Fisher and Valentine take over from Caton at Bala Town
Following Caton's departure, Bala revealed they are facing cuts of up to 30% following a "hugely difficult and challenging 12 months" for the club.Club secretary Ruth Crump said the club were assessing their expenditure in full amid a major financial struggle at the Gwynedd outfit."We're looking into everything at the club in terms of our spending, facilities, training, we're looking at cuts everywhere," Crump told BBC Radio Cymru's Ar y Marc.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
A policy that benefited the richest and cost the UK £100bn: it's long past time to end the fuel duty freeze
Nothing speaks so eloquently of the rundown state of Britain than potholes on the roads. Motorists rightly complain of the damage caused to their vehicles. Cyclists risk serious injury every time they mount their bikes. Increased road use from a rising population is one reason for the problem. Cuts to repair budgets are another. Fixing the problem will be expensive, with one estimate putting the cost of mending potholes in England and Wales at a hefty £17bn. Complaints about the state of the roads have made governments reluctant to arouse the ire of motoring lobby groups by raising fuel excise duty – the tax paid at the pump on fuel. The last chancellor to do so was Alistair Darling 15 years ago. The cumulative cost to the exchequer of the freezes and cuts to fuel duty since 2010 is put at £130bn – a colossal sum given the struggle governments have had to balance the books during that time. In reality, the days are numbered for fuel duty. Of the 34m vehicles on the UK's roads, 1.6m are fully electric, but that figure will rise steadily over time. Once petrol and diesel vehicles are phased out completely, the £24.4bn currently raised from fuel duty will dwindle to zero. That represents a sizeable and permanent hit to the public finances. Rachel Reeves has more immediate things to worry about. The weakness of the economy means the chancellor is at grave risk of breaking her self-imposed rule that day-to-day government spending should be matched by tax receipts. Reeves fears that breaking the rule would incur the wrath of the financial markets, while cutting spending would incur the wrath of Labour MPs. So she is scrabbling around for tax increases that don't break Labour's manifesto commitment not to raise the rates of income tax, VAT or employee national insurance contributions. This is not going to be easy. One estimate last week said Reeves will need to find more than £50bn to stick to her fiscal rule with a reasonable margin for error. Even though other forecasts suggest the figure may be lower than that, there will still be difficult choices to make. Faced with these pressures, Reeves should do two things. First, she should end the freeze on fuel duty, which has been kept in place no matter whether the cost of petrol and diesel is high or low. It is not just that Reeves could well do with the several billion pounds that a rise in fuel duty would harvest. Fuel duty is now a third lower, in real terms, than it was when Darling was at the Treasury, effectively cutting the cost of motoring and so creating incentives to drive more. Increased congestion and the potholed roads are consequences of that. The stated rationale for the protracted freeze since 2010 is that it helps hard-pressed motorists, but the main beneficiaries have not been white-van man but the better off, who drive more, own more vehicles and buy gas-guzzling SUVs. The richest fifth of households have benefited twice as much from the fuel duty freeze as the poorest fifth. Raising fuel duty in the budget should be a no-brainer for Reeves. But the chancellor also needs to come up with a plan for what to do once the era of all-electric vehicles finally arrives, and here there is an obvious solution: road pricing. Conceptually, there should be little problem with this idea. People expect to pay more for a train journey in rush hours. Hotels charge more for rooms on a Friday or Saturday when demand is higher. The same principle should apply to roads. There are reasons why ministers are reluctant to grasp this nettle. Fuel duty, while a regressive tax, is easy to understand. There are no issues with privacy and surveillance, as there would be with road pricing. Governments are sensitive to charges that they are planning to wage war on motorists. Given that only 5% of vehicles are electric currently, the transition may take longer than originally envisaged. No question, doing nothing has its attractions. But the costs of inaction will grow over time. A report by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) said the loss of tax revenue from cars would be £10bn by 2030, £20bn by 2035 and £30bn by 2040. This would inevitably lead to chunky tax increases. Reducing the cost of motoring by continually freezing fuel duty would lead to more and longer traffic jams. Those still driving petrol and diesel vehicles would face a triple whammy: spending longer in traffic; paying higher taxes elsewhere to compensate for the lost fuel-duty revenue from those who transferred to electric vehicles; and paying three to four times more for tax and fuel than those who drive EVs. The TBI report outlined the four ways road pricing might work. Drivers could face a flat-rate charge for each mile they drive; costs could vary according to geographic area or specific roads, with costs increased in areas where congestion was higher; road users could be charged for each minute they spend driving; and finally an 'Uberised' model, where charges vary dynamically on the road used and the time of travel. Technically, it would be possible to make any of the approaches – or a combination of them – work. It speaks volumes that the report was published four years ago this month, since when inertia has reigned supreme. That needs to change because the do-nothing option is really no option at all. Larry Elliott is a Guardian columnist
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
What are student loans and when do you start repaying them after university?
