Money, in brief

Andy Burnham, Britain's prime minister, told the Labour Party conference on Tuesday that the state pension triple lock will end from 2030. [1][7]

Today the state pension rises every April by whichever is highest: the rise in prices, the rise in average pay, or 2.5%. [1]

From April 2030 it would rise by prices or 2.5%, whichever is higher, and would no longer jump with pay each year. [2]

Burnham says the pension would still keep its value against pay over time. [1] The UK government has not yet published the full details of how. [2]

The money saved would help pay for a national care service in England that is free when people use it. [1]

Today an English council gives no help with care costs to anyone whose assets are worth more than 23,250 pounds, including their home. [7]

The UK government says the new service would pay for care itself, but not for a person's accommodation in a care home. [2]

Nothing changes before the next general election, which is due by August 2029. [7] Labour will put the plan in its manifesto for that election. [1]

Downing Street says the change will save 15bn pounds a year by the end of the 2030s, without showing how. [2] The OBR, the UK government's official forecaster, put a similar change at about 6bn pounds a year by 2040. [2]

The IFS, a research group on taxes and public spending, says the savings will be small in the first few years and grow over time. [1]

Burnham also promised that pensioners on low incomes will not start paying income tax before the end of the decade. [3]

The attacks came at once. Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, called it an offensive against the elderly. [1] John Swinney, Scotland's first minister, called it a bad idea. [3]

Why it matters. Watch the detail: how the pension would keep pace with pay over time, and whether the care service pays for a room in a care home. [2]

Cornwall Insight, an energy consultancy, forecasts that a typical British household's energy bill will reach 1,999 pounds a year in January. [9] That is 276 pounds, or 16%, more, and the biggest rise in four years. [9] In August the same firm expected 9%. [10] First, on Thursday, bills rise about 4% to 1,723 pounds under the price cap set by Ofgem, the energy regulator. [9] That rise would be bigger without a cut in VAT on household electricity, from 5% to nothing, which starts the same day and is worth about 45 pounds a year. [9][27]

Why it matters. About 20 million homes on variable tariffs would pay the January rise in the coldest month, and Ofgem only sets it in late November. [9] Households already owe their suppliers more than 5bn pounds in unpaid bills. [9]

The SEC, the US regulator for shares and investments, charged four companies on 29 September over two schemes that took at least 15m dollars. [11] In one, Cryptoaiml ran WhatsApp chats where people posed as investment professionals and posted supposed AI trading tips. [11] In the other, TSAI rented out AI trading robots that did not exist. [11] Both pointed to a false form they had filed with the SEC, to look regulated. [11] Cryptoaiml told people who tried to withdraw to pay fees first. [11]

Why it matters. In December 2025 the SEC charged four WhatsApp investment clubs and three fake trading platforms over 14m dollars taken in a similar way. [13] The SEC warns that such groups may use fake videos of well-known experts. [12]

A money mule is a person whose bank account is used to move stolen money for criminals. [14] British banks and other firms closed the accounts of 238,396 suspected mules in 2025, up from 184,935 in 2023, the FCA, Britain's financial regulator, said. [14] The number barely grew after 2024, when it was 233,269. [14][15] Criminals usually took the money out, as cash or purchases, between the second and fifth account. [15]

Why it matters. The sharpest rise was among people aged 40 to 49, from 25,760 to 37,274 in a year. [14] People who lend their account can lose it and face prosecution, and the FCA wants firms to share more of what they know about mules. [14][15]

Florida's lawmakers approved a ballot question in June asking voters to cut property tax on the home people live in. [19] The part of a home's value that is not taxed would rise from 50,000 dollars to 150,000 in 2027 and 250,000 in 2028. [18] The vote is in November, and 60% of voters must say yes. [18] School taxes are not cut. [19] In August a judge ruled the ballot wording misleading and gave the state until 14 August to rewrite it. [21]

Why it matters. Renters get no cut. [18] One economist expects landlords and businesses to pay more tax to fill the gap. [18] People who move to Florida after 2026 would wait five years for the full exemption. [20]

