How to survive the looming pensions storm: JEFF PRESTRIDGE's masterplan to shore up your retirement
That is the frightening conclusion to be drawn from the Government's announcement on Monday of major reviews into the two pension bulwarks that underpin most people's finances in retirement: the state pension and the work pension.
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South Wales Argus
7 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Massive offshore wind farm approved by Scottish Government
Berwick Bank – proposed to be built off the coast of East Lothian – aims to deliver 4.1 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, which is believed to be enough to power every home in Scotland twice over and around 17% of the homes in the UK. The development will feature up to 307 turbines and have two connection points to the grid – one in Dunbar, East Lothian, and another in Blyth, Northumberland. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes welcomed the approval, saying the Government had given the application 'extremely careful consideration'. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said the decision had been as a result of 'extremely careful consideration' (Andrew Milligan/PA) She said: 'The decision to grant consent to Berwick Bank is a major step in Scotland's progress towards achieving net zero and tackling the climate crisis, as well as supporting national energy security and growing our green economy. 'It is also an important decision for Scotland's renewables sector, and this investment will be further built upon through the delivery of Scotland's significant future pipeline of offshore wind projects under the ScotWind and the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas leasing rounds. 'We will continue to work closely with the developer and key stakeholders, including those working in fishing and conservation – to minimise the impact of the development on the marine environment and other marine users – and balance the needs of people and nature.' Developers SSE Renewables will have to provide a plan to counter any impact the wind farm may have on seabirds to be approved by ministers. UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the announcement means there have been enough wind farms approved in the UK to meet the Government's ambition of delivering clean power by 2030. Ed Miliband said such approval for offshore wind projects is a 'huge step forward in Britain's energy security and getting bills down for good' (PA) 'We welcome this decision, which puts us within touching distance of our offshore wind targets to deliver clean power by 2030 – boosting our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower,' he said. 'We need to take back control of our energy and more offshore wind getting the green light marks a huge step forward in Britain's energy security and getting bills down for good. 'But we know there's a lot more work to do and we must go further and faster to get us off the rollercoaster of fossil fuels and make working people better off with clean, homegrown, secure power as part of our Plan for Change.' The UK Government aims to have between 43 and 50GW of energy capacity in offshore wind by the end of the decade, with 15.9GW currently online and a further 28GW having received consent. Stephen Wheeler, the managing director of SSE Renewables, said news of the approval is 'hugely welcome'. He added: 'At over 4GW of potential capacity, Berwick Bank can play a pivotal role in meeting the mission of Clean Power 2030 for the UK and achieving Scotland's decarbonisation and climate action goals. 'Berwick Bank has the potential to rapidly scale-up Scotland's operational renewable energy capacity and can accelerate the delivery of homegrown, affordable and secure clean energy to UK consumers from Scottish offshore wind, helping meet the UK's clean power ambition by 2030.'
Scotsman
7 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Nine in 10 SMEs say labour costs risk driving up prices
Report Author Poppy Bramford, Enginuity Policy Manager | Enginuity High employment costs now outstrip energy charges as the most-cited source of pressure to raise prices, creating inflationary headwinds and threatening the competitiveness of the UK labour market. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A new report from Enginuity found skills shortages - where the labour is available but lacking the necessary expertise for the role - hampers business growth and causes SMEs to hold back on investment. The vast majority (80%) of SMEs (Small and medium firms) consulted experienced difficulties finding suitable staff during recruitment over the last six months. Just 15% of SMEs believe the UK labour market is attractive, with only 24% stating that labour and skills shortages have left their businesses unaffected. Enginuity believes the UK's skills system is failing to meet industry demand in engineering and manufacturing. SMEs struggle to engage with the UK skill system, despite making up the vast majority of the manufacturing sector, a priority industrial growth sector for government. Enginuity - a former Industry Training Board and Sector Skills Body - produced the report to help employers in the manufacturing and engineering sectors to close the skills gap. It captures insight from 135 manufacturing and engineering micro and SMEs from across the UK, which represent 6,500 employees and £1.1 billion pounds worth of sales. Employers, however, remain optimistic about the year ahead, even though operating in a challenging labour market. The recent Industrial Strategy has provided a 10-year vision for business and demonstrates the Government's commitment to kickstarting economic growth. Awareness of the strategy is high amongst the employers, providing an opportunity for government to focus on helping SMEs to thrive. Enginuity is calling on the Government to focus on replacing fragmentation with cohesion, complexity with clarity to unlock public and private sector investment in skills. It says SMEs need strong institutional arrangements, cultural esteem for vocational learning, and long-term policy continuity, to realise employer commitment. This will allow SMEs to help the Government meet its ambition to kickstart economic growth, break down the barriers to opportunity, and make Britain a clean energy superpower. Poppy Bramford, Enginuity's policy manager, and author of the report, said: 'This report is a striking confirmation of how severely the skills system is failing the majority of engineering and manufacturing SMEs, stifling their ability to grow. Despite significant increases to employment costs, SMEs remain determined to keep investing in training. 