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Money Box: The Big Benefits Freeze

The Big Benefits Freeze

16/04/2016

BBC Radio 4 - Money Box, The Big Benefits Freeze

Claimants face a benefits freeze - though not pensioners.

A watershed moment in tax avoidance, the cost of PFI to Scots, the PPI claims firms facing crackdown on fees and why your benefits may have been left out in the cold.

This week, in any other year, your benefits would have gone up with inflation. But in 2016 they have all been frozen - apart from the basic state pension which increases by 2.9%. With doubts over the sustainability of the triple lock, how long can pensioners escape benefit cuts?

The Government wants to crack down on claims management companies. So it is proposing that the fees they charge should be capped, both in pounds and percentage terms. The companies say that will kill off their business. But financial advisers say it is a good thing if it stops frivolous claims.

The Supreme Court handed HMRC a victory this week when it ruled against a group of film scheme investors seeking to appeal a February decision that their actions constituted tax avoidance. What does this mean for the future of similar schemes?

Nowhere in Britain has embraced PFI quite like Scotland. The recent closure of 17 schools in Edinburgh built through public-private partnerships highlights how widespread it is. We discuss the long-term effect on the Scottish taxpayer.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Producer: Alex Lewis
Reporter: Ben Carter
Editor: Andrew Smith.

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