Planning permission sought for final stage of Inverness Campus
Plans lodged for final phase of Inverness Campus
Highlands and Islands Enterprise has been developing the site since 2007
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has submitted plans for a hotel and academic space as part of the final phase of development at Inverness Campus.
The 215 acre (87ha) purpose-built campus opened in 2015, and is home to 16 businesses as well as organisations like UHI and the NHS.
Commercial properties make up the majority of HIE's proposals for the next stage of the project.
Under the plans, serviced plots would be created for sale to developers, with 27 acres (11ha) forming part of the new Inverness and Cromarty Green Freeport.
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The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Spending review is a chance for Reeves to paint a more positive picture
Rachel Reeves hopes to use Wednesday's spending review to tell a long-overdue story about Labour's purpose in power, that looks beyond fixing the Tories' fiscal mess. After the winter fuel U-turn and Labour's battering at the hands of Reform in last month's local elections, the chancellor's team are well aware that voters and backbench MPs need reasons to believe. And they are irked that Reeves gets little credit for the significant uplift in public spending she is delivering for priorities including the NHS – with debate dominated instead by the coming squeeze on 'unprotected' departments. They do have a point. Day-to-day departmental spending, known as RDEL in Treasury parlance, bobbled around £300bn a year between 2010 and 2019, before shooting up during the Covid pandemic and subsequent energy crisis to hit £423bn in 2023-4. Last autumn's budget, let's not forget, included a stonking £40bn-a-year tax increase, and bumped up RDEL to an estimated £481bn for the current financial year – a significant jump in spending that prompted thinktanks to increase their forecasts for economic growth. The growth rate of spending at the back end of the parliament will be considerably lower, after this early jolt, and the voracious demands of health and defence will force difficult decisions. But austerity this is not. By the end of the parliament, Labour expects day-to-day departmental spending to be more than £540bn a year. News that schools spending per pupil will reach its highest ever level in real terms is an example of what the government wants to do with the extra resources it is making available. The unfortunate truth for Reeves and her colleagues, though, is that two things can be true at the same time: the uplift in spending she has outlined is significant, and will make a real difference, but it is not enough to meet the scale of the challenges the UK faces. While the government is rightly trumpeting an uplift in public investment, for example, current plans show departmental capital budgets declining in real terms in the final two years of the parliament. It seems hard to imagine that being plausible, given the crumbling state of many hospitals, prisons and schools. The 'moral mission' of tackling child poverty, which Reeves has talked about, may also demand additional resources. The government badly needed a clearer story from the outset about what it wanted to achieve. But it will need it all the more if, as seems increasingly likely, it decides to come back to the country with more tax rises. Voters don't just want to hear the what (filling the 'black hole' in the public finances), but also the why. The economist Mariana Mazzucato – whose idea of the 'mission economy' Keir Starmer borrowed to create his cross-party, thematic approach to government – last week put her finger on one reason Labour may have struggled to explain its purpose. Speaking at a conference hosted by the IPPR thinktank, she said a primary mistake had been to try to make restoring economic growth a mission in itself. 'Growth is not a mission,' she said. 'The whole point about missions was to stop just talking about growth, focus on the problems, and design the solutions to those problems in such a way that drives, not just the rate of growth, but the direction.' She added: 'In a country like this one, where the private sector does not invest enough … missions should be designed in such a way to catalyse that missing private sector investment. And so, starting with the problems, whether it's net zero, whether it's health problems for cities, whether it's problems like knife crime – having really clear goals that you can actually answer: 'Yes or no, did we achieve it?'' Mazzucato argued that Labour's aspiration to become a clean-energy powerhouse was the only one of its five 'missions' that might qualify as such by her definition. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion She suggested that defence, too, which if pursued strategically could catalyse research and development and create jobs in a targeted way in left-behind areas, has mission-like characteristics. Economic growth for its own sake, not so much. Another reason Reeves now needs to remind the public what she stands for results from a sombre pre-election rebrand, aimed at overcoming voters' preconceptions about a woman – specifically, a Labour woman – in charge of the country's purse strings. One Labour pollster recalls a focus group early in Reeves's tenure as shadow chancellor when she had visited a construction site with Starmer, and and one voter wanted to know: 'Why has he taken his wife with him?' The sharp suits, serious demeanour and relentless focus on tough choices are a riposte to this kind of regrettable 'Rachel from accounts' nonsense, but they have resulted in a reductive idea of what Reeves stands for. Expect to hear more