of Stirling’s Institute for Social Marketing and Health, who led the research, wrote that ‘despite the efforts of bar operators and guidance from government, potentially significant risks of COVID-19 transmission persisted in at least a substantial minority of observed bars, especially when customers were intoxicated.’This didn’t stop UKHospitality promising to ‘swiftly, safely and sustainably reopen pubs in April’, issuing their own roadmap to recovery ahead of the prime minister Boris Johnson’s announcement on 22 February (Morning Advertiser, 18 Feb).In the end, Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown opted for a four-step approach, in which hospitality venues would open for outdoor service only from no earlier than 12 April (Step 2: including an end to both curfews and serving ‘substantial meal’ requirements), and indoor service would resume alongside it from no earlier than 17 May (Step 3). The prime minister’s plans mean pubs and other licensed venues will have to wait a little longer for salvation.Research shows impact of pandemic home drinkingSeveral studies published this month show how the COVID-19 pandemic has both led to soaring levels of home drinking and increases in deaths from alcohol.One Public Health Scotland (PHS) study (16 Feb), conducted with Glasgow University, showed that despite the fact that the pandemic and related restrictions were associated with a 6% reduction in the total volume of pure alcohol sold per adult in Scotland and in England and Wales, weekly consumption remained above the UK chief medical officers’ guideline of 14 units per week in the first months of the pandemic. Adults drank an average of 17·5 units in Scotland and 16·7 units in England and Wales. However, increases in per adult off-trade sales (28% in Scotland and 29% in England & Wales), did not fully replace the loss of on-trade sales.A second PHS study (16 Feb), conducted by the University of Sheffield Alcohol Research Group, found that all measures of self-reported weekly off-trade consumption increased during the first three months of the COVID-19 restrictions in both Scotland (+2·4 units per adult) and England (+1·7 units per adult). However, the researchers wrote, ‘these only compensated for some of the losses in on-trade consumption’, as overall self-reported units of alcohol per week fell 0·8 units and 1·5 units respectively. The analysis of population sub-groups also uncovered some worrying signs of drinking behaviours: in Scotland, there was an increase in solitary drinking for single adult households, households with three or more adults, and those in full time education. Overall, PHS concluded that the studies ‘suggest that at a population level people in Scotland were drinking less in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic than in previous years.’Another study focusing on the UK as a whole found that more than one in six (17%) UK adults increased their alcohol consumption during lockdown, with a higher proportion of drinkers aged between 18 and 34 years of age (Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 01 Feb). Increased alcohol consumption was independently associated with poor overall mental health, increased depressive symptoms and lower mental wellbeing. Pandemic takes its toll on alcohol death ratesThere are early indications of impact of COVID-19 on alcohol deaths in England and Wales during the first two lockdowns. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released a provisional dataset showing that there were 5,460 deaths related to alcohol-specific causes registered in the first three quarters of 2020 (Jan to Sept), a 16·4% increase compared with the same nine-month period in 2019. At one point, the death rate reached its highest peak since the data time series began in 2001, of 12·8 deaths per 100,000 people (02 Feb).Commenting on the findings, Ben Humberstone, deputy director of Health Analysis and Life Events at the ONS said: ‘Today’s data shows that in the first three quarters of 2020, alcohol-specific deaths in England and Wales reached the highest level since the beginning of our data series, with April to September, during and after the first lockdown, seeing higher rates compared to the same period in previous years.‘The reasons for this are complex and it will take time before the impact the pandemic has had on alcohol-specific deaths is fully understood.’In the long run, Scotland shows most improvement on alcohol deathsLong term trends highlight contrasting fortunes between Scotland and the other UK nations in recent years.The ONS published ‘Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK: registered in 2019’, which found that there were 7,565 deaths (11.8 per 100,000 population) registered in the UK that related to alcohol-specific causes in 2019. This is the second highest number of deaths since the data time series began in 2001.Between the UK nations, Northern Ireland became the constituent country with the highest alcohol-specific death rate in 2019 (18.8 deaths per 100,000), partly because of its worsening rates (2019 saw the mortality rate reach a record high of 18·8 per 100,000 people) and partly because of Scotland drastically lowering its rate over the same period – Scotland is only UK nation to show statistically significant improvement in its alcohol-specific death rates since records began in 2001.Alcohol deaths, an ageing problemTrend data also indicate that the mortality rate crept upwards over the period, exposing the emerging phenomenon of middle-age / older drinkers’ ill health: there were significant increases since 2001 in the rate of alcohol-specific deaths of people aged 55 to 79 years.The report noted that: ‘Given that the definition of alcohol-specific deaths includes mostly chronic conditions, such as alcoholic liver disease, the increased rates in the older age groups may be a consequence of misuse of alcohol that began years, or even decades, earlier’.EU promises to beat cancer by tackling alcohol labellingEU commissioners agreed to propose placing mandatory health warnings on alcoholic beverages by 2023, as part of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (POLITICO, 03 Feb).Brussels will also propose labelling alcoholic beverages with ‘mandatory indications’ of their ingredients and nutritional contents by the end of 2022. The measures will be part of a Commission review of its promotional policy for alcoholic beverages.An earlier draft of the plan had: proposed including calorie content information on labels; committed the Commission to ‘stop stimulating consumption of alcohol via the EU promotion programme for agricultural products’ and to review EU legislation relating to the taxation of alcohol and on cross border purchases of alcohol by private individuals; and called for the Commission to ‘closely work with member states to reduce online marketing and advertising’ as a way of reducing young people’s exposure to alcohol promotion. However, these proposals were dropped from the final version.Both industry and public health figures welcomed the plan, albeit for different reasons. Ulrich Adam, the director general of industry group spiritsEUROPE, said they were ‘heartened to see that the Commission plans to encourage self- and co-regulatory initiatives related to marketing, an area in which our sector has long delivered on ambitious standards and targets’.Mariann Skar, secretary general of European Alcohol Policy Alliance, said in a press statement: ‘It is high time that the forgotten link between alcohol and cancer is brought to the attention of the public. As consumers we have the right to know about the effect’s alcohol consumption has on our health. There needs to be better public information, more awareness among health professionals and effective public health measures to highlight this link and to further promote action to reduce avoidable illnesses and deaths.’Alcohol and fatherhood study finds ‘teachable moment’🎵 Podcast feature 🎵New fathers’ voices are almost absent in relation to their experiences of alcohol use and of research on the effectiveness of interventions to support them to reduce alcohol consumption, according to a new report published under the IAS Small Grants Scheme (25 Feb).Dr Elena Dimova, research fellow at Glasgow Caledonian University, conducted a scoping review of the literature on the subject of alcohol and fatherhood. Qualitative studies suggested that men may reduce their drinking to support their pregnant partner. However, men’s alcohol consumption beyond this narrow focus is rarely explored. Another study explored in depth men’s views of problematic drinking during fatherhood and found that men believed that fathers should be a role model for their children. The review also identified two interventions, of which one showed significant reduction in alcohol use among fathers, suggesting that couple-based interventions may be effective in addressing health behaviours. However, it was a smoking intervention which did not address alcohol directly.Men (especially those from lower socio-economic backgrounds) are more likely than women to drink at hazardous/harmful levels and to suffer from alcohol-related harm. This is compounded by a gender inequality in relation to men’s involvement in family planning and antenatal care. However, the transition to fatherhood may present a ‘teachable moment’ when men evaluate their health, modify existing health behaviours and adopt new ones.The findings have implications for researchers and health practitioners, as insufficient understanding of new fathers’ experiences of alcohol use may result in missed opportunities to address hazardous and harmful drinking among men during an important period of transition into fatherhood.Dr Dimova presented