Financial matters

[Hugo]

Full list of Lloyds and Halifax banks closing - with North Wales branches targeted
Nearly 140 Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland banks to shut


https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/full-list-lloyds-halifax-banks-30891568

[Hugo]

Water bills to rise by £123 on average from April 1
The rise, confirmed by industry body Water UK, will take the average water and wastewater bill from £480 to £603 for the next year alone.
Perhaps it's time that all properties were on a water meter and people would then pay for the water they use


https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/cost-of-living/water-bills-rise-123-average-30893636

[Robert2020]

The sad thing is that the daily service charge means even if you don't use any you still pay

Electric....65.8 p day....£240 year

Gas ....29.8p day...£109 year

Water (Welsh)£37 water £113 waste water £150 year

So for all three services £449 year or £9.50week

Not good if your on a low income.


                   

[Hugo]

My landline phone stopped working today so we contacted BT Faults only to be told that we must contact our internet provider so we did
What a fisco doing it by phone and listening to a robot is so annoying and it said that I should follow the instructions in a text that they had just sent to me.
I couldn't even say that my phone isn't working so I can't get a text message
So with no e-mail address available or other phone numbers, I dialed my internet suppliers number again and did something which did me a big favour in more ways that one.
Firstly instead of pressin button 1 for help,  I pressed button 2 for sales and I was immediately put through to a human being!
I told him my story and was in turn put through to another two people
The first was an IT Operator who had already checked and called Open Reach who are now coming to deal with the fault which is outside my house
The other person I spoke to wanted to speak to me because I was out of contract with my internet providor.     He then offered me a contract with exactly the same package as I had and all for about £25.00 a month less than what I was paying now
I've ,learnt two valuable things as a result of the phone not working
If you don't want to be a robot press the button for sales and you'll speak to a human
Secondly check on your contract with your internet provider and if it has expired like mine did then approach them for the terms and conditions of a new one.      Thanks to my faulty landline I will now be £300.00 a year better off         

[Hugo]

Abramovich tax dodge must be probed, HMRC urged
Leaked papers reveal investments from Mr Abramovich worth $6bn (£4.7bn) were routed through companies in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), but evidence seen by the BBC suggests they were managed from the UK, so should have been taxed there.
I'm surprised that requests haven't be made to ivestigate the tax affairs of a former PM.      After all he has made a career out of telling Porkies

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5kglpgnx2o

[Hugo]

The sad thing is that the daily service charge means even if you don't use any you still pay

Electric....65.8 p day....£240 year

Gas ....29.8p day...£109 year

Water (Welsh)£37 water £113 waste water £150 year

So for all three services £449 year or £9.50week

Not good if your on a low income.

It's a good point that you have made Robert and I don't know what the answer is.        If the gas and electric is monitored by meters then there can be no justification for not having water meters in every property.     That way people pay for the amount of water they use and won't waste it like they can do now


                   

[Hugo]

Dŵr Cymru give's major compensation update following Conwy pipe burst
Extra staff shifts have been ordered as payments are processed for around 40,000 households



https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/dr-cymru-gives-major-compensation-30906543

[SteveH]

AstraZeneca has scrapped plans to invest £450m in expanding a vaccine manufacturing plant in Merseyside, blaming a reduction in government support.

The pharmaceutical giant announced its decision just two days after Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out Labour's plan to go "further and faster" to boost economic growth.

AstraZeneca said that after "protracted" talks, a number of factors influenced the move, including "the timing and reduction of the final offer compared to the previous government's proposal".

The Treasury said a change to the "make-up of the investment" that had originally been proposed led to the government grant being reduced.

"All government grant funding has to demonstrate value for the taxpayer and unfortunately, despite extensive work from government officials, it has not been possible to achieve a solution," said a Treasury spokesperson.

AstraZeneca said despite ditching its investment plans, its site in Speke would "continue to produce and supply our flu vaccine, for patients in the UK and around the world".

