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Asia shares down on economy fears

5 April 2012 Last updated at 10:34 Continue reading the main story Asian shares have declined after fresh fears over the health of the US and European economies resulted in a sell-off in global markets.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1% and Australia's ASX 200 was down 0.3%.

On Wednesday, a weaker-than-expected Spanish bond sale saw concerns over the eurozone debt crisis re-emerge.

In the US, markets fell 1% after the Federal Reserve signalled that it may not provide more economic stimulus.

"The major support for the economy and for the financial markets over the past two years has been stimulus, and without it, it's still a question whether these economies can make it on their own," said Bruce Bittles at Robert W. Baird & Co.

'New wave'

The eurozone has been battling with a sovereign debt crisis, which has raised concerns over economic growth and undermined investors' confidence.

There have been fears over the ability of some eurozone economies to repay their debts.

On Wednesday, those fears were fanned further after the Spanish government's latest bond sale fell short of expectations.

It had hoped to sell up to 3.5bn euros ($4.6bn; £2.9bn) of medium-term bonds, but only managed to sell bonds worth 2.6bn euros.

Spain needs to sell bonds successfully on a rolling basis to meet its existing debt repayments.

To make matters worse, the yields on Spanish bonds already in circulation rose. The yield on 10-year Spanish bonds rose by 0.25 percentage points to 5.7%, the highest level since January.

A higher yield suggests that investors are becoming more worried about Spain's ability to meet its repayments.

Analysts said the disappointing Spanish bond auction was the latest in a long line of concerns for investors and could continue to hurt markets in the coming days.

"The euro crisis always comes in waves and this one is clearly a new wave," said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank.

"There is a lot of volatility and today it doesn't feel like it is the bottom already."

Imports increase US trade deficit

10 February 2012 Last updated at 14:40 GMT Although exports increased the overall US trade gap grew wider The US trade deficit widened in December to its biggest gap since June.

Figures from the Commerce Department showed that the overall deficit rose by 3.7% to $48.8bn (£31bn), up from a $47.06bn figure for the month earlier.

Imports rose 1.3% to a record $227.56bn, boosted by demand for foreign cars and machinery.

US exports grew slightly, by 0.7%, helped by the weak dollar, with records set for petrol, services and advance technology goods.

The widening of the trade gap was bigger than had been expected.

Currency issues

For the whole of 2011, the US trade gap rose 11.6% to $558.0bn, the highest since 2008.

The economically important deficit with China for the year jumped to a record high $295.5bn.

The latest figures, and the exchange rate that China sets its yuan currency against the dollar, is likely to be discussed at a meeting next week between President Barack Obama and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping.

Last year, the Senate, controlled by the Democrats, passed legislation to try to force China to raise the value of its currency, but the bill was thwarted by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Bankers are arrested in tax probe

12 February 2012 Last updated at 14:15 GMT HMRC said the arrests were over the individuals' financial affairs and not related to their work Bankers, including four from the Royal Bank of Scotland, have been arrested in a tax fraud investigation.

The arrests included four current employees and one former employee from the Edinburgh-based bank as well as people from two other banks.

HM Revenue and Customs said the arrests concerned the financial affairs of the individuals, and were not related to their work for the bank.

They were arrested on Wednesday at their homes.

The arrests are the result of a three-year investigation by HMRC into people suspected of evading tax by using a film finance loophole.

An HMRC spokeswoman said: "As a result of an ongoing HMRC investigation into tax-related criminal offences, HMRC has arrested a number of people, some of whom work for UK banks.

"This investigation relates to the actions of the people arrested in relation to their own financial affairs, and is not connected to the business activities of the banks."

'Energy literacy' to be examined

10 February 2012 Last updated at 11:07 GMT The energy system in the UK is to undergo significant changes in the coming years The "energy literacy" of gas and electricity billpayers is to be tested during an inquiry by a committee of MPs to see if more education is needed from the industry.

The jargon used on bills and the barriers to people switching providers will be put under the spotlight by the Energy and Climate Change Committee.

Public perception of electricity and gas prices will also be examined.

Regulator Ofgem has suggested companies offer standard, simpler tariffs.

Jargon

The committee's inquiry will consider whether people want to actively participate in the energy market, by switching suppliers, and if there is anything stopping them doing so.

It also wants to find out whether people are aware of schemes such as smart meters and putting energy efficiency measures into homes.

The language of energy will also be studied. For example, whether people knew how much the cost changed according to usage - and how this was displayed on a bill.

Continue reading the main story kWh: Kilowatt hours - the standard measurement on an energy bill that shows your usageCalorific value: The quality of gas, showing the amount of energy created from burning the gasPrimary/secondary units: You are billed more for primary units, and move on to cheaper secondary units when these are used upmpan: The 21-digit unique electricity meter point administration numbermprn: Unique gas meter number, irrespective of your supplierKilowatt hours (kWh) is the standard measurement on an energy bill that shows the billpayers' usage.

The inquiry will ask whether more education is needed and, if so, who should deliver it.

'No-frills'

Ofgem believes that many customers are confused by the plethora of confusing tariffs on offer.

This leads to them staying put on expensive deals when they would benefit from a switch, if only they could tell which was the cheapest alternative.

So Ofgem has proposed that domestic energy customers are offered the choice of simpler tariffs.

Each firm would have one standard tariff for each of the three payment methods - cheque, direct debit and pre-payment meter - and per fuel. So there would be six standard tariffs per firm.

Suppliers would still be able to offer as many sophisticated tariffs as they like - including dual-fuel tariffs. Those would be at fixed prices, with the exception of tracker-style tariffs, and also for fixed terms.

Pensioners miss weather payments

9 February 2012 Last updated at 15:26 GMT The cold weather across much of the UK has triggered extra benefit payments Up to 1.6 million pensioners are failing to claim benefits they are entitled to - including financial help during the cold snap.

Nearly £3bn of Pension Credit - an income-related benefit for pensioners - is unclaimed each year, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Those who receive it are automatically entitled to a Cold Weather Payment of £25 in freezing weather.

These payments have been triggered in two-thirds of the country.

The benefit, to help pay heating bills during a cold snap, is paid when the weather is - or is forecast to be - at or below freezing for seven consecutive days.

Some 3.7 million people have benefited this winter, with many areas having the payment triggered in recent days.

"During this cold snap it is even more important that people claim," said Pensions Minister Steve Webb.

Pension Credit tops up an income to £137.35 a week for a single person, and to £209.79 for a couple.

Bank's system 'risks house sales'

10 February 2012 Last updated at 14:25 GMT The Law Society has called for HSBC to suspend the new mortgage system Hundreds of house sales are at risk under a new mortgage system being used by a high street bank, legal experts have warned.

The Law Society of Scotland has called on HSBC to suspend its new conveyancing panel system, which limits the firms that carry out its legal work.

The society said the paperwork involved was not fit for purpose and was based on English, rather than Scots, law.

HSBC has offered to work with the society to relieve its concerns.

The bank said it "strongly believes" its conveyancing documentation is fit for purpose and has been drafted for use in Scotland.

The Law Society's warning came after a move last month by the bank to set up a restricted conveyancing panel.

Under the new system, only some law firms in Scotland are allowed to carry out security work on behalf of HSBC, and customers who wish to use their own lawyer face a charge.

Previously, any law firm in Scotland could carry out work for both the purchaser and mortgage lender.

The Law Society warned that documentation issued by HSBC's solicitors was based on English conveyancing.

The society said it required solicitors for both the buyer and seller to grant undertakings which may be difficult, if not impossible, to honour.

The body also said the purchaser's solicitor is being asked to carry out a lot of additional work, much of which would be avoided if they were acting directly for the lender.

The Law Society said it had been inundated with calls from concerned buyers and their solicitors over the past fortnight.

Ross MacKay, convener of the society's property law committee, said: "We pointed out that this new system was wrong in principle and a month on it is becoming clear that it is also wrong in practice. It is failing homebuyers who have chosen an HSBC mortgage.

"There is a risk that house sales will fall through and buyers will be left homeless and sellers without payment.

"We are therefore calling on the bank to immediately suspend the new system until there has been a full review and consultation with us to ensure that the paperwork is legally correct and workable, and that the system does not penalise buyers and their agents."

Relieve concerns

HSBC said the move to the new system was driven by the need to reduce conveyancing fraud, with only the approved panel solicitors being allowed to carry out the banks' part of the legal work.

