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Cash use grows for first time in 10 years as people pay closer attention to household budgets | UK News

Cash usage has grown for the first time in a decade as households look to balance their budgets amid the cost-of-living squeeze.

Across the UK, coins and banknotes accounted for nearly a fifth (19%) of transactions in 2022, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) annual Payments Survey.

Its report said: “This year’s Payments Survey shows an increase in cash usage for the first time in a decade, up from 15% (in 2021) to just under 19% of transactions (in 2022).

“Faced with rising living costs, cash was a useful tool for some people to manage their finances and track their day-to-day spending.”

The increase also reflects a natural return to cash following the contactless switch during the COVID pandemic, the report said.

The BRC said it is the first time since its reports started in 2013 that year-on-year cash usage has increased.

“However, the recovery in cash use in retail is fairly minimal, with only a relatively small increase as a share of total sales by value, up from 8.2% in 2021 to 11% in 2022,” the report stated.

“It appears that whilst a small percentage of people have returned to pre-pandemic habits, for a large portion of the population, the pandemic has had a lasting impact on how much we transact in cash.”

Read more
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One in four adults to use buy-now-pay-later schemes this Christmas

Card payments were used for 76% of transactions in 2022, with debit cards accounting for around four in five of these transactions.

Retailers spent £1.26bn on card processing fees in 2022, the BRC said.

Alternative payment methods, such as buy now, pay later, increased in popularity in 2022, from 2% of transactions in 2021 to 5% in 2022.

People have also been making smaller but more frequent payments as they manage their budgets.

The number of transactions increased from 17.2 billion in 2021 (47.2 million per day) to 19.6 billion in 2022 (53.7 million per day) and the average transaction value fell from £24.49 to £22.43, as consumers shopped around.

Household energy suppliers face £8m bill for ‘compensation failures’ | Business News

Three household gas and electricity firms have paid £8m for delays in producing final bills when customers switch suppliers.

Industry regulator Ofgem said more than 100,000 households were affected by failures at E.On Next, Good Energy and Octopus Energy.

It determined that the three firms either missed or delayed compensation payouts that were due when they did not provide a final bill within six weeks, as required when a customer switches to another provider.

Under rules brought in three years ago, customers are entitled to a £30 payment each if a final bill is not produced in six weeks, with a further £30 due if the compensation is not provided within another 10 working days.

Ofgem said the three firms either missed or delayed compensation payments worth £6.3m, with E.On Next accounting for the vast majority of that sum.

Some of the affected households had to wait over a year to receive redress, it found.

The watchdog said they had collectively paid an extra £1.7m to customers or the energy industry voluntary redress scheme (EIVRS), which supports vulnerable households.

The failures were highlighted at a time when families continue to grapple high gas and electricity bills – mostly a consequence of the surge in wholesale costs associated with the war in Ukraine.

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Cost of living pain still to come

Government support for bills is due to end in June as seasonal demand falls, with the energy price cap also tipped to fall back from the following month though still remaining above an annual average of £2,000.

Switching suppliers, a move that was actively encouraged before the cost of living crisis emerged, has largely dried up now that the vast majority of households are off fixed-rate deals.

Competition for customers would be expected to pick up in the event of a stabilisation in the wholesale market.

Experts have suggested, however, a risk that pricing becomes frantic again Europe-wide in the run-up to next winter due to a continuing reliance on natural gas.

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Neil Kenward, director for strategy at Ofgem, said of its switching compensation regime: “Ofgem introduced these standards to make sure customers get the service they deserve when switching energy supplier.

“Our rules mean that where energy companies drag their heels, customers are automatically compensated.

“We won’t hesitate to hold energy companies to account, as we have done today.

“As the energy market starts to recover, we’ll likely see a return to more switching, and this action is a reminder to suppliers that they need to make switching as easy and convenient as possible for their customers, and where they cause undue delay, pay compensation swiftly.”

Budget leaves household incomes stagnant and people paying more taxes despite public service cuts, Resolution Foundation says | Politics News

Jeremy Hunt’s budget leaves household incomes stagnant and people paying higher taxes despite cuts to public services, the Resolution Foundation has said.

The thinktank, which aims to improve the standard of living for low and middle-income families, said the chancellor had announced an “impressively broad suite of policies” to encourage more people into work.

However, it said: “Britain’s economy remains stuck in a deep funk – with people supported into work but getting poorer, and paying more tax but seeing public services cut.”

Click here for our budget calculator to see if you are better or worse off

Here are the key findings of the Foundation’s budget analysis.

