UK news
UK news in brief for Russian speakers: laws, tax, prices and rules, each linked to its primary source. Search and filter by date.
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Elizabeth line: severe delays to Reading, only minor delays to Heathrow after Langley bridge strike
At 09:20 TfL rewrote the disruption: severe delays now run only between Reading and Hayes & Harlington, while the stretch into Paddington and the Heathrow terminals has minor delays. The cause is now given as an earlier bridge strike at Langley. The window runs to 01:29.
Your child needs collecting now: when the law lets you leave work
Employees have a right to a reasonable amount of time off for an emergency involving a dependant, with no limit on how often. But your employer does not have to pay for it, and if you knew about the situation in advance the right does not apply at all.
ONS labour market: 691,000 vacancies, a 2014 level, and pay up 3.7%
ONS published its October release on 20 October at 7am. Vacancies stand at 691,000 — outside the pandemic, the last comparable level was 2014. Unemployment 4.7%, employment 75.3%, pay up 3.7% over the year but only 0.6% in real terms.
Student loans: five plans, five thresholds and 9% of everything above
What comes out of your pay depends on your income alone, never on the size of the debt. The thresholds are £26,900 a year on Plan 1, £29,385 on Plan 2, £33,795 on Plan 4, £25,000 on Plan 5 and £21,000 on a Postgraduate Loan. You repay 9% above the threshold, or 6% on a Postgraduate Loan.
Second homes and empty properties: when Council Tax doubles or quadruples
A council can charge up to twice the normal Council Tax on a furnished home nobody lives in, and up to four times on one empty for ten years. The exceptions are few, and some of them last only 12 months.
Laid off with no work: £41 a day, five days a quarter, £205 in all
Your employer can keep you at home when there is no work. You only lose your full pay if the contract says lay-offs can be unpaid — otherwise they must pay you as normal. The statutory floor is £41 a day, for no more than five days in three months.
Tax relief on uniforms and tools: £60 by default, £1,022 for pilots
HMRC gives back part of what you spend cleaning, repairing and replacing a uniform and small tools. Not as a payment but as less tax: £60 at a 20% rate is worth £12 a year. You can claim for the current tax year and the four before it.
Excluded from school in England: the deadlines and who to complain to
45 school days a year is the cap on suspension. Education must be arranged from the sixth day. The governors' meeting falls within 15 school days, and a discrimination claim has six months.
Council Tax Reduction: how to cut your bill when money is tight
The average Band D bill in England for 2026–27 is £2,392. Every council must run a reduction scheme for households in financial need, but it is only granted on application. Here is how much you can save, what to send and what to do if you are refused.
UK interest-free government loans: £100 to £812
A washing machine, a move, a rent deposit or a funeral can be covered by an interest-free loan from the state. Who gets a Budgeting Loan, who gets a Budgeting Advance, how much, and what the money cannot be spent on.
Adoption leave and pay in the UK: 52 weeks, £194.32
Statutory Adoption Leave runs for 52 weeks and 39 of them are paid. Who qualifies, how much you get, the notice deadlines, and who gets nothing at all.
Private parking: £100 cap frozen, 10 minutes to leave and £20 for a mistyped plate
The Private Parking Code of Practice is before Parliament: five minutes to decide, ten to leave, charges cancelled when the machine is broken, and a £20 ceiling for a mistyped registration.
Working time and rest breaks: 20 minutes, 11 hours and the 48 limit
More than six hours of work earns one uninterrupted 20-minute break, there must be 11 hours between shifts, and the 48-hour weekly limit is averaged over 17 weeks. Here is what the employer must provide, what it need not pay for, and who gets compensatory rest instead of a break.
Air Passenger Duty: how much tax is inside your UK air ticket
The UK departure tax never appears as its own line, but it is in every ticket: from £8 on a domestic hop to £253 on a long-haul business seat. Children under 16 in the cheapest class pay nothing — and a passenger who did not fly can claim the duty back even on a non-refundable fare.
Book at bedtime: Alice in Wonderland and one street in Oxford
The 1865 book written by a mathematics lecturer at Christ Church. The text is free on Project Gutenberg, and the whole Alice route fits into a single Oxford street.
Broadband social tariffs: £10 a month if you are on benefits
Tariffs from £10 to £24 for people on Universal Credit, Pension Credit, ESA, JSA and Income Support. Switching is free even mid-contract. Ofcom found 5.1% of eligible households were using one as of February 2023.
Poems on the Underground at 40: the autumn set and Saturday's concert
Poems on the Underground began in January 1986 as a scheme by three friends; its posters now reach three million travellers a day. The autumn set went up on 19 October, and the fortieth anniversary evening is at the Purcell Room on 24 October, tickets from £17.
Life in the UK Test: £50, 24 questions and a 75% pass mark
No settlement and no citizenship without it. £50 an attempt, 24 questions in 45 minutes, a 75% pass mark. Who is exempt, which ID to bring, and what gets people turned away at the door.
Stamp Duty on buying a home in England: bands, reliefs and the 14-day deadline
The tax on buying a home is charged in slices, not on the whole price at once. The threshold is £125,000, first-time buyers start at £300,000, an additional property adds 5%, and the return and payment are due within 14 days.
Notice periods: what you owe and what you are owed
An employee who resigns owes one week by law, whatever their service. An employer owes a week for every year worked, up to twelve. When notice starts running, how notice pay is calculated and what payment in lieu of notice buys.
British citizenship: five years, 450 days and £1,839
Naturalising after ILR takes five years in the country, twelve months holding settlement and two separate absence ceilings — 450 days over five years and 90 days in the last twelve months. The £50 Life in the UK test, the English levels and what the fee buys.
Jobs Plans: 22,400 apprenticeships a year for under-25s and 40,000 on site
The government has published Jobs Plans for professional services and construction: 22,400 apprenticeships a year for under-25s, 40,000 construction placements, up to £2,000 for an employer taking an apprentice and 14,000 defence places by 2035. Here is what is promised and where to look today.
Council Tax discounts: who pays 25% or 50% less and how to claim
Council Tax is charged on the property, not the people — yet the number of adults in a home can halve the bill. Here is who qualifies for 25% and 50%, the ten categories the council does not count as adults, why an empty flat can cost four times the normal rate, and the deadlines for appealing.
Sold a second property: 60 days to report it to HMRC
UK residential property has its own HMRC deadline: report and pay within 60 days of completion, not next spring with the tax return. Rates of 18% and 24%, a £3,000 tax-free allowance.
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