However, it said customers were still free to use another solicitor to carry out their part of the conveyancing.

It said that rather than facing an additional charge, the existing charges were just being spilt up.

A bank spokesman said: "HSBC strongly believes that its conveyancing documentation is fit for purpose and has been drafted for use in Scotland.

"However we are keen to relieve the Law Society of Scotland of its concerns and we have offered to work with them to agree documentation which both parties are comfortable with.

"We are continuing to complete mortgage transactions as normal, however if customers do have any questions we would encourage them to speak with their HSBC mortgage manager."

China's exports and imports fall

10 February 2012 Last updated at 07:39 GMT The manufacturing and export sectors are key drivers of growth in China China's exports fell in January, the first decline in more than two years, raising fresh concerns about the impact of a global slowdown on its economy.

Exports dipped 0.5% from a year earlier hurt by sluggish demand and factories being shut during the Lunar New Year.

Imports fell by 15.3%, resulting in a trade surplus of $27.3bn (£17bn) which was a six-month high.

The fall in imports comes as China has been trying to boost domestic demand in an attempt to offset slowing exports.

'Particular attention' Continue reading the main story

We believe the major drag and biggest risk to China's growth in 2012 is weaker external demand caused by the ongoing eurozone debt crisis”

End Quote Ting Lu Bank of America Merrill Lynch Analysts said while the closure of establishments during the Chinese New Year affected the numbers, the decline could not be attributed to the festival alone.

They said that the bigger-than-expected drop, especially in imports, was worrying as it gave an indication of slowing growth.

"The collapse of imports begs particular attention," said Ren Xianfeng of IHS Global in Beijing.

"A fall of over 15% in January cannot be entirely explained by the lunar calendar, and adds weight to the view that economic output is slower than headline indicators might suggest."

Earlier this month, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing reported that the import index for January fell to 46.9 from 49.3 in the previous month, showing slowing demand at home.

Despite these numbers, analysts said the dip was likely to be short-lived and imports may start to rise in the coming months.

'Biggest risk'

The export sector has been key to China's economic growth in the past few years as global firms have turned to Beijing to take advantage of its low-cost manufacturing.

However, a slowdown in the US and the eurozone, which are two of the biggest markets for Chinese goods, has seen the pace of growth of shipments slow in recent months.

China's surplus with major trading partners has been a hot political issue

The debt crisis in the eurozone and high rate of unemployment in the US have hurt consumer confidence and dented demand for Chinese goods.

Official figures on Friday showed that bilateral trade between China and the European Union fell more than 7% in January.

Analysts said the continuing debt issues in the eurozone were the biggest threat to China's growth.

"We believe the major drag and biggest risk to China's growth in 2012 is weaker external demand caused by the ongoing eurozone debt crisis," said Ting Lu of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong.

"Our European economists expect a moderate eurozone recession at -0.6% in 2012, while nobody knows the exact probability and severity of a collapse of the eurozone."

More pressure?

China's trade surplus has been a politically sensitive issue, especially with trade partners such as the US.

Businesses and policymakers have accused China of keeping the value of its currency artificially low in a bid to boost its foreign sales.

They have argued that China's high trade surplus has been detrimental to their economic growth.

The latest data comes ahead of Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang's visit to the US next week.

Analysts said the latest jump in the surplus was likely to result in added pressure on China, during the vice-premier's visit, to alter its export-led growth policy.

Network Rail pay chief to stay

10 February 2012 Last updated at 17:38 GMT Network Rail receives £4bn of taxpayer funding a year Network Rail has dismissed calls for the chairman of its remuneration committee to step down following the controversy over executive bonuses.

At a board meeting, some of the company's public members urged the company to appoint a "fresh face".

It follows a political row over bonuses at the taxpayer-subsidised company.

The members were unhappy at how the bonus issue was handled. Network Rail said the committee remained as it was with Steve Russell as boss.

Last week the company's executives announced they would not take bonuses worth as much as 60% of their salary.

'Pretty clear'

One of the members who attended Friday's meeting, David Pemberton, told BBC News: "The phrase that was used was that Steve Russell had 'done a good job' and would see it through to the end.

"The chairman and chief executive and Mr Russell sat side-by-side.

"It was pretty clear that they wanted him to stay to do the job. And Steve Russell said that he was determined to see this through."

Network Rail refused to comment on discussions inside the meeting. A spokesman said they "were not part of the formal business".

Originally the meeting had been scheduled to consider a new bonus scheme but those discussions have been postponed to a later date which has not yet been decided.

Network Rail was set up in 2002 as a replacement for Railtrack. It owns and operates the UK's rail infrastructure, receives £4bn of taxpayer funding a year and is guaranteed by the government.

De Beers annual profits jump 62%

10 February 2012 Last updated at 16:43 GMT Rough diamond prices jumped almost 30% last year Diamond producer De Beers has announced a surge in profits as Chinese and US shoppers snapped up its gems.

Underlying profits were up 62% last year to $698m (£443m).

But the firm warned that trading slowed down in the second half of 2011 and it says that trend is likely to continue this year.

In November, the mining giant Anglo-American agreed to buy out the Oppenheimer family, giving it a controlling stake in De Beers.

The company's chief executive is cautious about the prospects for 2012.

"I don't believe we will see a major crash, but there is certainly a lot of uncertainty," said Philippe Mellier, who took over at De Beers last year.

"On the other hand, all luxury goods appear to be holding very well, and as a result, the luxury goods companies are showing there is still strong demand."

In its annual report, the company said that the price of rough diamonds rose 29% last year.

Israel nationwide strike is over

12 February 2012 Last updated at 12:01 GMT The strike affected major transport hubs including Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion International Airport Israel's main trade union federation has ended a five-day nationwide strike which closed government offices, the stock exchange and key transport hubs.

Histadrut began the protest on Wednesday to try to improve the pay and conditions of 250,000 contract workers.

The workers, often cleaners and security guards for the government, were paid less and had fewer rights than directly employed permanent staff.

The Israeli government has agreed to give them a 20% pay increase.

They will also become eligible for bonuses and have improved pensions and holiday pay.

Histadrut originally was pressing for the government to employ the workers directly, but has accepted the enhanced terms offered by the government.

A deal with private sector businesses that employ such contract workers was struck last week.

They agreed that employees who have worked full time for at least one year would be hired directly rather than through an employment agency.

At that time, the government held back from signing an improved deal, saying it could not take on so many new workers.

The strike had a wide-ranging impact, at one point putting Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion International Airport out of action.

It also affected hospitals, banks, the national electricity company, as well as ports and the rail service.

The Israeli Chambers of Commerce put the cost of the action at about $100m (£63m) a day.

Dyson intends to create 300 jobs

12 February 2012 Last updated at 21:05 GMT James Dyson founded the engineering company in 1992 The engineering firm Dyson says it has made £1bn ($1.58bn, 1.19bn euros) turnover for the first time and will create 300 skilled jobs, around 8% of its workforce.

The firm, best known for its bagless vacuum cleaners, said sales rose by a quarter in 2011, with some markets growing by 30%.

The company's new chief executive, Max Conze, said 200 of the new jobs would be engineering positions.

At least 150 will go to graduates.

The Wiltshire-based group, founded by Sir James Dyson, employs 3,600 staff worldwide.

It was founded in 1992 and now sells machines, including hand dryers, in more than 50 markets.

Dyson designs its products in the UK but after initially making them in the UK, moved much of the manufacturing to Malaysia to cut costs.

It did not reveal its profit figure for the year. In 2010, the business made a profit of £210m on turnover of £887m.

Small business loan target missed

10 February 2012 Last updated at 16:01 GMT Under the government's Project Merlin deal, the banks agreed to increase lending significantly The five main UK banks have missed their Project Merlin target for lending to smaller firms, but exceeded the overall lending target, British Bankers' Association figures show.

The banks said they met their overall government-agreed commitments last year, with gross new loans of £214.9bn against a target of £190bn.

But £74.9bn was lent to smaller firms, less than the £76bn target.

The banks blamed the shortfall on fewer firms coming forward for credit.

A spokesman for the banks said demand for credit from small firms fell last year and "remains weak".

Under the government's Project Merlin deal, the five UK banks - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS and Santander UK - were to make it easier for smaller firms to access credit.

The collapse of many smaller businesses during the financial crisis was blamed on banks' refusal to lend to viable companies.

