One pence for your thoughts
one penny (not one pence!)We have been campaigning for years to improve the use of the English language through our Spotty Ribbon Campaign.
One of our main gripes is the use of the term "one pence".

In case you can not understand why one pence is incorrect, pence is plural (more than one) so the singular should be one penny. There's a clue in the design:
it says one penny on the coin!

For us, the final straw came when the then Chancellor of the Exchequer (now Prime Minister), Gordon Brown, said in his Budget speech of March 2005 that he was going to add "one pence to a pint of beer", other financial institutions quoted this word for word. We wondered how many other 'well-respected' people and organisations use the expression 'one pence' without thinking. As it happens - quite a few, especially in their share dealings!

We've ignored most of the 66,000 references to one pence on e-bay or blogs from members of the public and on the web sites of well established jewellers and coin dealers (who should know better), so our list starts here. We've included specific web-links to some references but most are traceable on the Internet.

We'll write to each organisation asking for comments. Some organisations are responding to our request for an explanation - one not very politely. Some are changing their wording without acknowledging our contribution - huh!
If you know of any high profile organisations, not just the majority of e-bay customers and coin collectors, let us know by
email, or email them yourselves and let us know the outcome.

[The ISMS is not responsible for the availability, privacy practices or the content of the web sites linked to on this page.]

organisation quote, extract or source reply
Investec 2008 Annual Report
link
100 000 000 (2007:100 000 000) non-redeemable, non-cumulative, non-participating preference shares of one pence each 
United Utilities group PLC FAQs
link
Your Deferred Share will not be listed, will have extremely limited rights and negligible value and will be redeemed in whole or in part at a future date or dates at the discretion of United Utilities Group in each case for an aggregate consideration of one pence.  
Lyons Enquiry into Local Government

 
Final report, March 2007, Executive Summary, page 38, paragraph 179: "A supplement of one pence in the pound on the basic rate would ........."
Also chapter 7, Household Taxation and Local Charges, page 48, paragraph 7.213: "The yield from a one pence supplement would be......."
Crown copyright 2007
 
DCLG: "Responsibility for checking the text of the report of the Lyons Inquiry lay with the Inquiry's support team which has now been disbanded. It certainly would have been more in accordance with standard English to use "penny" rather than "pence" in the cases you quote. 

However, interestingly my dictionary (The New Oxford Dictionary of English, 1998 edition) does acknowledge the occasional use of "pence" in the singular in the following passage under "pence" on page 1371:
"In recent years pence rather than penny has sometimes been used in the singular to refer to sums of money amounting to one penny:  the chancellor will put one pence on income tax.  This singular use is not widely accepted in standard English, though."
[that's because it's incorrect!]
K
Stockton on Tees Borough Council
Trading Standards and Licensing July 2007
link
What We Cost The Trading Standards and Licensing Service operates on a gross budget of ..... This means that the service costs each citizen of Stockton on Tees less than one pence per day .  
The City of Edinburgh Council -
Outlook
link

Direct debit – you know it makes sense ………
It’s also value for money as it costs just one pence to process a direct debit payment compared to 48p for the payment card.

 
Newcastle under Lyne Borough Council Recycle for Newcastle May 2007
link

Carrier Bags: Twelve billion plastic bags ………. Sainsbury's offer one pence per bag to all customers .......

(acknowledged with thanks and amended)

J 
Sheildtech PLC
16 July 2007
link (and other sources)
ShieldTech PLC appoint a new finance director who "....has today subscribed for £75,000 of new ordinary shares of one pence each in Shieldtech......" 
Land of Leather Holdings PLC
2 July 1007
link
Holding(s) in Company 2 July 2007
"Class/type of shares: ordinary
one pence shares"
(
"The term one pence is widely used in the investment industry but your comment is fair and I will amend my use in the future.")
J

HM Treasury Select Committee Enquiry SIGOMA
8th June 2007
link

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE, LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE: SUPPLEMENTARY BUSINESS RATE, EVIDENCE FROM SIGOMA
8.2 It is estimated that a
one pence supplement across England would raise something over £400 million each year, assuming no impact from the higher tax rate on rateable values.
 
