Npower Tops Citizens Advice Complaints Table

Energy giant Npower topped a 'big six' complaints list, at the same time it announced inflation-busting price hikes.

The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) said that between October and December, it received 10 times as many complaints as the best performing rival, SSE.

Late last year German-owned Npower wrote to 3.4 million customers, after it suffered a sharp rise in customer complaints over billing failures.

This followed an announcement imposing the highest price hikes of the major suppliers, at 10.4%.

CAB said Npower received 306 complaints per 100,000 customers in the period. It has a total of 5.9 million customers.

The figure was three times as many as the second worst for customer complaints, Scottish Power, which received 100 complaints for every 100,000 customers.

In January, Npower retail director Roger Hattam issued a second apology, over complaints it received due to a new billing system, with some customers hit with inaccurate charges.

At the time, Consumer Futures revealed Npower had attracted nearly half of all complaints of 'big six' firms between July and September, at 253 per 100,000 customers.

CAB said complaints against the company jumped by 300% between January 2012 and December 2013.

It slammed the rise as "unacceptable" adding that some customers were financially damaged over Npower's billing failures.

Complaints included direct debits being stopped, late billings and new accounts not being set up correctly.

CAB chief executive Gillian Guy said: "Things are getting worse not better for Npower customers.

"It is unacceptable that Npower has not yet sorted out the serious failings in its billing systems and customer service which are causing so many complaints and serious problems for its customers."

In a statement to Sky News, Npower retail director Roger Hattam said: "We wrote to all our customers during this period last year apologising for the impact on them of issues we have had with the implementation of our new billing system.

"We are making good progress in dealing with the root causes of this, but remain totally committed to resolving any problems this has created for our customers."

In late January, Npower was slammed by both watchdog Ofgem and the Department of Energy and Climate Change over a 14-page report it issued trying to explain cost structures of household bills and green taxes.

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Big Four Broadband Firms Promote Child Safety

Britain's biggest broadband providers have teamed up to help keep young people safe online.

Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin and BT have created an online portal for child safety tips called Internet Matters.

The four ISPs reach 90% of Britain's connected households, and hope the portal will become a household name.

The website - an independent, not-for-profit enterprise - was launched by singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor at an event in London on Tuesday.

The group's research found that 74% of parents said they want more information and advice about child internet safety.

A message on the newly launched site said: "The possibilities of this new connected world are exciting and infinite.

"The internet is the most important innovation of our time, if not all time. It makes it simple to connect, communicate, learn and share."

It added that as broadband usage has grown, with more devices connected, it has become "increasingly challenging" to keep children safe online.

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Israeli Ex-PM Ehud Olmert Jailed For Bribery

A former prime minister of Israel has been jailed for six years for his part in a wide-ranging bribery case that shocked the nation.

Ehud Olmert, one of the country's most powerful men, was sentenced at Tel Aviv's district court in connection with property scandal related to Olmert's activities before he became PM in 2006.

Tuesday's sentencing followed a guilty verdict that was handed down by the same court in March.

The 68-year-old Olmert, who was found guilty in March, has always insisted he is innocent and never took a bribe. He will appeal the verdict and the sentence.

"This is a sad day where a serious and unjust verdict is expected to be delivered against an innocent man," Olmert's spokesman Amir Dan before sentencing.

The Holyland housing development on a hilltop in Jerusalem

According to the verdict, millions of dollars illegally changed hands to promote a series of property projects, including a controversial housing development in Jerusalem that required a radical change in zoning laws and earned developers tax breaks and other benefits.

Olmert, who was mayor of Jerusalem, was accused of taking bribes to push the project forward - he was subsequently forced to resign as PM in 2009 because of the corruption claims.

The case centred around the Holyland housing development, a huge hilltop project that Jerusalem residents had long suspected was linked to corrupt deals.

Olmert is to report to the prison authorities on September 1

The claims gained strength in 2010 when businessman Shmuel Dechner turned state's witness. Dechner died last year from an illness.

The indictment against Olmert accused Olmert of seeking money, through a middleman, from Holyland developers to help out his brother, Yossi, who fled Israel because of financial problems. According to the indictment, Yossi Olmert received about $100,000 (£60,000).

Olmert was also accused of asking the middleman to help out cash-strapped city engineer Uri Sheetrit.

Sheetrit later dropped his opposition to the broad expansion of the Holyland complex, which grew from a small development into a massive, high-rise project that dwarfed low-rise neighbours. He has now been sentenced to seven years in prison.

A number of other former government officials, developers and businesspeople have been sentenced to terms of between three to five years.

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Glasgow Store Swaps Pound For Bitcoin

By Tom Cheshire, Technology Correspondent

A shop in Glasgow is ditching the pound in favour of digital currency bitcoin.

