Parent Pages new website

Parents in South London are refusing to pay for school meals after prices increased by 14 per cent, new figures suggest.

Lewisham council said it could make £40,000 less than expected because of the drop in numbers opting for a hot lunch.

It comes after Jamie Oliver warned that the improvements made as a result of his school dinner revolution are in danger of unravelling.

Lewisham council had hoped to make £260,000 from the increase. But some parents chose not to pay for meals in Lewisham’s primary schools when prices jumped by 20p a day to £1.60 in April.

Details are contained in a report which blames the drop on “a combination of the wider economic factors and the recent price increases.”

Source: THISISLONDAN>> Read full article and comment

Some of Britain’s best-loved kids brands are to disappear abroad after the entertainment firm behind Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder was sold to American toy giant Mattel for a knock down price.

Private equity firm Apax was forced to halve its £1billion price tag for HIT Entertainment because of the worsening economic climate.

It had put the debt ridden business on the block in April but after an auction spanning six months it has agreed to sell it to Mattel for £426million in cash. The price tag is significantly less than the £490million it shelled out in 2005 to take the business, chaired by former BBC director general Greg Dyke, private.

The deal means some of the biggest names in children’s television will move Stateside in a deal that will see HIT’s Fireman Sam joining forces with Mattel’s Barbie and Ken.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

HIT Entertainment – owner of children’s favourites Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder – has been sold to US toys giant Mattel for $680m (£426m) in cash.

The deal marks an end to a difficult six-year investment period for private equity company Apax, which in 2009 took a $503m writedown on the toy group and had to renegotiate its debts to avoid breaching convenants.
Apax, which appointed Bank of America exactly a year ago to kick off the sales process, bought HIT in 2005 for £490m, with £288.6m of debt and about £200m of equity. Using a 2005 exchange rate, Apax paid roughly $880m – leaving Monday’s price implying a paper loss.
However, although Apax has never taken a dividend from its HIT investment until this sale, it separated and sold The Guinness Book of Records for $120m, using $100m to pay down loans. Apax is also now in the process of selling HIT’s stake in US cable TV network Sprout, which is expected to net up to $90m

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

It is National Write a Will week this week, and 30 million people in Britain don’t have a will – about 70 per cent of the population – according to unbiased.co.uk, the financial advisers’ website.

As well as making life easier for your dependants, making a will can help reduce the tax payable.
So what should you put in a will and what will happen if you don’t have one?
If I die intestate, what will happen to what I own?
If you die intestate, which means without making a will, your assets will be distributed according to the law, and not according to your wishes. Jill Dando and Stieg Larsson, the author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, are among those who have died without leaving a will and whose estates were inherited by their fathers, not their partners.

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

US toy maker Mattel has announced a deal to buy HIT Entertainment, owner of Thomas the Tank Engine and other popular children’s brands.

The maker of the Barbie doll, Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price toys is buying HIT in a $680m (£420m) cash deal.

It means Mattel will now own all the rights to make toys based on characters such as Bob the Builder, Barney the Dinosaur and Thomas the Tank Engine.

Mattel already produces many HIT products under license.

“HIT entertainment owns some of the most loved and trusted preschool brands in the world and under Mattel’s leadership, I look forward to seeing them grow,” said Jeffrey D. Dunn, the president and chief executive of HIT.

Source: BBC NEWS>> Read full article and comment

Industry fears that lack of film-type subsidies will force firms overseas

It may be the birthplace of classic children’s characters such as Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder, Noddy and Peppa Pig, but now the UK’s animation industry is warning that it will flee abroad faster than a flick-book figure unless it gets tax breaks.

More than three-quarters of Britain’s 600-plus independent animation firms have either moved already or are considering shifting overseas, says a new report, Securing the Future of UK Animation. British stars such as Aardman Animations, creator of Wallace & Gromit, are pushing production work abroad to enjoy vital subsidies. The report estimates that animation conceived and produced in England alone has fallen from 83 per cent six years ago to 23 per cent.

Source: INDEPENDENT>> Read full article and comment

Financially pressed families cannot afford to bury loved ones, and taxpayers increasingly have to foot the bill, a report has found.

Research by the Local Government Association found councils in England and Wales funded almost 3,000 funerals last year. Some 52 per cent of councils reported increases in families claiming not to have enough money to pay for funerals. Councils spent £2,110,000, with the average cost being £950.