Southampton City Council web site
June 2007
link

How much housing & council tax benefit can I claim?
The minimum amount of housing benefit that we can pay to you is 50 pence a week.
The minimum for council tax benefit is
one pence a week.
(the Council changed this page to read 'one penny' without even sending us an email to acknowledge our contribution!)

K

BABCOCK INTERNATIONAL GROUP PLC
June 2007
link

FINAL RECOMMENDED MANDATORY CASH OFFER BY BABCOCK INTERNATIONAL GROUP PLC
FOR INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR SOLUTIONS PLC

para 20. General: As at 7.00 a.m. (London time) on 18 June 2007 (the last business day prior to the date
of this Announcement), INS had 62,335,374 shares of
one pence
in issue (ISIN number GB00B12QZ964).

 
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group PLC
21 June 2007
link
Compulsory Acqn of Shares, RNS Number:8175Y, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group PLC, 21 June 2007
"Following the exercise of a number of share options the current issued share capital of Pavilion comprises 
55,142,630 ordinary shares of one pence each.”
 
Bankervision
link
James Gardner is Head of Innovation and Research in Group IT at Lloyds TSB. He is based in London
Matching expectation to Experience
 .......It is possible, with RyanAir, to get ticket prices from 1p (yes, that's
one pence)
plus taxes in some cases. Despite that, they are very, very profitable.
 
HM Treasury
3 January 2007
link

Subject: Reduction of income tax by one per cent as announced in the 1999 Budget.
Date:
3 January 2007
Text of request:
For information relating to the reduction of income tax by one pence in the pound announced in the Budget in 1999.

 
Trial of the PYX 2007 United Kingdom Coinage - Verdict of the Jury
May 2007
link
for the coins of one pence: ........

[this HM Treasury document is a report from the Jury who are commanded to assay coins and the like of the reigning Monarch, and was signed by 17 people including 1 professor, 4 Knights of the Realm and 1 doctor!]
 
The DiCamillo Companion web site
2007
link
Penny: A circulating coin today. Pre-1992 the Penny was made of bronze; since 1992 it's been made of copper-plated steel. A Penny is worth one Pence (Pence is the plural of Penny)............ (what?)
(acknowledged and now revised)
J
Smiths Group PLC
(extract as quoted on FT.com)
18 June 2007
Resolution 1: THAT, conditional on the admission to the Daily Official List of the UK Listing Authority
and to trading on the London Stock Exchange plc's main market for listed securities becoming effective ('Listing')
by 8.00 a.m. on 18 June 2007 (or such later time and/or date as the Directors of the Company may determine) of non-cumulative preference shares of one pence each (the 'B Shares') and ordinary shares of one pence each (the 'New Ordinary Shares')….......and so on, and in other references

("..referred to the lawyers what wrote them [sic]!" in a great email response from the Smiths Group PLC
Director of Group Communications)
J
The Inverness Courier 29 May 2007
link
On Friday, Tesco Extra and Tesco Inshes were charging three pence more for diesel and one pence more for unleaded petrol than their counterparts in Elgin. ......... 
WimbledonTennis.co.uk web site
link
On its British currency page quite correctly says "....one penny is the lowest unit available" but then further down the page spoils it by showing a picture of the one penny coin with a title "one pence" 
ASKCAB web site
link
The One pence coin: The one pence coin has the lowest value out of all of the coins that we use in the United Kingdom.
Also known as the penny....... (2007)
 
Fresh Solutions web site
link
International calls: Just dial rate too high? Try One Pence cheap inernational [sic] calls (2007) 
Learning and Teaching using ICT - practical support pack year 1 - mathematics - Solving money problems
link
Choose a child with a 5p. You have five pence. Mark the 5 on the number line. Point to the + 1p on the flipchart.
One pence more. Who has one pence?