Beating the odds on a recession

The UK is forecast to have gone through “the biggest energy and inflation shock since the 1970s, while avoiding a recession, with unemployment peaking at just 4.4%,” the Foundation said.

It compared it to the mid-1970s energy shock which saw a recession with a 3.9 peak-to-trough fall in GDP.

A decline in living standards

However, RF pointed to a “disastrous decline in living standards”, with typical real household disposable incomes on track to remain lower by the end of the forecast in 2027-28 than they were before the pandemic.

“If even the slow growth of the past decade had continued, incomes would still be £1,800 higher than currently projected for 2027-28,” it said.

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Key moments from Hunt’s first budget

Taxes on track to hit 70-year high

RF said taxes as a share of GDP are on track to hit 37.7% by the end of the forecast, a 70-year-high and a 4.7% increase since 2019-20, the equivalent to nearly an extra £4,200 for every UK household.

It said despite this the chancellor only has a quarter of the average fiscal headroom of his three predecessors and would not meet the fiscal targets set by Rishi Sunak, Philip Hammond or George Osborne when they were chancellor.

Help for parents

The analysis notes the budget includes the biggest increase in childcare support on record, which it said would encourage more parents to work and make it worthwhile for many to work longer.

RF said under the current childcare system, a single parent of a one-year-old earning the National Living Wage would see their income fall after childcare costs by £370 if they moved from 25 to 35 hours of work a week.

However, under the new system, the same single parent would receive an income boost of £700.

The RF said the richest fifth of households are set to gain £180 on average from the extra childcare entitlement, compared to £130 for the middle fifth of households and £20 for the bottom fifth.

More on Budget 2023:
The key points of the budget at a glance

‘An unneeded tax break for wealthy pension savers’

The report was critical of the chancellor raising the annual allowance and scrapping the lifetime allowance for tax-free saving, which it said cost around £1.2bn and were expected to increase employment by 15,000 – a cost of around £80,000 per extra worker.

However, the Foundation said “even those employment gains may be overstated, given that giving very large wealth boosts will actually encourage some people to retire earlier than they otherwise would have done”.

It said someone with a £2m pension pot will have received a tax cut of almost £250,000.

Austerity

RF said the chancellor had chosen to “ignore pressures on public services”, even though unprotected departments face 10% cuts to real day-to-day spending per capita by the end of the budget, raising to 14% if the newly announced aspiration to raise defence spending to 2.5% of GDP is met over the next parliament.

An investment ‘roller-coaster’

The Foundation said the £28bn three-year increase in investment allowances represents the fifth major corporate tax change in two years, which it said illustrated “the lack of certainty that has frustrated businesses”.

It said: “The policy will deliver a temporary 3% boost to investment, when what Britain actually needs is a permanent 30% boost to catch up with our competitors (France, Germany and the US).”

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‘UK’s underlying challenges remain largely unchanged’

Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “Jeremy Hunt’s first budget was a much bigger affair than many expected, combining improvements to the dire economic and fiscal outlook with a significant policy package aimed at boosting longer-term growth in general, and the size of the workforce in particular.

“A step change in childcare support stands out.

“But stepping back, the UK’s underlying challenges remain largely unchanged.

“We are investing too little and growing too slowly. Our citizens’ living standards are stagnant. We ask them to pay higher taxes, while cutting public services.

“No one budget could turn that around, but it’s time Britain did.”

Every household in Wales being offered a free tree to collect from tomorrow | UK News

Every household in Wales is being offered a tree, free of charge, as part of a plan to help fight climate change.

The Welsh Government and Coed Cadw, the Woodland Trust in Wales, gave away 5,000 trees in the first part of the My Tree Our Forest initiative in March.

Now, another 295,000 trees will be available on a first-come-first-served basis from Saturday 19 November until Monday 19 December, with take-up of the offer to be monitored in case they run out.

They can be collected from more than 50 locations across Wales. Find your nearest hub on the map below:

A total of 10 different species of tree will be available: Hazel, Rowan, Hawthorn, Silver Birch, Crab Apple, Sessile Oak, Dogwood, Dog Rose, Field Maple, Elder.

People not able to collect a tree can have one posted to them from Monday – or have a tree planted on their behalf – with details on how to choose either option available on the Coed Cadw website.

Climate Change Minister Julie James said: “Trees are a lifeline to us and all of the amazing life that they support. Where would our birds, insects and animals be without them? Where would we be without them?

