Police are being asked to investigate more financial crime against the elderly than ever before, according to an exclusive story in The Times today. In what must be many families’ worst nightmare, the paper found that adult social services received allegations of 21,935 cases of theft and fraud against elderly victims in the 12 months to March last year, with 4,168 of them relating to carers.
Now families are being told to install hidden cameras in the homes of vulnerable elderly relatives. Calls to a national helpline for elderly people who believe they are suffering financial abuse rose from 3,500 to 7,529 last year. The value of money and goods stolen was estimated at £18 million by the charity Action on Elder Abuse, which runs the helpline.
The Guardian reports that the government has been defeated again in the House of Lords over some of its plans for starter homes in the housing bill. Labour, Liberal Democrat and some crossbench peers voted to moderate the flagship scheme proposed by the Conservatives at the election, which means that one in five properties in new developments will be available to first-time buyers under 40 at a 20 per cent discount. Critics say that only middle or higher income earners could qualify for those homes, and yet developers will be able to classify them as ‘affordable’.
Meanwhile, the fallout from the leak of the Panama Papers continues. Following the release of more than 11 million documents detailing the tax affairs of the rich and famous, the Prime Minister published his tax return over the weekend. Yesterday the Chancellor did the same. It showed that George Osborne received a £44,647 payout from his family wallpaper company in 2014 even though it has not paid corporation tax in seven years.
Mr Osborne’s summary returns for 2014-15 showed that he benefited from a windfall payout from his stake in Osborne & Little after it made £722,200 profit on sales of £34 million that year. However, no UK corporation tax was paid because the company had rolled over losses from previous years and deferred tax payments. It has not paid UK corporation tax since 2008.
The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also published his tax return which showed – like one in ten taxpayers – that he was fined £100 for turning it in late this year. And the mayor of London disclosed that he earned twice as much as the Prime Minister in the past four years. Boris Johnson had a taxable income approaching £2 million.
Some of the world’s biggest multinationals would be forced to publish details of the tax they have paid in each European Union country under plans published later today. These proposals mean the likes of Google, Apple and Amazon would have to detail their profits and tax paid in each EU country – as well as tax havens.
In other news, Moneyfacts.co.uk says that, despite fears to the contrary, lenders have slashed rates on buy-to-let mortgages. This sector of the housing market has been under extra pressure due to stamp duty changes and recently-announced affordability tests, so a sudden rise in mortgage rates was on the cards. However, research from Moneyfacts.co.uk has revealed that this has not happened.
Charlotte Nelson, finance expert at Moneyfacts.co.uk, said: ‘The buy-to-let market has faced intense pressure recently, but despite this, rates have continued to fall across all fixed rates. For example, the average two-year fixed rate has fallen by 0.71 per cent in just two years, while the average five-year fixed rate has dropped by an equally significant 0.76 per cent over the same period.’
The UK competition watchdog has joined the chorus of opposition to the £10.3 billion tie-up of Three and O2 after its boss urged Brussels to block the deal. Alex Chisholm, chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority, outlined his ‘serious concerns’ to Margrethe Vestager, the head of the European Commission, who is deciding whether to approve the mobile phone merger. O2 and Three combined would become the largest mobile firm in the UK, with a customer base of 31 million, reducing the number of mobile networks from four down to three.
Looking ahead to today, the latest figures on the cost of living will be published this morning. Economists expect the inflation rate to have edged up to 0.4 per cent in March.
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