Flood Aid Drives Civil Engineering Record

The legacy of the worst winter storms for 250 years damaged the recovery in house-building but helped the civil engineering industry record its strongest month since April 1997.

The construction of homes grew at its slowest pace for four months in February, according to the Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the sector, where at figure above 50 denotes growth.

The PMI slipped to 62.6 from 64.6 in January - hurt by heavy rain, strong winds and floods which affected house-building particularly.

The railways line at Dawlish was washed away

The survey's findings correspond with an earlier warning from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, who said the economy might suffer a temporary hit because of the adverse conditions.

By contrast, civil engineering activity saw its strongest month since April 1997, the study found, helped by higher spending by local authorities which, in some cases, was in response to the rain as diggers were called in to protect homes and businesses from rising waters.

Attempts to keep water levels back aided civil engineers

Job creation was at its highest in three months as 59% of construction companies expected a rise in output over the year, compared with only 10% predicting a fall.

Britain's construction industry has been recovering since last year thanks to a combination of record low interest rates, government programmes to encourage people to buy new homes and falling unemployment.

The sector, which accounts for about 7% of gross domestic product (GDP), has been facing strong demand to build more properties to boost housing supply.

A shortage of new homes amid high demand for properties has been cited as the core reason for property prices rising to, what some critics claim are, unsustainable levels.

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Lloyds Commits To Credit Unions Amid Pay Row

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The taxpayer-backed Lloyds Banking Group will make a series of pledges on Wednesday aimed at combating financial exclusion, even as the industry runs headlong into another pay row.

Sky News understands that Lloyds will announce as part of its annual report that it will contribute an additional £1m annually to supporting credit unions, an increasingly popular form of alternative finance.

The commitment to credit unions, which the Government hopes will reduce the reliance on payday lenders of millions of Britons, will be one of dozens made by Lloyds under the slogan 'Helping Britain Prosper', launched by the bank's chief executive last month.

Sources said that Antonio Horta-Osorio would also promise to provide at least one in four so-called basic bank accounts, in line with its share of the broader current account market.

Other commitments would include employing a specific number of apprentices as Lloyds positions itself for a full return to private sector ownership later this year, they added.

Last month, the bank, which is 33%-owned by taxpayers, said it would employ women in 40% of its top 5,000 jobs within six years, while increasing net lending to small businesses and a host of other stakeholder-friendly measures.

Although the scale of some of the commitments is modest in the context of Lloyds' size, the bank hopes that they will convince politicians and the public that it is serious about changing its image.

The publication of Lloyds' annual report will include its remuneration report, which will show that the number of employees paid more than £1m in 2013 rose from 25 staff the year before.

The most toxic publicity, however, is likely to be reserved for Barclays, which also plans to release its annual report on Wednesday.

Barclays will say that it also increased substantially the number of millionaires on its payroll in 2013, as well as setting out the details of substantial pay hikes for Antony Jenkins, chief executive, and other senior risk-takers.

Lloyds and Barclays declined to comment.

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Holidaymakers Warned Over Online Scams

By Tadhg Enright, Sky News Correspondent

Police have warned holidaymakers to be wary of online booking scams after £7m was stolen by fraudsters last year.

A total of 4,500 cases of booking fraud were reported to police in 2013, with almost a third of cases involving consumers paying for holiday villas and apartments that did not exist.

A report by fraud investigators from The City of London Police said the other most common scams included fake airline tickets and some package holidays to sporting events and religious pilgrimages.

Detective Superintendent Pete O'Doherty said: "The internet has changed the way we look for and book our holidays.

"Unfortunately it is also enabling fraudsters, using online offers of villas, hotels and flights that simply don't exist or promising bookings that are never made, to prey upon those looking for that perfect break."

Laura and Seán Parks told Sky News about their ordeal after they were scammed while trying to book a Valentine's Day break while Seán, a soldier, was home on leave from Afghanistan.

Having seen an online advertisement for log cabins near Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands she was duped into paying £400 into the fraudster's bank account - only to find upon arrival that the cabins did not exist.

Seán said that booking service appeared to be legitimate: "The website looked 100%. Everything else, the invoices, they all looked genuine."

Laura added: "He was using a booking company, wasn't he? And I contacted the booking company to ask if they were aware of any of this and they weren't.

"But you have no reason to doubt anything when you have invoices coming through, and you're paying into a bank account."

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, travel industry body the Association of British Travel Agents and the Get Safe Online campaign have urged consumers to be wary and prepared the following advice:

:: Do your research. Do not just rely on one review, do a thorough online search to ensure the company's credentials. If a company is defrauding people there is a good chance consumers will post details of their experiences, and warnings about the company, online.

