Author: BBC

Outstanding debt from Carer’s Allowance overpayments rose to more than £250m last year, according to the government’s spending watchdog.The National Audit Office (NAO) said the figure had increased by £100m since 2018/19.Charity Carers UK said the report was “further evidence of a broken system that is failing unpaid carers”. The government launched an independent review of overpayments in October, after some carers were forced to pay back thousands of pounds leaving many in financial hardship.The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) paid £3.7bn in Carer’s Allowance to more than 900,000 claimants last year, according to the NAO report.If someone spends…

Getty ImagesRenting a newly let property is on average £270 per month more expensive than at the end of the coronavirus pandemic, according to figures from Zoopla.Rent began to soar in 2021 because of high demand from tenants after lockdowns were lifted and limited numbers of available properties.The annual cost of renting has gone up by 27% – £3,240 in total – in those three years, compared with a 19% rise in average earnings over the same period.However, the rate at which rents are rising is now the slowest for three years, the property portal has said, as potential tenants…

General Motors has announced that it will stop funding the development of the Cruise self-driving taxi.The company says it will now “refocus autonomous driving development on personal vehicles”.GM also pointed to the increasingly competitive robotaxi market as a reason for the move.In October, Tesla boss Elon Musk unveiled the electric car giant’s long-awaited robotaxi, the Cybercab, at the Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, California.GM attributed the change of strategy to “the considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business”.The company did not say how many Cruise employees could be moved over to GM.GM, which owns about…

BBC/Toffee International Ltd/Tom JacksonNessa, Stacey, Gwen, Bryn, and Gavin head to Essex for one final episode Several new photos from Gavin and Stacey have been released ahead of the sitcom’s upcoming final episode. A new promo image features James Corden as Smithy, alongside Ruth Jones as Nessa, Mathew Horne as Gavin, and Joanna Page as Stacey on Trinity Street in Barry.There are also dozens of photos from the episode itself.The final episode, which will air on BBC One on Christmas Day, was announced earlier this year.BBC/Toffee International Ltd/Tom JacksonStacey and Bryn prepare to head to Billericay in the trusty Citroen…

Family handoutDeclan Morrison’s father said the 26-year-old had enjoyed listening to birdsong at twilightThe family of a man who died after he repeatedly banged his head against a wall in a mental health suite said there was no “safety net” for people with their son’s needs. Declan Morrison, 26, from Cambridge, was autistic, had severe learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.In the hours before his death, he was left naked in a room with CCTV cameras, but his family said the alarm was only raised after he was found unresponsive by staff.His parents, Graeme and Sam Morrison, are now…

Equipment hire giant Ashtead plans to move its primary stock market listing to the US in a fresh blow to the London Stock Exchange.It said the US was a “natural long term listing venue” because most of its profit was in North America, along with its bosses, headquarters and the majority of its employees.Ashtead is the latest of several big companies in recent years to delist from the London Stock Exchange, which denied it was in crisis in May.Ashtead said it would discuss its proposed move with shareholders before putting it to a vote.The firm aims to move its primary…

Winta ZesuWinta Zesu has made a business out of rage-baiting“I get a lot of hate”. The words of content creator Winta Zesu, who last year made $150,000 (£117,000) from posting on social media.What separates Winta from other influencers? The people commenting on her posts and driving traffic to her videos are often doing so out of anger.“Every single video of mine that has gained millions of views is because of hate comments,” the 24-year-old explains.In those videos, she documents the life of a New York City model, whose biggest problem is being too pretty. What some in the comments don’t…

The winner of the 2024 series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! has been crowned.McFly singer Danny Jones won the public vote in Sunday’s final episode on ITV, with Coleen Rooney coming second and the Reverend Richard Coles in third place.”Thank you from the bottom of my heart, I gave my all in there, gave myself, and it’s a lovely feeling to be liked,” Jones told viewers who voted for him.Runner-up Rooney said she “couldn’t have wished for someone better to be in the final with”.Jones received 55.2% of the public vote in the final, ITV announced,…

PASome women have described waiting in “agony” for gynaecological treatmentWhen the BBC reported that waiting lists for gynaecology appointments across the UK had more than doubled since February 2020, many women shared their experiences of how they feel forced to turn to private care.Women waiting in agony for vital gynaecological treatment are turning to the private sector in the hope of being referred urgently to the top of the NHS waiting list.The experiences of many who spoke to the BBC tie in with what we are hearing from people working in the sector.The heads of 11 leading women’s health organisations…

Closer relations between the UK and the European Union (EU) will boost economic growth, Chancellor Rachel Reeves will tell finance leaders on Monday.In the first address by a British chancellor to the Eurogroup since Brexit, Reeves will say resetting relations means “breaking down barriers to trade” as well as helping “businesses sell in each other’s markets”.While Labour has ruled out re-joining the trade bloc, it has repeatedly said it wants the UK to “deepen ties” with the EU. The Conservatives said the chancellor should instead be working out how to reverse the “devastating Budget measures that have crashed confidence”.”If [Reeves]…