It's A Levels results day and students across the entire country are now planning the next stage of their education, their lives – and, just as importantly, their finances. For those heading to university, big decisions lie ahead around how to fund their studies, with student loans remaining the most common option. But there's a lot to get your head around – from how the system works to how repayments affect you later in life. Here's everything you need to know on the matter - just be aware, this is for those with an undergraduate loan in England, while details or rules can sometimes be slightly different for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. What's the difference between a bursary and a student loan? Put simply, a bursary is a form of financial support that you don't have to pay back – similar to a grant. Eligibility varies, but bursaries are typically awarded to students from vulnerable backgrounds or based on specific criteria set by a university, college or funding body. You can check if you're eligible here. A student loan, by contrast, is borrowed money to help cover the cost of tuition and living expenses while at university – and, like any loan, it must be repaid. Your first step in exploring student loans is here. Do student loans cover tuition fees? Yes – and more. There are two types of student loans available: tuition fee loans and maintenance loans. Most students will apply for both. Tuition fee loans do exactly what they say: they are payments sent directly to your university to cover your tuition fees. Maintenance loans, on the other hand, are paid directly to you in three equal instalments each academic year. That means you're responsible for managing the money – from rent and groceries to textbooks and travel – and making it last throughout each term. When do you start to repay them? If you take out both tuition and maintenance loans, they're combined into one student loan balance. You can manage your loan online here, including updating details, checking your balance, and making extra payments if you choose. Repayments don't begin until the April after you finish your course. For example, if you start university in September 2025, complete a three-year degree, and graduate in summer 2028, your repayments would begin in April 2029 – assuming the rules stay the same. But there's an important condition: you won't repay anything unless you're earning above a certain threshold. For 'Plan 5' loans (those taken out in England from 2023 onwards), the current threshold is £25,000 a year. Once you earn above that, you'll repay 9 per cent of the amount over the threshold – and if you're employed in the UK, it comes straight out of your salary. For example, if your salary is £2,000 a month, that's £24,000 a year so you won't make repayments. If it's £3,000 a month, that's £36,000 a year so you'll pay 9 per cent of £11,000 which is £990, or £82.50 a month. What interest will you pay and how long to repay in full? The interest rate on student loans can change over time. Currently, for Plan 5 loans, it's set at 4.3 per cent – though this may rise or fall in future. How long it takes to repay your loan depends on several factors, including your salary, the total amount borrowed, and how often your income fluctuates. Since repayments are based on what you earn rather than what you owe, many graduates find that student loans take decades to repay – and some never pay them off in full before the remaining balance is wiped after 40 years. Government data shows that the average debt among students finishing their course in 2024 was around £53,000, though this can vary widely depending on your course, how long you study, and where you live. Interest rates also affect how much of your monthly repayment goes towards clearing the loan itself, rather than simply covering the interest. In lower-earning years, most of your payment may go toward servicing the debt, rather than reducing the total. Expert tips on managing money at university Managing your finances is one of the most important skills to develop while at university – and a few simple tools can make all the difference. Karen Barrett, CEO of the financial advice platform Unbiased, told The Independent that budgeting tools and part-time work are among the best ways to stay afloat. 'Student bank accounts will have an overdraft facility - all the big high street banks are offering similar, at around £1,500. That can change with good management on the account - you can dip in should you need further funds,' Ms Barrett said. 'A second tip would be to get a part-time job! Working in the student bar is popular, or tutoring. That can be a really good way of earning extra income while also being able to focus on your studies. 'And if you're really hard-pressed and family can't help out, universities have hardship funds. They are for if there's nothing else available to you and it's on an as-needed basis - but it's just a fallback and can be a few hundred pounds, not to be relied on as a main income source.' As with any major decision, taking stock before leaping is important – and that goes for university and loans just as much as for jobs, weddings or big expensive purchases. Student loans aren't quite debts for life, but they are significant. However, there is data suggesting university degrees can lead to higher earnings. Ms Barrett pointed to data showing average salaries of more than £19,000 without a university degree, or £24,000–£27,000 with one. 'Apprenticeships are also competitive and are seen the way to earn and learn at the same time, so they are in high demand,' she added.