her review, ‘Exploring men’s alcohol consumption in the context of becoming a father’ at the regular Alcohol Occasionals seminars.You can hear highlights of the event in the February 2021 Alcohol Alert podcast.In other researchNew findings show that alcohol-related violence affects the poorest in society to the greatest degree, with the most deprived groups experiencing up to 14 times as many incidents of alcohol-related domestic violence every year, compared with the least deprived (PLoS ONE, 18 Feb). Drawing data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales for the years 2013/14 to 2017/18, IAS research and policy officer Lucy Bryant and Dr Carly Lightowlers from the University of Liverpool also found that lower socioeconomic groups experience higher prevalence rates of alcohol-related violence overall, and that the likelihood of experiencing these types of violence is affected by a person’s socioeconomic status even when other risk factors known to be associated with violence are held constant. The researchers conclude: ‘along with action to address environmental and economic drivers of socioeconomic inequality, provision of publicly funded domestic violence services should be improved, and alcohol pricing and availability interventions should be investigated for their potential to disproportionately benefit lower socioeconomic groups.’Midwife advice about the low risk alcohol guidelines for pregnant women beyond the initial booking appointment can ‘lead to improved outcomes for women and infants’, according to research published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.An online survey of UK midwives found that of 842 respondents, nearly three fifths (58%, 484) were aware of the 2016 Alcohol Guidelines, from which 91% (438) cited abstinence as a recommendation. The study also found that the vast majority of midwives would always (90%) or usually (7%) advise women to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy at the booking appointment. Just over a third (38%) did so at subsequent antenatal appointments.Regarding midwives’ opinions about the usefulness of the low risk guidelines, the research team found that the biggest barriers to advising women using those guidelines were: a lack of belief that the guidelines are accurate and represent the best available evidence on alcohol and pregnancy; a belief that the guidelines do not support building a rapport with women; that women do not like being advised about abstinence and a belief that advising women to abstain has no impact on their behaviour.Midwives were most likely to advise women to abstain from alcohol if the desire and intention was there and if they saw it as integral to their job.Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people are significantly more likely to have mental health conditions and report alcohol and drug misuse than heterosexual people, according to a new study led by University College London researchers in collaboration with the University of East Anglia and City University (UCL, 17 Feb).Published in Psychological Medicine, the research analysed data from the 2007 and 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys comprising a total of 10,433 people in England aged 16-64, finding no improvement over the period: LGB people remained at higher risk of poorer mental health when compared to heterosexuals.The prevalence of alcohol misuse was highest in lesbian and gay people, at 37%, compared with bisexual people at 31%, and heterosexuals at 24%.Given this continued disparity, the report’s authors call for government action to ensure equity in health and social care services.In Australia, minimum unit pricing (MUP) has seen consumption of high alcohol content such as cheap cask wine slashed in the Northern Territory region. An examination of the policy – which required retailers to charge a floor price of $1.30(AU) per standard drink (10g pure alcohol) from October 2018 – saw a corresponding halving (50·6%) of per capita alcohol consumption in the 12-month period following its implementation compared with the year before (Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 09 Feb).Alcohol industry actors use ‘confrontational tactics’ to undermine public health messaging such as the UK’s low risk guidelines, according to research published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (15 Feb). Interviews with civil servants, parliamentarians, and public health and civil society actors revealed a major public relations campaign in which major alcohol producers strongly criticised the guidance of the UK Chief Medical Officers, rejecting the well-established association between alcohol and cancer ‘without recourse to evidence’. Furthermore, the Portman Group, which was prominent in the industry’s response, failed to instruct their members to carry the revised content on product labels. The authors of the study write that their analysis ‘further calls into question the rationale for co-regulatory and partnership-based approaches with the alcohol industry.’Budget 2021: Raise duty for the good of the nation‘s healthPublic health experts and think tanks are calling on the government to raise alcohol duty to help combat the ill health effects of alcohol ahead of this year’s Budget. Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) and the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) both wrote letters to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in support of Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA) UK’s campaign to increase alcohol duty by 2%.Lindsay Paterson (interim director) and Dr Alastair MacGilchrist (chair) of SHAAP also wrote in favour of a ‘simpler, fairer system which is proportionate, consistent, scaled and regularly uprated’ (15 Feb). Dr Katherine Severi (IAS chief executive) suggested that raising duties would provide the ‘double dividend’ of both reducing the alcohol harms and generating vital public revenues at this crucial time for HM Treasury, when alcohol duty cuts and freezes since 2012 have cost £1·3 billion annually in lost revenue – the equivalent of the salary of 41,000 nurses (10 Feb).In a blog post for the AHA, Colin Shevills, director of Balance the North East Alcohol Office, noted that a further cut in alcohol duties risks increasing the price differential between the off and on trade, ‘thus making things worse for pubs’ at a time when their trade has been decimated by the pandemic (12 Feb).Recognising this differential, think tank the Social Market Foundation produced analysis setting out reforms to alcohol duty that could provide a lifeline to the hospitality industry while reducing harmful drinking (19 Feb).They claim that a ‘pub relief’ on alcohol duty that allowed pubs, bars and other licensed premises to claim back a percentage of the duty costs that they face would ensure that publicans directly benefit instead of brewers, and even if HM Treasury kept alcohol duty revenue-neutral, such a change would boost on-trade beer sales amounts by roughly 95 million additional pints a year. The next Budget will be held on 03 March 2021.Child calls about parental alcohol misuse soar during pandemicThe average number of calls to leading children’s charity NSPCC about parental or adult substance misuse rose two thirds (66%) in the first 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic (NSPCC, 17 Feb).According to their figures, there was an average of 709 contacts to the NSPCC helpline about parent/adult alcohol/substance misuse a month before the first national lockdown, which increased to 1,178.This news came during COA Week, led by the charity the National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACOA), who provide year-round support for children affected by parental alcohol problems. Jonathan Ashworth MP and Josh Connelly from NACOA shared their experiences living with alcohol-dependent fathers in national media outlets including Times Radio.GEM: UK drink-driving policies in the slow laneThe UK Government could learn from overseas countries’ examples of how to tackle drink-driving, say road safety and breakdown organisation GEM Motoring Assist, as it follows other groups in calling for a review of inadequate drink drive laws as deaths involving drink drivers reached a 10-year high (Fleet World, 17 Feb).Provisional government statistics for 2019 show that there were an estimated 280 deaths from drink-driving on Great Britain’s roads, 40 more than the previous year and the highest number of deaths since 2009 (Department for Transport, 11 Feb).This follows a report from the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) last month that said UK drink-driving policy needed a major review, advancing solutions such as a lower limit and improved breath testing enforcement.GEM chief executive Neil Worth said: ‘Levels of police enforcement have decreased by 63% since 2009, whilst the much-heralded roadside evidential breath testing equipment shows no signs of making it into the police toolkit any time soon. As things stand, England and Wales have Europe’s highest drink drive limits, with absurdly long and complex police procedures required to secure a prosecution.’GEM has instead said that the government should use examples of good practice from other countries – including Estonia, Denmark, Australia, Israel, Belgium, and Finland – as the basis for taking urgent steps to reform the rules around drink-driving.The UK Alcohol Alert (incorporating Alliance News) is designed and produced by The Institute of Alcohol Studies. Please click the image below to visit our website and find out more about us and what we do, or the ‘Contact us’ button. Thank you. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit instalcstud.substack.com

