The figures, which will show if Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander are on target in lending the agreed £190 billion to businesses throughout 2011, will be published today by the Bank of England.
Back in February, in order to make funding more available for businesses that have been struggling during the economic crisis, the banks agreed that they would pledge £190 billion to British business under the Project Merlin agreement in 2011. This is compared with the £179 billion lent in 2010.
In the first quarter of 2011, lending is expected to collectively total £16.8 billion compared with the target of £19 billion, therefore a shortfall of around 12%.
Vince Cable last week said that he expected the banks to miss their lending targets and sent a warning to the banks that action would be taken by the Government.
“If the banks don't deliver, there are options open to the Government, including taxation,” he said.
However, the business secretary said that the banks would have the remainder of the year to increase their lending to meet the agreed amount under Project Merlin.
The Federation of Small Businesses says its members are continuing to struggle to get bank loans and other credit.
The Project Merlin deal was positive news for SMEs across the UK back in February. If the banks have not met their lending targets in the first quarter of 2011, let’s hope that the Government take action to ensure that these targets are met throughout the rest of the year and that funding is more readily available.
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This week it was announced that the Government has appointed retail guru, Mary Portas, to review the country’s high streets in a bid to decline rising shop vacancy rates and a move from consumers to spend in out of town shopping centres.
Apart from a general squeeze on consumer spending, highlighted by the Ernst & Young ITEM club report published on Tuesday, there is a move for shoppers to avoid shopping in town centres, as there is very little new or exciting to tempt them to spend their hard-earned cash.
This has led to a doubling of vacancy rates over the last two years and a plethora of chain stores and charity shops where independent stores used to thrive.
Figures released by the business department showed that more than a third of shops were vacant in the worst-hit town centres, such as Margate and Leigh Park in southeast England.
Town centres have also seen their share of total retail spending fall to 42 per cent last year from just under 50 per cent in 2000. Town centre sales grew 1.5 per cent from 2005 -10 compared with the 11.5 per cent increase enjoyed by out-of-town retailers.
"The high street should be at the very heart of every community, bringing people together, providing essential services and creating jobs and investment," Prime Minister David Cameron said. "So, it is vital that we do all that we can to ensure they thrive."
However, Portas will have her work cut out to rejuvenate high street spending and slow down the rate of ‘doughnutisation’ – the trend for shoppers to move out of the middle to out of town locations.
Since we have less to spend and busier lives, we are more likely to shop somewhere where we can get everything under one roof and make one trip in the car. It will be interesting to read her report, due out in the Autumn.
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Male workers could retire with as much as 50 per cent more pension than their female counterparts, a survey showed yesterday. And while this might seem shocking news in the age of equality, at least the gap has narrowed from last year.
The Prudential’s Class of 2011 survey of people retiring this year found that the average retirement income gender gap is £6,500. The average woman retiring this year expects an annual income of £12,900 compared with an average male expected income of £19,400.
But the divide widens and narrows depending on where in the country you live and work. The gap between women and men's pensions is widest in the South West of England, where it is £11,700 a year. In this region, women retiring can expect an annual income of just £10,400 a year; while men can look forward to collecting £22,100.
Surprisingly though, in the South East, there is no gap at all – with both men and women retiring this year being on track to receive an average of £18,100. Experts said this was largely due to higher employment figures in this region.
Commenting on Prudential’s survey, Chief Executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, Joanne Segars said: “The big gap in retirement income between the genders is a serious issue, and the sums involved can make a huge difference to a pensioner's lifestyle. Sadly many women lost out on the chance to build their pension when they left work to start a family, and too many are reliant on their husband's pension.
“It's important that everyone has a pension in their own right. The gender gap may have narrowed slightly, but our society as a whole remains on a collision course with its retirement. Too many people are not saving, or are not saving enough. We have to get more people focused on putting something aside for their older age.”
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In his sixth letter to the Chancellor since January 2010, Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, warned that the rise in the cost of living may become so great that workers could begin to rebel against the lack of pay increases from their employers.
The letter to the Chancellor follows yesterday’s news of the UK inflation rate rising to 4.5 percent in April from 4.2 percent in March, a revelation from the Bank of England that took the City by surprise. A 4.2 percent rise had been forecast.
Mervyn King was forced to write a letter of explanation to the Chancellor as inflation has been a full percentage point higher than the Government target of two percent for three consecutive months. In the letter he also warned inflation was likely to continue to hit consumers for many months to come.
Workers’ standard of living would almost certainly be hit, he wrote, and many had been forced to accept a pay freeze or very modest pay increases.
Mr King wrote: “The continuing experience of high levels of inflation may push up on inflation expectations, or lead to some resistance to the erosion of real take-home pay. Either of these mechanisms could put upward pressure on wages and prices looking ahead."
Business groups believe that employees’ tolerance of the recession will dwindle and calls for pay rises to match the cost of living will be heard.
John Philpott, chief economist at the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, said: "If the employment market improves, employers will find it very hard to resist the calls for pay increases to make up for the increase in the cost of living. The Bank could possibly make things worse for many workers if it increases interest rates... because it would increase their mortgage payments, which could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. This could encourage demands for wage increases, fuelling inflation once again."
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The Localism Bill, being brought in as part of the ‘Big Society’ push, will have its report stage and third reading this week amid concerns that the point has been missed about how important small businesses are to local communities.
Effectively, the Bill will devolve greater powers to local councils and communities. However, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is concerned that the Bill as it stands is a missed opportunity that doesn't fully recognise the importance of businesses at community level.
The provisions relating to councils include:
• giving councils a general power of competence
• allowing councils more discretion over business rate relief
• providing new powers to help save local facilities and services threatened with closure, and giving voluntary and community groups the right to challenge local authorities over their services
John Walker, National Chairman of the FSB said: “We are disappointed that the Bill doesn't currently recognise the importance of local businesses within the local community – these businesses will be key to strengthening the economic recovery.“
Walker is also concerned that businesses cannot currently become involved with the neighbourhood forums on planning, stating that, “it is only fair that the local businesses that generate growth and prosperity in the areas have their say too… We want to see an immediate change in this part of the Bill.“
The FSB has also highlighted part of the Bill, which would give local communities the right to nominate and then suspend the sale of a local business property that has been placed on a safe list, known as The Community Right to Buy.
The FSB is concerned that this misses the mark, as although the Government's aim is to help local communities preserve local assets it would, in fact, be more likely to put a small business owner at risk.
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