A round-up of HR-related stories in today’s newspapers.
The Government has published nine consultations that amount to a radical shake-up of the tax system. According to The Telegraph, business views are being sought on the Treasury’s plans to overhaul policies including the national minimum wage; reform of the PAYE system, the Controlled Foreign Company regime and inheritance tax.
The Guardian reports how some civil servants are so “prohibitively” expensive to make redundant that they are being left “in limbo” without a proper job. The claim by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude was made in evidence to the public administration select committee in support of government plans to reform the terms and conditions of employment across Whitehall.
An urgent review into a new medical test for incapacity benefit is being carried out by work and pensions minister Chris Grayling after fresh figures showed only 6% of those tested were deemed to be totally incapable of working, according to The Guardian. The figures, covering all new claims from October 2008 to the end of November 2009, show 39% are being tested as fit for work and a further 37% are dropping their claim before the assessment is complete.
The BBC executive responsible for forcing 1,500 jobs to move from London to the corporation’s new £877 million headquarters in Manchester is refusing to relocate his own family there, the Daily Mail reports. BBC North director Peter Salmon will instead rent a flat – which will be paid for by the licence fee payer – near MediaCityUK in Salford. The corporation says he will make a permanent move only when the “time is right”.