on Wednesday, then, about the scourge of child poverty, as well as the need to tool up to face the changed geopolitical context – and to rebalance the economy away from London and the south-east. Even if she sticks with current spending plans for the rest of the parliament, Reeves may yet have to make more tax increases in the autumn. It looks increasingly likely the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will decide to downgrade its projections for productivity growth. The consultancy Oxford Economics suggests that if the OBR moves into line with the consensus on productivity – and cuts its growth forecasts as a result – it would leave the chancellor having to find an extra £20bn a year. Given that she is determined not to abandon her fiscal rules, that would mean tax increases. Reeves will need to be ready to tell a compelling story about why these are necessary. That should start this week, with a clearer and more hopeful picture of what Labour wants to achieve.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Rachel Reeves is like Steve Jobs and will rescue the UK economy in the same way that he saved Apple, insists minister ahead of Spending Review
Rachel Reeves can rescue the UK economy in the same way that Steve Jobs rescued Apple from the bring of insolvency, a senior minister claimed today. Peter Kyle likened the Chancellor's stewardship of the public finances to the late Mr Jobs' role at Apple when the company was on the brink of insolvency in the late 1990s. He spoke ahead of the spending review this week which is likely to see billions more ploughed into the NHS and education at the expense of other public services. The health service is expected to receive a 2.8 per cent annual increase in its day-to-day budget over a three-year period. The cash injection, which amounts to a rise of about £30 billion by 2028, or £17 billion in real terms, will see other areas including police and councils squeezed, The Times newspaper reported. Rachel Reeves has acknowledged that she had been forced to turn down requests for funding in a sign of the behind-the-scenes wrangling over her spending review. She blamed the former Conservative government's stewardship of the economy rather than her self-imposed fiscal rules, which include a promise to match day-to-day spending with revenues. And Mr Kyle told Sky News's Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme: 'Just bear in mind how Apple turned itself around… when Steve Jobs came back to Apple, they were 90 days from insolvency - that's the kind of situation that we had when we came into office. 'Now Steve Jobs turned it around by inventing the iMac, moving to a series of products like the iPod. 'Now we are starting to invest in the vaccine processes of the future, some of the high-tech solutions that are going to be high growth. We're investing in our space sector… they will create jobs in the future.' Reeves plotting £3bn tax raid on pension By CALUM MUIRHEAD Rachel Reeves is planning a £3billion tax raid on millions of pensions. The new Pension Schemes Bill lays out a blueprint for companies to take out 'surplus' cash from certain schemes. The theory behind the plan is that companies can use the money to invest in their business and that would fuel growth. But experts fear this could lead to a repeat of the Robert Maxwell scandal of the early 1990s, when the late tycoon stole £400 million from his staff pension fund to prop up his companies. The Chancellor, who is desperate to raise tax revenues, would benefit because any 'surpluses' released are taxed at 25 per cent, which could raise almost £3billion over a decade. The bill, tabled in Parliament last week, will affect old-style pension schemes where retirement incomes are linked to people's pay packets, which have around nine million members. Jobs, who co-founded Apple in 1976 with childhood friend Steve Wozniak, died form cancer in 2011. The company had struggled as the maker of cult favourite home computers in the 1990s before he oversaw the introduction of a series of tech gadgets - the iPod, iMac and, most famously, the iPhone - which turned it into the world's largest company by value. Sir Keir Starmer is fighting to quell mounting Labour tensions over how to deal with the threat from Nigel Farage, as bitter Whitehall negotiations over the Government's Spending Review go down to the wire. Sources describe 'very unpleasant' exchanges between Rachel Reeves and senior Cabinet ministers, including Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Local Government Secretary Angela Rayner, as the Chancellor prepares to give the NHS a £30billion boost at the expense of the police and local councils. Preparations for Wednesday's announcement have been held against the backdrop of slamming doors and raised voices, as No 10 and the Treasury work out how to divide a limited pot of public money in a way most likely to arrest the surge in support for Mr Farage's Reform UK. Ms Reeves is expected to set out plans for an extra £113billion in spending on infrastructure projects such as Sizewell C nuclear power plant, and an extra 2.8 per cent real-terms increase in the NHS's £200billion-a-year budget, amounting to an extra £30billion by 2028. But with the economy barely growing, other departments have had to take a hit as a result. A source said: 'It turned nasty between Yvette and Rachel. It was just as bad as that between Rachel and Angela, who walked out during her negotiations. 'Yvette was just passing on the concerns of the police, who said that without more money they would be forced to make stark choices about which crimes they prioritise. 'The anger of the police shows they've been briefed by Cooper on how the negotiations are going, and they're not happy.'
