UK government announces £63m funding for EV charging infrastructure
The transport secretary has promised to make it “easier and cheaper” to buy electric cars, as the government announces £63m worth of funding to help build charging infrastructure.Heidi Alexander said on Sunday she wanted to make it more affordable to switch to electric vehicles as she announced new money for councils and other bodies to spend on facilities to charge cars.She announced £63m worth of funding for EV charging, with officials also finalising plans for a £700m package of subsidies to bring down the cost of buying a new electric car.The money still falls short of the £950m pledged by the Conservatives for motorway charging points, however, which the Labour government scrapped last month, accusing the previous government of having failed to set aside funding for it.UK-made EVs are expected to receive the most generous subsidies under the scheme, which would probably benefit the Japanese carmaker Nissan, which is gearing up to produce a new version of its Leaf electric car in Sunderland.
Support is expected to be targeted at the buyers of more affordable cars, meaning that premium and luxury vehicles such as those made by the US manufacturer Tesla and the new UK-made electric Range Rover and other Land Rover models soon to be launched by JLR may not be eligible.Alexander said on Sunday: “We do need to make it easier and cheaper for people to buy an electric vehicle.So today we’re announcing really big investment, £63m in charging infrastructure across the country – £25m for councils.”She said some of the money would be spent on new charging points, but the money for local authorities was to enable them to dig gullies under paving slabs to allow car owners to run charging cables across residential streets.An additional £30m would go to vehicle depots such as those used by the NHS.
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, pledged £400m for charging infrastructure over the next five years at last month’s spending review – part of a £1.4bn fund to support the uptake of all EVs.Just over 20% of new cars sold this year were electric, according to the data company Zap Map.But while the number of electric car sales increased by about 240% from 2021 to 2024, they still account for less than 5% of all the cars on British roads.Sign up to Headlines UKGet the day’s headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morningafter newsletter promotionMinisters have set a target that electric cars should account of 28% of all new sales this year, though have introduced “flexibilities” into those rules that bring the real target down to about 22%, according to the thinktank New Automotive.
The Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government introduced the first purchase subsidies for EVs in 2011, when sales and the number of models on offer were tiny.However, the Conservatives ended the subsidies in 2022 amid concerns that the policy was expensive and mainly benefited wealthier households, in a move that was heavily criticised by carmakers.The government is also seeking to boost domestic manufacturing of zero-emission vehicles, and separately announced on Sunday it would invest £2bn over the next five years on a range of technologies to help the industry.Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, said: “We’re helping British carmakers get to the front of the pack by working hand in hand with investors to build a globally competitive electric vehicle supply chain in the UK.”
Thames Water announces hosepipe ban as dry weather depletes reservoirs
Thames Water has announced a hosepipe ban as a record dry spring and summer has severely reduced water supplies.Households in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire will be banned from using hosepipes to wash cars or water gardens from Tuesday 22 July.The ban will affect all OX, GL and SN postcodes, as well as RG4, RG8 and RG9.The recent hot weather has caused a large surge in demand as people water their gardens and keep cool in the heatwave.Nevil Muncaster, strategic water resources director at Thames Water, said he did not “anticipate the situation will improve any time soon”, adding: “We have to take action now
Tax pubs on profit not turnover, urges Greene King boss
The boss of the pub chain Greene King has called for changes to business rates to remedy “unfairness” that he said added to financial pressures on the struggling pubs industry.Nick Mackenzie, Greene King’s chief executive, said the business rates system of property taxes should be changed to a tax on profits.The British pub industry has complained that it is under pressure from a series of increasing costs. The trade body the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said last week it expected pub closures at a rate of more than one a day during 2025, adding to the 350 net closures during 2024. It said business rates were a factor in those closures
Number of UK job hunters rises at fastest rate since Covid pandemic
The number of people hunting for jobs in Britain surged in June at the fastest rate since the height of the Covid pandemic, industry figures show, amid growing business fears over tax rises and the economic outlook.The snapshot from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and the accountancy firm KPMG showed the number of new candidates looking for work rose at the sharpest rate since November 2020, when the UK entered the second nationwide lockdown.The trade body representing Britain’s recruitment industry blamed the “scar tissue” left by tax rises introduced in April by the government, including a £25bn increase in employer national insurance contributions (NICs).In a survey of 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies, the REC found that permanent placements had dropped at the fastest pace in 22 months, alongside weaker levels of pay growth and reports of redundancies and reduced appetite for staff.The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is under pressure to reboot Britain’s economy after output unexpectedly shrank for a second consecutive month in May, fuelled by a downturn in construction and manufacturing
Sales of UK country houses rise as buyers tempted out by lower prices
Sales of expensive UK country houses rose in June, signalling a possible recovery in demand as buyers are tempted out by lower prices after an extended slump.The estate agency Knight Frank said the number of exchanges of contract for sales of country houses – defined as a rural home worth more than £750,000 – was up 7% in June compared with last year as the number of properties for sale rose while prices fell.Second-home owners are driving the increase in properties coming to market, the agency said, after recent council tax changes designed to level the playing field for local people living in popular holiday spots. Councils in Wales have the power to quadruple taxes on second homes, while English councils can double taxes.The number of country houses coming on to the market was 9% higher in the second quarter of the year compared with last year
Turn empty London office blocks into ‘late-night party zones’, report suggests
Could the future of Canary Wharf lie in thumping beats and dancefloor raves? Could the City of London become a global hub of nocturnal revelry?With financial districts struggling to bounce back to full capacity post-Covid, and the nightlife industry facing an existential crisis, there are suggestions clubs could move into deserted office blocks at evenings and weekends.In its annual eccentric report on the future of leisure, the creative studio Bompas and Parr says it envisions “a future where financial districts in London and the world over are transformed into world-class late-night party zones”.“By day, the city bustles with suits and stocks. By night, it’s reborn as a pulsating rave arena,” the report says. “With few residents to file noise complaints, organisers capitalise on the empty, echoing canyons of glass and steel
‘Short hair is dying out’: 30% rise in cost of UK haircuts, not fashion, is driving the change
Skin fades and sculpted bobs are out. Messy tops and longer locks are in. For fashion hawks, the move towards lengthier hair is hardly news, but it may not be fashion alone that is driving the shift. Rising costs and tightened belts are among the reasons some believe are behind the trend for longer hair.The average cost of a haircut for men and women in the UK has soared by more than 30% since 2020, according to government data
My cultural awakening: I joined Danny Wallace’s accidental positivity cult – and found the love of my life
Watch the Skies to Wet Leg: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
The Guide #198: Such Brave Girls shows that grown-up gross-out comedy is thriving
‘What should be taught in schools?’: the infamous ‘Scopes monkey trial’ turns 100
Comedian Paul Smith: ‘People get disappointed when they meet me in real life. I’m really quiet’
Clash of cultures: exhibition tells story of when Vikings ruled the north of England