Broadband bills could be cut for millions of low-income households under Government plans to encourage ‘social tariffs’. 

A new service, which will go live next week and be run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), will allow internet service providers to verify – with customers’ permission – whether they are in receipt of a relevant benefit and therefore eligible for extra financial support. 

The Government has called on all broadband providers to offer and promote social tariffs – discounted broadband and mobile deals for people on Universal Credit and other benefits – with statistics showing only 1.2% of those eligible have taken advantage of such a package.

The scheme is already supported by Virgin Media O2 who, following discussions with Government, has announced today that they will use the system to verify eligible customers signing up to their Essential Broadband tariff. The company will also waive early termination fees for those moving from existing tariffs.

Customers on social tariffs could in some cases save over a hundred pounds a year. The new system will also simplify the process by removing the need for customers to prove their entitlement to broadband providers as regularly as every month. Social tariffs are available to eligible customers in 99% of the country following Government-led negotiations with broadband companies.

The Government’s Cost of Living Business Tsar, David Buttress, has welcomed the new scheme and committed to continue working with industry to scale up and promote existing social tariffs, as well as encourage all providers to offer a discounted tariff.

Cost of Living Business Tsar, David Buttress, said:

Times are tough and families across the country are feeling the pinch, so we’re making it easier for companies to reduce phone and broadband bills for struggling families.

Some of the biggest network operators have already committed to take advantage of this new scheme and we want to see other providers follow their lead so that everyone eligible for a social tariff can access one.

This is just one of the ways that we’re working with businesses to offer help through our Help for Households campaign, building on the comprehensive £37 billion package of support already being provided by Government.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Thérèse Coffey, said:

It’s more important than ever that people get the financial support available to them, including cheaper broadband for benefit claimants, and this change makes these social tariffs even easier to access.

I’d like to thank those providers leading the way in moving customers over to discount rates, and I encourage others to follow suit to help millions of households to cut bills.

Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries, said:

Social tariffs are vital for families struggling with bills, keeping them connected even in tough times.

Our discussion with broadband companies led to the range of social tariffs on the market today and we’ve secured a raft of new cost-of-living commitments from them to ensure help is available for anyone that needs it.

I urge anyone concerned about falling behind on payments to contact their supplier to see what support is available.

Internet service providers will be required to gain customers’ consent before speaking to DWP about their eligibility. DWP will minimise the information provided, sharing nothing other than confirmation that the person is entitled to a qualifying benefit at the time of contact. This ensures that claimants’ data remains as safe as possible.

Alongside the launch of today’s scheme, the Government’s Cost of Living Tsar, David Buttress, has also announced a further series of cost-of-living deals and discounts as part of the Government’s Help for Households campaign.

The deals have been negotiated with some of the UK’s largest businesses and follow those already announced last month to access the full range deals.

The new deals include:

• A bespoke new deal with the publishing firm Scholastic, who are offering 20% off children’s books. Scholastic will also donate an additional 20% of all order values over £10 in Rewards to local schools for them to spend on books and resources to help stock libraries and classrooms.

• A curated set of Back to School deals from Amazon, with discounts ranging from backpacks and school uniforms, including up to 30% off Clarks School Shoes, to deals on stationary essentials from BIC, Staedtler and Papermate. Amazon Fresh is also offering savings, from lunchbox essentials to laundry detergent.

A number of other Help for Households partners, including Marks & Spencer, Primark, Shoezone, ZSL and Go-ahead have also agreed to promote their existing support schemes under the Help for Households campaign to raise awareness. For example, ZSL are offering new £3 tickets for London Zoo and Whipsnade.

Lutz Schüler, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Media O2, said:

Connectivity is a lifeline people can’t go without, and as one of the first providers to have introduced a social broadband tariff in 2020, we are committed to making it as easy as possible for customers to get support with the cost-of-living crisis. We’re working to implement the API as soon as possible making it faster and easier to sign up for our social tariff as part of a comprehensive plan to boost the awareness, availability and attractiveness of Essential Broadband.

Catherine Bell, Co-group Managing Director, Scholastic UK said:

We’re delighted to be part of the Government’s Help for Households campaign. We recognise the pressures that the current cost of living crisis is bringing and understand that back to school can be a very expensive time for parents. We firmly believe that reading for pleasure for children is more important now than ever and through our school Book Clubs we are pleased to offer a huge range of books with a special Help for Households discount for September that parents can access via their school organiser or by visiting our Book Clubs website. Every Book Club purchase comes with the added benefit that Scholastic will donate an additional 20% of all order values over £10 in Rewards to your local school for them to spend on books and resources to help stock libraries and classrooms.