The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
How to reclaim over £3,900 ahead of summer from mis-sold car finance to energy bills
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But you should make a complaint now if you think you were treated badly. ENERGY BILLS CLAIM £215 It's normal for customers to build up energy credit during the warmer months, but ask for a refund if you've accrued too much. Consider claiming your money back if you have built up more than two months' worth of bill payments, said comparison site Uswitch. The formula for working out how much to ask back is to look at your credit balance, and minus two months' payments. Energy suppliers are sitting on £3.3 billion of customer's money, while the average customer racked up £215 in surplus credit last year, according to watchdog Ofgem. Each company has its own refund process, so ask yours how to claim. Get an up-to-date meter reading ready, as this will be needed in order for your supplier to process the refund. Claiming credit back is a good idea, otherwise you are losing out on any interest you could make on your cash. Put your refund in a high interest easy access savings account, so you can easily dip back into it when bills go up in the colder months. Atom Bank offers the best rate at 4.75 per cent, according to comparison site Moneyfacts. CAR FINANCE CLAIM £1,100 If you bought a car, van or motorbike on finance between 2008-January 28, 2021, you could be in line for a payout worth £1,100. The Financial Conduct Authority is investigating hidden commissions earned by car dealers who negotiated deals with high interest rates for customers. This week it issued an update on compensation. It said it could be an opt-in or opt-out redress scheme. Opt-in means that you will need to sign up for compensation, so you could miss out if you don't register. Opt-out means you are automatically included, but the downside is that you could have to wait longer for your money. The watchdog has estimated that on average, people paid £1,100 more in interest on a typical £10,000 four-year car finance. The scandal could cost lenders as much as £16 billion, according to the consumer site Which?. You can make a claim now by contacting the lender who you signed the finance agreement with, not the car dealer. Check your paperwork if you don't know how your lender is. You will have to wait for any potential payout. The Supreme Court should decide by next month what the final bill for compensation will be. Then, the FCA will respond in six weeks with a plan of action as to how people can get their payout. 'Consumers should expect compensation early next year,' said Alex Neill from the consumer group Consumer Voice. TAX OVERPAYMENT CLAIM £1,562 IF you are taxed through PAYE, make some important checks to see if you have overpaid. The average tax refund was £1,562 in 2023, according to Rift Refunds. You might be on the wrong tax code if you changed jobs, signed up to employee benefits like a company car, or your HR department has made a mistake. You should have recently received an important slip of paperwork, a P60, from your employer. Check your 'final tax code' on the form. If it's wrong, then you could end up underpaying, or overpaying, tax. The most common tax code is 1257L, which is used for most people with one job. If this code also has W1, M1 or X on the end, you are on an emergency tax code and paying more than you should. If you think you are on the wrong tax code, phone HMRC on 0300 200 3300 for a quick response. If you have overpaid, you will be reimbursed and paid 3.25% interest on top. Depending on your situation, you will either be able to claim a refund online, get a cheque in the post, or the tax will be refunded back to you through your wages. MASTERCARD CLAIM £70 Around 47 million Mastercard customers are in line for a compensation payout of up to £70. Make a claim if you bought anything from a shop or supermarket that accepted Mastercard between 1992 and 2008. The Competition Appeal Tribunal has approved a settlement for Mastercard to pay £200 million to affected customers. It was accused of wrongly slapping fees onto transactions made over a 15-year period. Although retailers paid the fees, shoppers lost out because retailers passed the cost on by hiking prices. You are eligible to make a claim if you bought anything from a shop or supermarket that accepted Mastercard between 1992 and 2008 - even if you didn't use a Mastercard. You can't file a claim yet. An online portal is expected to launch in the next few weeks on the website. Register for updates so you'll be notified when this is live. Payments are expected to be made by the end of this year. The amount you could get will depend on how many people register, although it's estimated each person could get £45 to £70. 2
