Money, in brief

Hammersmith and Fulham, a council in west London, says it may have to raise its share of council tax by 150% in 2027-28. [1]

For a home in Band D, a middle-value home, that is 29.11 pounds a week more. [1]

The council's report sets out rises of 100%, 125% or 150%, taking its share of a Band D bill to 2,018, 2,270.25 or 2,522.50 pounds a year. [1] Only the largest roughly balances its budget. [1]

The reason is money from the UK government. Hammersmith and Fulham got 150.5m pounds in 2025-26, and that falls to 72.4m pounds over four years. [1]

The cut comes from England's new council funding formula, which ministers call fair funding. [1] It moves government money towards councils with more deprivation and more homes in low council tax bands. [5]

The old rules had last been updated in 2013. [5] Councils such as Manchester, Bradford and Birmingham, and outer London boroughs such as Haringey and Enfield, get more money under the new deal. [6]

Wandsworth, in south-west London, has floated a rise of 94%, or 958 pounds a year for a Band D home. [2] It says it will lose 84m pounds a year of government funding by the end of three years. [2]

Wandsworth's Band D bill is now 1,020.35 pounds, one of the lowest in the country. [2][3] The average Band D bill in England is 2,392 pounds in 2026-27. [7]

Six councils may raise bills by more than 5% for two years without asking local voters first: Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham, the City of London, and Windsor and Maidenhead. [5]

Normally a rise above 5% needs a local vote, and no council has ever won one. [5]

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative party, says it has instructed lawyers to see whether the cut to Wandsworth can be blocked. [3]

The UK government says it is fixing an outdated system so that funding goes where need is greatest. [2] Hammersmith's Labour councillors say they kept bills low by cutting costs, and that the borough has poor areas too. [1] In December the UK government said these councils had large savings to draw on. [6]

Why it matters. Hammersmith and Fulham's report is published on Monday, and Wandsworth decides in February; the next thing to watch is whether the Conservatives' lawyers take the formula to court. [1][2][3]

Energy UK, the trade body for Britain's energy suppliers, asked the UK government to act now on winter bills. [8] The price cap, the maximum Ofgem lets suppliers charge per unit, rose about 4% on Thursday, to 1,723 pounds a year for a typical home. [10] Forecasters expect it to reach 1,999 pounds in January. [8] VAT also came off electricity bills on Thursday, worth about 45 pounds a year to an average home. [9] Energy UK says unpaid customer debt now adds 67 pounds a year to everyone's bill. [8]

Why it matters. John Healey, the chancellor, faces calls to add energy help to his Budget, but has warned that money to cushion global shocks is limited. [9] Prime Minister Andy Burnham says he is looking at any measure that takes the pressure off. [8]

The average price of diesel in the UK reached 200.01p a litre on Friday, the first time above 2 pounds, the RAC motoring group said. [11] It was 142.38p before the US-Israel war with Iran began in late February. [12][13] Filling a typical family car now costs about 110 pounds, nearly 32 pounds more than before the war. [13] The same day the G7, a group of seven rich countries, agreed to release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel over four months. [14]

Why it matters. Lorries and farms run on diesel, so its price feeds into the cost of moving food around the country. [12] Petrol rose too, to an average of 174.71p a litre. [11]

Andy Burnham, the UK prime minister, will ask MPs to vote this parliament on changing the triple lock, the rule that raises the state pension each year. [15] It now rises by the highest of 2.5%, prices or earnings. [15] In future the earnings part will be adjusted so the pension does not jump in years when wages spike, though the old rule stays until 2030. [15] The UK government says the change cuts pension spending by 15bn pounds a year by the late 2030s. [15]

Why it matters. Every party will have to say at the next election whether it keeps or reverses the change. [15] The savings are meant to pay for a national care service in England, free when people use it. [15]

Three US consulting firms expect employers' health costs to rise between 8.2% and 11.1% next year. [16] Marsh puts the rise per worker at 8.2%, the largest since 2003, Aon at 9.5% and WTW at 11.1%. [16] About 166 million Americans under 65 get cover through work. [16] Marsh found 59% of employers plan cost-cutting changes, such as higher deductibles, the amount a patient pays before insurance starts. [16]

Why it matters. Employers paid more than 20,000 dollars a worker towards cover in 2025, and experts expect them to pass some or all of the extra cost to workers. [16] Insurers selling to people without work cover, on the Affordable Care Act marketplace, have asked for a median rise of 15%. [16]

From January, the US government stops paying a subsidy that held down premiums for Medicare Part D, the private drug plans that people on Medicare buy. [17][18] It was meant to last through 2027 but ends a year early. [17] About 23 million people had a stand-alone Part D plan in 2025. [17] For 2027 the highest deductible a plan may charge rises from 615 to 700 dollars. [18] The yearly cap on what a patient pays for drugs rises from 2,100 to 2,400 dollars. [18]

Why it matters. Mehmet Oz, who runs the US agency for Medicare, says most people will pay less than 10 dollars more in premiums next year. [17] An official told the Wall Street Journal that 45% of members will see rises of 11 to 20 dollars a month. [19] Members can change plans from 15 October to 7 December. [18]

