The Bank of England held its regular meeting to discuss interest rates last Thursday.
They voted to hold interest rates at 4.5% as had been widely expected prior to the meeting.
The Bank targets an inflation rate of 2% and has already predicted that inflation will rise this year before dropping at the end of the year. However, inflation for the 12 months to January 2025 increased to 3.0% from 2.5% in December, a much higher and faster increase in inflation than had been expected.
The Bank have been taking a cautious approach to reducing the rate, and more cuts are expected during 2025. However, with the increases in the amount of national insurance paid by employers and national minimum wage rates taking effect in April, the Bank is having to tread a fine line between slowing price rises and risking damaging the economy by having rates too high.
HMRC have proposed a new criminal offence for making reckless, untrue statements or declarations about what's known as 'direct taxes' - Income Tax, National Insurance and the like. For Customs and Excise and VAT ('indirect taxes'), it is already possible to prosecute individuals who make untrue statements or submit incorrect documents either knowingly or recklessly, without the need to prove dishonesty. The penalties for such offences can be severe, including substantial fines and imprisonment. The direct tax regime does not currently contain an equivalent offence.
A new Freedom of Information (FOI) request has discovered that health and safety violations cost British employers over £44 million per year. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that serious breaches have resulted in an increasing number of prosecutions between 2023 and 2025.