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For many pensioners, the package of additional benefits that is paid on top of the state pension  provides a vital boost to their tight budgets. But a row has broken out within the Coalition over the fact that the benefits - worth several hundred pounds - are paid out in equal amounts to the UK's richest and poorest pensioners. It has prompted work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith to this week call on wealthy retirees to give up or pay back their winter fuel payments, free bus passes and free TV licences if they can afford to do without them. Pay it back: Iain Duncan Smith has encouraged wealthy pensioners to forego winter fuel payments, free buss passes and free TV licences. How much are these benefits worth? Everyone born on or before July 5, 1951 (aged 61 or over), is entitled to a winter fuel payment of £200 to help with heating bills when the cold weather sets in. The amount rises to £300 for those over 80. Payments are made in November or December and are pa

Customs officials are trawling computer records from the USA and Australia as part of its crackdown on wealthy tax cheats. Hundreds of people in the UK are already being investigated for offshore tax evasion by HMRC as its analysts study 400 gigabytes of data provided by America's Internal Revenue Service and the Australian Taxation Office. Chancellor George Osborne has warned that cheats have nowhere to hide, with early results already unearthing companies and trusts in tax 'havens' like Singapore, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Cook Islands, which are being used to hide the assets of the rich. Hidden getaway: The rich are using offshore tax havens like the Cayman Islands to hide their assets. He said: 'The message is simple: if you evade tax, we're coming after you. The Government has invested hundreds of millions of pounds to fund the fight against tax evasion, both at home and abroad. 'This data is another weapon in HMRC's a

It is better known for its gritty industrial heritage, but the Local Enterprise Partnership has plans to make Dudley a tourist destination. Dudley Zoo and Castle chief executive Peter Suddock is celebrating the attraction’s 75th anniversary today with the launch of Penguin Bay, featuring one of the largest collections of Humboldt penguins. He says: ‘There is a scheme to link us with the Dudley Museum and Art Gallery and the Dudley Canal Trust to encourage people to come to the town for a day out.’ A common entrance and car park for the three attractions is planned and transport links between the sites are being improved. The zoo and castle’s turnover has tripled in 10 years to around £3 million. Suddock says: ‘We support other local firms, such as Teddy Grays confectionery in Dudley,  who have made our sticks of rock since the zoo opened in 1937 – one of only three places in the country making sticks of rock. We source locally wherever we can.’

An Enterprise Zone which was approved in August last year will create up to 6,400 new jobs, the Local Enterprise Partnership believes. The zone is made up of 320 acres of development sites in Darlaston and Wolverhampton North and its status means firms could benefit from incentives such as a 100 per cent business rate discount, relaxed planning laws, superfast broadband and enhanced capital allowances for machinery. Flying high: Moog will make spacecraft controls in the new regeneration zone Of the 22 zones chosen by Government, the Black Country’s zone is one of only six with 100 per cent capital allowances. So far three firms are moving in. Jaguar Land Rover is investing £355 million in an advanced engine manufacturing facility on the site. Moog will occupy a 200,000 sq ft building to make systems to control space vehicles, medical equipment, missiles, satellites and commercial aircraft. Meanwhile bio-analytical testing firm Eurofins UK is in the process of completing

The Black Country is benefiting from the forthcoming Olympics, with figures showing that nearly 50 businesses have won contracts from the London 2012 Games and associated projects. Areport by the Black Country Consortium shows that at least one company in each of the 13 parliamentary constituencies has been awarded a contract, many of them through the supplier portal competefor.com. The value of the Black Country Olympic contracts is £415 million. It is estimated that about 7,000 supplier contracts worth £6 billion in total were made available nationwide for the 2012 games. Alucast in Wednesbury, secured a deal to cast parts for the London 2012 Games torch. The company, which employs about 100 staff and expects to reach £8 million turnover this year, was chosen by Coventry-based Premier Group to manufacture the caps for the torch. Dudley-based bathroom products-maker Thomas Dudley & Co and steel mesh manufacturer Hickman and Love also won contracts. Construction giant Carillion, w

Once a world leader as the engine of growth in the industrial revolution, the Black Country has seen more than 1,000 businesses go to the wall in the past year. And it is now below the national average for the number of start-ups per head of population, according to a State of the Region report by the Black Country Consortium, an organisation promoting regeneration in the area. Despite this, Stewart Towe, chairman of the Black Country’s Local Enterprise Partnership, one of 39 in England that bring local authorities and private businesses together, is optimistic. Home cooking: Pargat's Narinder Kaur is hoping to lessen reliance on imports Towe, who also owns steel frame-maker Hadley Group in Smethwick, says: ‘There’s a new agenda and an inclusive spirit that wasn’t there before. Successes include securing millions of pounds of investment for the Black Country.’ The Partnership covers 31,245 small and medium-sized firms in Wolverhampton, Walsall, West Bromwich and Brier

Is the pound weak or strong or middling? Opinions on the health or otherwise of sterling tend to differ so drastically, it's sometimes hard to believe the same numbers are being watched. It's a financial benchmark that allows divergent interpretations, and even carries some emotional baggage: some constituencies take pride in a strong sterling, as an indicator of British economic virility, and a harbinger of cheaper Continental holidays. Financial authorities and Governments take a more pragmatic view and in straitened economic times are generally happy for the pound to weaken, hoping it will give a shot in the arm to exports and rebalance the economy. Gaining currency: The pound's recent appreciation is a tale of euro weakness Aside from what is desirable, the pound exchange rate at any one time will be called weak by some and strong by others. There's a camp that decries the current €1.25 that the pound buys, preferring to remember the €1.50 of six years ago r