Latest news with #RobertChote
Bloomberg
08-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
UK Officials Kept in Dark About Problems Plaguing Economic Data
UK officials were kept in the dark over a crucial report detailing major cultural failings at the statistics body that contributed to the breakdown of official unemployment data. Robert Chote, chair of the UK Statistics Authority, said on Tuesday that he was not told about an internal probe into the concerns at the Office for National Statistics and only found out by chance more than a year later. The UKSA Board oversees the ONS, which produces the official economic data that have been plagued by a crisis of confidence in their accuracy.
BBC News
12-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
NI's budget watchdog warns pay parity may not be sustainable
Northern Ireland's budget watchdog has warned that maintaining pay parity between Northern Ireland's public servants and those in England may not be Ireland's Fiscal Council has published its assessment of the Executive's draft highlighted a number of risks including a funding cliff edge in 2026-2027, a £100m funding gap facing Northern Ireland Departments as a result of national insurance rises and other "exceptional pressures" such as the PSNI data says that all of this suggests that it will be a challenge for the Executive not to overspend this year. The report suggests a number of interventions which the Executive could use to help ease budgetary pressures, such as reviewing pay parity and increasing household example, the introduction of explicit domestic water charges and/or the equivalent increase in the regional are a property tax which help fund public services in Northern Ireland. Bills are issued to households and businesses in Northern Ireland by Land and Property Services (LPS) at the start of the new financial year in are calculated using the district rate, set by councils, and the regional rate, set by report said that while the Infrastructure Minister has ruled out domestic water charges, "it is difficult to see how the provision of water services can continue on the current basis, especially given Ofwat's view that substantial real increases in water charges are now required in England and Wales." 'Unpopular' Another potential intervention would be moving away from pay because when the UK Government spends more to finance pay deals in England, the amount Northern Ireland gets via the Barnett formula does not cover the cost of an equivalent percentage pay deal in NI because of its larger public report says that as a result, services have to be squeezed to match English pay it recognises such a move would "be unpopular among those affected." Chair of the Council Sir Robert Chote said: "We acknowledge the positive impact the UK Autumn budget has had on the Executive's draft budget for 2025-26 but most of the additional funding meets existing pressures rather than enabling new priorities, or public service transformation."The question of whether NI will be funded at need in future remains an open one, but this shouldn't distract the Executive from continuing to ensure NI's public finances are made more sustainable," he added.
