Families Left In Debt Over School Uniform Cost

Families are being left in debt or forced to cut back on basics to meet the cost of school uniforms, according to new research.

Thousands of pupils are sent to school wearing ill-fitting clothes because their parents are unable to replace them, while others are sent home for wearing "incorrect" uniforms.

A report by the Children's Society warned that school uniform policies risk dividing pupils into the "haves and have-nots".

The findings, based on a poll of around 1,000 parents, found that 95% thought school uniform costs were "unreasonable".

Families spend an average of £316 a year for a child at a state secondary school, and £251 for a pupil at a state primary.

Shoes were the most expensive item - with an average of £56 for secondary school children and £53 for primary - followed by coats and bags.

The charity said nearly 800,000 pupils go to school with poorly-fitting uniforms, putting them at risk of bullying.

The report found that one of the main reasons for the high cost of uniforms was that policies force parents to buy specific items from specialist shops.

According to the figures, parents pay around £2.1bn a year on school clothing.

Lily Caprani, of the Children's Society, said: "We know that children whose parents cannot afford the cost of specialist uniforms face punishment and bullying for not having exactly the right clothes or kit.

"It's time for the Government to introduce legally binding rules to stop schools from making parents pay over the odds for items available only at specialist shops."

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "We have made clear to schools that they should keep uniform costs to a minimum and prioritise value for money for parents.

"This includes making it clear that schools should avoid frequent changes to uniform.

"We are aware that the cost of school uniform is a worry for some parents and we continue to discuss the issue with the sector so that no child is disadvantaged because of this."

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Wonga Cuts Third Of Jobs Amid Payday Shake-Up

Wonga announced it was to cut its workforce by a third, hours after a regulator confirmed new rules for payday loan firms to boost competition and help borrowers shop around.

In its final report on the controversial industry after a 20-month investigation, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was ordering online payday lenders to publish details of their products on at least one price comparison website (PCW).

While no such service currently existed for consumers, it said there had been "significant interest" in creating a site though it had to meet operating rules laid down by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The report was published before Wonga confirmed it was cutting 325 jobs in response to the wider regulatory crackdown on the industry.

The company - Britain's best-known payday lender - said it had to cut costs by £25m over two years as rules imposed by the FCA meant it would be smaller and less profitable in the short term, but it committed to operate "fairly and responsibly."

The jobs would be mainly lost in Dublin and Tel Aviv, Wonga said.

It also confirmed plans to halt loans to small businesses.

The CMA said its investigation into the payday market had found that a lack of price competition between lenders had led to higher costs for borrowers and many did not shop around, partly because of the difficulties in accessing clear and comparable information.

The regulator also cited a lack of awareness of late fees and additional charges.

The CMA estimated the UK's 1.8 million payday borrowers could save themselves an average £60 annually by hunting down cheaper deals.

Payday lenders operating online and on the high street will also be ordered to provide existing customers with a summary of the cost of their borrowing.

Its action is part of a wider regulatory focus on the industry.

The FCA has already strengthened its rules under which payday lenders are allowed to operate and has placed limits on the amounts lenders are allowed to charge as well as the number of times that they can roll a loan over.

Simon Polito, chair of the CMA's Payday Lending Investigation Group, said: "The payday lending market is undergoing substantial change as a result of FCA initiatives to eradicate unacceptable practices.

"Our actions complement the FCA's measures and are aimed at making the market more competitive and further driving down costs for borrowers."

Russell Hamblin-Boone, chief executive of the CFA industry body, said: "Today's short-term lending industry is very different to the one that the CMA observed at the start of its investigation in 2013.

"The FCA's rules, including a cap on the amount that lenders can charge, have created a new lending landscape and there are now fewer lenders granting fewer loans but the demand for loans still exists.

"The CMA's final report, which we welcome, gives borrowers even greater transparency from a sector that is pioneering real-time data sharing and simple, affordable lending.

"We need to draw a line under the past and recognise the value of short-term lending in a competitive consumer credit market."