:: Use your instincts. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

:: Pay safe. Never pay directly into an owner's bank account. Paying by direct bank transfer is like paying by cash and the money cannot be traced and is not refundable. Where possible, pay by credit card or a debit card that offers protection.

ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer said: "Fraudsters are conning unsuspecting holidaymakers and travellers out of thousands of pounds each year - leaving them out of pocket or stranded with nowhere to stay through fake websites, false advertising, bogus phone calls and email scams."

Get Safe Online chief executive Tony Neate said it was vital for holidaymakers to do their research before booking.

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MPs Demand Wholesale Review Of Business Rates

A committee of MPs has demanded a "wholesale review" of business rates to support local economies, particularly high street retailers.

The Business Committee's report suggested that a Government consultation - which admits the need for reform - would not deliver enough.

Its chairman, Labour MP Adrian Bailey, said: "This is a time for wholesale review and fundamental reform, not for tinkering around the edges.

"Business rates are not fit for purpose and minor administrative changes will not alter that.

"We are not advocating a return to a bygone age, but if high streets are to become thriving community hubs and start ups are to invigorate our town centres the significant barrier to innovation currently posed by business rates must be addressed."

Mary 'Queen of shops' Portas reviewed Britain's high streets

The Committee urges ministers to give a six-month business rates amnesty for firms occupying empty properties and there should be an examination of whether retail taxes should be based on sales rather than the rateable value of a property.

The MPs also suggested that retail needed its own system of business taxation, adding that a six-month amnesty would encourage new businesses to the high street.

But it raised concerns that money allocated to a number of towns following a review headed by retail expert Mary Portas was not being spent.

Around £2.3m was earmarked for so-called Portas Pilots, but Mr Bailey said the Government could not provide evidence of how, or even whether, the money had been spent.

The Portas report, completed more than two years ago, had stressed the need for a review of business rates, the MPs noted.

Mr Bailey added: "British retail is a global success story. Employing around three million people, it is the largest private sector employer in the UK.

"But its traditional home - the high street - is struggling under a system of business rates that comprises one of the highest forms of local property tax in the European Union.

"Amongst the many challenges they face, business rates are the single biggest threat to the survival of retail businesses on the high street.

"A system of business taxation based on physical property is simply no longer appropriate in an increasingly online retail world."

The British Chambers of Commerce and British Retail Consortium were among lobby groups welcoming the MPs' intervention in the debate and demanding radical reform.

A Government spokesman said: "We have taken a series of steps to help local firms and shops with their business rates including announcing over £1bn of business rates support at Autumn Statement 2013.

"Half of this will go to supporting the retail sector through a £1,000 business rates discount for shops, pubs and restaurants and a temporary reoccupation relief to help bring empty shops back into use.

"We are also undertaking a review of business rates administration which will look at longer-term reforms to make the system more transparent, efficient and responsive to economic circumstances."

Toby Perkins, Labour's shadow minister for small business, accused the Government of hitting firms with rising costs.

He said: "Under David Cameron, small firms have seen hikes in business rates of £1,500 on average and many will see further rises next month.

"In contrast, the next Labour government will cut and then freeze business rates to give firms a much-needed boost."

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Standard Chartered To Slash Chief's Bonus

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Standard Chartered, the emerging markets bank, will reveal on Wednesday that it is slashing its bonus pool and its boss's payout as it bids to stave off the kind of row with investors that has hit rivals such as Barclays.

Sky News has learnt that Standard Chartered will announce alongside its annual results that it is paying roughly $1.2bn (£720m) in bonuses for 2013, down from $1.4bn (£840m) the year before.

The percentage fall in bonuses is substantially higher than the decline in the bank's profits for the year, reflecting its desire to demonstrate pay restraint, a source close to Standard Chartered's board said on Tuesday.

Peter Sands, the bank's chief executive, will see his bonus cut by a bigger margin than the reduction in the overall pool, according to a source.

StanChart is Liverpool's shirt sponsor

His £2m payout for 2012 had been reduced to not much more than £1m to reflect "a challenging year" for the bank, which sponsors Premier League side Liverpool, they added.

While a comparison with Barclays is unlikely to be explicitly drawn by Standard Chartered, the source said Mr Sands and Sir John Peace, its chairman, were keen to avoid the publicity over pay which had damaged its UK-based rival.

Last month, Barclays increased its bonus pool for 2013 to £2.4bn despite a slump in profits, a move which has sparked fury from a number of leading City investors.

Standard Chartered has been a darling of the stock market for many years, with its presence in Africa, Asia and Latin America underpinning a decade-long unbroken run of record profits.

