Written by Jeremy Martin on January 3, 2012.
Business services conglomerate Serco is the only remaining supplier in the running for a contract to supply shared back-office functions to a group of NHS Trusts in the East of England.
In 2002, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust and five other NHS trusts founded the Anglia Support Partnership (ASP), which provides back-office functions, including HR, IT and procurement. ASP, which also supplies a further 50 other public and private organisations, has to date been managed by the NHS trusts themselves, with Cambridge and Peterborough as the lead trust.
In March 2011, the contract to operate ASP was offered up for tender. The contract was valued at between £75 million and £400 million. The tender document revealed that ASP turns over £34 million a year, and owns assets worth £3.8 million.
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Written by Michael Harris on December 30, 2011.
After days of wrangling that even Speaker John Boehner acknowledged “may not have been politically the smartest thing in the world,” the Ohio Republican abruptly changed course and dropped demands for immediate holiday season talks with the Senate on a full-year measure that all sides said they want. Senate leaders had insisted on the two-month extension to buy time for talks next year.
The House and Senate plan to act on the two-month extension Friday.
House Republicans were under fire from their constituents and GOP establishment figures incensed that they would risk losing the tax cut issue to Democrats at the dawn of the 2012 presidential and congressional election year. House GOP arguments about the legislative process and the “uncertainty” a two-month extension would mean for business were unpersuasive.
“In the end House Republicans felt like they were reenacting the Alamo, with no reinforcements and our friends shooting at us,” said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas.
The compromise legislation would renew the tax break through Feb.
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Written by Michael Harris on December 17, 2011.
The latest census data depict a middle class that’s shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government’s safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families.
“Safety net programs such as food stamps and tax credits kept poverty from rising even higher in 2010, but for many low-income families with work-related and medical expenses, they are considered too ‘rich’ to qualify,” said Sheldon Danziger, a University of Michigan public policy professor who specializes in poverty.
“The reality is that prospects for the poor and the near poor are dismal,” he said. “If Congress and the states make further cuts, we can expect the number of poor and low-income families to rise for the next several years.”
Congressional Republicans and Democrats are sparring over legislation that would renew a Social Security payroll tax cut, part of a year-end political showdown over economic priorities that could also trim unemployment benefits, freeze federal pay and reduce entitlement spending.
Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, questioned whether some people classified as poor or low-income actually suffer material hardship.
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Written by Jeremy Martin on December 13, 2011.
A North West accountancy firm has warned small business owners that they should tighten their credit control management, as it has emerged that HMRC is increasingly resorting to asset seizures to tackle late paying businesses.
MD of Mitchell Charlesworth, David Darlington, said the number of occasions when HMRC has used its powers of distraint to seize the assets of late payers – overwhelming businesses – rose to more than 7000 in the last financial year, up from nearly 4,900 the previous year and 1,675 in the year before.
HMRC adopting a more aggressive approach
“These statistics show a far more aggressive attitude from HMRC and we do urge firms to tread with care,” he said. “HMRC is under greater pressure to raise cash as the Government seeks to make cuts and maximise tax revenue. If firms are worried about cash flow, and managing their relationship with HMRC, we advise taking professional advice at the earliest opportunity. Failure to get cash flow right, and failure to pay tax bills on time, could well result in your assets being seized. This coul
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Written by Michael Harris on December 10, 2011.
Answer each question. Be courteous. And don’t huddle with your lawyer before replying.
He said very little. Nevertheless, it was a risky strategy, even for a risk-taking financial executive. Anything Corzine might say could be used against him in a courtroom, should he ever be charged in the MF Global case.
Yet the former CEO of the securities firm never declined to answer questions by invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The one-time senator and New Jersey governor was subpoenaed by his former colleagues to explain how MF Global collapsed just over a month ago in the eighth-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. It’s the first time in more than 100 years that Congress has subpoenaed a former senator to testify, according to Senate historian Don Ritchie.
Looking strained and speaking hoarsely during nearly three hours of testimony, Corzine said he never intended to break rules that require firms to safeguard client funds.
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Written by Jeremy Martin on December 7, 2011.
The Metropolitan Police service’s e-Crime unit has arrested six people in connection with a £1 million phishing scam that targeted students.
The scam involved sending emails to students that had received government loans, asking them to update their bank account details. If they entered their details, scammers would steal between £1000 and £5000 from their accounts.
The arrested suspects were located around the country, in Manchester, Bolton and South London.
“We have today disrupted a suspected organised group of cyber criminals and prevented further loss to individuals and institutions in the UK,” detective inspector Mark Raymond said in a statment.
Detectives worked closely with the Student Loans Company, the banking industry and Internet service providers, the Met said. ”Today’s arrests demonstrate what can be achieved when a partnership approach is adopted to investigate internet based crime,” Raymond added.
He said that “a great deal of personal information was compromised and cleverly exploited for substantial profits”. A Met
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Written by admin on December 5, 2011.
A landlord needs to get a good tenant for an income source and for avoiding any problems in future. But sometimes a resident may need to find a tenant with tenanthunter.com, because this person can take over the lease. This is a win-win situation, so both homeowners and tenants can use the assistance of a good tenant find agency.
When you are finding a tenant on your own, consider that pictures or video of the property can saves time of a tenant and a landlord. A tenant will contact an owner only if he is interested in renting this property.
Make sure the application form includes as much details as possible because this is very important for the tenant screening. You should have a form that covers all points. Read more…
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