UK consumer price index (CPI) inflation jumped to 2.7% in May, as compared to April’s seven month low of 2.4%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said today. The ONS said higher fuel prices, a record 22% increase in air fares – the biggest since records began in 2001 –...
The Department of Social Development has launched a 12 week consultation which would see the creation of new Business Improvement Districts (BID) across Northern Ireland. If adopted, the Business Improvement Districts (NI) Act 2013 would empower traders and business owners in towns, cities and rural areas across Northern Ireland to...
The Department for Social Development has published a report into Northern Ireland Housing Executive maintenance contracts. The report was commissioned by the Housing Minister Nelson McCausland in October 2011 following his concerns with the Housing Executive’s management of response maintenance. He received the report on 29 June 2012 and, following...
Less than 30% of Northern Ireland graduates in so-called STEM subjects (as Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) are female, according to Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry. In a statement to the Assembly on gender issues in employment, learning and skills, the Minister said that on leaving school, females...
The future development of Belfast is critical to the economic well-being of everyone living here, according to First Minister, Peter Robinson. The First and Deputy First Ministers were attending Belfast City Council’s City Development Conference, where the First Minister said Belfast City Council’s Investment Programme was closely aligned to the...
April’s lower than expected inflation rate is the first dip in UK inflation since September 2012, according to today’s data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), fell to 2.4% in April from 2.8% in March, with around half of the...
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) today voted to keep interest rates at 0.5% and to hold off injecting further cash into the economy via its Quantitative Easing (QE) programme. That decision was widely predicted amid tentative signals that growth has started to pick up on its own....
By Nick Jones, Global Director of PwC’s Public Sector Research Centre Today's Queen’s Speech, the quaint tradition by which the government of the day sets out its annual legislative programme amid much pomp and no little ceremony, contained few surprises. Nevertheless, it was still of real interest in showing the...
Northern Ireland’s Environment Department wants local councils to recycle 60% of all the waste they collect by 2020 – well above the 50% household waste recycling rate required by the EU. The Department has launched a consultation document to gauge support of the new proposal. In 2011/12 Northern Ireland recycled...
The UK has narrowly escaped a ‘triple-dip’ recession with the Office for National Statistics today confirming a weak return to growth in the first quarter of 2013. According to the GDP data, the economy grew by 0.3%, with much of this activity down to a resilient service sector, where output...
