New plans to help parents boost State Pension payments due to start in two years

Brenda Edwards has had to deal with huge personal tragedy, but despite her heartache the Loose Women panellist is rarely seen on the ITV show without her winning smile. It’s almost two years since she lost her son, influential music entrepreneur Jamal, who passed away at the age of 31, and almost nine years since her shock diagnosis with breast cancer.Thankfully, she got the all-clear in 2016, after six months of chemotherapy and a mastectomy. And although Brenda tells us that she has had to “smile in the face of adversity” since she was little, the 54-year-old singer and presenter tells us how great she’s feeling at the moment.

The final report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) on its independent investigation into changes made to the State Pension age is expected to be published early this year. However, Labour MP Alistair Strathern, has asked the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if any recent assessment of the “potential merits of compensating women born in the 1950s affected by changes to State Pension age legislation” has been made.

State Pension payments are due to rise by 8.5 per cent and most benefits by 6.7 per cent in April, however, many people may not be aware that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will implement the annual uprating on two separate dates. New HMRC payment rates for 2024/25 will start from April 6 while DWP rates will begin on April 8.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures indicate that fraud and error in the benefit system is falling after the UK Government restated its determination to drive levels down further and protect taxpayers’ money. The latest national statistics show that in the 2022/23 financial year, fraud and error rates fell to 3.6 per cent (£8.3 billion) from 4.0 per cent (£8.7 billion).

The latest statistics from the Stroke Association indicate that there are 1.3million stroke survivors across the UK. The charity’s research also suggests 100,000 people have a stroke each year and that someone will suffer a cerebrovascular accident (stroke) or a transient ischaemic attack (TIA) - often referred to as a ‘mini-stroke’ - every five minutes.

Pension experts at Spencer Churchill are urging older women, mostly in their 60s and 70s, to be on the lookout for letters from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regarding State Pension arrears payments worth around £5,000. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently confirmed that HMRC has issued thousands of letters to older people who may have Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) missing from their National Insurance (NI) record.

Spotify have hit out at Apple‘s new plan for higher transaction fees, calling them “outrageous”.Under the new plans, Apple will charge up to 27 per cent commission on app developers selling products away from the Apple Store.In response, Spotify have accused the company of “stopping at nothing” to protect profits, and urged the UK government to prevent a similar situation in the UK.The fees were introduced after a legal battle with Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite. It allows people to subscribe to services while bypassing Apple’s system, but charges them up to a 27 per cent commission.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been seeing reports of several films making their debuts at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. However, we haven’t really gotten a full picture of the festival just yet.

Millions of people claiming their State Pension can look forward to a bumper income boost this year when payments rise by 8.5 per cent from April 8, 2024. Under the wages growth measure of the Triple Lock policy, those on the full New Sate Pension can expect an annual increase of £902, while those on the full Basic (or Old) State Pension will see an uplift of £692).

Fantastic Four actor Ioan Gruffudd, 51, is engaged to his girlfriend Bianca Wallace - two years after his very acrimonious split from actress ex Alice Evans. Bianca, 31, posted a photograph to her Instagram page on Saturday, 20 January, showing the pair kissing, while holding up her hand to show off a three-stone ring on her engagement finger. She captioned it: "The most precious thing happened", followed by the love heart and diamond ring emojis.The couple have been officially dating since 2021, the same year Ioan filed for divorce from his actress ex wife Alice, the mother of his two daughters.

Charlie Sheen‘s neighbor, Electra Schrock, 48, has received a two-year probation and ordered to undergo treatment for substance abuse. The court orders stemmed from her breaking into Sheen’s home on Dec. 20 of last year and assaulting him.

The latest figures from the Scottish Government indicate there are around 850,000 people living in Scotland with some form of hearing loss and of those, 70 per cent are over 70 - some 595,000. Across Great Britain, there are believed to be 12 million adults living with a hearing condition or deafness, however, just 44,838 of them are receiving extra financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Adult Disability Payment (ADP) or Attendance Allowance.

Retirement may be a while off for some people or just around the corner for others, but pensions expert Helen Morrissey, is urging everyone to give some serious thought to deferring making a claim for State Pension, as it could boost their annual later-life income by more than £600.

A new online petition is calling for the UK Government to reform the State Pension system and link the payment rate to the National Living Wage. Petition creator Michael Thompson, also proposes making a ‘universal State Pension’ available to everyone over the age of 60, worth £549.12 each week - equivalent to 47 hours at the National Living Wage rate.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued thousands of letters to older people who may have been underpaid their State Pension due to missing information on their National Insurance (NI) record. The issue affects mostly women in their 60s and 70s who may have Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) missing from their NI record.

The NFL is headed into the playoffs with its head held high after scoring the best regular season audience in years.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published online guidance for next of kin, or an executor of someone’s estate, on requesting information about State Pension underpayments - worth up to an average of £112,383 - for someone who has died. DWP explained that changes have been made to “provide further clarity” on the situations when people should contact them, if they believe an underlayment may have occurred.

Millions of older people in receipt of the New or Basic State Pension are set for another significant increase this year after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed that payments will rise by 8.5 per cent from April 8, 2024. This means that someone on the full New State Pension will see payments go up from £203.85 per week to £221.20 and as payments are typically made every four weeks, this amounts to £884.80 each pay period.

More than 17,000 people have signed an online petition calling for income tax on the State Pension to be scrapped in order to help “reduce the tax burden on pensioners”. The ‘make State Pensions tax free’ petition has now met the 10,000 signature threshold which entitles it to a response from the UK Government.

The Scottish Government recently announced a new devolved disability payment designed to provide additional financial support for people of State Pension age will not include a mobility component. However, it has also confirmed the new benefit will not include any face-to-face assessments as part of the application process.