What you need to know this week
- Income tax thresholds frozen until 2031, pulling 1.7m additional taxpayers into higher bands by 2029/30.
- Unemployment rises to 5.0%, the highest in four years, indicating labour market weakening.
- UK household debt reaches £1.93tn, up £55.5bn year-on-year.
- FCA expands its pre-application support and begins digitising core authorisation forms.
- FOS proposes increased fees and levies for 2026/27 and expects 188,000 new complaints.
- StepChange reports 14,050 clients completing debt advice in October, with 87% starting digitally.
- Ofgem consults on Debt Relief Scheme requiring DWP data sharing for eligibility checks.
- Insolvency Service receives £25m Budget funding and continues preparatory work on personal insolvency reform.
- Council Tax arrears affect 33% of StepChange clients, signalling increasing local authority debt pressures.
- Private renters continue to dominate debt advice caseloads amid landlord return pressures and rising rents.
- Experian updates credit scoring to incorporate rental and overdraft behaviours.
- Industry collaboration intensifies around vulnerability, ability to pay and data sharing, including CIVEA/ECB and utility pilots.
Read the full summary – here
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