Cold Weather Payments take effect from today as low-income households set to get £25 during cold snaps. Comes alongside the £150 Warm Home Discount to support eligible customers with energy bills and extension to Household Support Fund Pensioners urged to check eligibility for Pension Credit to claim Winter Fuel Payment.
By April 2025, all visitors who do not need a visa will need an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to travel to the UK. The government is taking major steps towards delivering its ambitious aim to digitise the UK border and immigration system and has today set out new implementation dates for the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) scheme.
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The UK's prototype fusion energy powerplant programme will be led by UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd. In a milestone moment on the journey to deliver the UK's first prototype fusion energy plant, leadership of the STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) programme today transitions to UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd (UKIFS).
An amendment to the Housing Bill will set out how rent increases will be capped in areas where rent controls apply, subject to the approval of Parliament. In response to stakeholder feedback, rent increases would be limited to the Consumer Price Index (a measure of inflation) plus 1%, up to a maximum increase of 6%.
More than £3 billion has been set aside to mend crumbling wards and bring NHS technology into the 21st century. Concrete steps to fix the foundations and rebuild Britain's public services to make them fit for generations to come.
The generational tech divide is narrowing. Daniel Jolles and Grace Lordan surveyed more than 1,400 UK and US professionals and write that the ability to manage your attention and minimise task-switching is more important than how old you were when you first used a keyboard.
Millions of people, including families, pensioners, carers and those struggling to find work are set to benefit from Autumn Budget reforms to boost work and tackle poverty. Welfare safety net will be strengthened with a new Fair Repayment Rate, an increase to benefits and an extension of vital crisis support.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance has updated Parliament on proposed amendments to the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform Bill. The Justice Secretary told MSPs that, having listened to the cross-party Criminal Justice Committee and a wide range of other views, a plan to enable a time-limited pilot of single-judge trials for rape and attempted rape cases will not be pursued.
A multi-million-pound investment to build a new facility that manufactures lifesaving medicines for the NHS has been confirmed by the Chancellor today. £50 million investment secured to continue producing and supplying lifesaving medicines to the NHS.
An awareness campaign is underway to ensure people know the best place to access healthcare this winter. Right Care Right Place helps the public decide the most appropriate service for their healthcare needs - whether they should contact their GP or pharmacy, call NHS 24 on 111 or use self-help guides on the NHS Inform website.
Extend the inheritance tax threshold freeze for a further two years to 2030. That means the first £325,000 of any estate can be inherited tax-free, rising to £500,000 if the estate includes a residence passed to direct descendants, and £1m when a tax free allowance is passed to a surviving spouse or civil partner.
The latest update of our forecasts was published on 30 October 2024 in the October 2024 Economic and fiscal outlook. Read the Executive summary for the key messages of our forecast or the full report on our website.
Today, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered a Budget to fix the foundations of our economy. Chancellor protects public services as departments' day-to-day spending set to grow by an average of 3.3% in real terms between 2023-24 and 2025-26, including increase of more than £22 billion for health to help bring down waiting lists.
A penny off the pints at the pubs..
The government will renew the tobacco duty escalator which means that taxes will rise by the Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation as well as 2%. In addition, increase duty by 10% on hand-rolled tobacco this year, introduce a flat-rate duty on all vaping liquid from 2026, and a one-off increase in tobacco duty to maintain the incentive for smokers to give up smoking..
The Chancellor has announced 40,000 more appointments each week to cut NHS waiting lists. This applies to England but more money will flow to the Scottish Government to decide in it budget on 4 December.
For the first time in 14 years, it was a Labour chancellor who delivered the UK budget. And for the first time ever, that chancellor was a woman.
Reeves says she will abolish the non-dom tax regime and remove the "outdated concept" of domicile from the tax system from April 2025. Applies to a UK resident whose permanent home - or domicile - for tax purposes is outside the UK.
Reeves announces the government will increase the stamp duty land surcharge for second-homes, by 2% to 5% from tomorrow, Reeves says..