That performance will come to an end on Wednesday when it is expected by City analysts to report a fall in earnings of about 6% to just over $7bn (£4.2bn).

The bank's shares have suffered recently as a consequence of City speculation about a dividend cut and rights issue, as well as broader concerns about the volatility of emerging market economies.

Standard Chartered plans to use Wednesday's results announcement to address speculation about its capital position, an insider said.

The bank is understood to be frustrated about what it perceives to be a lack of explicit guidance from the Prudential Regulation Authority, the UK banking regulator, about its future capital requirements.

Standard Chartered, which is in the process of selling a number of assets in markets such as Lebanon and South Korea, declined to comment.

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Obama Sends 2015 Budget To Congress

President Barack Obama has unveiled a $3.9trn (£2.3trn) budget aimed at bolstering the economy, but the proposal drew immediate criticism from Republicans.

Mr Obama sent his blueprint for fiscal year 2015, which begins on October 1, to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, handing Democrats a playbook for their election-year themes of creating jobs and narrowing the income gap.

But with the entire House and one-third of the Senate facing re-election in November, campaign-year pressures all but ensure that few of the president's initiatives will go far.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner said: "The president has offered perhaps his most irresponsible budget yet.

"American families looking for jobs and opportunity will find only more government in this plan."

Mr Obama's proposal would funnel money into road building, education and other economy-boosting programmes.

It includes new spending for pre-school education and job training, expanded tax credits for 13.5 million low-income workers without children and more than $1trn (£600bn) in higher taxes over the next decade, mostly for the wealthiest Americans and corporations.

Mr Obama said: "As a country, we've got to make a decision if we're going to protect tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans or if we're going to make smart investments necessary to create jobs and grow our economy and expand opportunity for every American."

To help pay for his budget initiatives, Mr Obama envisions raising a "Buffett tax" - named for billionaire Warren Buffett - slapping minimum levies on the highest-earning people.

Boehner and Obama have failed since 2011 to agree on deficit-reduction

Taxes would also be raised on tobacco products, airline passengers and managers of private investment funds.

Congress previously has ignored those revenue proposals as well as many of Mr Obama's spending ideas.

Republican Representative Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, said: "The president's budget is yet another disappointment because it reinforces the status quo.

"It would demand that families pay more so Washington can spend more."

The Republicans' recipe for accelerating economic growth includes cutting taxes or overhauling the entire tax code, and they criticise higher spending as wasteful.

Mr Obama's budget claims to obey overall agency spending limits that were enacted in December after a bipartisan compromise was reached between Mr Ryan and Democratic Senator Patty Murray.

But Mr Obama was proposing an additional package of $55bn (£33bn) in spending priorities, half for defence and half for domestic programmes.

The budget projects a 2015 deficit of $564bn (£338bn) and a shortfall this year of $649bn (£390bn).

If those figures hold true, it would mark three straight years of annual red ink under $1trn (£600bn), following four previous years when deficits exceeded that mark every time.

The president's spending plan also takes credit for reducing accumulated deficits over coming decade by $2.2trn (£1.3trn).

But nearly one-third of that comes from claimed savings from the end of the US war in Iraq and the gradual withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan.

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Hotel Prices Soar At Top World Destinations

A survey has highlighted steep price increases in many of the world's top holiday destinations, though England football fans may have reason to cheer.

The study, by hotels.com, found that despite a general strengthening of the pound against many other currencies, room costs were on the rise in more than half the most popular world destinations.

Comparing prices in 2013 with 2012 in 116 cities, the average cost of accommodation rose in 69 and fell in only 40.

Britons paying for hotels abroad would have forked out the most last year in Monte Carlo, where the average price was £198.

New York is among the most expensive destinations for hotels

Second was Muscat in Oman (£194) followed by New York (£185), Key West in Florida (£171) and Rio de Janeiro (£167).

Encouragingly for England football fans intending to travel to Brazil for this summer's World Cup, the price in Rio actually fell by 5% though separate studies have suggested fans face steeper bills in host cities during the tournament.

London prices rose from £110 in 2012 to £121 on average but the biggest percentage rise last year was 22% for New Orleans, where a hotel room price shot up from £120 in 2012 to £146 in 2013 as the city continued its recovery from the effects of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Price growth was steepest in New Orleans

The survey found that those looking for real bargains during trips abroad at the moment should head for Hanoi in Vietnam where average prices dipped 20% last year to £39.

Even cheaper accommodation can be found in Phnom Penh in Cambodia where prices last year fell to £33 on average.