“I want everyone in Wales to check out our website to find your nearest tree giveaway hub and pick up your free broadleaf tree from tomorrow.”

She said “wonderful volunteers” would be able to provide expert advice to help people “choose the right tree for your space and situation”.

“As COP27 draws to a close in Egypt, our continued Team Wales effort in fronting up to the climate and nature emergencies is essential,” she said.

Wales' Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters gives a sapling to one family
Image:
Wales’ Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters gives a sapling to one family during the first part of the scheme in March

“By growing a beautiful tree in your own backyard, you can kickstart your contribution and help grow a healthy and happy Wales for us and our future generations to benefit from.”

Those behind the project point out that as well as removing carbon from the air and improving mental health, broadleaf trees are a haven for birds and wildlife.

Natalie Buttriss, Director of Coed Cadw said: “Trees have always offered simple and cost-effective solutions to the challenges we all face and through the My Tree Our Forest initiative, we hope to inspire people from all backgrounds, regions and walks of life to get involved, and as a result, feel more connected to the multiple benefits that trees can bring”

Real household disposable incomes to fall by 10% this year and next | Business News

British households are on course for the deepest living standards squeeze in a century, with real household disposable incomes expected to fall by 10% this year and the next.

The warning comes in a new report by the Resolution Foundation, which said that real earnings are falling at their fastest rate since 1997, meaning that by the middle of next year real pay growth since 2003 will be wiped out.

A 10% fall in disposable income will be equivalent to £3,000 for a typical household, sending the number of people in absolute poverty up by three million to 14 million.

Meanwhile, relative child poverty is projected to reach 33% in 2026-27 – its highest level since the 1990s – according to the report, which is called In At The Deep End: The Living Standards Crisis Facing The New Prime Minister.

The concern about child poverty is echoed by a briefing note issued to the Scottish parliament from Save The Children Scotland this week, which said urgent action is needed from Holyrood and Westminster to help the poorest families.

Fiona King, the charity’s policy manager, said: “We’re all worried about the sky high rises in the costs of living but it is not hitting us all equally.

“For many families we work with, there are no cost-cutting measures, there is simply nothing left to cut back on.

“We can’t overstate the simple fact that the coming months will be catastrophic for families and especially children who will go cold and hungry this winter, if urgent action isn’t taken now.”

More support could ‘radically reduce’ the problem facing households

The Resolution Foundation’s report took into account the latest forecasts from the Bank of England and the £30bn of policy support announced since March.

Britain’s rate of inflation hit a fresh 40-year high in July – the latest figure available – reaching 10.1% on an annual basis, up from 9.4% in June.

One of the major factors driving the increase is energy bills, which will rise around 80% from October when the latest price cap comes into effect.

Read more:
Food prices in August rose at the fastest rate since 2008
Energy bills to soar for millions as price cap hiked to £3,549
Explainer: Everything you need to know about higher bills
Analysis: Even those who’ve done the right thing won’t escape impact of energy bills rise

The report said that further support to help people pay energy bills, through a social tariff, universal bill reduction, price cap, or further targeted support, would cost tens of billions of pounds but would “radically reduce” the problem facing low and middle-income households.

Keeping the previous chancellor’s promise to raise benefits next year in line with September’s inflation rate is also “essential” to protect poorer households, the report said, adding that it would be improved even further if October’s inflation figure was used instead.

‘Frankly terrifying’

Lalitha Try, researcher at the Resolution Foundation, said that high inflation is likely to stay with us for much of next year, meaning the outlook for living standards is “frankly terrifying”.

“Typical households are on course to see their real incomes fall by £3,000 over the next two years – the biggest squeeze in at least a century – while three million extra people could fall into absolute poverty.

“No responsible government could accept such an outlook, so radical policy action is required to address it.

“We are going to need an energy support package worth tens of billions of pounds, coupled with increasing benefits next year by October’s inflation rate.

“The new prime minister also needs to improve Britain’s longer-term outlook, which can only be achieved by a new economic strategy that delivers higher productivity and strong growth.”

Other warnings about the cost of living on Thursday include:
• Some 400,000 households in England are not protected by the energy price cap and need urgent help, according to the National Housing Federation
• High fuel costs, rising poverty and government inaction could lead to a “significant humanitarian crisis with millions of children’s development blighted”, according to the UCL Institute of Health Equity
• Hospitals are bracing for massive increases in energy costs, according to the BMJ, which says Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS is expecting to pay an extra £2m a month from next year, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS budgeting for a 214% increase, and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London expecting costs to almost double