David Rogers, chairman of the LGA’s community wellbeing board, said the Government’s complex 25-page form stopped families from claiming grants. He said the process was slow and often failed families faced with having to pay costs up-front. “The last thing a grieving relative needs is extra stress over whether they’re going to be able to pay for and organise the funeral of their loved one,” Mr Rogers said.

Source: INDEPENDENT>> Read full article and comment

Back-to-school purchases of laptops and gadgets gave an unexpected boost to retailers last month but failed to ease fears over the sector in the run-up to Christmas.

Retail volumes in September grew 0.6% month-on-month, following a downwardly revised 0.4% drop in August, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Economists had forecast flat sales.

But quarterly figures, which the ONS said provide a clearer insight into the health of the sector, showed sales were down 0.2% as clothing and food trade tumbled over the three-month period.

Stephen Robertson, British Retail Consortium director general, said: “Christmas has always been the most important time for retail but this year is going to be particularly critical as businesses look to make up lost ground.”

Retailers have provided a mixed picture this week, with Debenhams unveiling a major stores expansion plan after reporting a 10% rise in profits, while Argos saw its half-year profits slide 94% as sales of TVs and video games tumbled.

Source: Thisislondon.>> Read full article and comment

One of Britain’s highest paid councillors told a single mother facing eviction to “live in the real world” when she asked for his advice.

Brian Coleman, a senior member of Boris Johnson’s administration and leading Barnet councillor, responded to Sharada Osman’s appeal for help by telling her that people in her situation should “deal with their own issues”.

Ms Osman, 39, today accused him of “hypocrisy” and called for an apology. Part-time student Ms Osman has lived in North Finchley for six years with her six-year-old son Kylan, who has learning difficulties.

She wrote this month to Mr Coleman, who is said to earn almost £120,000 a year, asking for help after her private landlord increased the rent for her home from £950 to £1,100. In an emotional email, unemployed Ms Osman told the Tory Assembly member that she was writing to him “out of desperation in hope that someone can offer some help and guidance”. Ms Osman told Mr Coleman that she wanted to avoid having to apply for a council house.

Source: Thisislondon>> Read full article and comment

Her scent lingered on her clothes long after she had gone. Even now, I am not sure whether the smell of my mother’s lily-of-the-valley perfume really withstood the many times I washed her powder pink crepe de chine blouse, with its tiny glass buttons, or whether that aroma — the one she wore for going out — was so associated with that garment that I smelt it anyway.

The blouse was one of few items of clothing I kept when, after her death at the age of 50, the contents of my mother’s wardrobe were bundled away.

The last time I saw her she was leaning back on a pile of hospital pillows, her face bloated from medication, her conversation disjointed. The cancer in her brain had sucked out her intellect and humour, so that the woman in the hospital bed bore no similarity to the woman who had been by my side for the first 25 years of my life.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

Property rental costs are at their highest level ever and now account for nearly half of the average British family’s monthly earnings, according to figures published today.

The average rent has risen to £890 a month – 46 per cent of the typical tenant’s net income. In London, rent accounts for more than three-quarters of average earnings. Landlords in the capital charge an average of £2,075 per month, while the typical household brings in £2,721 in net monthly income. A survey shows that average monthly rents rose by 1.6 per cent last month. FindaProperty.com, which compiled the rental index, said asking prices had risen every month this year, and were up 4.6 per cent in 12 months, adding £468 to the average annual rent bill. It said tenants could expect to spend 46.2 per cent of their monthly net earnings on accommodation.

The homelessness charity Shelter said people who could not afford to own a property were now struggling to meet rental costs as well.

Source: INDEPENDENT>> Read full article and comment

A family was ordered to pay £225 after their special needs boy broke his teacher’s designer necklace.

Eight-year-old Zak Marquand, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, snapped Jo Woodland’s silver Tiffany & Co necklace by accident when he “lashed out”.

But Aylands special school in Enfield refused to accept a £12 repair, telling Zak’s parents, Michael and Sheila, that only a £225 replacement would do. It means that the Marquands will struggle to provide Christmas presents for their three boys.

The school’s head, Sashi Sivaloganathan, is said to have told Zak’s parents that it was a teacher’s “human right” to wear whatever they chose to school, no matter how impractical.

The necklace, a sterling silver chain with a “double heart pendant” hanging from it, was a 40th birthday present to Ms Woodland from Ms Sivaloganathan and another member of staff.