The £74.9bn the banks lent to small and medium-sized firms last year compares with £66bn in 2010.

'Challenging' conditions

The national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, John Walker, described the failure to hit the £76bn target for loans as "extremely disappointing".

"It is even more disappointing, given that the Project Merlin targets were set artificially low in the first place," he added.

"Now, more than ever, it is imperative that the government embraces plans for alternative sources of finance and puts in place its credit easing scheme."

A spokesman for the Merlin banks said: "This performance demonstrates the banks' commitment to providing businesses with the financial support they need to invest and grow and the significant progress made this year."

He cited last month's Bank of England Credit Conditions Survey, which said that the demand for credit from small businesses fell in three out of four quarters in 2011.

The spokesman said: "The banks' efforts to encourage customers to come forward with borrowing proposals are set against this overall challenging economic environment. The business demand for credit remains weak."

'More help needed' for BAE staff

10 February 2012 Last updated at 14:26 GMT BAE Systems needs to attract other businesses to help workers facing redundancy at its East Yorkshire site, according to a new report by Civitas.

The think-tank group spent three months analysing the potential of the Brough plant.

BAE announced plans in September to cut nearly 900 posts at its Brough site to maintain its competitiveness.

The defence contractor welcomed the Civitas report and said it had "considered fully" its recommendations.

Last month the firm said 54 technical and engineering jobs would be saved.

Consultations are continuing over plans to cut 845 posts at Brough together with almost 1,400 at BAE sites in Warton and Samlesbury, Lancashire.

'Highly skilled'

In the report, Civitas suggested the redundancies at Brough could be mitigated if BAE was prepared to do more to attract other businesses to the site. But it warned that time was running out.

It described the workforce as "highly skilled" and an "asset to any company" wanting to set up production facilities.

Civitas said it had already had positive discussions with several engineering and aerospace companies about investing in the Brough factory, though nothing had been confirmed as definite.

This included early talks with Siemens, which is planning to build a turbine factory in Hull.

It said: "If at least one 'large corporate' can be secured, this would act as a magnet in encouraging other companies to follow."

The report also stated that BAE is co-operating with efforts to bring in investment.

However, decisions by the firm to move specialised equipment out of the factory and a proposal to sell some of the land for housing will not help to attract aerospace companies to the site, Civitas said.

'Unrestricted access'

According to Civitas, redundancies in Brough could start as soon as mid-2012 and as a result, there would be "a small window of opportunity for the proposals to be implemented".

In a statement, a BAE Systems spokesperson said: "We are pleased to have had the opportunity to work with Civitas on its research and have provided them with unrestricted access to our data and unlimited access to our people and facilities.

"BAE Systems welcomes Civitas's recognition of the skills of our Brough workforce.

"Civitas recognises that there is insufficient work to maintain manufacturing capability at our three factories. We would like to thank Civitas for its report which we have considered fully."

Barclays' profits fall to £5.9bn

10 February 2012 Last updated at 12:59 GMT Barclays Bank has announced a slight drop in its annual pre-tax profits - but still banked nearly £6 billion last year

Barclays has reported a 3% fall in profits to £5.9bn for last year, hit by a slowdown at its investment bank arm.

The bank also said the bonus pool at the investment banking division was down 32% to £1.5bn in 2011.

Chief executive Bob Diamond declined to discuss his own bonus during a news conference.

But senior executives will see bonuses cut about 48%, which BBC business editor Robert Peston says would give Mr Diamond about £3m.

Barclays' total bonus pot for the year will now be about £2.15bn, down 25%, with cash bonuses capped at £65,000.

The average bonus payout for a Barclays' employee fell 21% year-on-year to £15,200.

At a press conference, Mr Diamond avoided questions about his own bonus. "This [news conference] is about results today," he said.

Nor would he discuss critical comments from the Association of British Insurers', which lobbies on behalf of some of the UK's biggest investors, the pension funds.

Robert Talbut, chairman of the ABI's investment committee, said: "Whilst overall bonus levels at Barclays have been reduced, for Barclays Capital this reduction is only in line with the fall in profit before tax at BarCap.

Continue reading the main story

Apparently Mr Diamond would never say if he were to give the bonus to charity, because he likes to keep his charitable work secret”

End Quote Robert Peston Business editor, BBC News "This appears to be very close to business as usual. It is not the signal of the change required in order to improve the investment case," he said.

Barclays, the UK's fourth largest bank by market value, received no injection of state aid during the financial crisis and had previously indicated that it felt under no obligation to cut bonuses.

But its results come after weeks of conflict over bonuses, in which RBS chief Stephen Hester turned down £963,000 worth of shares, and Lloyds Banking Group head Antonio Horta-Osorio waived his own payout following a leave of absence.

'Challenging' environment

Income at investment bank arm Barclays Capital (BarCap) fell to £1.8bn in the fourth quarter of last year, down 19% on the previous three months. The eurozone debt crisis hit the division's bond trading activity.

Mr Diamond said in a statement: "Against a backdrop of challenging economic and market conditions, we maintained our focus."

However, the adjusted return on equity was 6.6% for the year, down from 6.8% in 2010 and well below its target of 13%.

Analyst Ralph Silva: "Barclays is doing much better than the vast majority of banks"

"We are not satisfied with the return on equity we delivered in 2011 and are committed to delivering steady improvement moving forwards," Mr Diamond said.

"We expect the economic and regulatory environment to continue to be challenging in 2012," he added.

Barclays said losses on bad loans fell by a third from 2010 to £3.8bn.

The bank said it had exceeded its targets on lending to UK businesses under the Project Merlin programme, with £43.6bn of gross new lending to businesses, including £14.7bn to small and medium size firms.

The bank also said it had strengthened its Tier 1 capital ratio - money held in reserve as a buffer against financial troubles - to 11%.

Analyst Richard Hunter, of head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, gave a cautious welcome to the results.

"Barclays has dodged some, but not all, of the bullets which have come its way," he said.

"These are difficult times and the results mirror challenges already reported by other global banks of late.

"The significant drop in revenue at Barclays Capital was largely trailed but nonetheless dents overall progress."

Barclays, whose shares rose 4% in morning trading, is the first of the big UK banks to report its annual profits.

Meanwhile, Lloyds Banking Group said on Friday that it had also beaten the Project Merlin targets laid down by the government for lending to small businesses.

Lloyds, 40%-owned by the government, said it had lent £12.5bn to small-and-medium-sized enterprises in 2011, ahead of a £11.7bn target under the Merlin deal.

Shock loss for India's Tata Steel

10 February 2012 Last updated at 03:54 GMT Tata Steel is the world's tenth largest steelmaker and the biggest in India Tata Steel, the largest producer in India, unexpectedly reported a loss for the last three months of 2011, hit by weak demand.

The company saw a net loss of 6.03bn rupees ($122m; £77m) in the third quarter, Tata Steel said in a statement.

That compares with a net profit of 10bn rupees a year earlier.

Higher prices for raw materials as well as falling demand and prices in Europe contributed to the decline, Tata said.

Analysts were expecting a 3.4bn rupee net profit, according to Reuters news agency.

The company operates two thirds of its capacity in Europe, where the debt crisis is hitting demand.

The head of Tata's European operations said he did not expect demand to pick up this year.

"We are accelerating cash conservation in expectation of muted but stable demand in our core markets in 2012," he said in a statement.

Analysts said Tata Steel was being squeezed from both sides.

"There hasn't been a demand uptick that was expected, so prices have come down," said Ravindra Deshpande from Elara Securities in Mumbai.

"At the same time, none of their production costs are lower, so margins are under pressure."

Mr Deshpande added that he did not expect much better results in the next few quarters.

Bank's system 'risks house sales'

10 February 2012 Last updated at 14:25 GMT The Law Society has called for HSBC to suspend the new mortgage system Hundreds of house sales are at risk under a new mortgage system being used by a high street bank, legal experts have warned.

The Law Society of Scotland has called on HSBC to suspend its new conveyancing panel system, which limits the firms that carry out its legal work.

The society said the paperwork involved was not fit for purpose and was based on English, rather than Scots, law.

HSBC has offered to work with the society to relieve its concerns.

The bank said it "strongly believes" its conveyancing documentation is fit for purpose and has been drafted for use in Scotland.

The Law Society's warning came after a move last month by the bank to set up a restricted conveyancing panel.

Under the new system, only some law firms in Scotland are allowed to carry out security work on behalf of HSBC, and customers who wish to use their own lawyer face a charge.