YangFX
FX MARKET REPORT 18.11.2020

YangFX

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2020 4:39


GBP/USD remained well supported by the latest Brexit optimism. Slightly better UK consumer inflation figures remained supportive. GBP/USD keeps gains around 1.3265 on the data release. The UK Consumer Prices Index (CPI) 12-month rate came in at +0.7% in October when compared to +0.5% booked in September while beating expectations of a +0.6% print, the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Wednesday. A promising development in late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trials dented the greenback's relative safe-haven status. This, along with concerns about the economic fallout from new coronavirus restrictions in several US states kept the USD bulls on the defensive. EUR/USD has been shrugging off cautious words from central bankers and extending its gains. The pair is currently trading near 1.1868, representing marginal gains on the day, having put in a low of 1.1850 during the Asian session. Coronavirus headlines and speculation about the next stimulus boosts are eyed on Wednesday. A coronavirus vaccine is no game-changer for forecasts – the words of Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, poured some cold water on investor enthusiasm. The ECB already incorporated immunization from the virus in 2021 as part of its outlook and remains worried about the current spread of the disease. Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, echoed her cautious words. Lagarde stated that additional stimulus is coming, while Powell only opened the door to a potential expansion. If the Fed proceeds with another boost, EUR/USD has room to rise. Final eurozone inflation figures for October will likely confirm the drop of 0.3% in the headline Consumer Price Index. US Building Permits and Housing Starts are eyed in the US on Wednesday. However, the focus is on the virus and central banks. The dollar edged lower in early European trade Wednesday, weighed by signs the surge in coronavirus vases is hitting the U.S. consumer while the country's political scene remains divided. The dollar index was down 0.2% at 92.245. USD/JPY fell 0.3% to 103.91, while the risk sensitive AUD/USD rose 0.1% to 0.7304.

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL ...
Back pain, Bruce Lee and getting grounded in India with Toby Colliver

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL ...

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2020 49:18


Kat and Deena talk openly and honestly about back pain and how almost 31 million days of work were lost last year due to back, neck and muscle problems, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Toby Colliver is a Chiropractor with a difference. As they chat with Toby, we find out about his spiritual journey and how voluntary yearly trips to India made him realise that attitudes can be the best healer. Toby speaks about connecting people in the body focussing on the back, and why human touch is so important for the healing to happen. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/onesizedoesnotfitall/message

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of

UK economy grew by 6.6% in July The UK economy continued to recover in July, growing by 6.6%, according to figures. The economy has expanded three months in a row, but remains well below pre-lockdown levels. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the UK "has still only recovered just over half of the lost output caused by the coronavirus", the BBC reports. Whilst this is good news, things are far from back to normal. Growth in July was slower than June, when the economy expanded by 8.7%. The health of “UK PLC” is nowhere near pre-coronavirus levels and has partly bounced back due to pent up demand and growth in sectors such as hairdressers, pubs and restaurants which were allowed to reopen in July. Reopening of restaurants and pubs meant the accommodation and food services sector "rose by a whopping 140.8%" between June and July, according to Thomas Pugh, UK economist at Capital Economics. Economic output measured by the value and the volume of goods and services it produces remains at 11.7% lower than it was in February, prior to lockdown restrictions which shut down the economy. The alcohol industry which grew by 30%, but billions has been lost in the travel and tourism industry and many restaurants and pubs are struggling to survive with social distancing rules. The government are imposing new social distances rules on gatherings after a spike in Covid cases, which is another blow to business. Other articles available at Money Tips Podcast - www.moneytipsdaily.com UK economy grew by 6.6% in July The UK economy continued to recover in July, growing by 6.6%, according to figures. The economy has expanded three months in a row, but remains well below pre-lockdown levels. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the UK "has still only recovered just over half of the lost output caused by the coronavirus", the BBC reports. Whilst this is good news, things are far from back to normal. Growth in July was slower than June, when the economy expanded by 8.7%. The health of “UK PLC” is nowhere near pre-coronavirus levels and has partly bounced back due to pent up demand and growth in sectors such as hairdressers, pubs and restaurants which were allowed to reopen in July. Reopening of restaurants and pubs meant the accommodation and food services sector "rose by a whopping 140.8%" between June and July, according to Thomas Pugh, UK economist at Capital Economics. Economic output measured by the value and the volume of goods and services it produces remains at 11.7% lower than it was in February, prior to lockdown restrictions which shut down the economy. The alcohol industry which grew by 30%, but billions has been lost in the travel and tourism industry and many restaurants and pubs are struggling to survive with social distancing rules. The government are imposing new social distances rules on gatherings after a spike in Covid cases, which is another blow to business. Other articles available at Money Tips Podcast - www.moneytipsdaily.com

Business Drive
Rail Fares To Rise 1.6% In January Despite Passenger Slump

Business Drive

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2020 1:55


Railway season ticket holders and commuters will see a 1.6% rise in fares from January in spite of a slump in passenger demand. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said about half of rail fares are pegged to July's Retail Price Index, which defied economists' forecasts and rose from 1.1% a month ago. Passenger groups said an overhaul of the fares system was needed. UK consumer price inflation also rose, to 1% in July from 0.6% in June. Robert Nisbet, of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the train operating companies, told the BBC that the government is ultimately in charge of the price increases and that the industry would like broader reform of fares to make flexible travel easier. The rail rise compares to 2.8% last year and is the lowest since 2015, which means a smaller price increase for travellers than last year. According to the figures from the government's Office of Rail and Road, passenger numbers covering January to March fell 11.4% compared to the prior year. --- This episode is sponsored by · Afrolit Podcast: Hosted by Ekua PM, Afrolit shares the stories of multi-faceted Africans one episode at a time. https://open.spotify.com/show/2nJxiiYRyfMQlDEXXpzlZS?si=mmgODX3NQ-yfQvR0JRH-WA Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Business Drive
UK Payrolls Shrink By 649,000 Jobs In Lockdown

Business Drive

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2020 1:36


Official figures indicate that the number of workers on UK payrolls has fallen by 649,000 between March and June.The total was not as big as many feared, because large numbers of firms have put employees on the government-backed furlough scheme.Economists say the full effect on employment will not be felt until the scheme ends in October.Analysts say the number of hours worked per week is currently a truer reflection of the impact of the coronavirus crisis because of the effect of the furlough scheme on the employment market.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that since the start of the pandemic, total weekly hours worked in the UK had fallen by a record 175.3 million, or 16.7%, to 877.1 million hours.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heal Endometriosis Naturally With Wendy K Laidlaw
#68 This is Domestic Abuse - Part 2

