Money Box

Children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland return to school this week, with Scottish children already well into the first term of the year.
Many parents and carers will have the cost of sending their children to school in mind this week, right as several changes come in on uniforms, free school meals and the continued rollout of free breakfast clubs.
Parents could expect to spend more than £15,500 on a child's school years from reception to GCSE, with school clubs accounting for the biggest share of the bill, according to new Nationwide research.
Felicity Hannah is joined by Carol Homden, the chief executive of children's charity Coram and Jasmine Birtles, director and co-founder of MoneyMagpie.
Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Will Harris
Production co-ordinator: Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson
(First broadcast 3pm Wednesday 2nd September 2026)

Tougher regulation about how bailiffs can operate in England and Wales have been announced by the government. The changes will make it mandatory for every bailiff to sign up to a code of practice. The idea is to drive up standards and stop poor practice - like intimidation, unfair treatment or pushing people into accepting excessive repayment plans they can't afford.
Thousands of bereaved loved ones of former and current civil servants are still having to wait more than 100 days for pension payments. Those figures come 8 months into the ongoing scandal that is the Capita-run civil service pension scheme. Capita says it now has the processes, automation and technology in place to work through the backlog and remains committed to working through it as quickly as possible.
The first 10p coins to feature King Charles' portrait entered circulation this week, but what can you buy these days for 10p?
And, if you’re a parent whose child is aged 16 -19 and remaining in approved education, like T Levels, A Levels or Scottish Highers you have until Monday August 31st to extend your Child Benefit claim or risk losing the payment.
Presenter: Dan Whitworth
Reporters: Hannah Mullane, Jo Krasner and Niamh McDermott
Researcher: Eimear Devlin
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson
(First broadcast at 12pm on Saturday 29th August 2026)

In this special edition of Money Box Live, presenter Felicity Hannah has been out to Weeton Barracks in Preston to see how soldiers juggle their finances whilst leading an often unpredictable military life.
We look at the benefits of life in the forces – from financial help to buy a home to generous pensions and special payments to encourage you to stay on longer. And we examine the challenges of a career which could see you being deployed to the other side of the world at a moment’s notice.
There’s a general disgruntlement in the ranks that the pay does not step up to the mark. The latest official Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey shows that less than four in ten personnel agree that the pay and benefits they receive are fair for the work they do. We put that to the armed forces Minister for Veterans Calvin Bailey MP.
Our expert panel includes Ann Griffiths, the Royal British Legion’s Head of Policy and Research, Kate Gannon, Vice President of the Personal Finance Society, and Sergeant Cameron Eden, a British Army soldier and the creator of The Savvy Squaddie - a financial education platform on YouTube that helps service personnel and veterans navigate personal finance.
Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Craig Henderson
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson
(This episode was first broadcast on BBC Radio Four on Wednesday July 29, 2026)

This week has seen a new Prime Minister and a new Chancellor of the Exchequer. As soon as John Healey was appointed the announcements began. First came the announcement to cut VAT on household energy bills from October, next a plan to cap bus fares in England from January, then a 20% cut to business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues in England starting from April. But what about that major issue on the doorstep when Andy Burnham was campaigning to be elected in his new constituency of Makerfield? The frozen personal tax threshold. We'll discuss what this might mean for your money.
Nearly two million households in England and Wales are living in water poverty according to a new study seen exclusively by this programme. The technical definition of that is when people spend more than 5% of their income, after housing costs, on water bills. What it means in reality is being unable to afford to pay for water, and being in debt to a water company. We'll speak to the Consumer Council for Water, who commissioned that study.
Plus, we'll look at the rules around gifts and inheritance tax as a new survey by the financial advisors The Private Office found more then 8 in 10 of its clients aged over 45 believe parents and grandparents should help younger generations during their lifetime rather than leave an inheritance after death.
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Amber Mehmood, Catherine Lund and Jo Krasner.
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson
(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 25th July 2026)

Major reforms are planned to shake up house selling in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The government hopes the plans could end gazundering and gazumping and make buying and selling homes faster, cheaper and less likely to fall through.
Gazumping happens when a seller switches buyer at the last minute, usually because someone else can pay more, gazundering is where a buyer suddenly drops their agreed offer just before contracts are exchanged.
One in three house sales fall through before exchange. This costs sellers £400m and the wider economy £1.5bn each year, according to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Plans to reform the system include the introduction of a sellers’ pack, similar to the system operating in Scotland.
Felicity Hannah is joined by Nathan Emerson, the CEO of PropertyMark (a professional body for property agents) and David Bridge, Head of Conveyancing at the Dorset-based solicitors Kiteleys .
Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Craig Henderson
Production co-ordinator: Jacqui Johnson
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson
(This programme was first broadcast at 3pm on Wednesday July 22nd, 2026)