Previously, any law firm in Scotland could carry out work for both the purchaser and mortgage lender.

The Law Society warned that documentation issued by HSBC's solicitors was based on English conveyancing.

The society said it required solicitors for both the buyer and seller to grant undertakings which may be difficult, if not impossible, to honour.

The body also said the purchaser's solicitor is being asked to carry out a lot of additional work, much of which would be avoided if they were acting directly for the lender.

The Law Society said it had been inundated with calls from concerned buyers and their solicitors over the past fortnight.

Ross MacKay, convener of the society's property law committee, said: "We pointed out that this new system was wrong in principle and a month on it is becoming clear that it is also wrong in practice. It is failing homebuyers who have chosen an HSBC mortgage.

"There is a risk that house sales will fall through and buyers will be left homeless and sellers without payment.

"We are therefore calling on the bank to immediately suspend the new system until there has been a full review and consultation with us to ensure that the paperwork is legally correct and workable, and that the system does not penalise buyers and their agents."

Relieve concerns

HSBC said the move to the new system was driven by the need to reduce conveyancing fraud, with only the approved panel solicitors being allowed to carry out the banks' part of the legal work.

However, it said customers were still free to use another solicitor to carry out their part of the conveyancing.

It said that rather than facing an additional charge, the existing charges were just being spilt up.

A bank spokesman said: "HSBC strongly believes that its conveyancing documentation is fit for purpose and has been drafted for use in Scotland.

"However we are keen to relieve the Law Society of Scotland of its concerns and we have offered to work with them to agree documentation which both parties are comfortable with.

"We are continuing to complete mortgage transactions as normal, however if customers do have any questions we would encourage them to speak with their HSBC mortgage manager."

Airlines seek UN deal on EU tax

13 February 2012 Last updated at 03:07 GMT Airlines have said the emissions scheme will put more pressure on their costs The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called for the United Nations to broker a deal between airlines and the European Union (EU) on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

It comes days after China banned its airlines from joining the scheme, which levies a charge on flights in EU airspace based on carbon emissions.

Other nations such as the US and Canada have also opposed the plan.

IATA said if not resolved quickly, the issue could hurt all parties involved.

"I very much hope of course that we are not seeing the beginning of a trade war on this issue and eventually wiser counsels will prevail," said Tony Tyler, Director General of IATA.

Japan economy worse than forecast

13 February 2012 Last updated at 01:14 GMT Japanese carmakers have been hit hard by natural disasters and a rising yen in the past year Japan's economy contracted more than expected in the last three months of 2011 as a rising yen and floods in Thailand hurt businesses.

Gross domestic product shrunk by 2.3% during the period from a year earlier, much worse than 1.4% contraction that analysts had forecast.

Compared with the previous three months, the economy shrank by 0.6%.

The numbers are a big blow to Japan's efforts to recover from the earthquake and tsunami last year.

"The economy is slowing down by more than what was expected," Martin Schulz of Fujitsu Research Institute told the BBC.

"The slowdown of exports is taking a heavy toll on industry."

Multiple factors

The data comes amid concerns of a slowdown in the global economy, not least due to the ongoing debt crisis in the eurozone.

The crisis has hurt confidence and dented consumer demand in Europe, which is a key market for Japanese goods.

Meanwhile the high rate of unemployment in the US, the world's largest economy, continues to be a concern despite encouraging economic data in recent weeks.

Continue reading the main story

Exports have fallen a lot because of a triple shock from Europe, the strong yen and floods in Thailand”

End Quote Hiroaki Muto Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management At the same time, some of Asia's biggest economies such as China and India have also started to show signs of slowing growth.

To make matters worse, Japanese companies have had to deal with a strong yen. The Japanese currency has risen more than 7% against the US dollar since April last year.

A strengthening yen makes Japanese goods more expensive for foreign buyers and also hurts the profits of exporters when they repatriate their foreign earnings to Japan.

Production at some of the country's biggest firms was also hurt during the period as floods in Thailand caused disruptions to supply chains.

Analysts said all these factors were hurting Japan's economic growth.

"This is a contraction driven by external demand. Exports have fallen a lot because of a triple shock from Europe, the strong yen and floods in Thailand," said Hiroaki Muto of Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management.

"Unfortunately we can't be as optimistic about exports, because Asian economies are slowing and it will take time for the US to recover."

Few options?

The data comes ahead of the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) meeting to decide on its monetary policy going ahead.

The bank has already kept its interest rate at a historic low of between zero to 0.1% for some time.

It has also intervened in the currency markets over the past year in a bid to stem the yen's rise against the dollar.

Analysts said while there is pressure on the Japanese central bank to take measures to boost growth, the BOJ's options were limited.

"Money supply is at peak levels already," said Fujitsu Research Institute's Mr Schulz.

Producer prices rise in January

10 February 2012 Last updated at 10:24 GMT There are worries that rising oil prices could increase factory gate inflation UK producer prices rose 0.5% in January from December as the cost of alcohol, fuel and clothes rose, figures show.

In the year to January 2012 output inflation was 4.1%, down from a rate of 4.8% in December and the lowest annual rate since November 2010.

Input cost inflation also slowed, falling to an annual pace of 7% in January against 8.9% in December.

However, Scotia Capital economist Alan Clarke said the figures were "on the high side of expectations".

Some policymakers have warned that a renewed spike in oil prices could keep overall inflation up, and January's data showed that a price rise in crude oil was the main driver of the rise in input prices.

The Bank of England has forecast that consumer price inflation will fall this year from the current rate of 4.2% and dip below its 2% target towards the end of 2012.

Separately, Office for National Statistics construction data confirmed that the sector shrank by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, when the overall economy also contracted.

Sainsbury's relaxes freeze advice

10 February 2012 Last updated at 04:40 GMT Sainsbury's hopes the move could stop over-cautious consumers binning perfectly good food Sainsbury's is removing advice to freeze food "on day of purchase" from its labels and informing customers it can be done up until the use-by date.

The UK's third-largest supermarket chain believes 800,000 tonnes of food a year could be saved from the bin.

The move, in conjunction with the Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap), was welcomed by the government as "good news for hard-pressed family budgets".

The average UK family wastes up to £50 worth of perfectly good food a month.

The supermarket will advise freezing food as soon as possible, any time up until the use-by date.

"There is no food safety reason why it cannot be frozen at any point prior to the use-by date," said Beth Hart, head of product technology for fresh and frozen.

Continue reading the main story 7.2 million tonnes of household food waste is thrown away annually in the UK4.4 million tonnes of food binned annually could have been eatenThe environmental impact of avoidable household food waste is around 17 million tonnes of CO2e - equivalent to the emissions of one in five cars on UK roads the average family wastes £680 of food a yearthe total value of food wasted in the UK each year is £12bn

Source: Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap)

"As one customer pointed out to me while discussing the previous labelling, 'How does the product know which day I purchased it on?"'

Research by Wrap has found that 60% of people believe food has to be frozen on the day it is bought - a view reinforced by current labelling.

"Now we can all look in our fridges and know that we can freeze most items which are about to go out of date and enjoy them at a later time," said Andrew Parry, Wrap consumer food waste prevention manager.

Environment Minister Lord Taylor said: "This is good common sense by Sainsbury's and it's good news for hard-pressed family budgets."

New deals as stamp duty holiday ends

11 February 2012 Last updated at 00:01 GMT By Susannah Streeter Business reporter, BBC News Stuart Smith renovates homes but cannot afford to buy one First-time buyers are being urged not to rush into hasty property transactions just to benefit from the stamp duty holiday which is due to end next month.

Those buying a home worth less than £250,000 are exempt from paying the normal 1% stamp duty until 24 March.

The tax band is being reintroduced because the Chancellor George Osborne believes the holiday has been ineffective in letting more people buy a home.

Instead the government is introducing other incentives to persuade lenders to offer loans to potential buyers.

Property market commentator Henry Pryor says people should not buy a home now just to beat the deadline.

''People must remember that the value of property can go down as well as up," he says.

"House prices over the last 12 months have fallen by 1.2% according to the Land Registry.

"If they were to continue to fall at that sort of rate or more, as some commentators are suggesting, then clearly the saving you are going to make will be wiped out very swiftly,'' Pryor adds.

'Frustrating'

Incentivising first-time buyers is seen as key to revitalising the housing market and creating construction jobs.