Heal Endometriosis Naturally With Wendy K Laidlaw

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2020 49:57


Wendy K Laidlaw continues with Part 2 of the 'This is Domestic Abuse' series. Emotional mistreatment of women may often occur in the home; a place where she is supposed to feel safe and secure.  Yet the Office of National Statistics (ONS) estimates that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 children may experience various forms of domestic abuse in their lifetime.  Wendy continues to explain what emotional mistreatment is and how to identify it. She shares information and education for women with Endometriosis and Adenomyosis to start to increase awareness of what is acceptable and unacceptable treatment from partners and/or other people around them.   Domestic abuse comes in many covert forms and isn’t fully appreciated how it may profoundly affect the physical health, immune system and nervous system in her body.   This subconscious degradation on a woman’s psyche and spirit may also seriously damage her emotional health, physical health and perhaps explain some prolonged illnesses.  Sustained unkind treatment may hinder and prevent the natural healing process in the body from occurring. If you feel you have been affected by this topic the best antidote is to empower through information and education. Please email us Support@HealEndometriosisNaturally.ZohoDesk.com  if you wish to receive more details and resources. Equally, her son is raising funds to help build a refuge home for women and children to escape domestic abuse in the UK and if you wish to contribute to the cause then go to https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SebastianAnderson1  

Business Drive
UK Economy Hit Worse Than First Estimate

Business Drive

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2020 2:30


Official figures showed that the UK economy shrank more than first thought between January and March, contracting 2.2% in the joint largest fall since 1979. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revised down its previous estimate of a 2% contraction, with all the main economic sectors dropping. The data comes as the prime minister is set for a major speech on the economy. Deputy national statistician at the ONS, Jonathan Athow said a more detailed picture of the economy in the first quarter showed GDP shrank a little more than first estimated. The first-quarter contraction is now the joint biggest drop since the July-to-September period in 1979. The ONS said production output fell by a revised 1.5% in the three months, driven by declines in manufacturing as factories temporarily shut down, while there was a fall in construction output of 1.7%. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of
UK hit by worst economic contraction in 40 years, new figures reveal

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2020 21:21


UK hit by worst economic contraction in 40 years, new figures reveal The UK economy shrank by 2.2% between January and March, the joint largest fall since 1979, figures reveal. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revised down its previous estimate of a 2% contraction, with all the main economic sectors dropping. The first-quarter contraction is now the joint biggest drop since the July-to-September period in 1979. The new data showed that GDP contracted by 6.9% in March and by 20.4% in April. Millions of people face a bleak future post-Coronavirus lockdown, as businesses disappear and the job furlough scheme eventually comes to an end. However, life doesn’t have to end because of lockdown! You can join thousands of ordinary people who have increased their income and added streams of new income during this period. Are you ready to adapt to the new economic model? As lockdown restrictions around the world are being eased, the economic model has subtly changed forever. How will you adapt to this new way of working and running a business, what obstacles and opportunities lies ahead? Will you be a participant or spectator in this revolution? By Charles Kelly, Property Investor, Author of Yes, Money Can Buy You Happiness and creator of Money Tips Podcast. There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich and being happy in my book, Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover the 3 R’s of Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more. Check it out on Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook. If you’d like further information on how to survive the crisis and even quit the rat race, email me at Charles@CharlesKelly.netor send me a message through Facebook or my Money Tips Daily community. See more articles at www.moneytipsdaily.com

Business Drive
UK Economy Shrinks Record 20.4% In April Due To Lockdown

Business Drive

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2020 2:12


The UK's economy shrank by 20.4% in April - the largest monthly contraction on record - as the country spent its first full month in lockdown. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the historic fall affected virtually all areas of activity. The contraction is three times greater than the decline seen during the whole of the 2008 to 2009 economic downturn. Analysts however said April was likely to be the worst month, as the government began easing the lockdown in May. The ONS also published figures for the three months from February to April, which showed a decline of 10.4% compared with the previous three-month period. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Surviving Society
E011 The Reflection with Bev Skeggs: Solidarity and Care

Surviving Society

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2020 33:40


Bev Skeggs joined us to talk about the launch of the Sociological Review's new public platform - Solidarity and Care During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. Useful links- https://www.thesociologicalreview.com/introducing-solidarity-and-care-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/ https://www.solidarityandcare.org/ Useful stats- Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), found black males are 4.2 times more likely to die from a COVID-19-related death and black females are 4.3 times more likely than those of white ethnicity . Males in the Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnicity group are 1.8 times more likely to have a coronavirus related death than white males and females 1.6 times more than white women. The age-standardised mortality rate of deaths involving COVID-19 in the most deprived areas of England was 55.1 deaths per 100,000 population compared with 25.3 deaths per 100,000 population in the least deprived areas Weekly sociological reflections with Tissot and Chantelle during the COVID19 global pandemic.

Surviving Society
E011 The Reflection with Bev Skeggs: Solidarity and Care

Surviving Society

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2020 33:40


Bev Skeggs joined us to talk about the launch of the Sociological Review's new public platform - Solidarity and Care During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. Useful links- https://www.thesociologicalreview.com/introducing-solidarity-and-care-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/ https://www.solidarityandcare.org/ Useful stats- Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), found black males are 4.2 times more likely to die from a COVID-19-related death and black females are 4.3 times more likely than those of white ethnicity . Males in the Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnicity group are 1.8 times more likely to have a coronavirus related death than white males and females 1.6 times more than white women. The age-standardised mortality rate of deaths involving COVID-19 in the most deprived areas of England was 55.1 deaths per 100,000 population compared with 25.3 deaths per 100,000 population in the least deprived areas Weekly sociological reflections with Tissot and Chantelle during the COVID19 global pandemic.

Business Drive
Retail Sales Crash In April As Lockdown Hits Shops

Business Drive

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2020 1:32


British retail sales fell by a record 18.1% in April as many stores were closed amid the coronavirus outbreak. The drop in April worsened from a fall of 5.2% in March, when the government first introduced lockdown measures. According to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Clothing sales plummeted by 50.2% as many High Street shops were shut. The ONS said online shopping as a proportion of all retail reached a record high of 30.7%. All types of shop, other than those selling clothing or household goods, saw record amounts being spent with them online. --- This episode is sponsored by · Afrolit Podcast: Hosted by Ekua PM, Afrolit shares the stories of multi-faceted Africans one episode at a time. https://open.spotify.com/show/2nJxiiYRyfMQlDEXXpzlZS?si=mmgODX3NQ-yfQvR0JRH-WA Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Money Tips Podcast
Unemployment Claims Nearly Double to 2 million Despite Furlough

Money Tips Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2020 20:49


The number of people claiming unemployment benefit has soared by 856,500 to over 2 million months, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), after the UK had recorded record numbers of people in work. Add this to over 6 million on furlough and 2 million self-employed claiming the bounce back loan or other support programmes we now have 10 million economically inactive workers in the UK. Millions of people face a bleak future post-Coronavirus lockdown, as businesses disappear and the job furlough scheme comes to an end. However, life doesn’t have to end because of lockdown! You can join thousands of ordinary people who have increased their income and added streams of new income during this period.  Are you ready to adapt to the new economic model? As lockdown restrictions around the world are being eased, the economic model has subtly changed forever. How will you adapt to this new way of working and running a business, what obstacles and opportunities lies ahead? Will you be a participant or spectator in this revolution?  In this Money Tips Podcast episode:   2.1 million now claiming state benefits such as Universal Credit Self-employed grant claims top 2 million with £6 billion paid out in claims 6 million on job furlough scheme but 1 in 5 firms plans job cut this summer US jobless reach 33 million, while Germany, Japan join UK in deep recession  Most people have zero savings or back-up plan to cope with unemployment Property market up and running again but prices could plummet 20% this year Tenant demand increases after a quiet period in the early stages of lockdown  VE Day gives Children opportunity to learn about wartime rationing and values  Will your job be one of millions phased out by automation, innovation and AI? You can create a second income or get into property during the lockdown…   Can you afford to retire? Millions of people, or over 80% of the population, will either retire in poverty or not be able to afford to retire at all. What’s your strategy? Quit the rat race and retire early You can learn how to build a second income, acquire cash flow generating assets using leverage in order to quit the rat race and become financially free. This crisis has taught us that the only way to be truly financially free is to build your own source of passive and semi-passive income, rather than working on someone else’s passive income.  If you’d like more information on how to quit the rat race, email me at Charles@CharlesKelly.net or send me a message through Facebook or my Money Tips Daily community. See more articles at www.moneytipsdaily.com By Charles Kelly, Property Investor, Author of Yes, Money Can Buy You Happiness and creator of Money Tips Podcast. There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich and being happy in my book, Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover the 3 R’s of Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more. Check it out on Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook.  

