HMRC will close tax helpline for half the year
People seeking help with their tax return will be forced to use a chatbot and online services for half the year because a helpline will be shut.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said the self-assessment telephone helpline would be permanently closed between 8 April and 30 September.
The tax authority has been toiling with long waiting times and intense criticism of its services.
The helpline will deal with priority cases only for the rest of the year.
Jeremy Hunt hints at October election in spending review remarks
The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has suggested a general election could be held in October.
Speaking in the House of Lords, Hunt said the Treasury would need time to push through a review of Whitehall budgets before next spring, making an October date the last time when an election would be possible.
“This particular spending review has to be completed before next April, when the next financial year starts. And if the general election is in October, that will mean it’s very, very tight,” he said.
Whitehall budgets were agreed for three years in 2021 and the Treasury has been under pressure to conduct a review since last year to give departments some certainty about their income at least five years ahead.
Architects toast Union Terrace Gardens
Union Terrace Gardens (UTG) scooped the project of the year title in the latest edition of Aberdeen Society of Architects’ Annual Dinner and Design Awards.
The near-£30 million revamp of sunken gardens in the heart of the Granite City also won the public realm gong.
And it was awarded a “highly commended” accolade in the conservation category.
The project of the year honour was for UTG’s three pavilions, designed by Stallan-Brand.
Major brands deny 'shrinkflation' as Heinz says reducing the number of beans in a tin doesn't count
Major brands have denied so-called "shrinkflation", despite selling smaller quantities of a product for similar prices, saying there was no need for greater transparency as reductions are put online and shoppers are "savvy".
A boss at Kraft Heinz told the MPs at the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee that reducing the percentage of beans in a tin, without bringing down the price, was not shrinkflation.
Instead, the reduction from 51% to 50% beans in a 415g tin was "to make it taste better" and "to improve the quality of our product", said Dominic Hawkins, the UK head of supply chain at the company behind Heinz beans and HP sauce.