Source: THISISLONDAN>> Read full article and comment

A hardcore of troublemaking families that make up just one per cent of the population is costing Britain a staggering £8 billion a year, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said yesterday.

Unveiling plans to send crack teams in to try to turn around the lives of 120,000 problem households, Mr Pickles revealed they are each costing the state as much as £330,000 a year.

As many as 20 different arms of the state – ranging from police, social services and health agencies – are involved in dealing with the families.

Mr Pickles said that a more coordinated approach, with up to £14,000 in funding targeted at each family, could save the taxpayer huge sums.

Ministers want one dedicated official to turn up at people’s homes to get them out of bed for work, make sure their children go to school or ensure alcoholics or drug addicts go to rehab.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

For almost 100 years, the Girl Scouts of America have happily learned the basics of capitalism by going from door-to-door in their towns, competing to sell the most cookies.

But the threat posed to this $714 million (£543 million) a year biscuit business by America’s relentless economic woes has prompted the organisation’s five- to 18-year-olds to seek sharper business sense.
From this month, in response to popular demand, the 2.3 million girl scouts will be able to earn a series of badges for financial literacy alongside the classic awards for things like first aid, camping and cooking.
From five-year-old brownies to 18-year-old ambassadors, girls will be rewarded for budgeting, drawing up business plans, maintaining good credit and cultivating customer loyalty, among others.

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

Communities secretary claims proposals to limit number of agencies involved will help families and save £8m

The communities secretary, Eric Pickles, has claimed he can cut funding for 120,000 so-called troubled families by more than £8m simply by ensuring each family has only one case worker to look after their problems rather than the current multiplicity of agencies.

He claimed more than 20 local agencies can be involved with the same family, overlapping and sometimes pulling in different directions.

Ministers have appointed Louise Casey, the former ‘respect tsar’ for Tony Blair to oversee troubled families, and is expecting reports from local councils by Christmas.

Pickles revealed a single problem, or troubled, family can cost the state up to £300,000 a year and predicted this figure can be cut by £70,000 annually simply by reducing the number of agencies involved.

Source: GUARDIAN>> Read full article and comment

It is not just relations between families that have been disrupted by prosperity.

I was one of the luckier ones. My BlackBerry never actually collapsed in The Great Global Catastrophe last week – it just staggered a bit. But I was, nevertheless, absolutely furious. Not at the service disruption, which was a minor irritation, but because the public relations fiasco might push my favourite electronic device into extinction. And then I would be forced into buying one of those over-hyped, over-priced toys which the newly canonised Saint Steven of Apple had convinced people that they wanted.
The relentless pressure to upgrade, to keep up with the latest state-of-the-art innovations, may be at its most obvious and ruthless in the electronic gadget business. But that competitiveness (and the brilliant manipulation of public perceptions that it involves) is just a function of a wider cultural change: people could not be persuaded or bullied into buying things they did not know they needed if they were not quite so rich. (Or if society didn’t offer them so many simulacrums of personal wealth in the form of easy credit.)

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

Would you pay £2,000 for a CHILDREN’S dress?

With the launch of junior collections by Lanvin and Stella McCartney, it seems the demand for designer babies is definitely on the up.

But one Italian label has taken luxury childrenswear to new heights – charging almost £2,000 for just one item.

The Crystal dress, by Milan-based I Pinco Pallino, is set to go on sale in Harrods this month and carries a hefty price tag, even by adult clothing standards.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

A BUSINESSMAN who sponsors 13 schools in London is selling his house at Cap d’Antibes in the south of France to a Russian oligarch to invest more in education.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Carpetright owner Lord Harris said: “We only spent three weeks there this year and three weeks last year, and quite frankly that seems a waste.

I would rather use the money to pay for more schools.” The tycoon, 69, has already given £100million to charity. He set up the Harris Federation to run academies in London, and has also given money to an Oxford college.

Source: London Evening Standard>> Read full article and comment

When Ben Gordon was parachuted into Mothercare in 2002 the maternity and babywear chain was in disarray: the shelves were empty, the brand damaged and the business was close to bankruptcy.

The subsequent turnaround by Gordon was, for many years, presented as a textbook example: this was the man, his spin doctors at Brunswick told us, who could sell sand to the Arabs (80,000 bags of the stuff, apparently for sandpits).
As an example of a UK retailer successfully expanding overseas, Gordon became a “celebrity” chief executive, a regular on the profile and party circuit. Analysts and the press were flown to far corners of the globe to see how Mothercare and Gordon were conquering the world – rolling out Mothercare franchise stores to more than 50 countries. Gordon was linked with a string of high-profile retail roles, including the chief executive’s job at Marks & Spencer.