Business Drive
Huge Rise in U.S. Unemployment Benefit Claim

Business Drive

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2020 1:31


The number of people claiming unemployment benefit in the UK soared last month, the first full month of the coronavirus lockdown. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the claimant count in April went up by 856,500 to 2.1 million. Separate ONS figures showed UK unemployment rose by 50,000 to 1.35 million in the three months to March. The ONS said the unemployment rate was estimated at 3.9%, slightly down on the previous quarter. Before the lockdown began, employment had hit a record high. --- This episode is sponsored by · Afrolit Podcast: Hosted by Ekua PM, Afrolit shares the stories of multi-faceted Africans one episode at a time. https://open.spotify.com/show/2nJxiiYRyfMQlDEXXpzlZS?si=mmgODX3NQ-yfQvR0JRH-WA Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of
Unemployment almost doubles to 2.1 million in the UK

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2020 20:10


Unemployment almost doubles to 2.1 million The number of people claiming unemployment benefit has soared by 856,500 to over 2 million months, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), after the UK had recorded record numbers of people in work. Add this to over 6 million on furlough and 2 million self-employed claiming the bounce back loan or other support programmes we now have 10 million economically inactive workers in the UK. Millions of people face a bleak future post-Coronavirus lockdown, as businesses disappear and the job furlough scheme comes to an end. However, life doesn’t have to end because of lockdown! You can join thousands of ordinary people who have increased their income and added streams of new income during this period. Are you ready to adapt to the new economic model? As lockdown restrictions around the world are being eased, the economic model has subtly changed forever. How will you adapt to this new way of working and running a business, what obstacles and opportunities lies ahead? Will you be a participant or spectator in this revolution? In this Money Tips Podcast episode: 1. 2.1 million now claiming state benefits such as Universal Credit 2. Self-employed grant claims top 2 million with £6 billion paid out in claims 3. 6 million on job furlough scheme but 1 in 5 firms plans job cut this summer 4. US jobless reach 33 million, while Germany, Japan join UK in deep recession 5. Most people have zero savings or back-up plan to cope with unemployment 6. Property market up and running again but prices could plummet 20% this year 7. Tenant demand increases after a quiet period in the early stages of lockdown 8. VE Day gives Children opportunity to learn about wartime rationing and values 9. Will your job be one of millions phased out by automation, innovation and AI? 10. You can create a second income or get into property during the lockdown… Can you afford to retire? Millions of people, or over 80% of the population, will either retire in poverty or not be able to afford to retire at all. What’s your strategy? Quit the rat race and retire early You can learn how to build a second income, acquire cash flow generating assets using leverage in order to quit the rat race and become financially free. This crisis has taught us that the only way to be truly financially free is to build your own source of passive and semi-passive income, rather than working on someone else’s passive income. If you’d like more information on how to quit the rat race, email me at Charles@CharlesKelly.netor send me a message through Facebook or my Money Tips Daily community. See more articles at www.moneytipsdaily.com By Charles Kelly, Property Investor, Author of Yes, Money Can Buy You Happiness and creator of Money Tips Podcast. There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich and being happy in my book, Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover the 3 R’s of Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more. Check it out on Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook.

Le journal de 18h00
Covid-19 au Royaume-Uni : le bilan pourrait être bien plus important qu'annoncé

Le journal de 18h00

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2020 16:12


durée : 00:16:12 - Journal de 18h - Un peu moins de 35 000 personnes sont mortes de la Covid-19, rapporte le ministère britannique de la Santé. Mais une nouvelle enquête de l'Office for National Statistics (ONS), l'équivalent de l'Insee au Royaume-Uni dont la méthode diffère de celle des autorités, avance 19 000 décès de plus.

Les journaux de France Culture
Covid-19 au Royaume-Uni : le bilan pourrait être bien plus important qu'annoncé

Les journaux de France Culture

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2020 16:12


durée : 00:16:12 - Journal de 18h - Un peu moins de 35 000 personnes sont mortes de la Covid-19, rapporte le ministère britannique de la Santé. Mais une nouvelle enquête de l'Office for National Statistics (ONS), l'équivalent de l'Insee au Royaume-Uni dont la méthode diffère de celle des autorités, avance 19 000 décès de plus.

The Nigel Farage Show
Is there a quick fix to bring down crime?

The Nigel Farage Show

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2020 40:51


Police-recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument rose to 44,771, figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday show.

Money Tips Podcast
House Price Growth Slowest Since 2012

Money Tips Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 22, 2019 20:44


House Price Growth Slowest Since 2012, Say ONS UK house prices rose at the slowest rate to July than at any time since September 2012, up by 0.7%, official figures reveal. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) there has been a general slowdown in UK property price growth in the last three years. The overall growth rate has been dragged down by a declining market in London and south-eastern England. However, the latest figures show the biggest drop in prices in the last year was in the North East of England. Property values in the North East region dropped by 2.9% in the year to July and were down by 2.1% in July compared with June, data from the ONS and Land Registry shows. There were also annual falls in house prices in the South East of England (down 2%), London (down 1.4%), and the East of England (down 0.5%). Overall in the UK, the annual rise of 0.7% was the slowest since the 0.4% rise of September 2012. The biggest rise was in Wales, up 4.2%. The typical property in the UK is now valued at £233,000. The ONS/Land Registry data is generally considered to be the most accurate house price estimate, although it covers a period which is slightly earlier than other surveys. The news comes on the back of government measures to penalise buy-to-let investors and anybody buying a property over £1 million, which could be a London flat or small detached in the South East of England.   The Bank of England kept base rates at .75% today, as the US Federal Reserve and ECB cut rates this week.   Word of the Day ONS ONS is the Office for National Statistics. ONS is the official body with responsibilities are collecting, analysing and disseminating statistics about the UK's economy, society and population. There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich and being happy in my book, Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover the 3 R’s of Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more. Check it out on Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook. See also: How to earn up to 500% higher yields on your investments without high risks 3 Myths of Property Investment Should you be buying Gold? Can you really by property with one click? New App launched that cancels subscriptions after free trial  

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of
UK Elections to be held on 12 December