After the credit crunch many banks started demanding hefty deposits from mortgage borrowers of 20% or more.

The challenge for many first-time buyers has been building up that level of deposit, particularly with rents being so high.

Stuart Smith from Bristol renovates houses for a living and would like to buy his own property.

"It's really frustrating because I have so many ideas about what I could do to my own home if I owned one, but I spend my time doing work on other people's," Smith says.

"It's just getting that deposit together which is so difficult.''

New scheme

Last year the government launched the FirstBuy scheme.

Do not rush to buy just to beat the reintroduction of the 1% stamp duty, Henry Pryor warns

It lends people part of their down-payments, interest-free for five years, but only if they buy newly built homes.

Next month another initiative is being launched.

Under the NewBuy Guarantee scheme, lenders will be able to offer 95% mortgages on new homes without taking on all of the risk if the borrower defaults.

This insurance scheme will mean that lenders will be guaranteed to lose less money than before if the borrower eventually fails to repay all their loan.

A spokesman from the Department of Communities and Local Government explained how it would work.

''If buyers can't meet the shortfall developers step in, having put aside 3.5 per cent of property price into an indemnity fund.

"If that does not cover it, the government's liability is 5.5% of the cost of the home,'' he said.

Shared ownership

More lenders are already offering better deals to buyers with only 10% to put down, but the interest rates offered are higher than for those deals with larger deposits.

Shared ownership schemes are an option and some need a deposit of just 5%.

Borrowers pay a mortgage on the share of the property purchased and also pay rent on the share they do not own.

The main drawback of shared ownership schemes is that you are limited in the properties available.

The fact that you might have to buy a brand new home may also put people off, says Melanie Bien, a mortgage finance expert.

''It can also be more difficult to sell at the end if you want to move up the ladder and we have have found people who are trapped in those homes and can't buy a bigger property because their share their value has not gone up," she says.

Saving is hard

Another shared equity mortgage concept is awaiting approval by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Melanie Bien warns that the new schemes target buyers of newly built homes

This could appeal to people who may want a larger property but do not want to increase their monthly payments.

It would only be available to people who already have a 20% deposit.

But under the scheme an investment firm, Castle Trust, would contribute another 20% of the down-payment.

That would mean applicants would only need to take out a mortgage for 60% of the property's value.

However, when the property is sold, they would have to give the firm 40% of any increase in the property's value.

The deal has not yet been approved by the FSA.

But even if it is, such products still will not help the average first- time buyer.

Stuart Smith recognises that there are deals around which could help him buy a new build home.

But he wants to buy an older property to renovate and add value to, to give him a buffer in case house prices continue to fall.

''Paying rent at the same time as saving for a deposit is really hard, I really hope a lender will come up with a deal soon which will help us buy a property we can really call our own," says Stuart.

Downgrade for most Italian banks

10 February 2012 Last updated at 19:48 GMT Unicredit is among the 34 banks downgraded by Standard and Poor's The credit ratings agency Standard and Poor's has downgraded its assessment of almost all of Italy's major banks.

The review involves 34 of the 37 banks covered by the agency.

Italy's biggest financial institutions, including UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco Popolare, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro and Mediobanca, are among them.

A credit rating affects the price of borrowing and the move follows S&P's two-notch downgrade of the Italian government's creditworthiness.

But despite the sovereign downgrade, which typically makes borrowing more expensive, Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti's austerity plan has helped to bring down Italy's 10-year borrowing rate closer to 6% from 7% for much of last year.

The action came too late to prompt share price reaction as it came after the market closed.

Greek MPs pass austerity package

13 February 2012 Last updated at 01:33 GMT The BBC's Mark Lowen: "It was some of the worst violence Athens had seen for months"

Greece's parliament has passed a controversial package of austerity measures, demanded by the eurozone and IMF in return for a 130bn-euro ($170bn; £110bn) bailout to avoid default.

The vote was carried by 199 votes in favour, with 74 MPs voting against.

Coalition parties expelled over 40 deputies for failing to back the bill.

The vote came amid violent scenes in capital, Athens, and elsewhere, with protesters outside parliament throwing stones and petrol bombs.

Police fired tear gas and several buildings were set on fire in Athens.

Dozens of police officers and at least 37 protesters were injured, 23 suspected rioters were arrested and a further 25 detained, AP reports.

PM Lucas Papademos urged calm, saying violence had no place in a democracy.

Lawmakers have also approved a related deal to write off 100bn euros of Greek debt held by private banks.

Despite a rebellion by some MPs from parties in the ruling coalition, the result was expected, reports the BBC's Mark Lowen in Athens.

Continue reading the main story Chris Morris BBC News, Athens

Late into the night, buildings in Athens were burning. It was clear that in some areas of the city police had effectively lost control, if only for a short time.

Violence has occurred during votes before, but buildings have not been set ablaze for some time. Every event chips away at the confidence that the state is holding things together.

Emotions were also running high in parliament, with no-one voting for the plan with much enthusiasm. Greeks on the streets feels that the country cannot bear any more austerity. The eurozone's strategy for its survival is feeling the full force of public anger.

Pasok, the largest party, and its coalition ally New Democracy - which have both backed the bill - account for more than 230 deputies out of a total of 300.

Following the vote the parties announced they had each expelled about 20 of the rebel MPs.

'Vandalism'

There is mounting public anger in Greece and a feeling that the impact on ordinary people is beyond the value of the bailout, says our correspondent.

Some reports say as many as 80,000 people joined demonstrations in Athens, with another 20,000 protesting in Thessaloniki.

Violent protests also spread to other Greek town and cities, including the holiday islands of Corfu and Crete, according to Reuters.

Running battles with police were still continuing in parts of the capital late on Sunday.

Protesters hurled flares and chunks of marble torn up from the square. Some had tried to break through a cordon of riot police around the parliament.

Several historic buildings, including cafes and cinemas, were in flames. Syntagma Square - in the heart of Athens - is cloaked in a hail of tear gas, our correspondent says.

Ioannis Simantiras, 34, said the protesters were boxed in by the police.

"Nobody could get away from the gas," he told the BBC.

"When it engulfed everybody, and everybody was choking the police drew back and opened up a corridor for us away from the parliament - that's when everybody made a run for it."

The austerity measures include:

15,000 public-sector job cutsliberalisation of labour lawslowering the minimum wage by 20% from 751 euros a month to 600 eurosnegotiating a debt write-off with banks.

Mr Papademos had earlier said Greece did not have the luxury of such protests in such difficult times.

"Vandalisms, violence and destruction have no place in a democratic country and won't be tolerated," he said in a speech in parliament before the vote.

"From you and your vote it will depend if Greece will remain in the euro or if it will be driven to an unruly default," he said.

"By voting for this economic programme and opening the road for the loan agreement you will set the foundations for the reform and recovery of the economy."

Continue reading the main story Greece's economic reforms, which led to it abandoning the drachma as its currency in favour of the euro in 2002, made it easier for the country to borrow money. Greece went on a big, debt-funded spending spree, including paying for high-profile projects such as the 2004 Athens Olympics, which went well over its budget. The country was hit by the downturn, which meant it had to spend more on benefits and received less in taxes. There were also doubts about the accuracy of its economic statistics. Greece's economic problems meant lenders started charging higher interest rates to lend it money. Widespread tax evasion also hit the government's coffers. There have been demonstrations against the government's austerity measures to deal with its debt, such as cuts to public sector pay and pensions, reduced benefits and increased taxes. The EU, IMF and European Central Bank agreed 229bn euros ($300bn; £190bn) of rescue loans for Greece. Prime Minister George Papandreou quit in November 2011 after trying to call a referendum. Eurozone leaders are worried that if Greece were to default, and even leave the euro, it would cause a major financial crisis that could spread to much bigger economies such as Italy and Spain. Under Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, Greece is trying to negotiate a big write-off of private debts and secure a second bail-out of 130bn euros ($170bn, £80bn) before a 20 March deadline. BACK {current} of {total} NEXT "The question is not whether some salaries and pensions will be curtailed, but whether we will be able to pay even these reduced wages and pensions," Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said, according to AP.

"When you have to choose between bad and worse, you will pick what is bad to avoid what is worse."

New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said: "The dramatic events in the centre of Athens harm Greece and hurt all the Greek people.

"We have seen scenes that must not happen again in the future. I ask every Greek to show prudence, patriotism, calm, and unity," he added.

Earlier this week several ministers from the coalition government, including two from Pasok, quit their jobs in protest at the measures.

