An accounting system used by Post Office sub-postmasters before the controversial Horizon software was introduced is also likely to have been faulty, an external investigation by financial and risk advisory company Kroll has found. Kroll’s report says "there was a reasonable likelihood" that the earlier Capture system - which was developed in-house by the Post Office's information technology team - could also have created cash shortfalls in accounts, the BBC reported yesterday. Post Office minister Gareth Thomas said he was "horrified" to hear about issues with the Capture system, which was used in branches from 1992 to 1999. He said he has met with some sub-postmasters who used the Capture system and thanked them for "coming forward to talk about the impact it had on their lives and livelihoods". Kroll’s report did not comment on whether any convictions arising from sub-postmasters using Capture could be considered unsafe. Out of 21 Capture users interviewed, Kroll said 12 had been suspended by the Post Office, though two occurred after 1999 when Horizon had replaced Capture. "Of these 12, eight were prosecuted, two resigned, and two were terminated from their employment," the report said. "A further seven sub-postmasters were never suspended, but advised Kroll that they ended up selling their branch, in part or whole, due to losses they sustained during Capture use." The Government said it would examine the report and "consider what action should be taken" before making an announcement in December.

The British people have suffered a slump in living standards, according to official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), because a surge in net migration has wiped out any gains from economic growth. So-called real GDP per head shrank by 0.3% between April and June compared with a year earlier, meaning the population was growing faster than the economy. Net migration hit a near-record 685,000 last year. Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, told the Telegraph: “The increase in GDP we have seen is by and large just because there are more people in the country. But on a per person or household basis, there is not any more income to go around. It is a bit worrying.”

Yet another survey shows business confidence is plummeting. This time, optimism about the economy among members of The Institute of Directors (IoD) has fallen to its lowest level since September 2022, when confidence fell after the bond market turmoil during Liz Truss’s premiership. The IoD’s Economic Confidence Index dropped to -38 in September, down from -12 in August. Confidence in IoD members’ own firm’s prospects also dipped to +15 in September, having stood at +23 in August and +36 in July, and it looks as if Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ upcoming first Budget is at least part of the reason why. “IoD members cite ongoing concerns over likely tax increases, the cost of workers’ rights, international competitiveness, broader cost pressures and the general outlook for UK economic growth,” Anna Leach, chief economist at the IoD said. Another business confidence survey by Lloyds, and consumer confidence indices from GfK and the British Retail Consortium, all pointed recently to dwindling confidence because of fears about potential tax hikes. Last week, Andy Haldane, former chief economist at the Bank of England, argued that Labour’s creation of a sense of “fear and foreboding” was “unnecessary and probably economically unhelpful.”

Retail prices in British shops fell at the fastest pace in more than three years in September, the British Retail Consortium says. Annual shop price deflation dropped to 0.6% in the 12 months to September, the BRC said, its weakest since August 2021 and slower than the 0.3% fall in the month before. It was the seventh time in nine months that the pace of price growth has weakened. "Easing price inflation will certainly be welcomed by consumers, but ongoing geopolitical tensions, climate change, and government-imposed regulatory costs could all reverse this trend," BRC CEO Helen Dickinson, said. However, food price inflation rose to 2.3% from 2.0%, an increase Dickinson attributed in part to poor harvests in key farming areas which led to higher prices for cooking oil and sugar.

Britain now has a National Energy System Operator (NESO) to oversee the country’s electricity and gas systems. The new body forms part of plans by the new Labour Government to decarbonise the electricity sector by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. It will be responsible for managing the country’s electricity system in real time, planning future development of the gas and electricity systems and advising the government and regulator Ofgem as to how climate targets can be met. NESO CEO Fintan Slye said in a statement: “NESO will sit at the heart of the energy industry ensuring that a holistic, whole system approach is taken in delivering decarbonisation across energy, heating, transport and beyond in order to deliver net-zero”.  

However, leading EDF executive Rachael Glaving has warned that Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s plans to switch Britain over to ‘green’ energy risks destabilising the National Grid. Speaking at Conservative Party Conference, she explained that by abandoning stable forms of energy generation such as coal, gas and nuclear, the grid will be reliant on intermittent sources such as wind and solar, and that could mean a shortfall in power given unfavourable weather. She also highlighted that fact that the only reason Britain has been able to have more renewable energy is because of a “strong foundation” of nuclear energy, which provides “the steady baseload power essential for grid stability”. However, EDF’s eight nuclear reactors are due for closure within the next four years, leaving the UK with just one operating reactor, the Sizewell C station in Suffolk, until EDF brings Hinkley Point C into operation in the 2030s. Miliband says he wants to ditch fossil fuels to meet a goal of decarbonising Britain’s power system by 2030. Britain’s last remaining coal-fired power station shut down yesterday.  

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said yesterday that London Mayor Sadiq Khan will no longer have to submit a review of the so-called London Plan, which is used to determine housing targets and local planning decisions. Khan was ordered to carry out the review by the previous Conservative government amid a “chronic under delivery” of new homes in the capital. Rayner had already shrunk the Mayor of London’s housing target, saying in July that he had to build only 80,000 a year, down from a previous 100,000 target. She now says she wants to take “a new partnership approach on our shared aim to deliver the homes London needs”. Former housing secretary Michael Gove said the decision to abandon the review was a “mistake,” and accused Rayner of letting Khan ‘off the political hook” while she “sold out to a generation”. According to the latest figures from City Hall, the average number of homes built in London between 2019 and 2023 was 37,200 a year.