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

A profile of Ben Gordon, the boss of struggling retailer Mothercare, who is to step down from the company after nine years at the helm.

Ben Gordon was appointed to Mothercare in 2002, at a time when the maternity and babywear chain was close to bankruptcy.
The retailer was so low on cash that money had to be taken from the tills to pay the bills. One story goes that its supply chain was so broken that directors had to drive stock to Mothercare’s stores in the back of their own cars.
Nevertheless, Mr Gordon completed a turnaround that saw Mothercare’s share price rise from 96p when he took over to a high of 690p in January 2010.

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

George Osborne’s council tax freeze will benefit families in large homes more than families in smaller houses, research showed today.

Londoners living in the top council tax band properties stand to gain an average of £131.52 while those in the lowest value homes will benefit by only £43.84, a leading charity found.

The average saving across the capital for people in Band D homes – a standard measure of council tax – will be £65.76 or just £1.26 a week next year, according to Family Action.

The Conservatives said average families would save up to £72 a year when Mr Osborne hailed his tax break at the party conference last week. The Chancellor said the £805 million move – the second year in a row that council tax has been frozen – was “help for families” at a time when household bills are soaring.

Source: London Evening Standard>> Read full article and comment

Benefit reforms threaten 1 in 4 children with poverty

Households are facing the greatest fall in income for 35 years, leading financial experts warn.

The delayed impact of the recession will see £2,000 wiped off the annual income of the typical family.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts that household spending power will fall by 7 per cent in real terms between 2009-10 and 2012-13. This would mean a typical couple with two children and a total income of £30,056 would be £2,080 worse off in 2013 in real terms than they were in 2010 because their income would fall to £27,976.

It would represent the greatest fall over three years since the mid-1970s.

The report says it will take until at least 2015 before typical households – which face a steeper drop than the poorest ones – recover to the levels of 2009.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

Private tutors, musical instrument teachers and fitness instructors face a clampdown by the taxman trying to catch out after-hours teachers who are paid cash-in-hand by middle class families.

In its latest attempt to claw back some of the UK’s £35bn in unpaid taxes, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs will target the country’s 500,000 private tutors for undeclared tax.
HMRC believes that the majority of tutors use private lessons as a second source of income to supplement their day job. Tutors are therefore likely to be paid in cash and many may not declare their earnings to the tax man.
Under HMRC’s new Tax Catch-up Plan (TCP), it has given tutors and coaches until the end of March next year to come forward and declare their outstanding tax for the year to April 2010.

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

Families are suffering an “unprecedented collapse” in living standards as high inflation and low wages wipe £2,000 off typical household incomes, research has found.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the delayed impact of the recession would lead to the biggest real terms fall in average incomes for 35 years and the longest slump in family finances on record.
Typical families will suffer a sharper drop in their incomes than the poorest. It will take until at least 2015 before the typical household recovers to the levels of 2009, the study found.
At the same time, the number of children and adults living in poverty will rise to more than 10 million by 2020 as a result of the Coalition’s tax and benefit reforms.

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

No such thing as a free lunch? Tell the poor, unpaid intern who cooked it

When I set up New Deal of the Mind to help young unemployed people into jobs in the creative industries, I approached the head of a prominent arts organisation to ask if she would take someone on. “Why should I take one of your people off the dole when I can get a nice Oxbridge girl for six months for free?” she replied.

It’s a good question.

A similar sentiment was expressed more brutally by the wealthiest man in the cabinet, Philip Hammond, the transport minister, when he was asked why he was advertising for an unpaid intern. “I would regard it as an abuse of taxpayer funding to pay for something that is available for nothing,” he said.

Source: GUARDIAN>> Read full article and comment

A website is exposing well-known companies that, it claims, offer ‘internships’ that last for months with little or no remuneration

Famous high street businesses, including Topshop and the recruitment specialist Reed, are being named and shamed by an internet campaign targeting the rise of unpaid and very low paid internships that, it is claimed, is undermining the link between pay and work.

Topshop, the star performer in Sir Philip Green’s £2.7bn Arcadia retail empire, is exposed for paying graduates on month-long work experience secondments just £3.50 a day plus limited travel expenses.

