My pick of last week’s news is One in 12 UK children now in families hit by two-child benefit limit.
Putting clients first StepChange Impact Report 2021: 336,947 clients guided (up 53%), 157,905 clients advised (down 20%)
SafetyNet Credit – FCA adds new restrictions to this expensive borrowing my article
Barclays scraps vital overdrafts at short notice despite the cost-of-living crisis Mail: One customer, Juliette Taylor, had a £1,500 overdraft and has banked with Barclays for 33 years. But a letter from the bank in April said it had been removed because she had not used it over the past 12 months.
Private rents in UK reach record highs, with 20% rises in Manchester Guardian: Prices adding to cost of living crisis blamed on demand exceeding supply and rising interest rates
Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: 22 June to 3 July 2022 ONS: around half (49%) of adults reported that they were buying less food when food shopping
Cost of living: Retail sales fall to rate ‘not seen since depths of pandemic’ as inflation bites Sky: The British Retail Consortium has appealed for government aid to help keep a lid on prices at the shops as it reveals the third consecutive month of falling sales.
Energy:
- Back from the Brink? How Consumers are still reeling from the energy market meltdown Citizens Advice: a significant minority of people continue to face severe disruption. Supplier failure and Special Administration processes need reform.
- Ofgem requires improvements from energy suppliers on customer direct debits Ofgem
- Ofgem names energy firms who must improve their Direct Debit setting my article
- The Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2022 legislation is now in force
One in 10 students turn to food banks in cost of learning crisis Guardian: NUS survey finds a third of students are left with £50 a month to live on after paying rent and bills
Out of pocket – The places at the sharp end of the cost of living crisis Centre For Cities: inflation rates in May 2022 were higher in cities that entered the crisis in an already precarious position, where lower average wages reflected a weaker economic performance.
US inflation rockets to 41-year high Mail: 60% probability of Fed hiking rates by whole percentage point at next meeting
DWP using machine algorithm to decide whether people should receive universal credit Independent: “Without transparency there can be no evaluation, and without evaluation it is not possible to tell if a system works reliably, lawfully or fairly.”
One in 12 UK children now in families hit by two-child benefit limit Guardian: since the policy’s introduction, the fertility rate for third and subsequent children born to poorer families has barely fallen. Instead it has become the biggest single driver of child poverty, especially for families with three or more children.
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Christopher Smith says
It seems ridiculous that the news a while ago was chartwell was company supplying dinners in tut food parcels for children .what about the mothers who have to feed starving children .Do they not get fed as well .