Month: June 2023

A loan provided by the Government to Cardiff-based Celsa Steel which secured 1,800 jobs has now been repaid in full and delivered a significant additional payment for taxpayers, Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has confirmed today.
In 2020, the Government provided an emergency £30 million loan to Celsa Steel to help them continue trading during the Covid pandemic, saving over 1,500 jobs and creating a further 300 since the loan was provided.
This loan has now been repaid in full, and the company has made additional payments to the Government triggered by their strong economic performance following the loan.
These payments are in line with the terms which the Government secured to make sure taxpayer money was protected when it provided the emergency loan to Celsa Steel.
Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said: The swift action of the UK Government in 2020 not only secured 1,800 high-skilled jobs, it has also now provided a welcome boost for taxpayers.
This government is backing our vital steel industry, and we’re doing so with a sensible approach that ensures the future of an industry that is critically important in helping to grow the UK economy.
Secretary of State for Wales David TC Davies said: More than a thousand highly-skilled jobs at Celsa were protected by the quick action of the UK Government and the company to secure a deal amid the Covid pandemic.
We have a long and proud history of steelmaking in Wales and we will continue to work to ensure the success of this vital industry.
Carles Rovira, CEO of Celsa UK, said: We were extremely grateful for the Government loan at the height of the pandemic in 2020 in recognition of the strategic importance of Celsa UK and our supply to major iconic construction projects.
We are also extremely proud to have fully satisfied all the terms of the loan and to have completed the repayment. We look forward to ensuring sustainable construction in the UK through our low carbon footprint and our contribution to the circular economy.
In its loan to Celsa Steel in 2020, the Government included a series of legally binding conditions including commitments to protect jobs, climate change and net zero targets, to make sure the loan would benefit not only the company’s workforce but also the country overall.
The Government has taken extensive action to support the UK steel industry more widely, including the British Industry Supercharger, announced in February 2023. This will bring energy costs for energy intensive industries, including steel companies like Celsa, in line with the world’s major economies.
Industrial sectors, including steel, have also been able to bid for several government competitive funds to support them going green and cutting carbon emissions, and the Government has updated its Steel Procurement Policy Note to create a level playing field for UK steel producers.
The Government has also implemented a robust trade remedies framework to protect domestic industry as well as acting to resolve market access constraints on steel trade with the US and the EU.
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Government loan saves 1,800 steel jobs and secures additional payments for taxpayer

After losing the argument over Gary Lineker’s employment status, HMRC plans to appeal the ruling at the Upper Tribunal
The First Tier Tribunal ruled in favour of Lineker in March this year, after he appealed a tax demand from HMRC for unpaid tax of £4.9m related to earnings between 2013 and 2018 for TV presenter work for the BBC and BT Sport.
In total, HMRC is pursuing Lineker for £3,621,735.90 in income tax and £1,313,755.38 in national insurance contributions (NICs).
The litigation involved the IR35 intermediaries legislation which is designed to clamp down on contractors who charge for their services through personal service companies.
Lineker provided his services via a partnership through Gary Lineker Media LLP and this type of arrangement was not covered by the IR35 rules. Unless the rules are changed retrospectively it would seem unlikely that HMRC could win the argument.
At the First Tier Tribunal, Judge John Brooks said: ‘As a matter of law when Mr Lineker signed the 2013 BBC contract, the 2015 BBC contract and the BT Sport contract for the provision of his services, he did so as principal thereby contracting directly with the BBC and BT Sport.
‘As such, the intermediaries legislation cannot apply – it is only applicable ‘where services are provided not under a contract directly between the client and the worker’. In this case, Mr Lineker’s services were provided under direct contracts with the BBC and BT Sport.’
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HMRC to appeal Gary Lineker IR35 case