Urban Outfitters, the American clothier with stores in a dozen cities around the UK, has been attacked for advertising a nine-month unpaid internship in their merchandising department for people who are “hardworking, organised [and] able to multi-task”.

Source: GUARDIAN>> Read full article and comment

How to ensure your family – not the taxman – inherit your wealth

Britain is heading for an ‘age of inheritance’ with an estimated £5.4trillion in legacies due to be given and received over the next 50 years.

A study by HSBC predicts the wave of inheritance will peak in 2047 and says longer average lifespans mean most of us will end up receiving an inheritance much later in life.

Christine Foyster, head of wealth development at the bank, says: ‘There is still a really strong desire to leave something for the next generation. And partly because of rising property prices over their life, many people expect to be able to do so.’

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

New figures show extent of loss over next 10 years, while for those relying on private annuities outlook is worse

Teachers who have just retired could typically end up almost £8,000 worse off over the next 10 years because of changes that took effect this year, according to a new study.

As teachers prepare for more industrial action over pension reforms, and with a mass lobby of parliament planned for 26 October, the life insurer Wesleyan said it had looked closely at how those who have retired are being affected by changes that have already been made.

As of April this year, public-sector pensions already in payment will be increased in line with the consumer price index (CPI) rather than, as previously, the retail price index (RPI).

Source: GUARDIAN>> Read full article and comment

My sister is keen to raise her baby in a ‘green’ way but does not want things that will clutter the house

Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.

This week’s question

My sister is christening her baby in December. She doesn’t want presents that will end up cluttering her drawers and I do not want to hand over money. She is keen to raise her baby in a “green” way. Short of knitting a babygrow myself, any suggestions of what I should give?

Source: GUARDIAN>> Read full article and comment

A “heartless” charity administrator who took more than £76,000 from a fund for sick children has been jailed.

Howard Rose, 63, was sentenced to 15 months in prison after he admitted theft at York Crown Court.

The court heard Rose, of The Village, Earswick, York, stole £76,040 from the Yorkshire Children’s Hospital Fund.

Police said he used his position to divert funds which charities had donated to the trust to his personal bank account using false invoices.

Rose used headed paper bearing the charities’ logos to cover up his wrongdoing and used the money he stole to pay off his debts.

Source: BBC NEWS>> Read full article and comment

A father had £108,000 forcibly taken from his bank in a record child support payment seizure.

The man, who has not been identified, had failed to pay any maintenance for his daughter for more than 16 years.
When the Child Support Agency investigated, officials found that his account held enough money to pay everything he owed.
A similar lump sum deduction order, which compels banks to open their books to investigators, was granted in the case of a father who had failed to pay towards his child’s upkeep in London for eight years.

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

A secondary school is facing questions after it handed out iPad 2s to each of its 1,200 students at a cost of almost £500,000.

Honywood Community Science School in Coggeshall, Colchester in Essex is believed to be the first school to make such a significant investment in the technology – at a cost of about £400 per iPad.

However, campaigners from the TaxPayers’ Alliance want to know how the school, which was granted academy status in May, funded the move. A former headteacher who lives locally said the investment sends the wrong message to students.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

More than one in four households are struggling to afford energy bills – even before the winter chill sweeps through Britain.

Punishing price rises on electricity and gas means people will risk going cold for fear of the big bills generated by putting on the central heating.

Prices have risen by an average of 21 per cent this year, taking the annual cost of heat and light up by an average £224 to £1,293.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

How Foxy Knoxy’s divorced parents kept it together to get their daughter home

Most parents say that they would do anything for their children.

But for Amanda Knox’s mother and father, Edda Mellas and Curt Knox, that sentiment has been tested to the core

Divorced when Amanda was just two, the pair have put on a united front as they have campaigned for their daughter’s release. And they have made incredible sacrifices, taking out second mortgages and draining their retirement funds as they have paid out over $1 million in legal fees.

From the moment they first heard from Knox that something was wrong on a cold dark morning on November 2 2007, the parents have worked closely together to get their daughter home.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

Families returning from holiday who took out a Ryanair prepaid card face hefty ‘inactivity’ fees if they do not use the card every six months.

The budget airline has just launched its Cash Passport, advertising it as a way to avoid booking charges on its flights.

