Government

Train company First Great Western is to stop halving the compensation it pays for delays if paying passengers request it in cash, after MoneySavingExpert raised concerns over the policy with the Department for Transport.

Commuters in England face an up to 1% increase in rail fares next year after official inflation figures used to calculate the rise were published today.

A flagship scheme set up to encourage homeowners to make their property more energy-efficient by installing measures such as insulation, double-glazing and new boilers today stopped accepting new loan applications after the Government abruptly axed its funding.

Passengers claiming compensation for delays and disruption in Great Britain will now be able to receive it in cash instead of rail vouchers, if they request it.

British Gas is to cut gas prices by 5% for the second time this year – but even after that, its standard tariffs will cost on average £250/year more than the cheapest.

Motorists planning to hire a car in the UK or abroad will now have more time to get a 'check code', following criticism that the original 72 hours wasn't long enough.

'Road tax' rates are to be shaken up for new cars from 2017, while a new 'Roads Fund' is to be established so money raised in England will be spent on maintaining and upgrading roads in the country.

Parents and grandparents will be able to leave homes worth up to £850,000 to their children without them paying inheritance tax from 2017, rising to £1 million by 2020.

Self-employed parents and those with more than one child who've been waiting for the Government's new Tax-Free Childcare scheme to launch this autumn will now have to wait till 2017, following a Supreme Court judgment today.