(who indeed? we thought) (2007)
(will be changed)
J
NRICH - enriching mathematics
Dominant Intelligences Article by NRICH team
Q: A boy is sorting out the coins in his piggy bank. He put the coins into stacks according to their value. 1/3 of the coins went into the first stack. They were five pence coins. 3/4 of the remaining coins were ten pence pieces. The rest were one pence coins. What fraction of the coins were pennies? If he had six pence in one pence coins, can you work out how much money he had saved in his piggy bank?
What was your reaction as you read this problem?”
Ours was “one pence coins!!????” (2007)
(will be changed)
J
Coindesign
link
One new pence cufflinks (2007)
(previously listed as One Pence Cufflinks; but adding the word 'new' doesn't change the fact that pence is plural; it still says new penny on the coin in their advertisement!)
L
Get a Life!
Google™ AdWordsAdWords ads with cost-per-click pricing are uniquely useful because:
Your price is automatically lowered to
one pence more than your closest competitor.......... (2007)
(acknowledged but .... any change.....no?)
K
About.com:
London for visitors
link
One pence coin.
(complete with picture coin, showing 'one penny')
 
Department for Social Development in Northern IrelandJobseekers allowance: (extract) ......When working out benefit entitlement earnings in excess of the disregarded
amount are taken into account on a
1 pence for 1 pence basis. (2007)
 
The Wine and Spirit Trade AssociationWSTA responds to the Chancellor’s duty hike on sparkling wine 21 March 2007 For immediate release .
......
A duty increase of 5 pence per bottle of wine (equivalent to
1 pence per 175 ml glass)
 
Northern Ireland Prison Service
National Calls (including Eire) to fixed landlines
A minimum fee of 10 pence allowing 55 seconds followed by
1 pence for every further 5.5 seconds (11 pence per minute). (2007)
 
BBC News Magazine (Joe Campbell 27 April 2007)As the Royal Mint puts the final touches to a re-designed one pence piece, do we really care any more about
a coin that is so little valued more than six ...
(subsequently amended following another pedant's comments - well done, sir!)
J
2007
pre 2007
  
Chancellor of the Exchequer"....rise of 1 pence on a pint of beer" (March 2005 Budget speech) 
Roger Williams MP (6 June 2006) “It’s staggering that the Government’s botched single payment scheme has resulted in a payment of just one pence."
(staggering indeed, sir!)
 
Orange1 pence per text message with text saver (March 2005) 
Inland RevenueIn Budget 2000 the duty was cut by 1 pence from 1 October 2000 
H M TreasuryThis will lower fuel duties on petrol and diesel by around 1 pence per litre in real terms.
(Finance Bill 2001) plus numerous others
 
ADVFNElsewhere, Corus Group fell 1 pence to 58-1/4... 
London Stock ExchangeLondon Market Information Link 2003/04 - data charges 
CallsureThe caller pays 1 pence per minute 
DevroAn interim dividend per share of 1 pence was paid in October 2001 
UK Wireat March 2005, 6,000,000 new Ordinary Shares of 1 pence each 
Education world - Colonial arithmetic(gets it correct in their intro to this section, but then says) carrots for 1 pence a bunch 
Interactive Brokersoptions expiring in the current month that are more than 1 pence in the money 
BT Electronic Process ListThe pre-paid account is debited in 1 pence steps (Operative Date:17.03.2004) 
PowergenEnergySavingPlan: 100 Litres of oil for 1 pence 
Business World - IrelandCorus shares were also in demand, up another 1 pence at 56.50 (Feb 2004) 
House of Commons 'Hansard'In contrast a 1 pence increase in the farmgate price resulted in only a 0.6 pence increase in the retail price of liquid milk
whereas a 1 pence decrease in farmgate price reduced the retail price by 0.7 pence. (February 2004)
 
Deloitte UKwhich effectively means an increase of 1 pence per pint of beer 
Yahoo! Financepost-profit warning decline, down 1 pence at 188 (March 2005) 
Freight Transport AssociationRebated gas oil (red diesel): increases by 1 pence per litre (2004) 
Greenwich Park,
Hyde Park and The Regent's Park (Vehicle Parking) (Amendment) Regulations 2004
The Greenwich Park (Vehicle Parking) Regulations 2000 are amended so as to increase the parking
charges from 1 pence for every minute or part thereof ...... (May 2004)
 
Scottish Executive.... etc. have indicated that a levy in excess of 1% (1 pence in the pound against Rateable Values) would not be acceptable. 
GUINNESS PEAT GROUP PLCDividend = 1 pence BSP 

If you know of any high profile organisations, not just the majority of e-bay customers and coin collectors, let us know by email, or email them yourselves and let us know the outcome. Let's go for the 'biggies'.

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