People in the public eye and other prominent figures who are believed to be participants in tax avoidance schemes are being blocked from receiving public honours if they are named on a list maintained by HMRC, according to reports

The TaxAssist Accountants network, which operates from more than 300 shops and offices across the UK, has reported its second £1m resale as a result of a restructuring of two central London franchises

EY has announced its two latest board appointments, both of whom are women, bringing a 50:50 gender balance to its top team of ten executives

In the latest career development updates, BT reveals £500m pension deficit error, councils need to transform to survive budget cuts, social care employers win NMW appeal, former Tesco FD will not face fraud trial

Concerns over long-term care costs are evident following rumours about the introduction of a care ISA with leftover savings being exempt from inheritance tax. Sara White, editor of Accountancy, outlines some of the problems faced by government and urges MPs to focus on the longer term rather than the parliamentary cycle

PwC has announced plans to offer employees the opportunity to work flexibly and forgo traditional working patterns, with options including shorter hours or only working for a few months a year

Marcus Williams, associate director of financial services at Morgan McKinley, reviews the key trends across financial services and accounting recruitment in Q2, with demand for ACA qualified graduates and Big Four candidates with experience in consolidations growing

Midlands firm Smith Cooper has announced the retirement of its longest serving member of staff, Peter Hargreaves, who is leaving after 42 years but will remain in touch for the foreseeable future as a part-time consultant

The government’s National Fraud Initiative (NFI) has saved over £300m in taxpayers’ money over the last two years from clamping down on fraud and error in the public sector, a record in any reporting period since its creation in 1996

The government has announced a new aid package which it says will ‘stop dirty money in its tracks’ by creating new centres of British expertise in major financial hubs, with the aim of tackling illicit financial flows in Africa

Stephen Kelly, CEO of the Sage Group, has stepped down with immediate effect, and chief financial officer (CFO) Steve Hare has been named as chief operating officer (COO) on an interim basis at the accounting software specialist

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is calling for mandatory reporting on staff recruitment, retention and promotion by ethnicity and disability, after research found just 3% of organisations measure their ethnicity or disability pay gaps