CeX, a high street exchange store for tech and electronics in Sauchiehall, will offer its customer payment in bitcoins, for three days each week.

David Butler, commercial director of CeX, said: "Not only does bitcoin have a number of security and access benefits, but it is also gaining popularity amongst consumers the world over."

Bitcoin was created in January 2009, and relies on a peer-to-peer network that bypasses banks.

Sky's James Matthews in the CEX store in Glasgow

Bitcoins can be sent directly from one person to another and the entire bitcoin network – thousands of computers - authenticates each transaction.

The complex maths required to verify the transaction also generates new bitcoins – a process known as mining.

The small trial is another step to bitcoin becoming more mainstream.

In its early days, bitcoin enjoyed a wild reputation. The currency became associated with the notorious Silk Road, an online marketplace for drugs on the dark web.

Bitcoin conferences were packed with anarchists dreaming that bitcoin could replace centrally-controlled currencies.

But recently, start-ups have been trying to clean up the currency's image.

Today, Bitpay – a payments start up working– announced a $30m investment round, from a gaggle of blue chip investors including Index Ventures.

Mainstream companies like Overstock, OKCupid and Zynga (the makers of Farmville) now accept the currency.

In December, the Bank of America published a report saying that bitcoin could become "a major means of payment for e-commerce".  Various shops, restaurants, pubs and taxis now accept bitcoin.

The currency still has problems. The Japan-based Mt Gox exchange – the most popular method for exchanging bitcoins into other currencies – recently went bankrupt, losing 650,000 bitcoins (around £170m at today's price).

And the Securities and Exchange Committee in the US issued an "investor alert" about bitcoin.

The Glasgow trial is unlikely to be a deciding factor either way, and David Butler has added that dropping sterling was not a political point.

He said: "While we are temporarily dropping the pound from our Glasgow store, at a time when Scottish independence is high up on the news agenda, we are doing so to give customers a choice in how they trade with us."

The SNP has no plans to replace sterling with Bitcoin if Scotland becomes independent.

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Heathrow And Gatwick Reveal New Runway Plans

Heathrow and Gatwick airports have revealed updated expansion plans as they vie for the right to build a new runway for London.

While Heathrow said it would boost compensation to £550m for those affected by its proposed third runway, Gatwick said its scheme would create more than 100,000 jobs and help keep fares low.

An alternative Heathrow option has also been submitted - by a former Concorde pilot - and known as Heathrow hub.

Heathrow Airport has submitted a plan for a third runway in west London

The Airports Commission had set a deadline of May 14 for the proposals to be submitted but a decision is not expected until next year, after the General Election.

Heathrow said it would pay 25% above market prices for 750 homes that would need to be demolished for a third runway, and improve noise insulation for others affected.

Its project is estimated at £15.6bn and would need £1.2bn of taxpayers' money, but would create 100,000 jobs.

A third runway would require a 2,000ft tunnel on the M25 orbital motorway, along with its widening to seven lanes in each direction between junctions 14 and 15.

Gatwick Airport said it would build a second runway south of London

The airport west of London saw its previous plan rejected in 2010, and has since suggested the imposition of a congestion charge for passenger drop-offs.

Gatwick gave a value of its expansion at £7.8bn and said it was more viable to build at its location, which is south of the capital.

It calculated that a new runway could be in service five years before a Heathrow alternative, would be cheaper, and see 120,000 jobs created.

Gatwick said the noise impact on the area would only affect 14,000 residents.

Meanwhile, Heathrow Hub said it had submitted its alternative scheme to the commission.

Heathrow Hub wants to extend one runway in a westerly direction

Its proposal is for no third runway to the north of Heathrow, but instead an extension west of the existing northernmost runway - taking it to 3.5 miles long.

It said the plan would possibly see an end to night quota flights and construction of a rail hub connected to the national network that would be able to handle 30 trains an hour.

It said the plan would provide up to £45bn to the UK economy, help create 19,000 jobs and see a new M25 junction built to ease traffic loads.

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Legal Battle Over GCHQ's 'Smartphone Snooping'

By Tom Cheshire, Technology Correspondent

The first legal challenge against alleged GCHQ snooping on UK smartphones has been filed.

The challenge alleges that the Government Communications Headquarters listening post has infected "potentially millions" of computers and smartphones around the world with malicious software, which could be used to extract photos and text messages, switch on the phone's microphone or camera, track locations and listen in to calls.

Privacy International, a UK-based charity, brought the case to demand "an end to the unlawful hacking being carried out by GCHQ which, in partnership with the NSA".