But these cards come with strings attached. Customers who do not use their card for six months will be charged £2.50 each month. And if you spend all your money on the card, or your remaining balance is eaten up by charges, you will be charged a ‘negative balance’ fee of £10.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

Hundreds of thousands of households are falling into arrears on their water bills, Money Mail can reveal.

Debt advisers nationwide warn of an alarming rise in the number unable to find the cash for their most vital service – providing water and taking away sewerage – because of the soaring cost of energy bills.

Record numbers of households are now applying for a Government scheme that caps water bills for families in financial difficulty. The latest figures show 61,232 households accepted on to Watersure tariffs – up by 38 per cent from 44,279 last year.

Huge rises in gas and electricity bills are in part to blame for families falling into arrears on their water bills – on average, £379 for homes on rates, £325 for metered households.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

H.H. writes: My 90-year-old mother plans to bequeath her house to me. But all I would do is sell it and split the proceeds between my two children. Is there any benefit in Mum changing her will to give the house direct to my children?

Lee Smythe, managing director of Smythe & Walter Chartered Financial Planners replies: If the house is left to you, it becomes part of your estate for inheritance tax purposes. If you sell it and pass on the proceeds, this gift remains in your estate for seven years.

Having your mother pass the property direct to your children removes this potential tax issue.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

High house prices are ‘destroying family life’, a senior minister warned yesterday – as he launched a staunch defence of the Government’s controversial planning system reform.

Planning minister Greg Clark said the changes were vital to increase house building and curb soaring prices.

Critics, led by the National Trust, have warned that the Government’s reforms will lead to a development ‘free-for-all’ and bring Los Angeles-style urban sprawl to the UK.

But Mr Clark insisted ministers ‘cherished’ the countryside and would provide protection for beauty spots. He said the bureaucratic planning system was a major obstacle to more house building, which fell to its lowest level since the 1920s last year.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

Mark Slater, son of veteran fund manager Jim Slater, is sitting on a huge profit from backing Peppa Pig.

This is Money reported at the start of 2011 that Slater, manager of the MFM Slater Growth fund, was taking a big punt on Entertainment One, which owns the broadcast and merchandising rights to the show.

Talk of a bid approach last week sent the stock through the roof. Slater bought in at 60p last year. Today they trade at 191p – a rise from 160p last week before the speculation. Slater says the management will only sell for more than 225p – the point at which their incentives kick-in. So with Peppa Pig bringing home the bacon, Slater’s fund was able to deliver an astonishing return of 17.1 per cent over the past year, according to Trustnet.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

The switch from RPI to CPI will see teachers lose an average £7,700 over a decade.

Teachers and other public sector workers who are approaching retirement face dwindling living standards in later life due to changes to their pensions, and should act now to ensure that they will have enough to live on.
This is the stark warning from the financial group Wesleyan for Teachers, which says the change to the way inflation is applied to public sector pensions will lead to losses of more than £7,500 for the average retiring teacher over a decade. Many will struggle in the last years of their retirement because their payments will lag behind the ”real” rate of inflation.

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

For parents working unsocial hours, a workplace creche is an essential lifeline. But many are being closed as firms cut back

In the workplace nursery at Goldsmiths, University of London, three very contented babies sit on the floor while their parents chat about combining work and parenthood. It’s the babies’ first day at the nursery, and manager Karen Roe has encouraged them to spend the morning settling their offspring into the new surroundings.

The new term has not started yet, and upstairs there are just four children: two are listening to a story and can’t be interrupted, but Bethany and Mathias are cutting and pasting and keen to talk: three-year-old Mathias even writes out his name for me; he’s obviously heard that Guardian journalists are often challenged when it comes to spelling. They are sitting next to a huge bowl of goldfish in a room freshly painted and decorated with pictures, letters and numbers.

Source: GUARDIAN>> Read full article and comment

Plans to remove child benefit from high income families could be diluted over the coming months.

Prime minister David Cameron has reportedly expressed concerns about aspects of the policy, that would cut the income of over a million families by more than £1,000 a year.

Under the current proposals, child benefit would be cut for families where there is at least one adult earning more than £42,475.

Single-earner households with salaries just above the higher rate threshold would be hardest hit.