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SUBC: Will Benefit Changes Hurt Young People?

Young people have claimed that plans to make 18 to 21-year-olds work for their benefits amount to "slave labour" - and are calling on the Government to find alternative solutions which tackle youth unemployment.

Contributors to Sky's Stand Up Be Counted campaign believe young adults need a wage that will help them to live, not just survive, as people who are out of employment, education or training could be earning less than £2 an hour under David Cameron's plans to clampdown on benefits.

In a video uploaded to the SUBC website, Chris Robertson said: "The Government are forcing our hand. We're not all in this together.

"And let's not forget those who are sitting pretty and able to dodge tax on their high wages just by placing it in a Swiss bank account. I pay tax fair and square, and they can't."

Another contributor, Piers Telemacque, believes the Prime Minister's plans to get young people earning or learning is "all well and good", but warned many are already struggling to stay in education or employment.

Video: PM Rules Out Voting Age Change

"He's cut EMA, he's tripled tuition fees and massively cut funding for FE colleges. Yes, I agree that youth unemployment and we need to do something about it, but this is not the right course of action - all you're doing is pushing people further and further into poverty," Piers urged.

The NUS representative also claimed that the policy could actually hamper job creation in Britain, because the lower cost of labour would remove the incentive for companies to hire new talent.

"It's less politically damaging to attack us. Why? Because our voter turnout is lower," Piers added.

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1. Gallery: Stand Up Be Counted Poll Results

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Half Of UK Food Will Come From Abroad By 2040

By Becky Johnson, Sky News Correspondent

Farmers have warned that almost half of the UK's food will come from abroad by 2040.

Research by the National Farmer's Union (NFU) has found that over the last 30 years a downward spiral of self sufficiency means less and less of what we eat is British grown or reared.

Currently just 60% of food consumed in the UK is British. That is predicted to fall to 53% in 25 years time, with a warning it could fall below 50% by 2080.

NFU vice president Guy Smith said: "Currently, farming grows most of the raw ingredients for Britain's food and drink industry - worth £97bn - which provides jobs for 3.5 million people across the country.

"With that in mind, the prospect of the UK becoming less than 50% self-sufficient should ring alarm bells across all political parties.

"Our burgeoning trade deficit in food and drink isn't just worrying in terms of food security, it also has important implications for jobs and general economic health."

Mike Gorton has been farming in Cheshire for nearly five decades. He told Sky News it is important to protect the quality of the food we eat.

"Recently we saw the 'horsegate' scandal where you can't be as sure of products from abroad as you can from our domestic produce that has the red tractor where we're working hard as an industry to ensure the standards the public demand are met."

The NFU says it has the support of the public, citing a recent poll which found 85% of people want to see more British produce on supermarket shelves.

However many shoppers who spoke to Sky News in Handforth, Cheshire, admitted price dictates what they buy over whether it is British or not.

An excessive reliance on imported food led to rationing during World War Two. A subsequent drive to increase food production has now subsided since self sufficiency peaked in the 1980s.

The NFU says the UK's food security should be a priority whichever Government is in power after the general election.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said: "From farm to fork, our food industry is in good health - it generated a record £103bn for our economy last year, more than cars and aerospace combined.

"We are helping the industry become more competitive, at home and abroad, by opening up record numbers of international food markets to export our produce, making it easier for our schools and hospitals to buy local, helping consumers choose UK products through improved country-of-origin labelling, and investing in cutting-edge technology like GPS-guided tractors."

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Heathrow And Gatwick Bosses Debate Expansion

The bosses of Heathrow and Gatwick airports have gone head-to-head in a debate on Sky News to argue their case for expansion.

Heathrow's John Holland-Kaye appeared alongside Gatwick's Stewart Wingate ahead of the summer decision by the Davies Commission.

It happened on the day Heathrow reported a 10% fall in annual profits and said it should be granted expansion because it is "full".

Mr Wingate said Gatwick made for a "compelling case" and warned that if Heathrow was the winner for a new runway there would be dithering for a decade before construction commenced.

