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BBC Radio 4

Money Box

A deadline approaches for 860,000 self-employed people and landlords who must start reporting their income and expenses in a new way. It is called Making Tax Digital and it affects small businesses with a turnover or gross income above £50,000 a year. They have until 7th August to report their income and expenditure to HMRC. What do they need to know?

It is “unacceptable” that the government has refused to commit to bringing the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme back in-house. That’s according to PCS Union, which says a rare joint committee hearing in Parliament this week highlighted the “catastrophic failures” of the scheme, leaving many members facing “unacceptable delays, errors and distress” when trying to access the pensions they have worked their entire careers to earn. The Cabinet Office, which has overall responsibility for the scheme, says immediately terminating the contract would cause more problems and severely disrupt the pension payroll, jeopordizing the financial security of hundreds of thousands of public servants.

How are rules which make banks reimburse victims of fraud going? A new report evaluates the first year of Mandatory Reimbursement.

And a major high street bank has changed its mind after deciding not to allow customers to deposit their cheques in a Post Office. 

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Catherine Lund
Output Producer: Craig Henderson
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 11th July 2026)

Making Tax Digital Deadline and Cheques

We look at whether artificial intelligence is a help, or a hazard when it comes to helping you with your personal finances.

One in five adults in the UK - around 11 million people - are already open to the idea of using AI to manage their finances, according to the Financial Conduct Authority. But using AI to manage our money is not without risk. The FCA, the organisation tasked with keeping us financially safe, says that regulators are in an "arms race" to keep up with AI in financial services. We speak to the man behind its new report, Sheldon Mills.

And with the increase in AI useage likely to attract the scammers and the deepfakers, just how will regulation evolve to protect us?

Alongside presenter Ruth Alexander and taking listener questions is Simon Belshaw who is Chief Client Officer at the investment company Hargreaves Lansdown. And we hear from Elle Farrell-Kingsley, and advocate for AI ethics who has previously worked on artificial intelligence for one of the big tech companies.

Presenter: Ruth Alexander
Producer: Craig Henderson
Researchers: Niamh McDermott, Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

Pictured: Sheldon Mills, Financial Conduct Authority

(This edition was first broadcast on Wednesday July 8, 2026)

Money Box Live: Would you let AI manage your money?

Parliament was asked this week to help tens of thousands of young adults get access to their own money. It is sitting in the state-backed Child Trust Funds set up more than 15 years ago with contributions from the government, parents and other relatives. However, because these young people have learning disabilities the legal process for getting hold of their own money can cost more than the couple of thousand pounds typically in their fund. What happens next?

New figures reveal that in a single year half a million people said 'no thanks' to joining a workplace pension. Like everyone taking up a new job they were automatically enrolled into a pension, but they opted out before it even began. How might that impact their future?

Capita has missed the deadline to return services to normal for civil servants facing long delays in getting their pensions sorted. 

And, a major change to the Lifetime ISA could see it replaced with a new product designed solely for First Time Buyers. How will it work?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Meghan Owen
Researcher: Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 4th July 2026)

Child Trust Fund "Injustice" and Pension Opt-Outs

Buying a flat used to be a stepping stone to owning a house – but has this all changed?

Research is telling us that the gap in price between flats and houses has hit a 30 year high. According to the property platform Zoopla, so far this this year two-thirds of one and two-bedroom flats listed for sale still haven't been sold. 

The leasehold system in England is being blamed, in large part, for the declining popularity of flats. There are concerns about the length of leases and the maintenance and service charges often involved when owning a flat. The Government is in the process of introducing new measures to deal with some of these issues. 

So today we're asking - what does buying a flat mean for your finances? Maybe you live in one and love it! Perhaps your children do? Or are you struggling to sell and feeling a bit flattened? 

Presenter Felicity Hannah puts listeners’ questions and concerns to an expert panel. Polly Gilbert is a director at the digital mortgage brokers Tembo, and Liam Spender is a trustee at the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership. 

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Craig Henderson
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast 3pm Wednesday 1st July, 2026)

Buying a flat: stepping stone or millstone?

More than 15,000 people have responded to a Government review into access to banking services in just three weeks since it opened. The review comes after a decade which has seen almost 7,000 bank branches close, with hundreds more happening this year and some announced in just the past few days. Richard Lloyd, a former Director at the consumer group Which?, gives his first interview since being appointed to lead the review. 

HMRC must "learn lessons" for the future after incorrectly suspending child benefit payments from thousands of claimants last year. That is the conclusion of a report published this week by the National Audit Office. The mistake happened during the wider roll out of a pilot scheme designed to cut some of the hundreds of millions of pounds estimated to be lost to fraud and error in child benefit claims each year. 