Oracle Red Bull Racing, the leading Formula One (F1) team, and its official Team Partner Rokt, a global leader in ecommerce technology, today announced that they are launching a global talent search for female F1 sim racers.
The talent scouting initiative, announced at Oracle Red Bull Racing’s International Women in Engineering Day celebration at its technology campus in Milton Keynes, England, is part of the two organizations’ efforts to promote diversity in esports, technology and commerce across the globe.
Oracle Red Bull Racing and Rokt will work together to identify six female sim racers to invite to the “Rokt the Rig” women’s sim racer development program, where Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports will work with them directly to help develop their racing talent and provide opportunities for them to compete or work with the team in another capacity.
The six participating sim racers will receive mentoring from the Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports team’s pro drivers, engage directly with the team and esports community via Discord, and have the chance to win prizes, including elite performance equipment.
“Rokt is deeply committed to fostering greater diversity in technology, sports and business and we are thrilled to launch this search for talented female F1 sim racers as part of our continuing partnership with Oracle Red Bull Racing,” said Srishti Gupta, Chief Product Officer at Rokt. “As a woman in tech, I well understand the need to break down the barriers that women have traditionally faced in too many professions and arenas. This program will not only help make sim racing and esports more welcoming to female gamers but will help highlight many of the other career opportunities in esports that are available to women.”
“This program will offer an open and inclusive platform for women around the world to prove their sim-racing talent and provide support to help them develop that talent to its full potential,” said Joe Soltysik, Esports Lead, Oracle Red Bull Racing. “We couldn’t be prouder to partner with Rokt to create a more equitable world where everyone is empowered to develop their professional knowledge and capabilities and succeed in any career path they choose.”
The program will kick off with a Driver Accelerator Day at the Red Bull Racing technology campus in Milton Keynes, where the six women will receive individual mentoring from an Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports driver, tour the Oracle Red Bull Racing factory, and visit the “Erena,” the team’s state-of-the-art esports training and competition facility.
Following the Accelerator Day, the participants will receive monthly group training with a pro esports driver and have an opportunity to participate in races on-site at the Erena. In addition, they will be invited to join the Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports Discord community, where they can directly communicate with the team and its drivers. Top racers will also receive prizes that further empower them to continue their esports journey.
“As a lifelong F1 fan, I’m thrilled that Oracle Red Bull Racing and Rokt are making esports and sim racing more welcoming to women across the globe,” said Ash Vandelay, an American Motorsport streamer, advocate for more women in the world of motorsports and an official content creator for the Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports team. “This talent search will go a long way to demonstrate that playing, enjoying and competing in esports is for everyone—regardless of sex, identity, background or income.”
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Oracle Red Bull Racing and Rokt Launch Talent Search for Female F1 Sim Racers

A water company boss has blamed people working from home for a new hosepipe ban.
South East Water will impose the first hosepipe ban of the summer from Monday, affecting more than two million homes and businesses across Kent and Sussex.
Its chief executive, David Hinton, said in a letter to customers that post-pandemic working from home was a “key factor” behind the ban, as it has “increased drinking water demand”.
He wrote: “Over the past three years the way in which drinking water is being used across the southeast has changed considerably.
“The rise of working from home has increased drinking water demand in commuter towns by around 20% over a very short period, testing our existing infrastructure.”
Mr Hinton also blamed low rainfall since April for leaving water butts empty, as well as pointing to a recent spell of hot weather which he claims led to a spike in demand for drinking water.
“Our reservoir and aquifer stocks of raw water, essential to our water supply but not ready to be used, are in a good position. However, demand for treated mains water, which takes time to process and deliver, was greater than we could meet,” he said.
“Over the past week we have needed to find water to supply the equivalent of an additional four towns the size of Maidstone or Eastbourne every day.”
Greg Clark, the Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells, told The Times: “Their only job is to deliver drinking water.
“But in my constituency, they have run out of water twice in six months – once just before Christmas when we had a cold snap, and now after a small and unexceptional heatwave.
“What they’re describing in terms of people working for home is by no means specific to this area.
“There has been for some time a tendency for people to work more from home. A water company should be able to predict and accommodate for this.”
A spokeswoman for the water regulator Ofwat said: “South East Water must do better to predict and manage operational issues, help customers, and engage with them on what is happening and why.
“Customers will be asking why, for the second time in six months, their water company is being caught out by the weather.”
South East Water’s Head of Service Management, Steve Andrews, defended the ban, saying it was “introduced to ensure that we can deliver drinking water to all our customers consistently”.
He added: “We want to thank our customers for being mindful of their water use and remind them to continue to use water wisely over the coming weekend.”
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Water company boss blames people working from home for hosepipe ban

German-owned discount supermarket Lidl can have an injunction to stop rival Tesco copying its logo, London’s High Court has ruled, despite hearing it will cost Tesco nearly £8m pounds to remove them all.
Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco in April lost a trademark lawsuit brought by Lidl after Tesco adopted a yellow circle against a blue background to promote its “Clubcard Prices” discount scheme.
Lidl then sought an injunction preventing Tesco from infringing its trademark, arguing last month that it was needed to stop Tesco from deceiving consumers.
Tesco’s lawyers argued it was unnecessary to impose an injunction and that its infringement of Lidl’s trademark could be resolved by paying a small amount of damages.