The leader of the far-right Laos party effectively withdrew his party from the coalition, announcing its 15 deputies would not back the austerity measures.

George Karatzaferis complained that Greeks were being "humiliated" by Germany, through its influence over the eurozone negotiations.

The eurozone bloc wants a further 325m euros in savings for this year and also insists that Greek leaders give "strong political assurances" on the implementation of the packages.

Greece cannot service its huge debt, and there are fears that a default could endanger Europe's financial stability and even lead to a break-up of the eurozone.

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RBS boss calls for pay correction

3 February 2012 Last updated at 12:40 GMT Sir Philip Hampton, chairman of RBS: Mr Hester "entitled" to bonus

The chairman of the 82% taxpayer owned Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS6) has said banker pay has been "high for too long" and needs to be "corrected".

Sir Philip Hampton defended his decision to award a bonus to chief executive Stephen Hester.

Speaking to the BBC he said the board "underestimated" the public reaction that later caused Mr Hester to turn down his bonus.

RBS needed to be run by the "best people" on "competitive" pay, he said.

"Stephen Hester has one of the most challenging and demanding jobs, I think literally, in world business," said Sir Philip.

But he said the public hostility to bonuses had prompted the board to think again about how they provided staff with incentives.

"We are a commercial organisation competing in extremely competitive markets, I think its highly unlikely that we'll have the best possible people to do that if we don't pay appropriate amounts," he said.

"Now the amounts are high by absolute standards but by relative standards what Stephen Hester is getting is not high at all, in fact its quite low."

'Dislocation'

However, Sir Philip accepted that pay needed to come down in the industry as a whole.

"Essentially, particularly in the banks, particularly in the investment banks, shareholders have done pretty badly and employees have done pretty well. That needs to be corrected," he said.

Continue reading the main story

Bankers have made personal fortunes over the past decade, while anyone unfortunate enough to own shares in their institutions has been consigned to near penury.”

End Quote Robert Peston Business editor, BBC News Sir Philip said business people in general were "very aware" of the politics surrounding pay and of a "dislocation" between top business people and ordinary people.

He said elements of campaigns against inequality were "perfectly reasonable."

"Where I have more reservations is where the debate becomes hysterical rather than analytical or reasonable and I think we saw something of a witch hunt, something of a mob mentality around an issue," he said.

Social responsibility

Sir Philip's comments came as the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, called for a culture of "one nation banking" in which financial institutions are not "isolated" from the rest of society.

Mr Miliband had called for the government to block the bonus to Mr Hester and will press for a vote on bonuses in parliament next week.

Other top bankers have also warned about pay.

On Thursday, the chief executive of Deutsche Bank warned of a "social time bomb" from rising wealth and income inequality.

He suggested top earners have a "social responsibility" towards philanthropy.

Mobility aid sellers in spotlight

3 February 2012 Last updated at 12:25 GMT Some elderly people and their families have complained about doorstep sales of mobility aids Action has been taken against mobility aid traders in the UK following a warning from the regulator over sales of the products.

In September, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) raised concerns about sales of stairlifts and other aids to elderly and disabled people.

Now it has removed the credit licences of two people, and overseen a revamp of contracts by another firm.

Investigations are also continuing into doorstep sales by a national trader.

Licence removal

Last year, the OFT said it had received thousands of complaints about sales of these aids, such as stairlifts, scooters, special chairs and adjustable beds.

Some victims found the equipment they were promised failed to turn up or was overpriced.

There is nothing to prevent traders knocking on doors, although there are rules on what they can do once they gain entry to a potential customer's home.

The regulator has now revoked the consumer credit licences of Amarjit Gill and his business associate Ranjit Dhami over concerns about how they sold mobility aids.

Amarjit Gill, who traded as ABM Mobility, breached consumer protection legislation, including using aggressive sales techniques, despite warnings from Derbyshire Trading Standards.

Ranjit Dhami held a separate licence and had traded as A.B.M., Phoenix 1000, Eurostar, Star Enterprises and Phoenix Enterprises. She was judged unfit to hold a credit licence by the OFT because of her association with Amarjit Gill's business.

A separate investigation into Yorkshire-based Acorn Mobility Services Limited has led to the company amending its contracts to change potentially unfair terms, and to overhaul its customer service procedures.

"We warned traders that unless they stopped using aggressive sales techniques and unfair business practices to sell mobility aids they would face enforcement, and that is what we are doing," said OFT director David Fisher.

"We will take further action, working in partnership with local trading standards services, if there is evidence of unfair trading or where fitness to hold a credit licence is called into question."

Cold front ad for Mini backfires

2 February 2012 Last updated at 12:49 GMT Snow and ice have made many forms of travel in Germany a challenge in recent days An advertising agency for BMW has paid to name a cold weather front sweeping Europe "Cooper" in Germany, after the carmaker's Mini Cooper.

But the public-relations stunt by the agency went wrong after the freezing conditions led to dozens of deaths.

Germany's meteorology institute allows the sponsorship of weather systems.

On its website, advertising agency Sassenbach says that naming the front after the open-air vehicle was a "wind- and weather-proof idea".

It is encouraging people to follow the path of the weather on meteorological websites.

While the snow and ice have brought some stunning scenes across Europe, the freezing temperatures have led to at least 100 deaths, mainly in Poland and Ukraine.

In Ukraine alone, nearly 950 people are being treated in hospital with hypothermia and frostbite, the Associated Press news agency reports.

The Munich-based advertising agency said it was no longer commenting on the unfortunate correlation between the progress of the severe weather and the car it sought to publicise.

It has also named a warmer weather front to follow "Minnie".

BMW has apologised for the stunt, which cost the advertising firm 229 euros (£190).

In a statement, the carmaker said it could not influence exactly when names for weather fronts would be used, or what a weather system would do.

It said it deeply regretted that the weather front had taken on "catastrophic proportions" and claimed so many lives.

The meteorological institute's "Adopt a Vortex" scheme has been running since 2002, with the money raised helping to fund weather monitoring at Berlin's Free University.

The institute is the only one outside the US which names weather systems.

High Streets bid for £1m funding

4 February 2012 Last updated at 06:01 GMT Mary Portas recommended that town centres be managed through new "town teams" The government is looking for 12 run down High Streets in England to share £1m as part of plans proposed by TV retail guru Mary Portas.

Areas will bid for support from a dedicated team and Ms Portas herself.

The scheme was described as a "golden ticket" for town centres by local government minister, Grant Shapps.

The Local Government Association, which represents councils, has said that the pilot "simply tinkers around the edges".

"We urge the government to step up and give councils some real power," said its spokesman Peter Box.

"Councils don't want to see short-term schemes - instead they want to see some firm action and a commitment from all government departments and agencies."

But ministers said it was hoped other towns would "adopt and implement the ideas" in the pilots.

A spokesman at the Department for Communities and Local Government added: "Far from tinkering around the edges, these pilots will have every opportunity to bring real and lasting change to the role of our High Streets to turn them into places local people want to be.

"We want to see ambitious and innovative schemes that test the potential of the recommendations Mary Portas put forward."

No magic bullet

The British Retail Consortium, which represents Britain's retail industry, has been positive about the plan but pointed out that £1m spread amongst 12 town centres will not go far.

"High streets are a fundamental part of our communities and need to move with the times," said Tom Ironside, director of business at the British Retail Consortium in a statement.

"Introducing pilots to address specific local issues could identify new innovations and approaches which might also work elsewhere. But this is no magic bullet and must be accompanied by other steps, as swiftly as possible."

In the same statement Mr Ironside called for a change to the 5.6% rate of tax for business rates which is set to come into effect in April.

'Town teams'

Ms Portas, the star of TV show Mary Queen of Shops, was appointed to advise the government on town centres in 2011.

As part of her review, Ms Portas recommended that town centres be managed through new "town teams" who would be responsible for developing businesses in the area.

The competition acts on this and introduces town teams, made up of landlords, shopkeepers, residents, and the local authority and asks them to come up with a vision for their High Street.

Other ideas from her review range from introducing market stalls and free parking schemes to cutting restrictions on night-time deliveries.

UK download speed gains 'uneven'

2 February 2012 Last updated at 00:02 GMT New advertising rules will limit how fast ISPs can market their "up to" speeds after April The UK's average home download speed is on the rise, but it could be even faster if more users upgraded at minimal cost, according to Ofcom.

