News round-up 14/6: Poorest hit by deficit reduction, says charity

Deficit Reduction

Oxfam has warned that Britain’s 13.5m poor people are being hit hardest by the government’s deficit reduction strategy, the Guardian reports. A report by the charity claims Britons are in a “perfect storm” of rising living costs and falling incomes, and says 88% of the planned spending cuts lie ahead over the next four years.

Welfare & work

The Daily Telegraph leads with news that work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan-Smith will tell families they should work 35 hours a week, rather than rely on hand-outs from the state. Mr Smith is expected to make the remarks alongside an announcement that the government has failed to meet the statutory target to halve child poverty by 2010, despite a huge cost to the taxpayer.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that the Department for Work and Pensions’ mandatory work activity programme has “done nothing” for the employment chances of thousands of jobseekers and “has made some of them more likely to claim benefits over the long term,” according to government research.

Education

The Daily Telegraph reports that promising graduates will be paid £25,000 to work in tough inner city schools, as the government announces reforms to drive up teaching standards today. Graduates with first class degrees will be able to claim generous incentives to work in schools with large numbers of working class pupils.

Home Affairs

The Times leads with news that the head of Scotland Yard has described new police powers to seize details of an individual’s phone calls, texts, emails and social network messages as a “matter of life and death.” The Home Office has confirmed it will pay the full cost of internet and telephone firms collecting and storing the new records, which could cost tens or hundreds of millions of pounds.

Whitehall reform

Senior civil servants could have thousands of pounds docked from their pay, under plans that have the support of senior ministers. The Daily Telegraph reports that under-performing officials could lose up to £20,000 under “earn-back” rules.

Executive Pay

The Financial Times reports that within days, business secretary Vince Cable is set to water down proposals to give investors more control over executive pay with a binding shareholder vote on pay.

Tax

The Guardian reports that the National Audit Office will criticise tax officials for failing to follow their own rules in making deals with corporations, allowing businesses to withhold billions of pounds from tax.

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