"We've seen efforts to expand at Heathrow and every one of those have failed. At Gatwick this is the first time we have been in this competition," Mr Wingate said.

"We can build the runway faster than Heathrow, have it open at least five years sooner, we can build it at half the price and don't need any public subsidy."

But Mr Holland-Kaye responded by saying Heathrow was central to growth for Britain in the 21st century.

"This is a question of national importance and our future in the world – do we want to be right at the heart of the global economy as we have for 200 years or on a branch line to growth?" Mr Holland-Kaye said.

He said only Heathrow can get Britain connected to growth markets of the world.

"Only Heathrow expansion can help us tackle the balance of payment deficit because we are the UK's biggest port- and because we are the biggest port we need to expand at Heathrow," Mr Holland-Kaye added.

Both bosses insisted Britain could not continue without additional runway capacity for the capital.

Mr Wingate added that Gatwick would add over £100bn to the UK economy but would be done to minimise any environmental impact.

And Mr Holland-Kaye said Heathrow's expansion would be driven by £16bn of private funding and said the renovated Terminal 2 and the new-build Terminal 5 were great examples of the airport's skill with big infrastructure.

"Gatwick says we can't deliver as quickly. We absolutely can deliver new capacity at Heathrow in 2025," Mr Holland-Kaye added.

"We can build it on the same time scale as Gatwick – it's a real prize for the UK."

But Mr Wingate said Heathrow's estimate of £16bn was some £5bn short of what was required for additional infrastructure.

He said: "The costs that they talk about are actually less than they would be if they went ahead and built it."

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10,000 Drivers In Parking Ticket Data Breach

By Roddy Mansfield, Sky News

A database of parking ticket details for almost 10,000 motorists has been mistakenly published online, a Sky News investigation can reveal.

PaymyPCN.net, which claims to have collected penalty charges for 20 years and has a direct link to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) database, allows drivers to pay fines via its website.

The company says it is dedicated to safeguarding motorists' privacy and that transaction details entered into the site are encrypted.

The database holds the personal details of some 10,000 drivers

But a backdoor link to its computer database seen by Sky News gave public access to drivers' names and addresses provided by the DVLA; information that is restricted to police and licensed parking firms.

The content of emails appealing penalty charges could also be read and photographs of motorists and their vehicles taken by enforcement officers can be seen.

The database allows photographs to be deleted or uploaded and details of the penalty charge location and date of the contravention can also be viewed.

A link to the data was published on Twitter by consumer activist Michael Green after a private parking firm sent it to a motorist in error.

Mr Green recently launched a campaign against enforcement of parking on private land and against the DVLA selling motorists' details to private firms.

He said: "I am not surprised by this. The DVLA claims to have safeguards in place to ensure drivers' details are safe but these only exist as media soundbites.

"Our campaign challengethefine.com aims to get people compensated for parking data breaches. Despite the RAC Foundation questioning the legality of these charges the DVLA still passes millions of details on to private firms."

An open search of the database confirmed 9,721 records could be viewed online or downloaded in spreadsheet format. One motorist contacted by Sky News said she was concerned her data was available.

"My husband has been a victim of ID fraud and to find my details just thrown around the internet is shocking and quiet scary," she said. "I didn't know they were able to publish that. I thought it was private information.

"I did get a ticket and I did appeal but they said if I didn't pay I could be liable to pay a higher amount, so I just paid it in the end."

The DVLA has previously been criticised for failing to effectively audit private parking firms to which it sells motorists' names and addresses. The organisation has recovered some £22m from the sale of motorists' data over four years.

A DVLA spokeswoman said: "This is not a DVLA error. We take our duty to safeguard data very seriously and we will not compromise data security. 

"DVLA does not hold or provide data such as photographs, emails and phone numbers to private parking companies."

PaymyPCN.net took its website offline after it was contacted by Sky News and the company declined to comment.

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UK Oil Industry Suffers Worst Year Since '70s

The UK's offshore oil and gas industry needs Government support if its future is to be secured following its most costly year since the 1970s, a report says.