From 1 January 2027, bus fares in England outside London are capped at 2 pounds a trip, down from 3 pounds. [26] Burnham promised it in his first week as prime minister, in July. [27] The cap had risen to 3 pounds in January 2025, though Liverpool and Manchester kept their fares at 2 pounds. [27] The UK government expects the cut to cost more than 500m pounds. [26]

Why it matters. It plans to pay for most of it by lending, instead of giving, money for climate projects abroad, and the IFS says it is unclear how much will come back. [26] Most rail season tickets in England are frozen until March 2027, the first freeze in 30 years. [27]

In August the UK government named where the first 70,000 social and affordable homes will be built in England, over ten years. [22][24] It shared out almost 10bn pounds, with money for six areas led by mayors, on top of 6bn pounds already promised for London. [22] About 60% will be for social rent, which costs about half of a market rent. [22] The whole programme is worth 39bn pounds. [24]

Why it matters. Almost 180,000 children in England are growing up without a permanent home, the UK government says. [23] Even if all 70,000 are built, that is under 5% of the UK government's goal of 1.5 million homes. [24]

Burnham announced GB Grid, a new public body that will invest in Britain's electricity grid. [5][3] It will use 4bn pounds already set aside for Great British Energy, the state-owned energy company. [5] Its aim is to bring British energy costs in line with other European countries within ten years. [5] Surveys show strong support across parties for public ownership of energy. [5]

Why it matters. An expert writing in The Conversation says energy costs soared and investment fell after energy was sold off in the 1980s and 1990s. [5] The new body's own target is ten years away. [5]

Burnham said councils in England will find it easier to buy private rented homes in poor condition when landlords ignore warnings to fix them. [1] He said the law will be changed if needed. [1] He also plans to end the legal ban on the public owning water companies, starting what he called a ten-year journey. [1] Other plans put legal limits on the charges leaseholders pay. [5]

Why it matters. Tenants whose landlords will not repair their homes could end up with the council as landlord. [1] One economist warns that capping leasehold charges puts a cost on private firms and may cut their investment in housing. [5]

Four men in Massachusetts were charged on 24 September over at least 12.2m dollars of stolen US Treasury checks, the IRS says. [16] The checks were real and made out to real people, then changed so the money went to shell companies the men controlled. [16] One of the men and others are also accused of sending texts that looked like they came from victims' banks. [16] They then posed as fraud investigators to get the codes that let them move money out. [16]

Why it matters. Prosecutors say some of the money went on 310,000 dollars of luxury watches and a 425,000-dollar loan against a property in Nantucket. [16] Eight other people were charged over the same checks in June 2025. [16]

InterestMe Financial Planning, a British firm that advised on pensions and mortgages, went into administration on 24 September, along with InterestMe Advisers, which worked under it, the FCA says. [17] Kroll, a firm of advisers, is now running both. [17] In July InterestMe had agreed to limits on the work it could do. [17] It did not hold its clients' money or investments; another regulated firm does. [17]

Why it matters. Clients with complaints may not be paid in full, because the firm is insolvent. [17] The FCA warns that callers may pretend to be from InterestMe or Kroll. [17]

A Lifetime ISA is a British savings account that adds a 25% government bonus, up to 1,000 pounds a year, to money saved for a first home. [25] It can only be used on a home costing up to 450,000 pounds, a limit that has not changed since 2017. [25] Taking the money out for anything else before 60 brings a penalty, so savers can get back less than they put in. [25] Ministers plan to replace it with a First Time Buyer ISA. [25]

Why it matters. The BBC reports that the unchanged limit has left some savers out of pocket. [25] No clear details of the new account have been published. [25]

The average US property tax bill on a family home is 4,427 dollars a year, up more than 3%, Kiplinger reports. [21] On 3 November Louisiana votes on letting local governments give some older homeowners an extra exemption. [21] Oklahoma votes on cutting the yearly limit on how fast a home's taxed value can grow, from 3% to 1.75%. [21] Oklahoma's measure also changes a freeze on values for owners aged 65 and over. [21]

Why it matters. Supporters say older owners on fixed incomes need help as their homes' taxed values rise. [21] Opponents say less property tax means less money for local schools and services. [21]