Mothers should be able to make pension contributions
September 28, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
More action is required in order to ensure that women are able to contribute to their pensions through motherhood, according to the Fawcett Society.
Company spokesperson Sarah Campbell has claimed that the government and employers need to act on the issue, noting that women who take time out of work during motherhood have reduced access to both private and state pensions.
Her comments follow research by the society that reveal that men save £51.03 more each month than women, while 55 per cent of single mothers were found to have no savings at all.
Ms Cambell believes that the gender pay gap lies at the root of the problem and that mandatory pay checks for all employers should be enacted to prevent the problem.
“Measures are needed to increase access to flexible working for parents and to encourage and enable men to take more responsibility for caring for children, so that this task can be shared more equally,” she added.
A UK campaign group for equality between women and men, the history of the Fawcett Society traces back to 1866 when Millicent Garrett Fawcett instigated a peaceful campaign for women’s votes.
Hips legal challenge “groundless”
May 18, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
Home Information Packs (Hips) continue to cause a storm within the housing market but it seems that they will be given the go-ahead.
Communities and Local Government (CLG) has pledged that it will continue with the planned introduction of the packs and has reacted angrily to threats of legal action.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) this week commenced Judicial Review proceedings against CLG over a ‘failure to carry out proper consultation prior to implementing new legislation to bring in Hips’.
CLG has slammed the legal challenge and promised that Hips will become a part of the home-selling process.
“This challenge is groundless, and we will proceed with the packs being introduced on June 1st,” said a spokesman for CLG.
“This is a shocking example of a vested interest wanting to water down important environmental information.”
Meanwhile a debate in the House of Commons over the introduction of Hips ended in victory for the government and housing minister Yvette Cooper sang the praises of Hips and in particular Energy Performance Certificates.
“The certificates will give people’s homes an energy rating for the first time,” she told MPs.
“They will give people not only the rating on their home but information on what they can do about it – what their fuel bills are likely to be and how they can cut them.”