The study, conducted by the industry pressure group Oil & Gas UK, was said to have found "striking evidence" of how rising costs, taxes and "inadequate regulation" had taken their toll on international competitiveness.

The body's 2015 activity survey of exploration and production companies, operating mainly in the North Sea, found that revenues declined to just over £24bn last year, the lowest since 1998.

That, combined with rising costs, resulted in a negative cash flow of £5.3bn - the worst since the 1970s.

Investment in new projects over the next three years was last year forecast at £8.5bn, but this year's survey estimates it at around £3.5bn.

Video: Charting The Future Of Oil Prices

It can be partly put down to the collapse in world oil prices - falling by 60% at their weakest, below $50-per barrel - while raw gas costs are 30% down on 12 months ago.

Companies have reacted by scaling back exploration plans and cutting jobs and pay, particularly among sub-contractors.

Chancellor George Osborne has promised measures in next month's Budget to support the industry.

The report demanded urgent action to secure new investment and address a "collapse" in exploration that saw only 14 out of the expected 25 new wells drilled.

Oil & Gas UK's chief executive Malcolm Webb said: "This year's activity survey paints a bleak picture but also identifies this region's potential, emphasising the importance of government and industry now putting the right measures in place to secure its long-term future.

Video: Why BP Is Cutting British Jobs?

"This is crucial, not only for the energy security that domestic oil and gas production provides, but also for the hundreds of thousands of highly skilled jobs, advanced technology and billions of pounds of exports which the industry underpins.

"Without sustained investment in new and existing fields, critical infrastructure will disappear, taking with it important North Sea hubs, effectively sterilising areas of the basin and leaving oil and gas in the ground."

"Even at $110-per-barrel the ability of the industry to realise the full potential of the UK's oil and gas resource was hamstrung by escalating costs, an unsustainably heavy tax burden and inappropriate regulation.

"At current oil prices, we now see the consequences only too clearly.

"The industry recognises that its cost base is unsustainable. Cost and efficiency improvements of up to 40% are required to give this basin a viable future. This adjustment is now under way, but cost control alone is not the answer."

Video: Oil: The Winners And Losers

A Government spokesman said: "The Oil & Gas UK report underlines the need for a concerted and joined-up approach between the Government, the Oil and Gas Authority and industry to ensure investment and exploration in the UK North Sea continues and is able to get through this difficult period.

"The UK Government recognises how important the North Sea is, both in terms of the thousands jobs it supports and the benefit it brings to the UK economy.

"The package of fiscal changes and initiatives announced by the Treasury in early December shows the Government understands the challenges and is on the front foot in dealing with them."

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Aviva Investors Fined £17.6m For Failings

The City regulator has fined investment firm Aviva Investors £17.6m for systems and controls failings that "led to its failure to manage conflicts of interest".

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) explained that the case centred on the payment of performance fees over almost eight years from August 2005.

It said the company's use of a side-by-side management strategy within its Fixed Income area meant that traders had an incentive to favour one fund over another because of varying levels of performance fees.

The FCA said the conflicts of interest were identified by the company but its risk management framework was so weak it failed to prevent what it called an "abusive practice known as cherry picking".

It said Aviva Investors' processes meant traders could delay recording the allocation of executed trades for several hours, allowing traders to allocate trades to favourable funds.

Georgina Philippou, acting director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: "Ensuring that conflicts of interest are properly managed is central to the relationship of trust that must exist between asset managers and their customers.

"It is also a fundamental regulatory requirement. This case serves as an important reminder to firms of the importance of managing conflicts of interest effectively by implementing a robust control environment with effective systems to manage the risks.

"Not doing so risks customers' interests being overlooked in favour of commercial or personal interests.

"While Aviva Investors' failings were serious, the FCA has recognised that its actions since reporting its failings were exceptional.

"The level of co-operation during the investigation and commitment to ensuring no customers were adversely impacted meant it qualified for a substantial reduction in the penalty."

Compensation totalling £132,000 was paid to eight funds impacted by the failures.

