Friday newspaper round-up: Baby formula, electric vehicles, Fresnillo

(Sharecast News) - Baby formula prices remain close to historic highs more than 18 months after the UK competition watchdog began an investigation into the market, with the government a week late in responding to its proposed remedies. The cost of infant formula fell only 50p on average last year, to £11.99 a tin, compared with £11.10 in 2021, with the most expensive priced at £18. - Guardian Jobcentres will no longer force people into "any job" available, the employment minister has said, promising there will be long-term, personalised career support for those losing out due to welfare cuts. Alison McGovern said she was ending the Conservative policy under which jobseekers were obliged to take any low-paid, insecure work and that the service would now be focused on helping people to build rewarding careers. - Guardian

Electric vehicles (EVs) are losing more than half their value in the first two years of ownership amid a wave of heavy discounting by carmakers. A typical EV now retains only 49pc of its value after 24 months, a sharp decline from 83pc as recently as 2022, according to Cox Automotive. For a new car bought for £40,000, this would translate to a value of just £19,600 after two years. - Telegraph

One of the UK's largest mining groups has been told it should pay as much as $630 million to a Mexican community whose land it illegally mined for gold, according to documents seen by The Times. Fresnillo learned of the sum in January from a court-appointed independent review, which followed a court ruling that it should return gold it mined or pay people in the area the equivalent value. - The Times

Ministers will be handed a "reserve power" that will allow them to force pension funds to invest in British assets in a move that is likely to cause alarm in the retirement industry. The government will on Thursday give details of a series of reforms that will be implemented through the Pension Schemes Bill, as it steps up its efforts to harness the firepower of Britons' retirement pots to bolster the UK economy. - The Times