The Coalition has not yet addressed the anomaly of two working parents earning up to £88,000 a year keeping the benefit, while a stay-at-home mother with a partner earning just over the £44,000 threshold for the 40 per cent tax rate loses it.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

How much do they get? Is it a freebie, or do they have to earn it? Twelve children and their parents talk about the weekly wage wars

Imogen Layther 14, is the daughter of Anne, a general manager at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, and Greg, a lecturer. She has one brother, Richard, 17.
Pocket money: £30 a month
Moni Kaczmarska 14, is the daughter of Ela, a teacher, and Richard, a doctor. She has a brother, Krys, 19, and a sister, Magda, 15.
Pocket money: £5 a week; plus £50 allowance a month
Imogen and Moni go to the same secondary school, where the social life revolves around shopping, going to the cinema, Starbucks and having lunch in Wagamama. Imogen’s £30 a month is expected to cover this. Some weekends, she will spend £6 on her noodle dish of choice, and perhaps £4 in Starbucks. And if she sees some clothes she likes her mother will pay her back, or go halves. But not if alarms go off.

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

Funding for qualifications which offer little or no advantage in the jobs market could be cut under plans from the Welsh Government.

A review of qualifications for 14-19-year-olds was launched by the deputy skills minister Jeff Cuthbert.

It will look at GCSEs, A-levels and the Welsh Bac, particularly how the exams are graded. But the main focus is expected to be on vocational qualifications.

An interim report is due in May.

The Welsh Government funds more than 10,000 different types of qualifications.

Source: BBC NEWS>> Read full article and comment

Labour should have done more for the 50% of youngsters who do not plan to go to university, Shadow Education Secretary Andy Burnham is to say.

He will tell Labour’s annual conference that schools have been seen “solely as preparation for university” for too long.

Those who go straight into work or apprenticeships are left to fend for themselves, he will say.

He will also claim ministers are diverting funds from the most needy.

Speaking at his party’s conference in Liverpool later on Wednesday, he will say: “Let’s be honest about the 50% of kids who don’t plan to go to university. We needed to do more in government about these young people.

Source: BBC NEWS>> Read full article and comment

Every week, 600 hard-pressed working mothers are being forced to give up their jobs.

When rocketing childcare costs are added to soaring household bills and vanishing tax breaks, many just can’t afford to keep working and throw in the towel.

Ruth Lythe investigates the financial reasons behind the rise of the stay-at-home mum. What’s happening?

Every day, dozens of middle-class mothers decide they cannot afford to return to work after having a baby.

According to insurer Aviva, 32,000 have quit the workplace in the past year.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

A rise in the popularity of American-style ‘proms’ at British schools has helped suit sales surge.

Moss Bros chief executive Brian Brick said the company had seen ‘youngsters dressing up more’, leading to a rise in sales of its own fashion suit label Ventuno.

Mr Brick said proms – a U.S. term for a formal end-of-year dance – had become big business as the UK becomes ‘quite like America’, and the retailer expects to deliver better-than-anticipated growth across the financial year despite the fragile economy.

Moss Bros, which can trace its roots back to 1851 in London’s Covent Garden, saw 15.4 per cent same-store sales growth in the six months to July 30 which helped it swing back to a pre-tax profit of £2.2million.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

A record drop in disposable incomes has left families £14 a week worse off than this time a year ago, according to researchers.

Supermarket giant Asda said it registered ‘the biggest squeeze on record’ with a 7.9 per cent fall in just twelve months.

With inflation rising faster than take-home pay, worsened by gas and electricity price hikes and escalating food costs, households have seen the pressure piled on.

Asda’s Income Tracker found that the average family now has £162 disposable income per week.

Source: DAILYMAIL>> Read full article and comment

Almost a third of all parents have cut back on the amount of money they are giving their children as a result of the rising cost of living.

Soaring household bills have meant that the fabled ‘bank of mum and dad’ has had to reign in its lending.
A survey of 3,000 adults by The Co-operative Bank found that three in ten parents are able to give less money to their children than they were a year ago.
With inflation running at 4.5 per cent, household budgets are stretching less far than they were and parents are having to prioritise where their money goes. For example, the cost of filling the average family car with petrol has increased by more than £300 in the last year alone.

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

A boy who cannot walk without a frame is to ride his bicycle in a bid to raise more than £30,000 for life-changing surgery.

Alex McIver, 12, who has cerebral palsy, wanted to help his family acquire enough funds to pay for a pioneering operation in the US.

He will ride his custom-made bicycle around Clapham Common tomorrow, doing a metre for every mile from London to St Louis, where the operation will take place. In total he will cover more than four kilometres.

Source: London Evening Standard>> Read full article and comment