Euan Munro, Aviva Investors' chief executive, said: "We fully accept the conclusions of this investigation.

"We have fixed the issues, improved our systems and controls and ensured no customers have been disadvantaged.

"We have also made substantial changes to the management team which is leading the turnaround of Aviva Investors.

"We have a clear focus on simple and specific investment outcomes for clients and we are delivering strong levels of investment performance within a robust control environment."

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Capita Hooks Buyer For Elderly Insurer Fish

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Capita, the FTSE-100 outsourcing group, is attempting to net millions of pounds from the sale of a specialist insurer for disabled and elderly people.

Sky News understands that the company has hired advisers from the accountancy firm Deloitte to identify potential buyers for Fish Administration, which it acquired in 2012 for £21m.

The reasons for Capita's decision to offload the business, which said acquiring it would "add greater capacity and valuable new expertise", were unclear on Tuesday.

The tie-up with Capita was hailed by Fish Administration executives as providing "a great opportunity for our insurance industry clients, our customers and our staff".

Last year, the company changed the management of its specialist insurance businesses, which also include National Dental Plan.

Fish Administration was previously owned by Inflexion, a private equity firm.

Capita has demonstrated strong growth in the last two years, buoyed by cost-cutting in the public and private sectors.

Andy Parker, who took over from Paul Pindar as its chief executive last year, has said he wants to expand its private sector business even as it has largely remained free from the toxic recent publicity which has engulfed rivals G4S and Serco.

A Capita spokeswoman declined to comment "on market rumour and speculation".

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Greek Bailout On As Economic Reforms Approved

Greece is on course to secure its four-month bailout extension, with its economic reform plan being cautiously accepted by creditors.

The list of measures was submitted just ahead of a midnight deadline last night to Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem and representatives of the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The plans include a crackdown on smuggling, tax evasion and corruption.

After they were given the nod by creditors, investor confidence sent London's FTSE 100 to an all-time high - above the 6,950 intra-day record set at the end of 1999. The Brent crude oil price increasing to $60 was another factor in the breakthrough.

Proposals to tackle what is described as Greece's "humanitarian crisis" were also put forward alongside commitments they would not hurt its budget.

The document contained a list of promises but offered little in terms of financial figures, prompting IMF chief Christine Lagarde to criticise it as "not very specific" - though she said the Greek plan was sufficient to receive the aid programme.

She said: "In quite a few areas including perhaps the most important ones, the letter is not conveying clear assurances
that the government intends to undertake the reforms envisaged."

Among other areas of concern, she cited pensions and value-added tax policy as well as labour market reforms.

The Slovakian finance minister tweeted: "Eurozone deal with #Greece reached on Fri holds.

Video: Greek Rescue Package Explained

"Greeks have lots of heavy-lifting to do until end-April. We all want to see numbers now."

A Eurogroup statement said: "We call on the Greek authorities to further develop and broaden the list of reform measures, based on the current arrangement, in close co-ordination with the institutions in order to allow for a speedy and successful conclusion of the review."

With the bailout extension being approved in principle by finance ministers, the ECB and IMF the only remaining hurdle is a rubber-stamping exercise in the national parliaments of the 19-nation single currency area.

It is understood the Greek anti-austerity government, led by Alexis Tsipras, took its time to compile the list of commitments as it was anxious to be seen to be delivering its promises to the Greek people on tackling poverty following six years of recession, while also securing support from creditors.

Video: Agreement To Extend Greek Bailout

Reports suggested members of his Syriza party felt the balance had been tipped too far towards the demands of the lenders.

On Friday, Mr Tsipras declared victory in the country's battle to secure new financial support though critics suggested the deal amounted to a new bailout in all but name.

Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who was the most vocal critic of Greece's efforts to seek a new loan without strict bailout conditions attached, has paved the way for a possible German parliamentary vote this week.

The move, reported by the Handelsblatt newspaper and expected on Friday, is dependent on the reform proposals from Greece being accepted by the ECB, European Commission and IMF.

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