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2019 11:06


UK Elections to be held on 12 December By Charles Kelly, Property Solutions Investor, Author of Yes, Money Can Buy You Happiness and creator of Money Tips Podcast. The UK is set to go to the polls on 12 December after MPs backed Prime Minister Boris Johnson's call for an election after months of Brexit deadlock. MP’s in the House of Commons approved the legislation by 438 votes to 20 paving the way for the first December election since 1923. The date is not yet certain as the bill has to be approved by the Lords, but could become law by the end of the week. The prime minister has said the public must be "given a choice" over the future of Brexit and the country. The markets fell slightly today with the FTSE 100 down 20 points. Gender pay gap Progress on closing the gender pay gap is "dismally slow", according to equality charity the Fawcett Society. At the current rate of decline it will take 60 years to eradicate the gap, the charity said. New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicate that in the year to April 2019, the gender pay gap for full-time workers rose to 8.9% - up from 8.6% the previous year. But for people under 40, the gap for full-time employees was close to zero. The gender pay gap is the percentage difference between average hourly earnings for men and women. In 2012, the gap between what the average full-time female employee earned compared with the average man was 9.5%. This gap had only narrowed to 8.9% in 2019. The pay gap for all workers fell from 17.8% in 2018 to 17.3% in 2019, and continues to decline, the ONS said. Source: BBC If you’d like more information on how to acquire wealth building assets using none of your money, email me at Charles@CharlesKelly.net or send me a message through Facebook or my Money Tips Daily community. See more articles at www.moneytipsdaily.com Brexit Property Effect – Invest or Wait? Brexit Property Effect – Invest or Wait? By Charles Kelly, Property Investor, Author of Yes, Money Can Buy You Happiness and creator of Money Tips Podcast. In this episode: Brexit Effect Wait or Invest Is this a flip market? Are we due for a correction? Long term... How to Use Creative Property Financing to Beat the Banks How to Use Creative Property Financing to Beat the Banks In the last few years, mortgage lending rules have been tightened up by UK regulators. Lenders now dig into your finances far more deeply than just looking at your annual income. Self-certificated mortgages are all but... There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich and being happy in my book, Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover the 3 R’s of Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more. Check it out on Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook.

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of
House Price Growth Slowest Since 2012, say ONS

Money Tips Daily by Charles Kelly, former IFA and author of

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2019 19:11


House Price Growth Slowest Since 2012, Say ONS By Charles Kelly Author of Yes, Money Can Buy You Happiness and creator of Money Tips Podcast UK house prices rose at the slowest rate to July than at any time since September 2012, up by 0.7%, official figures reveal. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) there has been a general slowdown in UK property price growth in the last three years. The overall growth rate has been dragged down by a declining market in London and south-eastern England. However, the latest figures show the biggest drop in prices in the last year was in the North East of England. Property values in the North East region dropped by 2.9% in the year to July and were down by 2.1% in July compared with June, data from the ONS and Land Registry shows. There were also annual falls in house prices in the South East of England (down 2%), London (down 1.4%), and the East of England (down 0.5%). Overall in the UK, the annual rise of 0.7% was the slowest since the 0.4% rise of September 2012. The biggest rise was in Wales, up 4.2%. The typical property in the UK is now valued at £233,000. The ONS/Land Registry data is generally considered to be the most accurate house price estimate, although it covers a period which is slightly earlier than other surveys. The news comes on the back of government measures to penalise buy-to-let investors and anybody buying a property over £1 million, which could be a London flat or small detached in the South East of England. If you would like to get into property but not sure how, my friends at Progressive are running several events to give you the opportunity to look at a number of strategies so you can decide which is best for you. Here are some upcoming dates, but don’t worry if you can’t make or have missed them as there will be more courses laid on in the new year. Multiple Streams of Property Income Event 20-22nd September – Peterborough 11-13th October – Peterborough 25-27th October – Peterborough An excellent 3 day event covering multiple streams of income and strategies. For more dates and courses, see http://www.moneytipsdaily.com/house-price-growth-slowest-since-2012-say-ons/ I have a limited number of complimentary tickets for these events. If you are interested, message me on Facebook or email me at charles@charleskelly.net The Bank of England kept base rates at .75% today, as the US Federal Reserve and ECB cut rates this week. Word of the Day ONS ONS is the Office for National Statistics, the official body with responsibilities are collecting, analysing and disseminating statistics about the UK's economy, society and population. There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich and being happy in my book, Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover the 3 R’s of Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more. Check it out on Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook. See also: How to earn up to 500% higher yields on your investments without high risks 3 Myths of Property Investment

レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast
Higher Store Sales in the United Kingdom Surprise Economists

レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 29, 2019 2:17


The UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that retail shop sales in the United Kingdom unexpectedly increased by 1% from May to June. The increase came as a surprise to economists because they forecasted a 0.3% drop from May to June. This happened after disappointing retail sales in May, which was believed to be caused by the declining confidence of consumers in the UK economy and personal finances. Currently, the UK economy is at risk because of the uncertainty brought about by Brexit or the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. Brexit was set to happen in March but did not push through because of disagreements. If it had happened, it would have meant a rise in prices, especially of imported goods. Contrary to what experts thought, the confidence of consumers to buy was not heavily affected by Brexit's uncertainty. In fact, ONS official Rhian Murphy reported that, in June, consumers had a stronger demand for various items such as clothes, furniture, lighting, floor covering, paint, and glass. Charity shops, which sell items donated by the public, and antique shops, which auction off items bought from previous owners, also sold many secondhand items. The retail sales drop in May was simply a result of the uncharacteristically cold weather, a report noted. According to British economist Paul Dales, consumers are spending more because of the steady increase in wages. Reports also claim that the unemployment rate in the United Kingdom is also at its lowest since 1975. Another economist notes that consumers will likely stick to their spending habits and will ignore Brexit threats until it actually happens.

Open Data Institute Podcasts
ODI Fridays: How data science is transforming government

Open Data Institute Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2018 33:07


The Data Science Campus at the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) works at the frontier of data science and AI – building skills and applying tools, methods and practices – to create new understanding and improve decision-making for the public good. Its goals are to investigate the use of new data sources, including administrative data and big data, and to help build data science capability in the UK. The talk will show how data science is being used across government to support policy-making, operations, public services and statistics. Along with examples of data science saving over £500 million, the talk will explore how to support data science teams and build their capacity. This talk follows last week’s, from Darren Barnes of ONS and Dr Bill Roberts of Swirrl about their work across the Government Statistical Service to help people find, understand and use government statistical data. About the speaker Tom Smith is Managing Director at the Data Science Campus, joining the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 2017. Tom has more than 20 years’ experience using data and analysis to improve public services. Working at the intersection of government, academia and industry, he has led data and research projects with hundreds of local and national public and community sector organisations, including the government’s English Indices of Deprivation. His primary research interests are in using data science to improve public services, machine learning, and assessing non-traditional data sources to improve our understanding of society and the economy. Follow @_datasmith on Twitter.

Europe Calling
Sweden under Scrutiny....

