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BBC Radio 4

Money Box

When will you retire? And will you have enough money to live comfortably? Big questions and this week the government announced two major reviews to study them after concerns that today's workers will be poorer in retirement than their parents. The first is a revived Pension Commission with a wide remit. The second is a review into the state pension age. We'll speak to Pensions UK, which represents pension schemes that together provide a retirement income to more than 30 million people. 

From September working parents of children aged 9 months to school age will get 30 hours of childcare funded by the Government. It simplifies the present system which has different rules at different ages and means working parents of children under three will potentially save thousands of pounds on the cost of childcare. Who is eligible and how does it work?

Thousands of people who were retained firefighters are being urged to claim pension payments worth thousands or tens of thousands of pounds. Retained or on-call firefighters generally work part-time. Sixteen thousand of their colleagues have already claimed but a further 10,000 could be eligible to buy back pensions after two legal changes in the past few years.

And some money saving tips for anyone going abroad for their summer holiday.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner
Researchers: Eimear Devlin and Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 26th July 2025)

Pensions, On-Call Firefighters, Childcare

Every adult has a credit score but you've been telling us the factors affecting it can be mystifying and frustrating. So in this edition of Money Box Live we've been digging into the inbox to answer your questions on credit scores. 

Whether you’re trying to get a mortgage or loan or just the best rate on a credit card, the information on your file can have a big impact at any stage of life, so what does it all mean and if you want to improve yours, how can you do it?

We'll hear from someone battling to rectify his score after fraudsters took over his credit card and we hear from a man with an excellent credit rating who is struggling to get any credit at all.

Felicity Hannah is joined by John Webb, a credit expert at the credit reference agency Experian, and Lisa Webb, a senior lawyer and consumer champion at Which?

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Sarah Rogers
Editor: Jess Quayle

(This programme was first aired on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday 23rd of July 2025)

Money Box Live: How to Improve Your Credit Score

For every £1 a man has in his private pension pot a woman has just 42p according to research from pension company Royal London.

When it comes to the State Pension, the gap has closed considerably for people retiring today. But women in their 80s are still getting up to 25% less than men.

This week on Money Box Live, we're looking at the reasons behind is as well as what can be done to boost savings.

Find out more about a little known pot of money the government has set aside mainly for women, who didn't work because they were looking after children, between 1978 and 2010 - which is largely going unclaimed. We also hear the struggle of a woman who struggled after the state pension age for women was raised from 60 to 66 and what might happen next with the campaign against it.

With Felicity Hannah is Sir Steve Webb, former pensions minister and and now partner at pensions consultancy Lane Clark and Peacock and Daniela Silcock who has her own pensions research company.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Sarah Rogers and Helen Ledwick
Editor: Jess Quayle

(This episode was first broadcast on Wednesday the 16th of July 2025)

Money Box Live: Why Are Women Retiring with Less?

Money Box can exclusively reveal there has been a sharp rise in the number of people applying to have water meters fitted to try to bring their bills down. The data has been shared with this programme by the Consumer Council for Water, the CCW, the which speaks for water consumers in England and Wales. It comes after record April price rises for water with average bills rising more than £120 to over £600 per year. 

Cash ISAs appear to have been reprieved - at least for now. Until Friday morning there was widespread speculation that the Chancellor might announce on Tuesday that the amount you could put into a cash ISA would be slashed from £20,000, perhaps to as little as £4000. The idea was that would fit in with government plans to encourage investment by nudging people with £20,000 to spare to use the rest of their tax free ISA allowance to invest in shares instead. However, Money Box understands that won't happen - certainly not on Tuesday when Rachel Reeves gives her annual Mansion House speech to the City of London. We'll look at what that might mean.

And what does a major ruling on a divorce case in the Supreme Court mean for how wealth is split between couples in the future?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Eimear Devlin and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 12th July 2025)

Water Meters and Cash ISAs

Unemployment recently rose to its highest level in almost four years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate went up to 4.6 per cent in the three months to April, up from 4.5 per cent in the three months to March. That's the highest since the Summer of 2021 in which the country was in the depths of the Covid pandemic.

So today on Money Box Live we're asking what happens when you lose your job? What are your rights, what kind of payout might you get and how do you manage the money during a job hunt?