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Wales' sisters doing it for themselves (and Nant)
Women's Rugby World Cup 2025: Scotland v WalesVenue: Salford Community Stadium Date: Saturday, 23 August Kick-off: 14:45 BSTCoverage: Live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport Online and BBC Sounds You will be hard pushed to find a prouder rugby club in Wales right now than Nant north Wales club has produced not just one but two sets of sisters for Wales women's 2025 Rugby World Cup and Branwen Metcalfe have been named alongside Gwenllian and Alaw Pyrs in Sean Lynn's 32-player group which will kick-off their campaign against Scotland later this while the Pyrs sisters are getting used to packing down together, it will be a new experience for the Metcalfes, with Wales Under-20s captain Branwen yet to make her senior debut. "I'm lost for words to be honest, everything that's happened in the past year has been a whirlwind," said Branwen."I haven't trained much with the squad yet, but it's been really great coming into this environment, I'm learning a lot as I go."Everyone is really nice and it's nice to come in as a young player with all these experienced players."Asked who she looks up to in the camp, Branwen said: "Definitely Al Cal [Alex Callender] and Kate Williams, they're just role models, the way they play, the way they talk, I just want to be like them."Hopefully I can make a breakthrough at some point, I'm just trying to learn at this time."Nel said she was delighted for her not so little sister."The family is buzzing," she said."People have asked 'how do you feel?'. I couldn't be prouder. I've seen how hard she has worked, she deserves this."I would say I do look out for her [in camp] and check she's ok, but she can handle herself, everyone has been pretty welcoming." Humble beginnings Wales is no stranger to having siblings run out together, Horgan twins Claire and Louise both won international honours against France in two sets of sisters is something quite special, even more so when they all come from the same grassroots Alaw, Nel and Branwen all got their start at Nant Conwy, a community rugby club nestled between the villages of Llanrwst and Trefriw."They are always so supportive of us whatever we do," said Nel."It's just everything about Nant, it's not just a club, it's the whole community, everyone knows each other."That sense of belonging is underlined by Branwen: "Growing up we were probably there every day," the younger Metcalfe adds."The club has been such a big part of, not just our journey, but our whole family. It's really nice that we can do this together."The siblings will find out if they will play alongside each other when Wales announces its team to face Scotland next Thursday. Nant Conwy RFC chairman Marc Jones said it was with a "heartfelt sincerity" that they celebrated the success of their former players."Congratulations to the girls, their achievements are down to their total dedication and commitment," he said."Their success is intrinsically linked to their coaches, staff and our whole club ethos. "Being part of the Nant Conwy community, it was only a matter of time that major representation was achieved. They will through their achievements, I'm sure, be a catalyst for all of our players moving forward."Tudor Roberts leads the girls section, Ceirw Nant, and he too is "immensely proud" of the girls for making the Wales squad from "humble beginnings". "It certainly spurs the young ones on, and shows that the pathway is there and through hard work and commitment it is possible," he said. "We wish them all the best of luck and will be cheering them on for sure."The standard of girls rugby in north Wales has bloomed, with quality games being played weekly. It's only a matter of time before more girls from north Wales start putting their hand up for selection."