The challenge says GCHQ infected smartphones

It argues these practices violate articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Article 8 outlines the right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence, and the activists question whether GCHQ's data collection is in accordance with the law.

Deputy director Eric King said: "Unrestrained, unregulated Government spying of this kind is the antithesis of the rule of law and Government must be held accountable for their actions."

In March this year website The Intercept reported that the US National Security Agency (NSA) planned to secretly infect millions of devices with software that would extract information and send it back to the NSA, and that GCHQ collaborated to develop these tools.

The Guardian newspaper also said that by May 2010, GCHQ had developed software for iPhone and Android devices called Warrior Pride, which allowed the remote activation of microphones and cameras on phones, as well as the retrieval of data stored on the phone.

In January, legal advice given to MPs by public law barrister Jemima Stratford QC said spy agencies could use "gaps in the current statutory framework to commit serious crimes with impunity" and that GCHQ surveillance could be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Mr King added: "The hacking programmes being undertaken by GCHQ are the modern equivalent of the Government entering your house, rummaging through your filing cabinets, diaries, journals and correspondence, before planting bugs in every room you enter."

GCHQ told Sky News it had no comment on Privacy International's challenge.

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Google 'Must Remove Personal Data From Results'

A court has ruled that ordinary people have a "right to be forgotten" online and has ordered Google to amend some of its search results.

Links to outdated or irrelevant information should be removed from search engines' indexes, the European Union's Court of Justice said.

It ruled that Google and other search engines had control of individuals' private information, and said people have the right to request that their information is "forgotten".

People "may address such a request directly to the operator of the search engine ... which must then duly examine its merits," the ruling said.

Whether or not the request should be granted will depend "on the nature of the information in question and its sensitivity for the data subject's private life and on the interest of the public in having that information, an interest which may vary," it said.

The standard is different for public figures, judges said, who should expect more of their information to be displayed online.

Google had argued that it does not control personal data, saying it just offers links to information already freely and legally available on the internet.

It had also argued that it should not be forced to play the role of censor, especially when it offers links to information that was legally published.

The case was referred to the European court by Spain's appeal court, the Audiencia Nacional, which has fielded 200 similar complaints.

The leading case was from Spaniard Mario Costeja who said that when his name was Googled it threw up references to an advertisement for a property auction related to an unpaid Social Welfare debt.

Costeja and the agency argued that the debt had been settled and that the reference should be removed.

The advert had originally appeared in a Spanish newspaper and was tracked by Google's robots when the newspaper digitalized its archive.

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Boardroom Boost For Women At FTSE 100 Firms

All of Britain's leading manufacturing companies now have at least one female director on their boards, a new study has shown.

However the sector is being urged to ditch its unglamorous image and develop more talent from "classroom to boardroom".

Manufacturers' organisation EEF said women now make up 21% of FTSE 100 directorships in the sector.

Women hold 64 out of 305 manufacturing board seats, it said, up 8.4% on the figure a year ago.

EEF said more than a third of the firms already have exceeded Lord Davies' Women on Boards report, which called for 25% representation.

It said GlaxoSmithKline and Unilever both have five female board members, while drinks firm Diageo has four.

Diageo leads in percentage terms as 44% of board places are taken by women.

It added that two manufacturers noted in last year's inaugural study did not have any female representation - Croda International and Melrose Industries - now do, however both have since dropped out of the blue chip FTSE index.

The trade body said the percentage of non-executive roles now taken by women has grown 2% to 25% in the last year, but executive roles have stayed still at 8%.

Less than one-tenth of female board members are in executive roles compared to 29% of their male peers.

EEF chief executive Terry Scuoler said: "The message from this report is clear - manufacturers are heading in the right direction, but cannot afford to let up.

"We are matching other industries for female board representation, but there is no room for complacency.

"If our sector is to continue to thrive we need to be fishing from the entire talent pool and that means ensuring women have the right skills and opportunities and are represented at every level."

He added: "Many of the leading women in manufacturing are equally clear - quotas are not the answer.

"They advocate evolution, not revolution, with companies continuing and improving their work to identify and nurture talented women and taking bigger strides in showing that a career in our sector is an attractive, exciting and equal opportunity for all.

"But, this isn't just about what we as manufacturers can do. The work starts in the classroom where we must see a boost in the number of young women taking STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects and encouraged to raise their career expectations."

The study, undertaken in conjunction with Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, has also seen the high street lender make a promise for its own career improvement for female staff.

Its UK head of manufacturing, David Atkinson, said the bank intends to have 40% of senior roles held by women by 2020.

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Caterer Compass To Hand Investors £1bn Payout

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The FTSE-100 catering giant Compass Group will unveil a £1bn shareholder payout on Wednesday when it shrugs off currency volatility to post strong half-year results.

