• Fuel duty increase of 3p per litre planned for January 2012 has been delayed until August 2012
• Corporation tax will fall to 25% in April 2012
• Business rate holiday relief for small firms will be extended to April 2013
• £1bn will be made available to subsidise six month placements for young people
• Infrastructure spending to be supported by unlocking , up to , £20bn investment from pension funds
• Go ahead for 35 road & rail projects across England
• Crediting Easing ( rebranded as National Loan Guarantee scheme ) to underwrite low interest loans for small/medium firms

Other significant changes will affect:-

• Pensions – State pension up 5.2% , April 2012
• Right to buy council housing by occupants , with up to 50% discount
• Rail fare increases limited to inflation plus 1%
• Public sector pay awards limited to 1% for each of the next 2 years

• Increase the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from one to two years
• Introduction of fees for lodging Tribunal claims, Ministry of Justice to publish a consultation paper on the introduction of fees
• All employment disputes would be required to go to ACAS before proceeding to tribunal
• Micro-business ( organisations with fewer than 10 employees) would be free to use ‘Compensated no fault dismissal system’
• The proposals will examine if the 90 day minimum consultation for collective redundancies is a burden on good business planning

The Key Benefits

• The proposed changes seeks to encourage disputes to be resolved early before reaching the tribunal system
• Enable businesses to feel more confident about hiring staff
• Create time for relationships to get established , not to become a charter for businesses to sack people
• Government estimates that the proposed changes will result in, between , 3,700 & 4,700 fewer unfair dismissal claims per year
• The government expect that the changes will deliver £40m benefit to business per year

Keep watching our news to get updates on the progress of these proposed changes and other business news.

Under these measures, employers will have to enrol workers into a qualifying workplace pension arrangement and choose the qualifying scheme they adopt to discharge the newly arising duty and will have to make a minimum 3% contribution towards a defined contribution scheme.

If you are interested in joining the scheme contact Asset Skills direct, for more information visit www.assetskills.org

On the whole the budget has helped out the small to medium sized businesses but Adam Marshall, Director of Policy and External Affairs at the BCC criticised the move as this may discourage some businesses from taking on extra staff in the near future and may encourage some to downsize. The rise has, however, been greeted as a moderate and sensible rise by John Cridland deputy director general of the CBI and is in accordance with recommendations from the Low Pay Commision.

There is not a statutory right to paid leave on bank and public holidays. If the employer gives paid leave on a bank or public holiday, this can count towards your minimum holiday entitlement.

The new scheme will be delivered by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). Its tighter regulations are at the heart of the Government’s strategy for increasing the protection of vulnerable members of our society.

From 12 October 2009 the PoVAFirst service has been renamed the ISA Adult First Service.

The CRB has reduced the fee for Standard Disclosures.

• £5.80 per hour for all workers aged 22 years and over
• £4.83 per hour for workers between 18 and 21
• £3.57 per hour for workers of 16 & 17 years of age

The government has also promised to extend the adult minimum wage rate to 21-year-olds from October 2010