SSE Airtricity, Northern Ireland's biggest gas supplier, raised prices by almost 19% on Thursday for 200,000 homes and small businesses. [20] A typical household in greater Belfast pays almost 172 pounds a year more. [20] Firmus energy raised prices by 8.98% in ten towns, and Share Energy raised electricity prices by 12.6%. [20] Northern Ireland is not covered by the price cap, which applies in England, Scotland and Wales. [10]

Why it matters. SSE Airtricity blames volatile global markets and higher wholesale gas prices, which have roughly doubled in the UK since the war on Iran began. [20] A Marie Curie nurse says some dying patients have turned down services that could help them, because they cannot pay their electricity bills. [20]

On Thursday the lowest legal price for each unit of alcohol in Wales rose from 50p to 65p, matching Scotland. [21] Wales first brought in a minimum price in 2020. [21] A can of lager once sold for 1 pound must now be at least 1.30 pounds. [21] A bottle of whisky once sold for 14 pounds must be at least 18.20 pounds. [21] Drinks already sold above the floor, like a pint in a pub, do not change. [21]

Why it matters. The Welsh government says inflation had made the 50p floor less effective, and that research it paid for suggests the rise could prevent more than 900 deaths over 20 years. [21][22] The Welsh Conservatives say it hits hard-pressed people who do not have a drinking problem. [21][22]

Shops in Scotland with more than 50 staff can no longer sell foods high in fat, sugar or salt on multi-buy offers, such as three for the price of two. [23] They cannot put them at entrances, checkouts or the ends of aisles either. [23] Half-price discounts are still allowed, and meal deals are exempt. [23] England banned such offers in October 2025 and Wales followed in March. [23]

Why it matters. The Scottish government says two in three adults in Scotland are overweight or obese, with the poorest areas worst affected. [23] Multi-buy offers that included extra loyalty points are banned as well. [23]

The US Education Department gave federal student loan borrowers until 31 December to sign up for automatic payments and get a full percentage point off their interest rate. [24] The deadline had been the end of Wednesday. [24] Nearly 2 million borrowers have signed up since the summer, and the cut lasts until 30 June 2028. [24] Signing up for autopay usually cuts the rate by only 0.25 percentage points. [24]

Why it matters. More than 42 million Americans owe student loans, and the average federal rate is 6.54%, according to the expert Mark Kantrowitz. [24] Older loans from a different federal programme, and private loans, do not qualify. [24]

Up to 25 million Trump Accounts could receive money by mid-October, Frank Bisignano, the head of the US tax agency, said on Friday. [25] The accounts are new US government savings accounts for children, and more than 60 million children were signed up automatically this week. [26][25] Children born from 2025 to 2028 can claim 1,000 dollars from the US Treasury, but families must claim it. [26] About 72 companies have pledged to add money for their workers' children. [25]

Why it matters. Bisignano did not say whether he meant government grants or family and employer payments, so how many children actually receive money is not clear. [25] The figures arrive about a month before the US midterm elections. [26]

The US Treasury and tax agency warned this week that one way wealthy investors avoid tax on shares does not work. [27] The investor puts shares that have risen a lot into a newly made fund, then swaps out for a different mix without paying tax on the gain. [27] Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said these conversions do not work under existing law. [27] A Bloomberg analysis in July found 22bn dollars of such funds, putting off tax on up to 6.5bn dollars of gains. [27]

Why it matters. Setting up such a fund can cost 200,000 to 300,000 dollars, so it is used by people with tens of millions in shares. [27] The guidance does not say how soon after a swap counts as too soon, so tax advisers expect more rules. [27]

Prices of the most expensive homes in London are falling, the Guardian reports. [28] In the year to June, homes in inner London fell 8.3% while UK prices rose about 2%, ONS figures show. [28] In Westminster they fell 25.4%, in the City of London 20.4%, and in Kensington and Chelsea 14.7%. [28] Prime homes now sit unsold for 186 days on average, and sell for 10.4% less than sellers first asked. [28]

Why it matters. Westminster, the City and Kensington and Chelsea are three of the six councils losing grant and allowed bigger council tax rises. [5] Savills, an estate agent, estimates that owners who bought at the peak face losses of up to 25%. [28]

Americans bought 228.7bn dollars of annuities in the first half of 2026, a record for a first half, according to LIMRA, an insurance research group. [29] An annuity is a contract where an insurer turns a lump sum into a guaranteed income. [29] Sales rose 2.2% in the second quarter, to 121.2bn dollars. [29] Insurers pay more on annuities when interest rates rise, because they earn more on the bonds they buy. [29]

Why it matters. The best five-year fixed annuity paid 6.55% on 1 October, according to My Annuity Store figures cited by Kiplinger. [29] Money in an annuity is usually locked away for years, or for life. [29]

Three masked men broke into a home in Solihull, England, beat a businessman with hammers and threatened his pregnant wife until he sent them his crypto savings. [30] The attack was in December, and the couple spoke to the BBC this week. [30] The research firm Chainalysis counts 30m dollars stolen in violent crypto robberies in the first half of 2026. [30] Crimestoppers is offering a 10,000 pound reward. [30]

Why it matters. Crypto held in a person's own wallet moves fast and is very hard to get back once sent, which makes its owners a target at home. [30] Their baby survived and was born at full term. [30]