Felicity Hannah is joined by employment lawyer Rupa Mooker, Mike Fenn who's Head of Employee Relations at ACAS, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service and Sarah Coles who is the Head of Personal Finance at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producers: Sarah Rogers and Helen Ledwick
Editor: Jess Quayle

(This programme was first aired on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday 9th of July 2025)

Money Box Live: Losing Your Job

Reform of the state pension, auto-enrolment into company pensions and consolidation of small pensions spread across several providers are proposed this week in a major report on the future of pensions. It says major changes are are necessary to ensure today's workers have an adequate income in retirement. The conclusions come at the end of a two year study by the independent research organisation the Institute for Fiscal Studies, we'll speak to them about the report.

Hundreds of thousands of people whose homes are heated using communal heat networks are less than 6 months away from greater protection as the industry gets ready to come under Ofgem regulation for the first time. Up until now people in homes that are on heat networks, which use a single heat source to pipe hot water to multiple households, have not had the same rights as those on mains gas or electricity, but that is about it change. What difference could the new regulations make?

How could the way you get financial advice change in the future? We'll discuss new proposals by the regulator the Financial Conduct Authority aimed at helping more people get financial advice.

And, what would you like to see on a new bank note from the Bank of England? Email us now moneybox@bbc.co.uk 

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Eimear Devlin
Editor: Jess Quayle

(audio credit British Pathé)

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 5th July 2025)

Future of Pensions and Heat Networks

In this special programme Money Box Live has been given exclusive access to a centre working with former prisoners to find out how money works behind bars.

There are around 98,000 people serving prison sentences in the UK right now, but how does money work on the inside and why do offenders even need it?

Felicity Hannah meets former prisoners working in the centre as they rebuild their lives. They talk about so-called 'bang up' pay, how much you can earn in prison, and the struggle some ex-offenders have getting basic financial products like a bank account on release.

Around one third of ex-offenders will go on to reoffend costing taxpayers £18 billion a year as well as causing great distress to victims. So, what role can financial security play in reducing that?

Felicity Hannah is joined by Andrea Coady, Head of Policy at Nacro, a social justice charity that works with offenders and Ana Caldeira, in charge of Finance, Benefit and Debt Services at the charity Catch 22, which provides money advice and support to ex-offenders.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Sarah Rogers
Editor: Jess Quayle

(This episode was first aired on Radio 4 at 3pm on Wednesday the 2nd of July 2025)

Money Box Live: Behind Bars

Six million people will have £150 knocked off one winter electricity bill this winter. The Government has announced an expansion of the Warm Home Discount scheme which will almost double the number getting it. Who is eligible and how will people get the payment?

Money Box has been receiving a steady stream of emails from members of the Teachers' Pension Scheme complaining about how their pensions are being managed. With more than 2 million members and liabilities of £278 billion the TPS is one of the largest in the UK. So what is going on? Dan Whitworth investigates.

Child maintenance is a regular financial payment made by a parent who doesn't live with their child to help support the child's living costs. This week the government has announced plans for some significant changes to the way those payments are collected and transferred. We'll explain what's changing.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Eimear Devlin and Jo Krasner
Studio Producer: Sarah Rogers
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 28th June 2025)

Warm Home Discount and Teachers' Pension

More people are living alone, in fact 3 in 10 households are made up of single adults, according to the latest government figures.

Research from the pension specialist Royal London also suggests single people are more likely to be in their overdrafts at the end of the month and have smaller savings and pension pots than married couples.

Today, we're looking at the impact of the single supplement, from travel costs to inheritance tax thresholds as well as hearing from those very much enjoying their financial freedom.

Joining presenter Felicity Hannah is Sarah Pennells, Consumer Finance specialist at Royal London and Laura Suter, Director of Personal Finance at the investment platform AJ Bell.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producers: Sarah Rogers and Helen Ledwick
Editor: Jess Quayle

(This episode was first broadcast on at 3pm on Wednesday the 25th of June 2025 ).

Money Box Live: Does Being Single Cost You More?

It was a momentous day on Tuesday as the government and regulators announced major changes in the way investments will be sold. What's been proposed and what's the role of the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, in that?

Inflation rose to 3.6%, this week the highest it has been since January 2024 - what's behind that?

And two of the UK's leading end of life charities have told Money Box people given less than 12 months to live should not have to pay Council Tax before they die. The call from Marie Curie and Hospice UK comes just a few weeks after Manchester City Council became what's believed to be the first local authority in the UK to introduce such a scheme. 

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Eimear Devlin
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 19th July 2025)

Money Box Live: How to Improve Your Credit Score

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