November's average broadband speed was 7.6 megabits per second, up from 6.8Mbps in May, says the regulator.

Upgrades offered by Virgin Media and BT helped boost the figure.

Ofcom says many of the 42% of homes which subscribe to speeds of 10Mbps or less would benefit from switching deal or provider at little or no cost.

The 22% headline speed bump is a notable improvement, according to the price comparison website broadbandchoices.co.uk.

"In reality, the average speed increase of 1.4Mbits will save you around 6 minutes when downloading a 2 hour film," said Michael Philips, the firm's product director.

"This doesn't sound a lot but faster connections improve your general web-surfing experience and are definitely worth the investment, for example if more than one person shares the connection in a household."

Ofcom noted that the price difference between many of the so-called super-fast services and current generation connections was "relatively small".

It said Plusnet customers could roughly double their promised speed to "up to" 40Mbps by swapping to a service with the firm that cost £5 more a month.

It said TalkTalk clients could enjoy a similar gain by paying their provider an extra £10 a month, while one of BT's deals offered an equivalent speed bump at no extra charge.

Marketing restrictions The figures are contained in Ofcom's sixth study into residential fixed-line broadband performance.

It is the first report since internet service providers were told they would only be able to claim a maximum speed if it was available to 10% of their customers.

The new rules come into effect in April. Using them as a guide Ofcom provided a breakdown of its figures saying that:

6Mbps was the average speed for services advertised as "up to" 8Mbps14Mbps was the average speed for connections advertised as "up to" 20/24Mbps

The regulator said speed upgrades offered by Virgin Media and BT accounted for most of the period's gains.

Virgin Media's "up to" 50Mbps cable deal was the fastest surveyed offering average download speeds of nearly 49Mbps. The firm's 100Mbps service was not included in the research.

BT's roll-out of FFTC (fibre to the cabinet) technology helped boost its statistics. The move involves running fibre from its exchanges to street cabinets which are then linked to homes by normal telephone lines.

Since the cabinets are closer to most homes than the exchanges, users enjoy faster speeds.

Ofcom says 58% of UK homes with broadband subscribe to speeds advertised as above 10Mbps

It has led to the creation of the firm's Infinity offer which promises "up to" 40Mbps. The service was found to provide an average speed of 36Mbps.

'Disappointing'

The study said that other ISPs "did not change significantly" over the six months.

Orange's "up to" 20Mbps ADSL service fared worst out of the maximum-speed offers surveyed. It was found to provide average download speeds of 7.2Mbps.

The firm said it believed the next report would show an improvement.

"It's disappointing to see the outcome of this survey, although it was not unexpected as it was conducted last year as we were moving a large number of our customers to our new broadband network," a statement said.

"Since this time, we have completed the migration and the vast majority of our customers have seen a significant improvement in the download speeds they receive."

The news site thinkbroadband.com said the research also highlighted the need for investment in out-of-town connections.

"Rural areas have an average of 3.3Mbps versus urban at 8.8Mbps," said the firm's editor Andrew Ferguson.

Ofcom says it plans to publish the next report in July, using data collected from tests run in May.

Summary of data speeds sampled by Ofcom in November 2011:

Service Average download speeds

New Virgin staff pay for checks

3 February 2012 Last updated at 23:53 GMT By Bob Howard Reporter, Money Box Virgin Atlantic requires all new staff to pay for their own security checks Virgin Atlantic is forcing hundreds of new staff each year to pay for their own criminal record checks after referring them to an employment screening firm.

New staff at the airline's call centre in Swansea have been asked to pay £25 for the background check.

Department of Transport rules require criminal checks for air-side staff but not for other airline employees.

Virgin Atlantic says its recruitment process has to be extremely thorough.

The airline employs around 8,500 people worldwide and recruits hundreds of staff in the UK each year.

The issue was highlighted after a recent graduate contacted BBC Radio 4's Money Box programme.

Having recently been offered a job in Virgin Atlantic's call centre, she says she was contacted by a firm called Procius, which does pre-employment screening on behalf of Virgin Atlantic.

The graduate, who did not want to be identified, says she was asked to create an online profile with Procius.

Continue reading the main story

Safety and security within the airline industry is of paramount importance and Virgin Atlantic has to be extremely thorough throughout the recruitment process”

End Quote Virgin Atlantic "Before the online profile could be completed, I was requested to pay £25 to cover the costs of the reference check.

She told Money Box there was no mention of a fee when Virgin Atlantic first contacted her about Procius, and she did not like having to pay the fee before really understanding what the check was for.

However, she felt obliged to pay the fee if she wanted to secure the job she was being offered.

Virgin Atlantic and Procius say the £25 was for a criminal record check.

Procius insists that this is made clear when employees are asked to make the payment.

Such checks are often outsourced to agencies by big firms who want to check the credentials of people who they offer jobs to.

The Trades Union Congress believes the number of firms requesting checks, either directly or through pre-employment screening firms, is growing.

Helen Reid, the TUC's senior employment rights officer, says firms should be paying the fees to cover such checks, not newly employed staff:

"They should be footing the bill," said Ms Reid.

"It's unreasonable to expect people - particularly who've faced unemployment for a long period of time - to pay £25 in order to be considered for a job."

The graduate undergoing the check following her job offer from Virgin Atlantic says that if the company wanted to screen her, it was in a much better position to absorb the cost than she was:

"I have been left feeling that I am being taken advantage of by companies who are well aware of how difficult it is to find employment, and have realised that they can charge ridiculous fees for even the simplest reference check."

In a statement Virgin Atlantic said: "Safety and security within the airline industry is of paramount importance and Virgin Atlantic has to be extremely thorough throughout the recruitment process.

"In common with many other employers, we ask all new employees to pay a £25 fee for a criminal record check."

The requirements of other employers in the airline industry varies.

British Airways says air-side staff who require a criminal record check have to pay themselves, whilst BMI says it pays for its staff to get their security clearance.

Servisair, the ground handling firm, says it asks staff to pay themselves but then refunds them when they start working for the company.

Money Box is broadcast on Saturdays at 12:00 GMT on BBC Radio 4 and repeated on Sundays at 21:00 GMT. You can listen again via the BBC iPlayer or by downloading Money Box podcast.

Europe hit by Russia gas shortage

4 February 2012 Last updated at 01:28 GMT Even Rome has seen a rare fall of snow, closing schools and the Colosseum Freezing weather sweeping across Europe has led to a shortage of vital Russian gas supplies to several countries, officials say.

An EU energy spokeswoman said eight countries had seen a reduction in gas due to increased demand in Russia.

She said the situation was not an emergency but was being monitored.

The cold snap is being blamed for scores of deaths in eastern Europe where temperatures have plunged to below -35C.

Freezing temperatures have spread to Italy and France, and the UK is also on alert for snowfall over the weekend.

"I can confirm that there has been a decrease in gas deliveries in various member states - Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Italy," EU spokeswoman Marlene Holzner said.

"It's not a situation of emergency yet," she added.

Correspondents say the sudden drop in Russian gas supplies - which pass through Ukraine - is raising fears of a repeat of a crisis in 2009 when tension between Moscow and Kiev cut supplies to parts of Europe for about two weeks.

Countries including Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia are almost completely dependent on supplies via Ukraine.

Gazprom, the Russian gas export monopoly, said on Friday it was supplying as much gas as it could spare.

"We are doing everything possible... all the systems are working in a stable manner," spokesman Sergey Komlev said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine says more than 100 people have died from the freezing weather, most of them homeless.

Authorities have set up nearly 3,000 heating and food shelters across the country and instructed hospitals not to discharge homeless patients.

The Polish interior ministry said that eight people died from the cold on Friday and two others died of carbon monoxide poisoning from charcoal heaters.

In other developments:

Rome has seen some rare snowfall and Venice's canals have reportedly started to freeze overIn Bulgaria, parts of the River Danube have frozen overMore than 20 people have died from the cold in Romania and hundreds of school remained closedOfficials in Paris say they are trying to cram as many homeless people as possible into shelters as temperatures plummet

Meanwhile, the UK's Met Office has put severe weather warnings in place until Sunday.

It says heavy snow is forecast across much of England and Wales with southern and central areas likely to be the worst hit.

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Work programme on track: Grayling

3 February 2012 Last updated at 23:33 GMT Contractors are paid a fee when the job centre refers an unemployed person to them About 20% of unemployed people who have been on the government's main welfare-to-work scheme, the Work Programme, for at least six months have been found a job, the BBC has learnt.

