News Articles
The following news articles are not written or endorsed by Torbay Advice Network but are provided for informative and self-help purposes.
New articles are uploaded on a regular basis
Missing out on millions:
The Council Tax Reduction pensioners in England are missing out on and why change is needed
Council Tax is becoming an increasingly unmanageable expense for older people in financial hardship. Unlike many other bills, households cannot reduce the cost of their Council Tax bill by making cutbacks or shopping around.
One tool the UK Government and local authorities in England have to support those struggling is Council Tax Reduction (CTR).
CTR is a lifeline. For qualifying older people it can reduce their bill to £0. Despite this, CTR remains poorly understood. This report reveals the incredible potential of CTR to support older people in financial hardship, and analyses why it remains an under-received form of support.
Disability benefits
Disability benefits reassessments are wasting money and harming disabled people, new report says.
A new report by anti-poverty charity Z2K has found that hundreds of thousands of disabled people are put through unnecessary Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reassessments, despite their conditions being lifelong or progressive and unlikely to improve.
Let Down
How shady letting agent practices put new renters’ rights at risk
The Private Rented Sector (PRS) has long been plagued by insecurity, poor quality, and unaffordable rents. The Renters’ Rights Act (RRA) is a key opportunity to transform the sector.
To get this right, we need to make sure the new rules are followed properly, by both landlords and letting agents. Letting agents are responsible for managing the homes of around 40% of England’s nearly 11 million private renters.
They are engaged by landlords to support with things like finding tenants, maintaining the property and resolving in-tenancy issues, or ensuring a smooth move out process. As the main point of contact for many renters, they’ll play a key role in ensuring the new reforms are effective in practice - by informing people of their rights and implementing the new rules in properties they manage.
Constituency data
Dentists and dental practices
This interactive dashboard allows you to explore NHS data on dentists and dental practices. It provides a map and list of dental practices in each constituency, information on the percentage of people that have seen a dentist recently, and information on how the number of dentists has changed over time.
Care to Share
BUILDING THE NATIONAL CARE SERVICE
When this Labour government took office just under two years ago, it did so with a clear manifesto commitment to establish a National Care Service.
The idea was popular – having been first proposed by Gordon Brown in the final months of the last Labour government in 2010 – and significant work had been done on developing the idea in advance of the 2024 general election, including by the Fabian Society and Unison.
There appeared to be a clear path to transform adult social care, turning it from a challenge that past governments considered ‘too difficult’ into a practical and achievable goal.
Social Care Funding
Three key questions about funding in England
This analysis explores adult social care funding in England. It looks at spending in recent decades, how current spending compares to historical levels and whether spending is sufficient to meet the pressures facing adult social care.
Out of Reach
Real unemployment and the people missed by benefits based employment support
In Q1 2026, around 2.4 million people are in ‘close to work real unemployment’ in the UK, a change of +245,000 compared with Q1 2025 (2.2 million) and +562,000 compared with Q1 2019 (1.9 million).
This includes people who are officially unemployed, plus economically inactive people who want a job and say they could start within two weeks. This is our refined real unemployment measure with tighter criteria that offer a better indication of hidden labour supply without treating everyone who wants work as immediately available. The rise in close to work real unemployment
Citizens Advance
A state alternative to the Bank of Mum and Dad
Britain is a place where wealth matters. Most 18-40 year olds who do not own their home think that the dream of homeownership is dead for many young people (70%).
The number of over indebted Brits is over 10 million, up from 7.7 million in 2017, and the burden of student debt has risen up the news agenda.
Around 1 in 4 adults (23%) could not afford to pay an unexpected £850 bill if it landed on their doorstep.
A lack of personal funds is the most cited reason for people not starting a business. Financial and housing pressures are holding people back from starting a family.
Personal and family wealth levels can alter the course of people's lives. Children of wealthier parents are more likely to go to university, even when controlling for a range of personal characteristics.
High housing costs in the private rental sector: The case for action
45 per cent of all private renters in the UK have unaffordable rents. It's time for the government to act to limit rent increases.
In the UK today, 2.4 million households renting privately have unaffordable rents, an additional 250,000 since 2023. This is 45 per cent of all private renters in the UK. This is not just limited to those at the very bottom of the income distribution or to those receiving state support – 72 per cent of households struggling to pay rent currently get no government help for their housing.
Without further intervention, affordability will continue to deteriorate. By the end of this decade, an additional 340,000 households will be spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent compared to 2023/24.