Defence Minister Mark Lancaster has announced that Armed Forces personnel will no longer have to face cancellation fees for their broadband and media packages when posted overseas or to another part of the UK. read more
RAF Typhoon fast jets will deploy to Romania from May for the UK’s contribution to NATO’s Southern Air Policing mission, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon announced today. read more
Rebecca Long- Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Energy, commenting on the Government announcement today that the tax payer will incur nearly £100m in costs and damages due to the mishandling of nuclear decommissioning contracts, said:
“By cancelling just two years into a 14 year contract, the Government has shown dramatic levels of incompetence in the procurement process of this deal.
“British tax payers who stand to lose nearly £100m should be asking themselves not just whether they are willing to put up with such ineptitude but also whether the Government actually has a well thought out and long term nuclear decommissioning strategy.
“This is of course the second big Government contract cancelled in the space of six months after the Concentrix tax credits scandal earlier this year. With Concentrix, a similar pattern of Government behaviour emerged, they failed to recognise key failures in service provision and were forced to cancel the contract.”
read moreLouise Haigh, Labour’s Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy, commenting on BT’s £42 million fine from Ofcom, said:
“It’s right that Ofcom has taken this so seriously. The sluggish upgrade of our digital infrastructure has already left swathes of the UK behind; and now it’s clear that BT failed to give proper notice that it was not going to meet roll out deadlines, failed to pay compensation and then did not comply quickly and fully with the information demands Ofcom made of them.
“It’s just not good enough that time again promises on advertising speeds and roll-out have been broken. It’s right that BT is being made to pay for these failures.”
read moreWe’re counting down to the 1 April changes to the way vehicle tax is calculated for cars and some motorhomes first registered with DVLA on or after this date.
We thought we’d take a closer look at how changes to the way vehicle tax is calculated will affect motorhomes, kit-built and multi-stage build vehicles.
Only vehicles categorised as M1, M1SP and M1G vehicles on the type approval certificate are affected, so when you register the vehicle you’ll need the:
The new tax rules will only apply if the CO2 emissions figure is present
If no type approval or CO2 emissions figure is recorded on the type approval certificate the vehicle will be taxed in the PLG tax class. The current rates of tax can be found here
New vehicles with a list price of more than £40,000
As with cars, if your vehicle has a list price or notional price over £40,000, the rate of tax is based on CO2 emissions the first time the vehicle is taxed. The additional rate of tax will apply from the next time you tax the vehicle.
From the second time the vehicle is taxed, the standard rate of tax is £140 (£130 for alternative fuel vehicles) and an additional rate (where applicable) of £310, adding up to £450 (£440 for alternative fuel vehicles) a year for the next 5 years.
Check out new vehicle tax rates from 1 April 2017 for more information.
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