The best-value European destination in 2013 was the Polish city of Krakow where the average hotel price was £62.

Kate Hopcraft, of Hotels.com, said: "There is no doubt that European hotel prices were some of those most badly affected by the economic fallout.

"Many of the destinations worst hit by the downturn have seen hotel prices stabilise, with some experiencing healthy rises."

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GPs To Trial Skype And Email Appointments

By Gerard Tubb, North of England Correspondent

Experimental plans to make family doctors more accessible using Skype appointments and email consultations are due to be announced within the next few weeks.

At least 40,000 patients will be covered by pilot schemes in England designed to improve access to GPs through extending opening hours, weekend opening and better use of technology.

GPs in West Yorkshire have been using video conferencing to assess patients for the past eight years through a pioneering scheme at Airedale General Hospital.

First used with patients in prisons, more recent use with elderly people in care homes has shown it can cut the number of A&E appointments by 69% and hospital admissions by 45%.

Dr Colin Renwick, a GP from Settle in North Yorkshire, has been involved with the project since 2006 and says video conferencing could easily be extended to a patient's home.

"There's no reason why you couldn't do (that)," he said.

"A lot of what you base a diagnosis on is actually what the patient is telling you on the history, and if you're listening to the patient the actual physical hands-on examination often doesn't add a lot to what they've told you."

The pilot scheme areas are due to announced later this month, with a commitment to rapid implementation and to delivering what the government calls "tangible patient benefits".

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China Goes For Green Amid Slower Growth

China has moved to reduce the pace of investment to the slowest in a decade, as it seeks a more sustainable and greener expansion programme.

Leaders of the world's second biggest economy have given the strongest hint of reversing the goal of greater economic growth.

It also promised to wage a "war" on pollution, which has blighted large swathes of the country amid rapid industrialisation.

In an annual parliament meeting, Premier Li Keqiang said his country's goal was to expand the economy by 7.5%.

Delivering the message in a state of the union style address, he stressed that growth would not halt planned reforms.

Mr Li, China's first premier with an economics doctorate, said the country would pursue reforms from the environment to the financial sector.

His measured language comes after more than two decades of double digit growth. China now expects inflation to be around 3.5% in the coming year.

Although it has improved economic standing for millions of workers, it has left an unenviable legacy, reminiscent of Britain's industrial revolution.

Air and water pollution have become politically sensitive issues, fomenting unrest, and it is saddled with ominous debt levels.

Premier Li Keqiang has impressive economic credentials

"Reform is the top priority for the government," Mr Li told around 3,000 select delegates of the National People's Congress- seen as a rubber stamp for the ruling Communist Party.

"We must have the mettle to fight on and break mental shackles to deepen reforms on all fronts."

He added that idle factories would close, more private investment promoted and an environmental tax plan accelerated.

The aim is to encourage more balance and a greener ethos in the economy, Mr Li said.

To aid the transformation, China's economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, said there would be 17.5% growth in fixed-asset investment this year, the slowest in 12 years.

Investment is the largest driver of China's economy and accounted for over half of last year's 7.7% growth.

At a plenum meeting last November, China announced ambitious reforms from investment- and export-fuelled growth towards a slower sustained expansion.

The new pledge signals that the plan continues, albeit with caution.

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Rich Are Richer Since Crash, Says Top Boss

The boss of Britain's biggest pension and insurance provider has told Sky News that the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme has helped the rich at the expense of the less well off.

Legal & General chief executive Nigel Wilson said: "The less well off haven't done so well with QE, we've got to fix that by investing more, creating real jobs with real wage growth here in the UK."

Mr Wilson also reiterated his call to scrap the Help To Buy home scheme.

"There's too much political uncertainty and too much regulatory uncertainty here in the UK," he told Business Presenter Joel Hills.

"We don't have a great energy policy and we don't have a great housing policy."

His comments come a fortnight before the Chancellor unveils the Budget and exactly five years since the QE programme started.

Mr Wilson's company controls around 4% of the blue chip FTSE 100 index.

He said the Government scheme to assist the housing market has only proved to add "fuel to the fire" of the UK economy.

"We are only building 110,000 to 120,000 houses per annum but we need to be building more than 200,000," he said.

"There are 4.5 million older people who want to downsize but can't, simply because we haven't built houses people can retire to."

He added: "Help To Buy has been unhelpful in our view, especially in the South East, it has driven house prices up far too much.

"The Government is doing the right thing by trying to stimulate demand in the UK but you have to stimulate supply even more."

Mr Wilson said the scheme should eventually be scrapped and help given to the private rental sector, which has been "ignored for 25 years".

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