"In the same week they talked about growth, Labour seem to have fumbled a deal with AstraZeneca, one of the UK's largest companies and central to the critical life sciences sector."............... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1we943zez9o

[Hugo]

Money expert Martin Lewis gives warning for householders 'with three bedrooms'
How to potentially save hundreds of pounds on water bills

Martin Lewis is the money expert so who am I to argue with him.     It doesn't matter if you have three or more bedrooms if you do not have a water meter you can use as much water as you like, whereas if you do have a water meter then you pay for every drop of water used
We have a house with a high rateable value so many years ago we had a water meter installed and we found a massive saving in the first year but now we have no financial benefit from having a water meter

Some of the older houses near me have  undergone massive modernisation and have 3 or 4 bathrooms and some even have swimming pools or hot tubs but do not have water meters so they can and do use as much water as they like.
If we all had water meters, like we have gas and electric ones then we would all just pay for the water we use.    It would be a much fairer system

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/money-expert-martin-lewis-gives-30914621

[Robert2020]

my daughter has had £150 put in her bank account by Welsh water for the burst pipe incident.

She was without water on the Westshore area from lunchtime Thursday until Saturday evening which at  £30 /12 hrs  is about right.         
 ( 2 1/2 days =60hrs=£150)

Then we all get informed Welsh water are putting up the 25/26 bill by around £130 ! So really around £20 for loss of service.

[Hugo]

Welsh Government gives 'extra' £25m to 'prevent 30,000 defects and potholes'
Minister says funding will accelerate work to fill potholes and renew key roads
If they had to repair potholes in the unadopted part of Pen Y Bryn Road Colwyn Bay then most of that budget would have gone     



https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/welsh-government-gives-extra-25m-30916022

[SteveH]

The UK will only narrowly avoid a recession, according to the Bank of England, after it downgraded its economic outlook in a blow for the government.

While the Bank cut interest rates to 4.5% from 4.75% as expected, it also predicted the economy shrank in the final three months of last year and will grow only marginally in the first three months of this year.

Inflation is also expected to "rise quite sharply" later this year due to higher water bills, bus fares and energy costs and take longer to fall back to the Bank's 2% target............... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0lzj3g77gpo

[SteveH]

Domestic energy prices are forecast to rise by 5% from April, adding £85 a year to household bills, according to consultancy Cornwall Insight.

The forecaster, which is widely regarded for its accurate predictions, said a household using a typical amount of gas and electricity would pay £1,823 a year.

The figures emerged as Energy Secretary Ed Miliband wrote an urgent letter to Ofgem, the regulator which sets the price cap, asking it to move quickly to protect consumers.

The predicted higher prices will take effect at the same time as increases to water and council tax bills in April...........

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3lx7k092vo

[SteveH]

Charities and energy providers have criticised plans to change the way standing charges on bills are paid.

All households pay the fixed daily charges covering the costs of connecting to a gas and electricity supply.

Many billpayers consider them to be unfair as they have no control over how much is charged, prompting the review by the energy regulator Ofgem.

But the regulator's plans to offer a choice of tariffs that shift these fees elsewhere on people's bills have been described as complicated and misplaced.

Billing plans.......... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vwxyq33k0o

[SteveH]

Sir Keir Starmer's Government faces the prospect of legal action, say Waspi campaigners, unless it reconsiders its decision to reject compensation for women affected by the change in the State Pension age. Despite the recommendation that compensation be paid to women born in the 1950s whose state pension age was raised to be equal with men, the Government said taxpayers could not afford to fund the estimated £10.5bn package.

A 'letter before action' has been sent to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) by The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign. The letter warns of warning of High Court proceedings if the issue is not resolved. Angela Madden, chairwoman of the group, said members would not allow the DWP’s “gaslighting” of Waspi women to go “unchallenged”.........

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/waspi-women-tell-government-to-reconsider-compensation-or-face-legal-action?IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589