Kathryn England, Chief Operating Officer of ZSL London Zoo said:

The thrill and awe of a visit to ZSL London or Whipsnade Zoo is something that we want as many people as possible to experience. Our Community Access Scheme ensures that cost isn’t a barrier to that. In partnership with the UK Government’s Help for Households scheme, every day for the rest of the school summer holidays (until Sunday 4 September) we are providing additional  tickets to either London or Whipsnade Zoo, from as little as £3 per person – helping us to introduce even more people to the wonders of the animal kingdom. Our zoos help to inspire a life-long love of wildlife. Home to endangered species from all over the world, we aim to empower every person who visits our zoos to help us protect these animals. Now, more than ever, it’s so important that everyone has a better understanding of nature and the role we can all play in helping to protect our precious planet. Just visit www.zsl.org/CAS to find out more.

The government’s Cost of Living Business Tsar is working to secure further deals under the Help for Households campaign which will be announced over the coming weeks and months.

UK Export Finance (UKEF) has expanded its Executive Committee with the appointment of Julia Beck as Chief Strategy and Impact Officer, and Paul Neville as Digital, Data and Technology Director as the UK’s national export credit agency (ECA) continues to deliver its support for UK exporters.

UKEF’s impact and support for exports is continuing to grow, providing £33.4 billion of financial support for UK exports in the last five years. The department’s backing for exports is part of UKEF’s mission to advance prosperity by ensuring no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance, doing that sustainably and at no net cost to the taxpayer.

Shane Lynch, Director of Resources at UKEF said:

“The depth of experience and talent across UKEF are what make us the world’s best ECA. Julia and Paul have already made a positive impact in their new roles, bringing energy and new ideas to the department.

Ensuring we retain and attract talented people is hugely important and allows UKEF to deliver on its mission for UK exporters.”

Julia Beck joined UKEF in 2016, most recently working as Deputy Director for Strategy within the Strategy, Policy and Climate Change directorate (SPoCC). In her new role, she will continue to develop the department’s approach to strategy and impact, deliver its sustainability agenda and grow its relationships internationally and across government.

Paul Neville joins UKEF from the London Borough of Waltham Forest, where he led a sector-leading modernisation as the Director of Digital & ICT. He has extensive experience in digital, technology and business change with roles at Sky and BT and will bring together UKEF’s digital, technology, data and change and transformations teams from across the Department.

Julia Beck, Chief Strategy and Impact Officer at UKEF said:

“I’m delighted to start my new role leading UKEF’s Strategy, Policy and Climate Change Directorate, which has gone from strength to strength in recent years.

“I will ensure that UKEF continues to deliver with impact on government priorities, from achieving our sustainability agenda to maintaining an agile and adaptable product offering for UK exporters that drives economic prosperity across the country.”

Paul Neville, Director of Digital, Data and Technology (DDAT) at UKEF said:

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to lead the new DDAT team at UK Export Finance. Improving on UKEF’s history of delivering first-class support to businesses, I hope to help modernise what we do, both to help our people and customers.”

Contact

The latest independent results from large scale surveys ranking the service quality of personal and business current account providers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland are available via the links below:

• Ipsos MORI (which covers personal current accounts)
• BVA BDRC (which covers business current accounts)

Following its investigation into the retail banking sector, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) made it compulsory for all relevant banks to take part in these surveys, so customers get the full picture. Account providers must display their ranking prominently both in branch and on their websites and apps.

Personal and small business current account holders were asked how likely they would be to recommend their provider to a friend, relative or other business. The survey also covered the quality of online and mobile provision, branch and overdraft services and, for small businesses, the quality of the relationship management they receive.

The results show customers how their bank is ranked on overall quality of service and make it easier for people to compare offers. They also promote competition between providers, resulting in better experiences for all account holders.

Great Britain results

Overall, the top-ranked personal current account providers in Great Britain are:

• Starling Bank (=1st)
• Monzo (=1st)
• first direct (3rd)

Overall, the bottom-ranked personal current account providers in Great Britain are:

• Royal Bank of Scotland (16th)
• Virgin Money (15th)
• TSB (14th)

Overall, the top-ranked business current account providers in Great Britain are:

• Starling Bank (1st)
• Monzo (2nd)
• Handelsbanken (3rd)

Overall, the bottom-ranked business current account providers in Great Britain are:

• The Co-operative Bank (15th)
• Virgin Money (=13th)
• HSBC UK (=13th)

Northern Ireland results

The top-ranked personal current account providers in Northern Ireland overall are Starling Bank, Monzo and Nationwide while the bottom-ranked current account providers are AIB, Bank of Ireland UK and Ulster Bank.

Overall, the top-ranked business current account providers in Northern Ireland are Santander and Danske Bank while the bottom-ranked business current account providers are Bank of Ireland UK and AIB.

Adam Land, Senior Director at the CMA, said:

As the rising cost of living bites, it’s important that people and businesses have the information they need to manage their money and make savings.

These results show how banks are treating their customers at a time when many are feeling the pinch.

When times are tough you find out who’s fighting your corner and if your bank doesn’t match up to the competition – you can vote with your feet and make a switch.

If you’ve found another bank that could give you a better deal, the Current Account Switch Service helps to make the process of switching much simpler. This free service is available to anyone with a personal or business current account in the UK.

Check the list of participating banks and building societies to make sure you can use the Current Account Switch Service.