The figures come from the trade body representing the main contractors delivering the programme.

The government says the figures show the programme is on target.

But several contractors have said they are struggling to employ the long-term jobless in the current climate.

"The early indications for those customers who started in June 2011 are broadly in line with expectations," said Kirstie McHugh, chief executive of the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA), which provided the figures.

"However, the economy is a concern so we are going to have to keep a close eye on things."

When the programme was launched in June 2011, the government said it hoped that 40% of people on it would get a job but speaking to the PM programme on BBC Radio 4, Employment Minister Chris Grayling said he was still pleased with the progress.

"The Work Programme is doing a good job and is on track. It is helping long-term unemployed people into work."

The overall figures provided by the ERSA may well hide regional variations and several contractors and sub-contractors spoken to by the BBC have expressed concerns about the situation in their own areas.

Other figures obtained by the BBC show that in some areas - one in central Scotland, one in south-west England - fewer than 10% of people on the work programme have been placed in a job.

Continue reading the main story

No matter how good the work programme is, there aren't jobs for people to go to”

End Quote Steve Houghton Leader of Barnsley Metropolitan Council In Liverpool, one of the main contractors, A4E, says it has managed to find work for 10% of people, while in Barnsley, the local council, which is one of the sub-contractors, says it is managing to place about 12% in a job.

"The problem we face is that the jobs simply aren't there," said Steve Houghton, leader of Barnsley Metropolitan Council, "so no matter how good the work programme is, there aren't jobs for people to go to."

Referral fees

Under the terms of the Work Programme, contractors are paid a fee, usually £400, when the job centre refers an unemployed person to them, typically someone who has been looking for work for a year.

Further, larger payment can then be made when a person has been in sustainable employment for up to two years. The harder the company has to work to find and keep someone in a job, the more money they get.

But Mr Houghton said the rules actually worked against the people the scheme was intended to help, the very hardest to employ.

"We are concerned that the providers, and we are doing this, are taking the low hanging fruit," said Mr Houghton.

"Even though the work programme gives more money for getting the really long-term unemployed into a job, the reality is that in order to help our cash flows and keep our organisation going, we have to take the easiest ones [to find work for] in the first instance."

Frustration

Thirty-eight year-old Martin Williams, from St Helens, has been on the work programme for five months.

Having been unemployed for eight years and attended previous back-to-work schemes with the same contractor, he is understandably frustrated.

"They haven't helped me at all. It dehumanises you, and you feel worse," said Mr Williams.

"It got to the stage where I thought I'd rather be hit by a bus than come in here which is not the right frame of mind to be in when you are looking for a job."

The challenges facing the Work Programme will be investigated by the Commons' Public Accounts Committee next week.

One witness at the hearing will be Professor Dan Finn of Portsmouth University, an expert in welfare-to-work programmes.

He says the scheme has had a difficult birth.

"It's been rapidly designed and implemented. [During that time] employment circumstances have deteriorated so inevitably it's had a rocky start," said Prof Finn.

RBS boss calls for pay correction

3 February 2012 Last updated at 12:40 GMT Sir Philip Hampton, chairman of RBS: Mr Hester "entitled" to bonus

The chairman of the 82% taxpayer owned Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS6) has said banker pay has been "high for too long" and needs to be "corrected".

Sir Philip Hampton defended his decision to award a bonus to chief executive Stephen Hester.

Speaking to the BBC he said the board "underestimated" the public reaction that later caused Mr Hester to turn down his bonus.

RBS needed to be run by the "best people" on "competitive" pay, he said.

"Stephen Hester has one of the most challenging and demanding jobs, I think literally, in world business," said Sir Philip.

But he said the public hostility to bonuses had prompted the board to think again about how they provided staff with incentives.

"We are a commercial organisation competing in extremely competitive markets, I think its highly unlikely that we'll have the best possible people to do that if we don't pay appropriate amounts," he said.

"Now the amounts are high by absolute standards but by relative standards what Stephen Hester is getting is not high at all, in fact its quite low."

'Dislocation'

However, Sir Philip accepted that pay needed to come down in the industry as a whole.

"Essentially, particularly in the banks, particularly in the investment banks, shareholders have done pretty badly and employees have done pretty well. That needs to be corrected," he said.

Continue reading the main story

Bankers have made personal fortunes over the past decade, while anyone unfortunate enough to own shares in their institutions has been consigned to near penury.”

End Quote Robert Peston Business editor, BBC News Sir Philip said business people in general were "very aware" of the politics surrounding pay and of a "dislocation" between top business people and ordinary people.

He said elements of campaigns against inequality were "perfectly reasonable."

"Where I have more reservations is where the debate becomes hysterical rather than analytical or reasonable and I think we saw something of a witch hunt, something of a mob mentality around an issue," he said.

Social responsibility

Sir Philip's comments came as the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, called for a culture of "one nation banking" in which financial institutions are not "isolated" from the rest of society.

Mr Miliband had called for the government to block the bonus to Mr Hester and will press for a vote on bonuses in parliament next week.

Other top bankers have also warned about pay.

On Thursday, the chief executive of Deutsche Bank warned of a "social time bomb" from rising wealth and income inequality.

He suggested top earners have a "social responsibility" towards philanthropy.

Apple overturns Motorola's ban

3 February 2012 Last updated at 16:10 GMT Apple's German online store showed that all 3G models of its iPad 2 were unavailable for purchase Apple has been granted a temporary suspension of a sales ban imposed on some of its products in Germany.

Motorola Mobility had forced Apple to remove several iPad and iPhone models from its online store earlier today after enforcing a patent infringement court ruling delivered in December.

An appeals court lifted the ban after Apple made a new licence payment offer.

However, Germany-based users may still face the loss of their push email iCloud service after a separate ruling.

Patent consultant Florian Mueller, who attended the review, said that the suspension may only last a few days or weeks - but that Apple's revised proposal had been enough to allow it to restart sales.

"The Karlsruhe higher regional court believes that Apple's new offer needs to be evaluated before this injunction can enter into force again," he wrote on his blog.

"A suspension like this is available only against a bond, but Apple is almost drowning in cash and obviously won't have had a problem with obtaining and posting a bond."

He said that the bond amount was likely to have been about 120m euros ($158m, £100m).

Unresolved

A statement from Apple said: "All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple's online store in Germany shortly.

"Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago."

However, Motorola signalled that it would try to restore the ban.

"We are pleased that the Mannheim court has recognized the importance of our intellectual property and granted an enforceable injunction in Germany against Apple Sales International," a statement said.

"Although the enforcement of the injunction has been temporarily suspended, Motorola Mobility will continue to pursue its claims against Apple."

Pulled products

The sales ban relates to Motorola's patent for a "method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system".

Motorola licenses the patent to other companies on Frand (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms.

Frand-type patents involve technologies that are deemed to be part of an industry standard. In this case Motorola's innovation is deemed crucial to the GPRS data transmission standard used by GSM cellular networks across the world.

Companies must offer Frand-type patents for a reasonable fee to anyone willing to pay.

Apple had previously said it would be willing to pay the fee going forward, but the two firms dispute how much Apple should pay for failing to license the technology up until now. Missed payments are not covered by the "reasonable" rule, and Motorola is able to demand a more expensive price.

Apple's iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 had all been affected - but not its newer iPhone 4S. All 3G models of the iPad were involved, but not their wi-fi-only counterparts.

Email technology

The separate push email ban would only come into effect if Motorola decided to enforce a second judgement that Apple's iCloud and MobileMe infringed another of its innovations.

The patent relates to two-way communications between pagers and other devices and was granted in 2002.

If Motorola decides to enforce the judgement some iPhone users in Germany would lose the ability to automatically receive emails as soon as they have been sent. Instead they would either have to manually check their accounts or set their devices to periodically check for updates.

This patent is not deemed to be critical to an industry standard, so the firm does not have to license the technology to Apple even if the iPhone-maker offered to pay.

Apple said that it believed the patent involved was invalid, adding that it was appealing against the decision.

Although the two cases only apply to Germany they may have implications for other European lawsuits. EU rules say different countries' courts can reach different conclusions, but must explain why.

Mr Mueller Mr Mueller notes on his blog that Apple has brought patent claims of its own against Motorola in Germany, and that Motorola also faces a lawsuit filed by Microsoft which is due to be considered next Tuesday.