Europe Calling

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2017


In January, the transgender support group Chrysallis launched an awareness campaign in northern Spain using the slogan: “There are girls with penises and boys with vulvas BRITS are being put off holidays in Spain by the pound’s drop in value. More than 40% of Britons will change their holiday plans because of the post-Brexit devaluation, according to data from travel insurer Columbus Direct. The city of Barcelona has begun taking down 367 commemorative plaques dating back to the Franco era and which were still on view in buildings across the districts of Gràcia and Nou Barris. Emilio Perez’s serious economic troubles have resulted in an intriguing business idea. The resident of Villapresente, a forest ranger and pinewood seller, hit rock bottom when he was unable to sell his trees due to low demand during the economic crisis. His solution was to build Spain’ s largest maze with his unsold trees.... A NIGHTCLUB in Spain has enraged feminist groups for offering free entry, drinks and €100 to women who ‘go commando’. .......Within twelve hours of my landing in Sweden, an asylum centre was burned down, arson suspected; a hand grenade was planted in a bin, either for the police or the mosque; and another hand grenade exploding, injuring one in Malmö...... Baroness Chakrabarti has been ridiculed after she wrongly blamed low turnout for Labour's humiliating defeat in Copeland....The shadow attorney general..insisted the leader was not responsible for the worst by-election performance since the war. Paedophiles should not face jail for looking at pornographic images of children unless they are a physical threat to youngsters, says Britain’s most senior child protection officer. Thousands of thugs who abuse their partners are able to avoid harsher sentences by agreeing to apologise and shake the hands of their victims under 'restorative justice' measures. The RAF has banned servicewomen from wearing skirts on parade so that transgender personnel don't feel excluded. The salary for politicians is set to go up by more than £1,000 from April next year to £76,011, the Commons pay watchdog has confirmed. Also, University chiefs are taking home an average of £277,834, while the highest individual deal reached £451,000. The number of people arriving in the UK from Bulgaria and Romania has risen significantly since the Brexit vote, new figures show. But figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also reveal a 'statistically significant' rise in citizens from so-called EU8 nations British teachers struggle to inform youngsters about the correct use of colons and how to spell words such as ‘definitely’ because they do not have a good enough grasp of the basics themselves. Minicab drivers have denounced plans by Transport for London to introduce tests to prove they can speak English - which include questions on the Northern Lights and the 'problem of river pollution'. wearing no underwear. .

Europe Calling
Sweden under Scrutiny....

Europe Calling

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2017


In January, the transgender support group Chrysallis launched an awareness campaign in northern Spain using the slogan: “There are girls with penises and boys with vulvas BRITS are being put off holidays in Spain by the pound’s drop in value. More than 40% of Britons will change their holiday plans because of the post-Brexit devaluation, according to data from travel insurer Columbus Direct. The city of Barcelona has begun taking down 367 commemorative plaques dating back to the Franco era and which were still on view in buildings across the districts of Gràcia and Nou Barris. Emilio Perez’s serious economic troubles have resulted in an intriguing business idea. The resident of Villapresente, a forest ranger and pinewood seller, hit rock bottom when he was unable to sell his trees due to low demand during the economic crisis. His solution was to build Spain’ s largest maze with his unsold trees.... A NIGHTCLUB in Spain has enraged feminist groups for offering free entry, drinks and €100 to women who ‘go commando’. .......Within twelve hours of my landing in Sweden, an asylum centre was burned down, arson suspected; a hand grenade was planted in a bin, either for the police or the mosque; and another hand grenade exploding, injuring one in Malmö...... Baroness Chakrabarti has been ridiculed after she wrongly blamed low turnout for Labour's humiliating defeat in Copeland....The shadow attorney general..insisted the leader was not responsible for the worst by-election performance since the war. Paedophiles should not face jail for looking at pornographic images of children unless they are a physical threat to youngsters, says Britain’s most senior child protection officer. Thousands of thugs who abuse their partners are able to avoid harsher sentences by agreeing to apologise and shake the hands of their victims under 'restorative justice' measures. The RAF has banned servicewomen from wearing skirts on parade so that transgender personnel don't feel excluded. The salary for politicians is set to go up by more than £1,000 from April next year to £76,011, the Commons pay watchdog has confirmed. Also, University chiefs are taking home an average of £277,834, while the highest individual deal reached £451,000. The number of people arriving in the UK from Bulgaria and Romania has risen significantly since the Brexit vote, new figures show. But figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also reveal a 'statistically significant' rise in citizens from so-called EU8 nations British teachers struggle to inform youngsters about the correct use of colons and how to spell words such as ‘definitely’ because they do not have a good enough grasp of the basics themselves. Minicab drivers have denounced plans by Transport for London to introduce tests to prove they can speak English - which include questions on the Northern Lights and the 'problem of river pollution'. wearing no underwear. .

This is Money Podcast
The economics of weddings, scones and packets of cereal

This is Money Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2016 49:46


It’s a really fun show this week and a fantastic antidote to the Bake Off and Brangelina hysteria. For the initiated, two well-known Hollywood actors announced their divorce this week and the makers of televised cake-making competition revealed they were moving it to Channel 4 from the BBC. And we don’t care. Not that making cakes doesn’t get a look in. It does but with the usual financial twist. How to save money baking is one of the more popular stories of the week. Have you any idea just how cheap it is to make a scone? Rachel Rickard Straus, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost also find time to be utterly horrified about the cost of a wedding. Tip: Get married abroad, says Lee. Also discussed are: Retweaked economic forecasts from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) The idiocy of the lifetime Isa – another ill-conceived, complicated tax change from the previous Chancellor House prices Fluffy surveys from banks Shrinking products – that get smaller and smaller to keep the price the same And are we losing control of our money? Enjoy.

Europe Calling
Sibling Rivalry replaced by Brotherly Love

Europe Calling

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2016


Spain's King Felipe VI told General Assembly in New York that Spaniards will overcome this difficult moment in finding a government as Foreign ministry notes that political stalemate is keeping Madrid on the sidelines of world gatherings Dismembered victims found in central Spain were caught up in a dispute over drugs, say police. The murdered family of four were killed by professional hitmen. One person died and 17 people were injured in an explosion in a block of flats in a Spanish seaside resort near Barcelona early Sunday. Barcelona ordered the shutdown of 615 illegally operating tourist flats in just two months and has issued fines of €30,000 to nine different online platforms, including Tripadvisor. Spectators were stunned when the two animals, each weighing around half a tonne dropped to the ground dead after charging headfirst into each other ahead of a bullfight. The country's only openly gay football referee, who has become an outspoken advocate for LGBT rights, is now under police protection due to increasing threats on his life. In the UK former Chief of the General Staff Sir Mike Jackson tore into the Government's lack of strategic thinking and mocked MoD claims that military budgets were rising as fears rise over the commitment to the UK defence. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy's six flagship vessels, which are based in Portsmouth, notched up a staggering 1,515 days in UK harbours in the year between April 2015 and 2016 A report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said data so far after the Brexit vote show there was no 'major effect' on the economy so far and there were indications of 'strength The Liberal Democrat leader gathered his party in Brighton for its annual conference and told them they are crucial to fight for Britain's continued role in Europe via a Brexit re-run. The Brownlee Brothers who show how sibling rivalry can be replaced by brotherly love.