The survey was established as part of the Retail Banking Order – a set of reforms established by the CMA following its retail banking market investigation in 2016.

The CMA enforces the Retail Banking Order, and regularly checks that banks are doing what they’re required to do. If the CMA finds the Order is being breached, it can take action. Learn more about what happens when banks breach the Order.

1. For media enquiries, please contact the CMA press office on 020 3738 6460 or press@cma.gov.uk.
2. The CMA cannot comment on the performance of individual banks. Journalists should speak to the individual banks for further explanation.
3. Personal account providers (such as banks and building societies) with more than 150,000 active account holders in Great Britain and more than 20,000 small business accounts are obliged to collect and publish this data. In Northern Ireland, the equivalent numbers are 20,000 for personal current accounts (PCAs) and 15,000 for business current accounts (BCAs).
4. Tell us if you think your bank has breached the Retail Banking Order. Get in touch at general.enquiries@cma.gov.uk.
5. Please note that the CMA doesn’t intervene on behalf of individual customers, but we do enforce the requirements of the Order. If you think your supplier has misinformed or overcharged you, contact Citizens Advice or the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The UK’s position as a world-leading maritime nation is secured by a new strategy that will enhance capabilities in technology, innovation and cyber security.

Unveiling the 5-year strategy, the Secretary of State for Transport has today (Monday 15 August 2022) set out the guiding principles for the UK government’s approach to managing threats and risks at home and around the world, including leveraging the UK’s world-leading seabed mapping community and tackling illegal fishing and polluting activities at sea.

The new strategy redefines maritime security as upholding laws, regulations and norms to deliver a free, fair and open maritime domain. With this new approach, the government rightly recognises any illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and environmental damage to our seas as a maritime security concern.

In addition, to enhance the UK’s maritime security knowledge, the government has established the UK Centre for Seabed Mapping (UK CSM), which seeks to enable the UK’s world-leading seabed mapping sector to collaborate to collect more and better data.

Seabed mapping provides the foundation dataset that underpins almost every sector in the maritime domain, including maritime trade, environmental and resource management, shipping operations and national security and infrastructure within the industry.

The UK CSM has also been registered as a UK government voluntary commitment to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

By working with the newly established UK CSM, administered by the UK Hydrographic Office, government will have better quantity, quality and availability of seabed mapping data, which as a key component of our infrastructure, underpins the UK’s maritime security, prosperity and environment objectives.

Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps said:

Mankind has better maps of the surface of the moon and Mars than of our own ocean. To ensure the UK’s maritime security is based on informed and evidence-based decisions, we must build our knowledge of this dynamic ocean frontier.

Our new maritime security strategy paves the way for both government and industry to provide the support needed to tackle new and emerging threats and further cement the UK’s position as a world leader in maritime security.

Working with industry and academia, Secretaries of State from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Department for Transport (DfT), the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) will focus on 5 strategic objectives:

• Protecting our homeland: delivering the world’s most effective maritime security framework for our borders, ports and infrastructure.

• Responding to threats: taking a whole system approach to bring world-leading capabilities and expertise to bear to respond to new, emerging threats.

• Ensuring prosperity: ensuring the security of international shipping, the unimpeded transmission of goods, information and energy to support continued global development and our economic prosperity.

• Championing values: championing global maritime security underpinned by freedom of navigation and the international order.

• Supporting a secure, resilient ocean: tackling security threats and breaches of regulations that impact on a clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically-diverse maritime environment.

UK Chamber of Shipping CEO, Sarah Treseder said:

A proactive maritime security strategy is essential to keeping trade routes and energy supplies secure, especially for an island nation. Today’s welcome commitments to improve collaboration, both with industry and governments across the world, will help deliver a more secure maritime environment and help provide confidence to the shipping community.

Tim Edmunds, co-Director of the SafeSeas Network and Professor of International Security at the University of Bristol said:

The new national strategy for maritime security (NSMS) comes at a critical time for the UK maritime sector. Maritime security is key to delivering the UK’s ambitions in foreign, security and defence policy, as well as for blue economic growth and environmental sustainability.

SafeSeas and the University of Bristol were privileged to be part of this effort. We are delighted that our research was able to inform the strategy process. We look forward to engaging with UK maritime security actors and assisting with the strategy implementation process in future.

Mark Simmonds, Director of Policy and External Affairs, British Ports Association said:

UK ports work closely with government and law enforcement to facilitate nearly half a billion tonnes of trade and tens of millions of passengers every year, whilst at the same time bearing down on threats to our collective safety and security. We look forward to strengthening that relationship as we help to deliver on these strategic objectives.

The new Centre for Seabed Mapping is a huge step forward for the maritime sector. It will help everyone better understand the UK seabed and be the foundation for numerous benefits, including more informed management of the marine environment.

The UK will continue to engage heavily with industry, academia, international partners and allies in the delivery of this outward-focussed strategy through increased information sharing partnerships, to increase visibility of threats to the global maritime domain.