Sky News has learnt that Compass, which is run by Richard Cousins, chief executive, will announce that it is returning up to £1bn to investors through a special dividend.

The windfall will reflect the substantial volumes of cash that Compass is throwing off following the improvement in its performance, as well as the difficulty it has had identifying suitable large acquisition targets.

The new special dividend will come on top of an ongoing £500m share buyback announced last November, which took the aggregate stock repurchases by Compass during the last two-and-a-half years to £1.4bn.

Some form of enhanced shareholder payout has been flagged as a possibility by City analysts in recent weeks.

"A move from 1x to 2x net debt to EBITDA [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation], which does not seem implausible to us as a sustainable level, would imply up to £1.5bn of surplus cash availability by [the end of 2014] for either bolt-on [mergers and acquisitions] or cash returns," Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a research note last week.

Compass operates in more than 50 countries, and is one of the world's largest private sector employers, with more than 470,000 staff.

More than 60,000 of those employees are based in the UK, with its highest-profile contracts including food-service operations at the Wimbledon tennis championships and Chelsea Football Club's Stamford Bridge home.

Mr Cousins has been in place since 2006, fuelling speculation that he may step down in the relatively near future.

The task of identifying his successor will fall to Paul Walsh, Compass's chairman, the former Diageo chief executive who took the reins last year.

Compass, shares in which are trading at an all-time high, declined to comment on Tuesday.

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AstraZeneca Takeover: MPs Question Bosses

Pfizer-AstraZeneca Takeover Explained

Updated: 4:04pm UK, Tuesday 13 May 2014

Pfizer has expressed an interest in taking over AstraZeneca but what does that mean for Britain and British jobs, and what can the Government do about it?

:: So is there a bid or isn't there?

It's more of a proposal than a bid, really. Pfizer has made it clear it wants to buy British-based AstraZeneca and that it will pay £63bn for it but there's no official bid.

AstraZeneca has made it plain it's not interested, at least not for that amount, and the management haven't even held talks.

:: If it doesn't want to be bought isn't that the end of the story?

No. Pfizer can raise its bid or launch a hostile takeover offer in which it appeals directly to AstraZeneca's shareholders to sell up – which they may do thinking it is a better deal. Kerching.

:: Why does Pfizer want AstraZeneca so much?

It's made it pretty clear that buying AstraZeneca would allow it to be domiciled in the UK so it can pay tax to the British Government.

Corporation tax in the UK is 20% from next year but in the US companies pay 38% of profits in similar taxes.

:: What will it mean for the 6,700 British AstraZeneca staff?

Uncertainty and potentially job losses - Pfizer's boss has admitted this.

There are real fears Pfizer will asset strip AstraZeneca leading to significant redundancies and substantial damage to British scientific research capabilities.

:: But I read Pfizer had guaranteed jobs

No, it has guaranteed it will base 20% of its worldwide research and development staff in Britain – not quite the same thing.

It won't say how many people or where in the UK they will be based, although it has said it will keep AstraZeneca's new Cambridge research facility.

:: Are the guarantees worth the paper they are written on?

In a way yes, in a way no. Under the Takeover Panel rules the guarantee is legally binding for one year although Pfizer insists it will honour its pledges for five years.

However, crucially, there is a clause that says these obligations could be changed "should circumstances significantly change" ie plenty of wriggle room.

In addition it takes 10 years for a drug to get from the lab to the doctor's surgery so a five-year guarantee means little to Britain's scientific researchers.

:: Can't the Government do something?

Ultimately no. The Enterprise Act only allows it to step in under the public interest test ie if it affects national security or financial stability – which it doesn't.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has suggested the law could be changed to include scientific research and development as public interest.

In any event the final say goes to the European Commission and it will make the decision based on competition.

:: And what about competition?

Don't forget while Pfizer is bigger than AstraZeneca, neither are small concerns. A merger will create a huge firm. It will represent the biggest ever takeover of a British firm by a foreign company.

There are very real concerns such big "big pharma" will completely ruin small science research outfits.

Remember AstraZeneca and Pfizer have sites all over this world, this is not just about the UK and US politicians have also raised concerns over jobs.

:: So what are the positives of a takeover?

Well Pfizer will be paying tax to the Government and investing in Britain - all good.

And it says that the combined power of both companies will bring improved treatments for conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

In addition, it is investment in science, which is key to the Government's economic strategy.

:: What next?

MPs on House of Commons committees have been hearing from the firms and from unions worried about job cuts but ultimately that is just talk.

Under Takeover Panel rules having indicated its interest on April 26, Pfizer has until May 26 to make an official bid.

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