Europe Calling
Sibling Rivalry replaced by Brotherly Love

Europe Calling

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2016


Spain's King Felipe VI told General Assembly in New York that Spaniards will overcome this difficult moment in finding a government as Foreign ministry notes that political stalemate is keeping Madrid on the sidelines of world gatherings Dismembered victims found in central Spain were caught up in a dispute over drugs, say police. The murdered family of four were killed by professional hitmen. One person died and 17 people were injured in an explosion in a block of flats in a Spanish seaside resort near Barcelona early Sunday. Barcelona ordered the shutdown of 615 illegally operating tourist flats in just two months and has issued fines of €30,000 to nine different online platforms, including Tripadvisor. Spectators were stunned when the two animals, each weighing around half a tonne dropped to the ground dead after charging headfirst into each other ahead of a bullfight. The country's only openly gay football referee, who has become an outspoken advocate for LGBT rights, is now under police protection due to increasing threats on his life. In the UK former Chief of the General Staff Sir Mike Jackson tore into the Government's lack of strategic thinking and mocked MoD claims that military budgets were rising as fears rise over the commitment to the UK defence. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy's six flagship vessels, which are based in Portsmouth, notched up a staggering 1,515 days in UK harbours in the year between April 2015 and 2016 A report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said data so far after the Brexit vote show there was no 'major effect' on the economy so far and there were indications of 'strength The Liberal Democrat leader gathered his party in Brighton for its annual conference and told them they are crucial to fight for Britain's continued role in Europe via a Brexit re-run. The Brownlee Brothers who show how sibling rivalry can be replaced by brotherly love.

Otsuka Podcast
Vol. 43: New Product EQUELLE: Enhancing Women’s Quality of Life and Health

Otsuka Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2014 4:28


Read the full story with photos at: https://www.otsuka.co.jp/en/company/globalnews/2014/0402_01.html A new Office for National Statistics (ONS) study has indicated that Japanese women have the longest life expectancy among women in 21 selected countries – an average of 86.4 years.*1 In an aging society with an increasing average lifespan, data from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare indicate that the gap between healthy life expectancy and average life expectancy is 9.2 years for men and 12.8 years for women. This means that women are spending around one-seventh of their actual life either bedridden or in care. Because the extension of healthy life expectancy and better quality of life for women is becoming more important, the Japanese government has made women’s health one of the pillars of the government’s "New Health Frontier Strategy". Research into equol began in 1996 at the Saga Nutraceuticals Research Institute For many years of soy research, Otsuka Pharmaceutical has focused on the relationship between equol and psychological and physical changes in menopausal women. In 2002 the Lactococcus 20-92, which produces equol, was successfully isolated. Both the Pharmaceuticals Business Division and the Nutraceuticals*2 Business Division have conducted a range of research in both Japan and the US into the safety and efficacy of equol produced using this lactic acid bacterium to ferment soy germ (natural S-equol). After 18 years of research Otsuka launches EQUELLE, a food product containing equol for women during and after menopause EQUELLE is a processed food made with lactic acid bacteria from fermented soy germ containing equol. Equol, produced from a soy isoflavone, especially daidzein, in the intestine is known to act like an estrogen. But only around 50% of Japanese women and 30% of European and American women have the capacity to produce it. It is important to all women to continuously take equol to maintain and improve health. A joint US-Japan equol research collaboration with the Pharmaceutical Business Division of Otsuka Pharmaceutical proves that we are the field leader in the research of safety and efficacy of equol. This study contributes to women’s health who are 40 and over during and after menopause. The company has also isolated the lactic acid bacterium that produces equol and developed technology to produce equol by fermenting soy germ. Caring for their health during this stage of life will enhance the quality of life and life expectancy Rapid falls in estrogen levels among women from their forties onwards causes a range of physical and psychological changes, and accurate knowledge and information about these changes is desirable for proper management. In addition, proper care during this stage of life has significant implications for the lives of women as they age, and is important for extending healthy life expectancy. However, women sometimes suffer alone, unable to obtain information on what they need to do, and when. Staff with expert knowledge will be located throughout Japan to explain to women 40 and over about the importance of healthcare and the role of equol at their health stage. Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. launched EQUELLE at pharmacies, hospitals and clinics across Japan and the product will also be available via the Otsuka Plus One e-commerce website.

Cathy Humphreys
Crime Figures, Gambling and Teaching!

Cathy Humphreys

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2013


The UK Police are accused of exaggerating the drop in crime figures out today - with 400,000 crimes not even recorded. Crimes in England and Wales fell by 33 per cent according to police despite the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recording a fall of 17 per cent. The ONS said the "rate of reduction" in recorded crime "may over-state" the decrease. ONS statistician John Flatley said bigger falls in the cops’ figures could be down to pressures to meet crime targets. Meanwhile, another major problem has been identified. as gamblers in Britain’s most deprived town are staking £72MILLION on betting machines a year. The staggering total is gambled in 69 terminals at 19 bookies in Rochdale, Gtr Manchester. Over £1million is staked on each “fixed odds betting machine” a year — £2,858 a day, or £119 an HOUR. Punters in London, Glasgow and Liverpool gamble away £2.74BILLION on 1,973 of the terminals. The recruitment process of teachers should well be queried as a Religious Education teacher has been banned from the classroom after telling pupils that sex was good and not to get married so they could sleep around. Catherine Reynolds also SWORE at pupils while working at Saddleworth School in Oldham, Greater Manchester, - and showed them her tattoos. She also informed pupils she travelled to Amsterdam and talked of a SEX SHOW involving an animal. Reynolds also called mums and dads after a parents' evening "retarded". She was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct by a disciplinary panel and has been banned from teaching by education secretary Michael Gove for FIVE years. Meanwhile, in Spain, STUDENTS and teachers have held a protest outside an Axarquia school after a member of staff was assaulted by the father of one of the pupils. The incident occurred when a student at IES Reyes Catolicos school in Velez Malaga called her father after she was told off for being late. When he arrived at the school, the man entered the classroom and assaulted the teacher by grabbing his head and pushing him to the ground.

Cathy Humphreys
Crime Figures, Gambling and Teaching!

Cathy Humphreys

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2013


The UK Police are accused of exaggerating the drop in crime figures out today - with 400,000 crimes not even recorded. Crimes in England and Wales fell by 33 per cent according to police despite the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recording a fall of 17 per cent. The ONS said the "rate of reduction" in recorded crime "may over-state" the decrease. ONS statistician John Flatley said bigger falls in the cops’ figures could be down to pressures to meet crime targets. Meanwhile, another major problem has been identified. as gamblers in Britain’s most deprived town are staking £72MILLION on betting machines a year. The staggering total is gambled in 69 terminals at 19 bookies in Rochdale, Gtr Manchester. Over £1million is staked on each “fixed odds betting machine” a year — £2,858 a day, or £119 an HOUR. Punters in London, Glasgow and Liverpool gamble away £2.74BILLION on 1,973 of the terminals. The recruitment process of teachers should well be queried as a Religious Education teacher has been banned from the classroom after telling pupils that sex was good and not to get married so they could sleep around. Catherine Reynolds also SWORE at pupils while working at Saddleworth School in Oldham, Greater Manchester, - and showed them her tattoos. She also informed pupils she travelled to Amsterdam and talked of a SEX SHOW involving an animal. Reynolds also called mums and dads after a parents' evening "retarded". She was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct by a disciplinary panel and has been banned from teaching by education secretary Michael Gove for FIVE years. Meanwhile, in Spain, STUDENTS and teachers have held a protest outside an Axarquia school after a member of staff was assaulted by the father of one of the pupils. The incident occurred when a student at IES Reyes Catolicos school in Velez Malaga called her father after she was told off for being late. When he arrived at the school, the man entered the classroom and assaulted the teacher by grabbing his head and pushing him to the ground.