Archive for March, 2009
Questions of Cash: Signed, sealed, not delivered: The Independent
Q. In June last year, I bought two tickets for a Stevie Wonder concert at the O2 arena from a website, tickets4venues.com, paying £233 with a Lloyds Visa card. In August, I received an email from tickets4venues.com saying they were unable to fulfill the order. I am still waiting for a refund. I have sent [...]
Rise in singles puts extra pressure on housing: Primelocation
A big increase in single households could help drive another house price bubble after the economy recovers, a new survey suggests.
For full story go to http://www.primelocation.com/news/rise-in-singles-puts-extra-pressure-on-housing/
Land Agency to be reviewed: Public Finance
Northern Ireland’s Land and Property Services agency is to be reviewed, following widespread criticisms of the agency’s performance. It has been blamed by councils for a budget crisis which led to significant service cuts. LPS was formed in 2007 to bring together the Valuation and Land Agency, the Rate Collection Agency, Ordnance Survey (NI) and [...]
Stricter Mortgage regulation on way: Primelocation
A much stronger system of mortgage regulation looks inevitable, following the publication of the Turner Review of banking. Borrowers requiring large mortgages as a proportion of a home’s value or their household’s income will be more likely to have their applications rejected.
For full story go to http://www.primelocation.com/news/stricter-mortgage-regulation-on-way/
MPs back Co-ops paper: Co-operative News
David Taylor is a long-standing friend of the co-operative movement who will be sorely missed when he steps down at the next election. He showed his commitment to the cause yet again by hosting a discussion at the House of Commons on the role of mutuality in responding to the global economic crisis.
It was David [...]
A healthier Northern Ireland?: Guardian Smart Health Care
Northern Ireland’s health service has been substantially reformed in the last two years, under the direction first of Peter Hain and his team of direct rule ministers, and now by the devolved health minister, Ulster Unionist Michael McGimpsey. The common driving factor has been to streamline a wastefully bureaucratic system and allocate more resources to front [...]
Celtic tiger turns into sick moggy: Public Finance
It all looked so good - a Celtic Tiger that repeatedly delivered annual growth of 9%. The Scottish Nationalists even talked of an ‘arc of prosperity’ that drew together Ireland, Iceland and Scotland. Now, said one wag, it looks more like an ‘arc of insolvency’.
How life changes, as Ireland’s ministers will readily testify. It is [...]
A long-term approach to social care: Local Government Chronicle
Strategies that improve the quality of life can also help to cut costs.
Social care costs local government in England more than £5bn a year, with a total cost to public funds of nearly £14bn in 2008-09, according to a recent report from the Local Government Association .
Those costs have risen substantially in recent years and [...]
Questions of Cash: ‘Save us from bungling BT!’: The Independent
Q. My 88-year-old cousin lives in a nursing home. When she moved there last year she contracted with BT for a line in her room. All worked well until September, when she had a letter from BT welcoming her as a customer and giving her a completely new phone number in another area. The letter [...]
The blight of empty homes: Primelocation
Councils are being urged to bring empty homes back into use, after the biggest annual increase in vacant properties in 17 years. Housing minister Margaret Beckett is telling councils she wants them to take action to compensate for the shortage in new dwellings by ensuring that more empty homes are reoccupied.
For story go to http://www.primelocation.com/news/the-blight-of-empty-homes/
