Ministers are being urged to raise the basic rate of statutory sick pay from £3 an hour – one of the lowest in the developed world – after a report found the government’s changes would leave more than 1.6 million people unable to pay essential bills.more
A single ticket-holder has won the £7.4 million jackpot in Saturday’s Lotto draw and players have been advised to check their tickets.
Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, said: “Brilliant news, one lucky ticket-holder has won tonight’s £7.4 million Lotto jackpomore
An additional 50,000 pensioners will be living in relative poverty next year as a result of cuts to the winter fuel payment, the government's own estimates have revealed. more
The coronation of King Charles in May 2023 cost taxpayers at least £72 million (€86 million), official figures have revealed.
The cost of policing the ceremony was £21.7 million with a further £50.3 million in costs racked up by Britain’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).more
Almost 100,000 E.On customers with pre-payment metres will receive an average of £144 each because of an billing error by the energy supplier, the regulator Ofgem has said.more
More than one in three children and a quarter of adults are living in poverty in the UK as deprivation levels rise to the highest in the 21st century, according to a landmark report.more
Thousands of people have protested in London over changes to inheritance tax for farmers announced in the Budget.
The prime minister said he understood farmers' concerns and "wants to support" them but added "the vast majority" would be unaffected.more
High Street job losses are "inevitable", prices will rise, and shops will close because of tax rises in the Budget and other rising costs, a group of the biggest retailers in the UK is warning.more
Homes worth more than £465bn are empty, according to the Empty Homes Network. Here's how people are making money by identifying and reporting them. more
Universal credit, council tax discounts and child benefit are among the most common financial support identified by the tool so far, the bank said.more
High domestic energy prices are likely to be "the new normal" with a slight rise predicted for January, according to consultancy Cornwall Insight.
A home using a typical amount of gas and electricity will pay £1,736 annually from the new year, according to the forecaster.more
Emergency doctors have sounded the alarm over an approaching winter crisis that they say is already putting patients in overstretched A&E departments at risk.more
In 2022, Poland spent 6.4% of GDP on healthcare, well below the EU average of 10.4% of GDP, according to Eurostat data published on Friday. On average, Poland spent €1,137 per capita, with only Romania and Bulgaria behind.more
Rachel Reeves’s tax raid risks turning high streets into “ghost towns” for much of the week, as pubs, restaurants and shops prepare to shut earlier and open on fewer days.more
The Bank of England governor has urged ministers to “rebuild relations” with the EU, warning that Brexit has undermined the UK’s economy.
Speaking at the Mansion House dinner in the City of London on Thursday evening, Andrew Bailey said he took no position on Brexit “per se”, but added: “I do have to point out consequences.”more
Hundreds of schools in England are still at risk of collapse from crumbling concrete, according to previously unpublished figures.
Official data, which the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found had been wrongly withheld by the Conservative government, confirmed the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) at 235 Department for Education (DfE) sites.more
The UK’s jobs market has shown further signs of cooling after a rise in unemployment in September while pay growth slowed, as business leaders warned the budget could hit hiring demand and lead to higher prices.more
Top pub and restaurant bosses have warned the chancellor that tax rises in last month's Budget will "unquestionably" cause closures and job losses. In a letter, more than 200 signatories have said the hospitality industry is disproportionately impacted by an "unsustainable" hike in the amount employers pay in National Insurance contributions (NICs).more
NatWest's mobile banking app has crashed, leaving customers locked out of their accounts during the weekend. More than 1,000 customers have reported problems on outage tracker Down Detector as they scramble to access their money.
more
The average UK house price reached a record high last month, according to Halifax. The UK's largest mortgage lender said the average price hit £293,999 in October, surpassing a peak of £293,507 that was reached in June 2022.more
Shoppers could face higher prices as a growing number of big British firms warn about the cost of the National Insurance (NI) tax rises on employers announced in last week's Budget.more
Millions of households in England and Wales will struggle to pay their water bills when they go up, a consumer watchdog has warned. The water regulator, Ofwat, has provisionally said bills would rise by an average of £19 a year - or 21% - between 2025 and 2030.more
Around 20% of Poles have heard of cryptocurrencies, and 6% declare they own them, according to a study by Kantar commissioned by zondacrypto, one of the largest regulated crypto exchanges in Europe.more
This Talk Money Week (4 – 8 November), taxpayers are being urged to “Do One Thing” and get on the HMRC app to save time and simplify managing their money and tax.more