The retailer’s head of legal, Ryan Hetherington, described in a witness statement how difficult it would be for Tesco, which he said uses more than 8 million Clubcard Prices logos in its stores, with more in online, TV and print advertising.
This ones after Tesco reported a nine per cent increase in UK sales, with its new chief executive saying there are “encouraging early signs that inflation is starting to ease”.
But Judge Joanna Smith ruled on Wednesday that Lidl is entitled to an injunction, which will not take effect until any appeals by Lidl and Tesco – both of which have said they will challenge her original ruling – have been resolved.
“The only certain way to put an end to the loss that Lidl is incurring by reason of the continuing use of the (Clubcard Price) signs is to grant a final injunction,” she said.
The judge said Tesco will have nine weeks to remove all Clubcard Prices logos once the proceedings are over, in the event Tesco is unsuccessful on appeal.
Tesco declined to comment. Lidl did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Lidl gets injunction over Tesco trademark infringement which could cost UK’s biggest grocer £8m

Mortgage holders will get a 12-month grace period before banks begin repossessions on their homes, Jeremy Hunt has announced, after a crunch meeting with lenders at No11.
The Chancellor said ministers were “particularly worried” about people falling behind on payments or having to switch deals at the end of a fixed rate mortgage.
He announced measures agreed with banks to cool simmering inflation and a growing interest rates crisis, including a 12-month ban on repossessions.
After summoning lenders including Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC, Natwest and Santander for crunch talks this morning, Hunt told broadcasters the banks had agreed to three “very important things”.
Borrowers will be able to talk to their bank or lender with “no impact whatsoever” on their credit score, he said.
While anyone who switches to interest-only or extends their mortgage term, will be able to switch back within six months with “no questions asked” and no effect on their credit score.
Hunt said he thought the move would “give people a lot of comfort and stop people worrying about conversations with their banks when they are worried about their financial situation”.
And mortgage holders who are at risk of losing their homes will have a “minimum 12-month period before there’s a repossession without consent,” he added.
The Chancellor and former health secretary also pledged that tackling inflation was he and prime minister Rishi Sunak’s “number one priority”.
He said: “We are absolutely committed to supporting the Bank of England in doing what it takes. We know the pressure that families are feeling.
“We will do what it takes and we won’t flinch in our resolve because we know that getting rid of high inflation from our economy is the only way that we can ultimately relieve pressure on family finances and on businesses.”
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Hunt and big banks set to ease mortgage pain with repossessions grace period

HMRC figures out today show the tax authority believes small businesses are now responsible for 56% of the UK’s ‘tax gap’ – a total of £20.2bn in a single year*, says multinational law firm Pinsent Masons.
This figure has now risen for four consecutive years. Small businesses were only believed to be responsible for 40% of the tax gap in 2017/18 – a total of £12.8bn.
Steven Porter, Partner and Head of Tax Disputes and Investigations at Pinsent Masons, says: “HMRC is really shifting its attention to small businesses. It has worked hard to reduce the amount of tax that goes unpaid from large businesses and high net worth individuals – but it still has a lot of work to do on SMEs.”
“HMRC’s focus on large businesses and wealthy individuals means that small businesses get less attention. Investigations into small businesses anecdotally often take longer to complete and problems can persist for years.”
“For example, there are cases of small businesses continuing to use tax avoidance schemes for years after they were virtually wiped out among large businesses and high net worths.”
“Small businesses that aren’t tax compliant should not be surprised if they are investigated by HMRC over the next couple of years. That’s clearly the direction that HMRC looks set to go into based on these figures. Getting out ahead of that problem by taking professional advice would be a very good idea at this point.”
Pinsent Masons adds that the overall tax gap for the UK held steady at 4.8% of all tax theoretically due, the same figure as last year.
The tax gap measures the difference between the amount of tax which should, in theory, be collected by HMRC and what is actually collected. Much of the gap will relate to avoidance and evasion.
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HMRC says small business are now responsible for 56% of the UK’s ‘tax gap’

