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Bank rate increased to 5.25% Published: 3 August 2023 Emailed: 9 August 2023
The bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has announced that the bank rate will be increased to 5.25%.
The MPC voted six to three for this increase, with two of the minority instead preferring an increase to 5.5% instead and one wishing to maintain the rate at 5%.
The next announcement will take place on 21 September 2023.
As with recent increases to the bank rate, we will need to be aware of changes to HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) late payment interest fees, which will rise by the same increase.
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New research: insecure work in the UK Published: 8 August 2023 Emailed: 9 August 2023
The Living Wage Foundation has released the new report 'Precarious pay and uncertain hours: Insecure Work in the UK Labour Market '. The research looks at the scale of insecure work, including low paid insecure work, with analysis on how this has developed over time and where insecure work is typically spread across different regions, sectors and communities.
Below are some of the key findings from the report:
Scale of insecure work
• 19 per cent of workers in the UK are in insecure work - 6.1 million in total • 11 per cent of workers in the UK are in low paid insecure work - 3.4 million in total. Types of insecure work
• the most common forms of insecure work in the UK are workers with pay/hour instability (2.9 million workers) and low paid self-employment (2 million workers). Less common forms of insecure work include having a non- permanent job (1 million workers), being on a zero-hours contract (1 million workers) and being under- employed (220,000 workers) • most types of insecure work have declined over the past six years, with zero-hours contracts being the only exception. Who is most impacted by insecure work • more than half (55%) of workers earning below the living wage are in insecure work (3.4 million workers in total), compared to 11% of those earning at or above the living wage (2.7 million in total) • the sectors with the highest incidence of insecure workers are agriculture, forestry and fishing (53%), accommodation and food services (41%) and arts entertainment and recreation (37%) • minority ethnic workers, young workers and older workers are all disproportionately impacted by insecure work. Impact of insecure work • 59% of workers whose hours vary have been called into work with less than a week’s notice. 13% of those with varying hours have been given less than 24 hours’ notice • around a quarter of workers with varying hours have had shifts cancelled by their employer unexpectedly • when shifts are cancelled, 90% of workers do not receive full payment, with 26% not receiving anything • 27% of workers with varying hours have had to pay higher travel costs due to being called into work on short notice, while 17% have had to pay higher childcare costs. The report further concludes:
‘‘Insecure work continues to be a significant feature within the UK Labour Market.
cipp.org.uk
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