Politics

All the things changing in April – from Universal Credit to minimum wage


With coronavirus dominating the headlines, it’s easy to forget that other things are going on but the end of the financial year means big changes in a number of different taxes, charges and laws. 

Some like an increase in the minimum wage will be welcome but others like council tax rises may mean needing to budget more.

Others will protect the vulnerable – like Lucy’s Law which bans the sale of puppies by pet shops and Jack’s Law which introduces paid parental bereavement leave.

While the paltry rise of £1.60 in statutory sick pay has already been slammed as far too low at a time when thousands are relying on it to survive.

Here’s all you need to know:

Minimum wage

April 1

From April 2020 the minimum wage rises from £8.21 an hour to £8.72 for over-25s.

It also rises from £7.70 to £8.20 for those aged 21 to 24.

It goes from £6.15 to £6.45 for those aged 18 to 20.

It goes from £4.35 to £4.55 for those aged under 18.

And for apprentices it goes from £3.90 to £4.15.

Council Tax

April 1

Most town halls in England will increase council tax by 3.99% in the 2020/21 financial year.

Half the rise is for general council funds and the other half is to fund cash-strapped social care.

Dorset, Rutland and Nottingham are among areas that will see a family’s Band D bills top £2,100 for the first time.

Nottingham will see the highest rise according to our research, with Band D bills going up by £69 from £2,038 to at least £2,107.

Out of 151 councils in England that look after social care, not one council is freezing its council tax and fewer than 15 are slapping on a hike of less than 3.9%.

NHS prescription charges

April 1

NHS prescription charges in England will increase by 15p on April 1 – up from the current £9 to £9.15.

The cost of prescription pre-payment certificates (PPC) will rise by 55p to £29.65 (three month PPC) while the 12-month PPC will increase by £1.90 to £105.90.

Charges for wigs and fabric supports, such as spinal aids, will also leap in line with inflation.

Surgical bras will jump to £30.05, abdominal or spinal supports will rise to £45.35, stock-size modacrylic (ie, synthetic) wigs will increase to £74.15, partial human hair wigs will increase to £196.40 and full bespoke human hair wigs will rise to £287.20.

The charges only apply to patients in England, as prescriptions are free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

TV licence

April 1

The cost of the annual TV licence fee will rise from £154.50 to £157.50.

However, it will still be free for over-75s – for now – after the BBC delayed plans to end the benefit for the elderly.

Over-75s were due to lose their entitlement to free TV licences from June 1. That has been delayed for two months due to coronavirus and could be delayed further.

Hospital parking charges

April 1

Hospital parking charges for thousands of NHS patients and staff will be scrapped in England from April 2020.

Blue badge holders, frequent outpatients and parents of sick kids are among the groups that will benefit from the Tory pledge – which comes after a long Mirror campaign.

But not all NHS staff and patients were due to get free parking, as they would have done under Labour’s plans.

The government did eventually U-turn and grant free parking to all NHS staff following the coronavirus outbreak.

Car tax

April 1

Vehicle Excise Duty will rise in line with inflation.

Statutory Sick Pay

April 6

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will rise in line with inflation from £94.25 per week to £95.85.

Labour MPs and unions condemned the rise of just £1.60, saying it is nowhere near enough.

Under changes announced due to coronavirus, SSP is also now available from the first day of illness not the fourth. However, you need to earn more than £118 a week and the self-employed don’t qualify.

Pension ‘adult dependents’ credit

April 6

Around £70 a week was added to the state pension to help those who are responsible for looking after somebody else.

This will come to an end in April.

This comes after the Pensions Act 2007 blocked people from applying for the credit after 2010. Those who were in receipt of it before them were still allowed to claim it.

The adult dependent’s credit is worth £70 a week on a state pension and designed to help people with someone else relying on them. It will stop being paid in April.

Benefit rates, including Universal Credit

April 6

Freezes and caps on most benefits have lasted since 2010 – including no rise at all since 2015.

Now, finally, most benefits will rise by 1.7%. That includes £1.10 a week on Carer’s Allowance.

However, Universal Credit will rise by more than that because it’s been lumped in with changes to the system due to the coronavirus.

The standard allowance for UC will rise:

  • Single claimant under 25 – from £251.77 a month to £342.72
  • Single claimant 25 or over – from £317.82 a month to £409.89

  • Joint claimants both under 25 – from £395.20 a month to £488.59

  • Joint claimants either over 25 – from £498.89 a month to £594.04

National Insurance

April 6

The Tories pledged to raise national insurance thresholds in their manifesto.

From April, you will pay no national insurance contributions on the first £9,500 of your earnings – up from £8,632 at the moment – working out as a saving of around £85 a year.

The move has been criticised for falling short of the £500-a-year Boris Johnson promised, and only helping better earners who are already over the threshold.

Student loans

April 6

People paying back student loans get a minor tax break in April.

Recent graduates will be able to earn £26,575 a year before payments kick in – up from £25,725 this year. That should save them £76.50 in payments a year.

People who graduated between 1998 and 2011 will see their threshold rise too – from £18,935 a year to £19,390.

Jack’s Law – paid parental bereavement leave

April 6

Parents whose child under the age of 18 has died will be eligible to have two weeks’ statutory paid leave from work.

The new Parental Bereavement Leave, also known as Jack’s Law, will come into force from April 6 and has been introduced in memory of Jack Herd, who drowned in a pond in 2010 at 23-months-old.

His mother Lucy herd has been campaigning on the issue after the current law only allowed Jack’s father three days off work to grieve, one of which had to be for the funeral.

Better protection for puppies and kittens

Campaigners for Lucy’s Law which will ban the sale of puppies by pet shops

 

April 6

A new law being introduced in April will see a clampdown on ‘cruel’ puppy farms and dealers.

Lucy’s Law will ban the sale of puppies and kittens from third parties, making buyers deal directly with breeders or rehoming centres.

When it comes into force in spring, the new legislation requires puppies and kittens in England to be born and reared in a safe environment, kept with their mother and only sold from their place of birth, instead of a pet shop or commercial animal dealer.

The law was named after Lucy, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who died in 2016 after being poorly treated on a Welsh puppy farm.

State pension

April 8

The state pension will rise by 3.9% from April – more than double the rate of inflation.

Such an increase means pensioners can expect an rise of just over £6 per week on the New State Pension from the current rate of £168.80.

Tory ministers pledged to protect the state pension with a ‘triple lock’. That means it rises by inflation, 2.5% or average earnings – whichever is highest. Average weekly earnings rose by 3.9% in the year to May to July 2019.

Driving tests made ‘more accessible’

April 14

Driving tests are set to change in a bid to boost accessibility.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) announced that from April 14, future drivers will sit a new UK driving theory test.

Read More

Coronavirus government action explained

Instead of the written scenarios, learners will be asked three questions after watching a driving clip of up to 30 seconds.

They will be able to watch the clip as many times as they need before answering the multiple-choice questions.





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