More than 50 per cent of people believe that the UK was wrong to leave the EU seven years on from the referendum, according to a new poll.
Based on a survey of 1,525 adults and carried out at the start of June, the poll found that 34 per cent still believe that Brexit was the correct decision.
The findings, published by the Tony Blair Institute and carried out by Deltapoll, also suggest that 18 per cent of Leave voters now believe that the decision was wrong.
Nearly 80 per cent believe that the UK should have a closer relationship with the EU in the future, with 43 per cent wanting the UK to rejoin the EU and 13 per cent preferring a return to the single market only.
The poll found just over a fifth of people support a closer relationship with the EU, although not as a member or as part of the single market.
The data forms part of a new report, which considers how the UK can improve its post-Brexitrelationship with the EU.
Authors Anton Spisak and Christos Tsoulakis also caution that the “views of those who voted in the 2016 referendum do not appear to have changed dramatically”.
“Instead, a key factor in this change is the attitudes of those respondents aged between 18 and 24 who did not vote in 2016 but largely consider the decision to leave as wrong.
“Most of the shift appears attributable to younger people entering the electorate rather than a significant portion of those who voted Leave changing their minds,” the report says.
Among the proposals set out by the institute include encouraging the Government to commit to a voluntary alignment with EU regulations on goods, including product rules and food safety standards.
The Sir Tony Blair-backed think tank suggests this could be a precursor to negotiations with the bloc on closer regulatory alignment on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures.
The report also suggests linking the UK and the EU’s emissions trading systems, as well as agreeing an reciprocal exchange scheme for young people while also improving mobility for business people.
It also calls for a so-called “strategic pillar” within the current trade agreement that would act as the basis for a joint framework on foreign policy and defence.
Spisak, head of political leadership at the institute, said: “Our polling shows that there is a large majority of the British public who recognise that Brexit in its current form isn’t working and would like to see the UK moving closer to the EU.
“This creates a substantial political space to move the debate forward from refighting the old battles about whether Brexit was right or wrong, to discussing what an improved future relationship with the EU should look like.
“The EU will always remain a key strategic ally, and it is absurd that the bloc has deeper trading arrangements with Israel and Georgia, better regulatory recognition on food-safety standards with Canada and New Zealand, and deeper mechanisms for political co-operation with nations including Australia and Japan.
“Any future British government that wants to improve the relationship with the EU will need a carefully considered strategic plan – and make a clear-eyed offer to the other side. Asking the EU nicely cannot succeed as a negotiating strategy.”
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Most people think UK was wrong to leave EU, according to Tony Blair Institute

The economy is at a greater risk of falling into a recession in the year ahead as investors expect interest rates to rise to the highest level since 2000 in an effort to quell inflation.
The Bank of England sprang a surprise with a bumper half-point interest rate rise, with financial markets expecting at least three more increases before the end of the year to force down inflation. Money markets expect borrowing costs to peak at 6.1 per cent by the end of the year, a level of tightening economists warned would risk plunging the economy into a downturn.
George Buckley, chief UK economist at Nomura, said there was now a “bigger risk that, in the words of Milton Friedman, the Bank ends up being the ‘fool in the shower’ and hikes too much, requiring a swift correction should recession ensue”.
Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank, said that the aggressive action against inflation was not designed to “precipitate a recession . . . We’ve got an economy that is much stronger and more resilient than we expected it to be. Part of that is because energy prices have come down so much, which is good news. So we’re not expecting and we’re not desiring a recession. But we will do what is necessary to bring inflation down to target.”
The Bank’s ratesetting monetary policy committee warned that inflation would not come down as rapidly as it has surged in the past year, as wage growth and the prices of goods and services had risen far more than the Bank had expected in recent months.
Bailey has come under fire from critics for being too sanguine over the risks that high inflation could become embedded in the economy. The Bank’s base rate has been lifted from 0.1 per cent to 5 per cent over the past 17 months.
There was a muted market reaction to the interest rate decision, with UK government bond prices falling slightly and the pound losing 0.2 per cent against the dollar to hit $1.27. Gilts become less attractive for bondholders in an environment of rising interest rates, as high inflation reduces the real value of coupons for investors.
The FTSE 100 closed down 57.15 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 7,502.03 and the FTSE 250, which is a better reflection of the UK economy, fell by 1.3 per cent, or 243.48 points, to 18,327.97.
Lee Hardman, currency analyst at MUFG, the Japanese bank, said the pound could weaken further if the country’s growth prospects darkened. Britain has avoided falling into a recession this year, but is barely generating growth above 0 per cent. If growth did hold up and the dollar continued to weaken, the pound could touch $1.30 this year, Hardman said.
There are tentative signs that inflationary pressures are beginning to subside and the economy is slowing. A measure of producer prices inflation slipped to the lowest level in two years last month, suggesting that business costs were no longer rising at a rapid pace. There is also evidence that banks and lenders are beginning to tighten up on consumer credit and households have begun to exhaust savings built up during the pandemic.
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Recession fears mount after rate rise