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You and Yours: Carillion Pensions, Open University, Peak Prosecco

Carillion Pensions, Open University, Peak Prosecco

08/06/2018

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Carillion Pensions, Open University, Peak Prosecco

How are Carillion pension holders affected after the collapse of the outsourcing giant?

Consumer news and issues. Why do drop-out numbers remain so high for the Open University and what can be done to reduce them? Plus how has Carillion's collapse affected pensions.

The National Audit Office released a report this week warning the demise of the outsourcing giant Carillion would cost UK taxpayers an estimated £150 million.
The company was liquidated in January with huge debts and hundreds of public sector contracts in the UK still outstanding.
Carillion's underfunded pension schemes had to be bailed out by the government's Pension Protection Fund. 
We'll hear from a railway worker who'll now receive a lower pension than he was originally promised. 
What's his position and what can he do now? We'll ask the former Pensions Minister Steve Webb.

When the Open University was launched nearly fifty years ago - it changed the face of education, but what will the next fifty years hold? 
Student numbers have fallen dramatically since the introduction of higher tuition fees. 
This year, its Vice Chancellor Peter Horrocks resigned after a vote of no confidence by staff, having proposed cost cutting measures. 
And new figures analysed by this programme show that forty percent of their part time students drop out after two years - that's higher than the expected level.
We'll speak to the Open University about its future and the challenges it faces.

And, marketed as a cheap alternative to champagne and sold for as little as five pounds per bottle, Prosecco has become a party favourite.
But latest figures indicate sales are slowing down for first time in 7 years. 1.8 million more gallons of sparkling wine were on sale in the UK over the past year - but that's the smallest increase since 2011. Does that mean prices will go up?

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Jess Quayle.

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