People who are 66 today, born 27 June 1960, are the youngest people who will get the Winter Fuel Payment this year. Normally the qualifying date is three months later. How does the payment work?

And, VAT has been cut on summer attractions used by children - from theme parks to fast food - what kind of discounts are there?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Sarah Rogers and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast at midday on Saturday 27th June, 2026)

Chair of the Banking Review and Winter Fuel Payments

We’ve seen a big fall in the number of bank branches over the last decade. Around 6,700 bank and building society branches have closed since the beginning of 2015, according to Which? With more due to close this month. 

Now the government is carrying out a review following concerns about the reduced access to face-to-face banking, and how this affects banking customers both in towns and in rural areas across the UK. 

In this special programme Money Box Live asks what IS the future for banking and what do these changes mean for you? Will online banking ultimately be the end of banking face-to-face – or will there always be some form of bank to pop into?

Presenter Felicity Hannah is joined by Charles Randell, former chief of the regulator the Financial Conduct Authority and a member of the Financial Exclusion Commission, and Gareth Oakley, the CEO of Cash Access UK, to answer your questions.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Craig Henderson
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior news editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast at 3pm on Wednesday 24th June, 2026)

Money Box Live: The Future of Banking

Capita chiefs promised MPs on the Public Accounts Committee it would fix long-running problems with its administration of one of the biggest pension schemes in the country by the end of this month.
Tens of thousands of retired and serving civil servants have been reporting long delays to payments, leading to serious financial hardship to pensioners and their families. 
But Money Box has learned the deadline isn't likely to be met. We speak to the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee about what happens next.
And cases of reported are still increasing. We explain how AI has become the latest weapon in the fraudsters' armoury.
Also, holiday season is upon us. What can we do to minimise the hit from those annoying non-sterling transaction fees levied every time we use our plastic. A consumer expert shares his advice.

Pension delays and fraud figures

Six million people who expect to be paying housing costs once they've stopped working say they don't know how they'll be able to afford it. That's according to new research from pensions and investment firm Royal London. It surveyed 4,000 people and says the findings suggest around 1 in 3 UK adults are already paying, or expect to pay, rent or a mortgage once they've retired. What can be done to help them afford it?

A record number of solar panels are being fitted to homes and businesses across the UK. Last year's record is forecast to be beaten this year as electricity prices rise on July 1st. Solar panels on your roof don't just help pay your electricity bills. You can also sell spare energy back to your supplier to help pay your remaining heating bills. We'll investigate why one supplier is reducing that rate.

And, what creatures would you like to see on the new Bank of England banknotes? There's a plan to replace the humans on fivers, tenners and so on with other species. The shortlist chosen by a panel of wildlife experts published by the Bank of England has 18 mammals, birds, amphibians, insects and fish. We'll speak to the Bank of England Chief Cashier Victora Cleland about what's behind the change.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast on Radio 4 at 12pm on Saturday 13th June 2026)

Renting in Retirement and Wildlife Bank Notes

Scammers are using increasingly convincing AI generated videos to steal people's money. We hear from a victim who had £165,000 stolen and ask an expert how to spot the warning signs before it's too late.

The government has promised new financial rights for cohabiting couples. We examine what the plans could mean for the three and a half million couples in the UK who live together without being married or in a civil partnership.

Households in Northern Ireland will see their gas and electricity bills rise next month. We find out what's behind the increase and what support is available.

Plus, why is one MP comparing parts of England's student loan system to some of the country's biggest financial scandals?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Hannah Mullane, Jo Krasner, and Niamh Mc Dermott.
Editor: Sarah Rogers

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 6th June 2026)

AI scams, cohabiting and student loans

The PCS union is calling for Capita to lose its contract to administer the Civil Service Pensions scheme six months after it took over. It follows problems which have seen thousands of retired civil servants waiting months for pension payments. The Union says it would like the contract to be managed by the government instead. Capita says it is making progress on getting things 'back to normal levels' and that it’s got extra trained staff working on the backlog.

Why is the take-up of child benefit, which is worth at least £1,400 per year, at its lowest level for more than twenty years? HMRC says it works with 'many partners' to promote take-up and provide information to new parents in hospitals across the UK. But what else can be done?

A debt advice provider calls for a new social energy tariff to give cheaper gas and electricity to those on lower incomes, ahead of price rises in July.

And, the new rare bank note to celebrate Scotland qualifying for the World Cup for first time in more than 25 years.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Hannah Mullane and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 30th May 2026)

Buying a flat: stepping stone or millstone?

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