'Whilst the Government wants to see increases to employer investment in skills, barriers keep SMEs locked out of the skills system that would enable them to do so. "For SMEs to realise the ambitions of the UK Government on economic growth, the skills landscape must move beyond policy chop and change by injecting longevity and SME engagement into policy creation.' Report Key points: Labour costs are driving up prices Almost 9 in 10 (89%) of SMEs identified labour costs as a source of pressure to raise prices. Labour costs significantly out ranked energy and utilities (57%) as the second most commonly identified source of pressure to raise prices. To offset rising costs, the vast majority of SMEs plan to pass on costs to customers (76%), demonstrating the inflationary ripple effect of rising employment costs. Unfortunately, 37% said that they would pause capital investment to offset rising costs and 33% said they would freeze recruitment. The labour market and skills system are not working well for the majority of SMEs Only 24% of SMEs said labour and skills shortages have not affected the business and they've have not had difficulties filling vacancies. Only 15% of SMEs agree or strongly agree that the UK labour market is attractive. The two biggest threats identified by employers to the competitiveness of the UK labour market are skills shortages, where the labour is available, but not with the right skills for the role (73%) and labour costs (70%). 80% of SMEs experienced difficulties finding suitable staff during recruitment in the last six months. When asked about the impact of labour and skills shortages, 41% of SMEs said that they have been unable to grow and respond to new business opportunities despite demand. SMEs are optimistic about the year ahead, despite operating in a labour market they find challenging More than one in three (38%) SMEs agree or strongly agree that their business is optimistic about the year ahead. Despite significant challenges, 80% of SMEs expect their workforce to remain constant or increase over the next six months and 31% of SMEs expect their investment in training to increase in the next 12 months. Just over one in three (37%) SMEs in the Engineering and Manufacturing sector are familiar with the Industrial Strategy and the Advanced Manufacturing Plan, whilst 42% have heard of it but are not familiar with the details. 21% of SMEs in the sector are not aware of the government's Industrial Strategy and Advanced Manufacturing Plan. One in three (30%) SMEs have a slightly more optimistic or significantly more optimistic outlook for their business over the next 12 months following the announcement of the Industrial Strategy and Advanced Manufacturing Plan. 44% reported no change to their outlook for the next 12 months. 10% of SMEs said that the publications made them feel slightly or significantly more pessimistic about the next 12 months. Enginuity is a charity dedicated to helping employers in the manufacturing and engineering sectors to close the skills gap. As a former Industry Training Board and Sector Skills Body (previously known as Semta), Enginuity is now a self-funded independent organisation that invests £2 million pounds annually to improve access to skills.
Daily Record
7 minutes ago
- Daily Record
John Swinney approves massive new offshore wind farm days after Donald Trump leaves Scotland
The US President repeatedly criticised offshore wind developments during his long weekend in Scotland. The SNP Government has announced planning approval for a massive new offshore wind farm just days after Donald Trump left Scotland. Berwick Bank – proposed to be built off the coast of East Lothian - could be one of the largest developments of its kind in the world, according to the firms involved. The development will feature up to 307 turbines and have two connection points to the grid – one in Dunbar, East Lothian, and another in Blyth, Northumberland. It aims to deliver 4.1 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, which is believed to be enough to power every home in Scotland twice over and around 17 per cent of the homes in the UK. Kate Forbes, the Deputy First Minister, welcomed the approval, saying the Scottish Government had given the application 'extremely careful consideration'. The approval comes just 48 hours after the US President flew back to Washington after a long weekend in Scotland. Trump repeatedly tore into wind power when speaking to the press. Speaking alongside Keir Starmer at Turnberry this week, the New Yorker said: "Wind is the most expensive form of energy and it destroys the beauty of your plains and your fields and your waterways. "Look out there, there's no windmills but if you look in another direction you see windmills, when we go to Aberdeen you'll see some of the ugliest windmills you've ever seen. They're the height of a 50-storey building. And you can take 1,000 times more energy out of a hole in the ground this big, this big, it's called oil and gas." Trump also voiced his disaproval of wind power to Swinney and Starmer during private meetings. But the Berwick Bank development was today welcomed by Forbes and the UK Government. The Deputy First Minister said: "The decision to grant consent to Berwick Bank is a major step in Scotland's progress towards achieving net zero and tackling the climate crisis, as well as supporting national energy security and growing our green economy. "It is also an important decision for Scotland's renewables sector, and this investment will be further built upon through the delivery of Scotland's significant future pipeline of offshore wind projects under the ScotWind and the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas leasing rounds. 'We will continue to work closely with the developer and key stakeholders, including those working in fishing and conservation – to minimise the impact of the development on the marine environment and other marine users – and balance the needs of people and nature.' Developers SSE Renewables will have to provide a plan to counter any impact the wind farm may have on seabirds to be approved by ministers. UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the announcement means there have been enough wind farms approved in the UK to meet the Government's ambition of delivering clean power by 2030. 'We welcome this decision, which puts us within touching distance of our offshore wind targets to deliver clean power by 2030 – boosting our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower,' he said. 'We need to take back control of our energy and more offshore wind getting the green light marks a huge step forward in Britain's energy security and getting bills down for good. 'But we know there's a lot more work to do and we must go further and faster to get us off the rollercoaster of fossil fuels and make working people better off with clean, homegrown, secure power as part of our Plan for Change.' The UK Government aims to have between 43 and 50GW of energy capacity in offshore wind by the end of the decade, with 15.9GW currently online and a further 28GW having received consent.