Staff must be given 100% of all tips received from customers from today in England, Wales and Scotland, as a new law banning businesses from withholding gratuity payments comes into force More than 3m workers across restaurants, cafes, pubs, hairdressers and taxis should benefit from the new Tips Code of Practice, which applies however the tip was made - in cash or by card. If tips are not shared between workers by the end of the following month after they were received, workers will be able to bring a claim against their employer at an employment tribunal. "The people working in hospitality are the lifeblood of our sector and these changes rightly ensure tips hard-earned through excellent service will end up entirely in their pockets," said Katie Nicholls, CEO of trade body UK Hospitality. However, she also said the policy was "another example of costs being placed on a sector that can least afford it". Justin Madders, the Minister for employment rights, said the policy was "just the first step of many in protecting workers and placing them at the heart of our economy". Trade union Unite said the fact the new law had not been introduced in Northern Ireland was "completely unacceptable".

A report from lobby group Future Water Association and Copper Consultancy claims nearly three quarters of the public believe Britain’s water companies are “too profitable” and only 28% believe wastewater is treated to a high standard, a situation it blames partly on “low public understanding”. This, it suggests, has also enabled misconceptions to “take root and trust to be eroded in the sector”. The study also argues many of the public “do not know their consumption” or the impact consumption has on the environment, with 44% of respondents to its survey disagreeing that their “own consumption behaviours have an impact on water shortages.” Anti-sewage campaigners are said by City A.M. to be furious at the report, not least as the Future Water Association is funded by members including Anglian Water, which was responsible for the highest increase in raw sewage discharges of all England’s water companies last year, according to the Environment Agency.  Other funders include Yorkshire Water, which is facing £47m in fines from industry regulator Ofwat for releasing untreated wastewater into the rivers for seven hours a day in 2023. According to the Environment Agency, there were 3.6m hours of sewage spills in 2023, more than double in the year prior.  Campaign group Surfers against Sewage described the study as “another example of corporate spin”. “All the public really want is transparency when it comes to sewage discharges, the pollution risks to their health and a clear plan from water companies as to how they are going to upgrade the wastewater infrastructure so there is an end to sewage pollution once and for all,” a spokesperson told City A.M. However, Paul Horton, CEO of the Future Water Association, said: “Public understanding is one of several challenges facing the water sector – at no point does our report claim it is the only factor”. “The report was produced to have an honest conversation about the water sector, which is critical to everyone’s lives. We need to move toward an authentic discussion on the sector’s challenges to increase public engagement in the sector,” he added.

The scandal-hit social housing investor Home REIT has sold another £36.9m worth of property in a bid to offload all its homes and clear its debts before winding down, City A.M. reports. The former FTSE 250 firm said it had sold 200 houses at a series of public auctions last week, around 15% of its remaining property by value. Since August last year, the firm has now completed on the sale of 1,208 properties and exchanged on a further 293 at dramatically reduced prices. The firm’s troubles began in 2022 when a damning report from short seller Viceroy Research revealed HomeReit had inflated the value of a portfolio of properties that were in such desperate need of repair that tenants were refusing to settle bills, meaning the firm was increasingly debt-ridden. Ultimately, both the Financial Conduct Authority and the Serious Fraud Office launched investigations, both of which are ongoing. Home REIT’s remaining debts include £106m owed to Scottish Widows, and £7.3m in unpaid borrowing fees charged since August 2023, as well as around £5m in legal fees spent on litigation threatened by “current and past shareholders” it said earlier this year. HomeReit’s shares have been suspended since early 2023.  

Car parking app RingGo made a record £29.9m in fees last year, The Telegraph reports, a 16% increase on 2023. RingGo, the UK’s largest such app, charges private car park owners and local councils for managing parking payments at public car parks and roads. These charges are then passed on to drivers in the form of a “convenience fee”, typically 20p. RingGo also makes money from charging for text message reminders to motorists who choose them as a warning that their time to park is running out. The company’s pre-tax profits rose to £6.1m, up from £5.1m a year earlier. RinGo started in 2009 and operates in around 17,000 locations nationwide. It is owned by the Swedish technology business EasyPark. 

Mulberry has rejected a takeover bid from Mike Ashley's Frasers Group. Frasers made an £83m offer for the iconic British fashion brand yesterday, and criticised the retailer for not informing it of plans to raise £10m through the issue of new shares. Frasers already owns a 37% stake in the firm, famous for its luxury leather handbags, which has also announced it swung to a pre-tax loss of £34.1m from a profit of £13.2m a year earlier.

Rightmove shares ended the day down almost 8% yesterday after Rupert Murdoch's Australian property business REA Group said it would not pursue its attempt to purchase the company after its fourth takeover proposal, worth £6.2bn, was rejected.

Sir Paul Marshall has not submitted a formal offer for the Daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers. Current owners RedBird IMI set a Friday night deadline for offers, but the hedge fund and GB News owner – who bought The Spectator magazine from Redbird last month – is said to have been deterred by the £550m price tag set. New York Sun owner Dovid Efune and the British publishing executive David Montgomery are both understood to have made bids. Montgomery runs the London-listed National World group which publishes some of the UK’s largest regional outlets, including The Scotsman, the Yorkshire Post and Belfast’s The News Letter.