Budgeting loans are a feature of the social security system in the United Kingdom. Budgeting Loans are interest free loans from the Social Fund that are available only to people claiming certain income-related benefits. [1]
Although the discretionary element of the Social Fund was abolished those who have not yet been transferred over to Universal Credit can still apply. However, those in receipt of Universal Credit are ineligible for a budgeting loan and must instead apply for a Budgeting Advance instead. [1]
The loan is meant to be used for household necessities and paying down existing consumer debt. [2] The total sum can be up to £812, if the applicant is part of a couple with children. [3] In 2019, the UK government has re-affirmed its commitment to the loan scheme. [4]
Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree.
In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost "social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budget surplus is used to maintain existing housing and to help finance new homes and it cannot be used for personal benefit of directors or shareholders. Although independent, they are regulated by the state and commonly receive public funding. They are now the United Kingdom's major providers of new housing for rent, while many also run shared ownership schemes to help those who cannot afford to buy a home outright.
National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their families.
In many states with political systems derived from the Westminster system, a consolidated fund or consolidated revenue fund is the main bank account of the government. General taxation is taxation paid into the consolidated fund, and general spending is paid out of the consolidated fund.
Tuition fees were first introduced across the entire United Kingdom in September 1998 under the Labour government of Tony Blair to fund tuition for undergraduate and postgraduate certificate students at universities; students were required to pay up to £1,000 a year for tuition. However, only those who reach a certain salary threshold (£21,000) pay this fee through general taxation. In practice, higher education (HE) remains free at the point of entry in England for a high minority of students.
A payday loan is a short-term unsecured loan, often characterized by high interest rates.
A means test is a determination of whether an individual or family is eligible for government assistance or welfare, based upon whether the individual or family possesses the means to do without that help.
The Barnett formula is a mechanism used by the Treasury in the United Kingdom to automatically adjust the amounts of public expenditure allocated to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to reflect changes in spending levels allocated to public services in England, Scotland and Wales, as appropriate. The formula applies to a large proportion, but not the whole, of the devolved governments' budgets − in 2013–14 it applied to about 85% of the Scottish Parliament's total budget.
Equity sharing is another name for shared ownership or co-ownership. It takes one property, more than one owner, and blends them to maximize profit and tax deductions. Typically, the parties find a home and buy it together as co-owners, but sometimes they join to co-own a property one of them already owns. At the end of an agreed term, they buy one another out or sell the property and split the equity. In England, equity sharing and shared ownership are not the same thing.
A grant is a fund given by a person or organization, often a public body, charitable foundation, a specialised grant-making institution, or in some cases a business with a corporate social responsibility mission, to an individual or another entity, usually, a non-profit organisation, sometimes a business or a local government body, for a specific purpose linked to public benefit. Unlike loans, grants are not intended to be paid back. Examples include student grants, research grants, the Sovereign Grant paid by the UK Treasury to the monarch, and some European Regional Development Fund payments in the European Union.
Credit card interest is a way in which credit card issuers generate revenue. A card issuer is a bank or credit union that gives a consumer a card or account number that can be used with various payees to make payments and borrow money from the bank simultaneously. The bank pays the payee and then charges the cardholder interest over the time the money remains borrowed. Banks suffer losses when cardholders do not pay back the borrowed money as agreed. As a result, optimal calculation of interest based on any information they have about the cardholder's credit risk is key to a card issuer's profitability. Before determining what interest rate to offer, banks typically check national, and international, credit bureau reports to identify the borrowing history of the card holder applicant with other banks and conduct detailed interviews and documentation of the applicant's finances.
Housing Benefit is a means-tested social security benefit in the United Kingdom that is intended to help meet housing costs for rented accommodation. It is the second biggest item in the Department for Work and Pensions' budget after the state pension, totalling £23.8 billion in 2013–14.
Film finance is an aspect of film production that occurs during the development stage prior to pre-production, and is concerned with determining the potential value of a proposed film.
An advance payment, or simply an advance, is the part of a contractually due sum that is paid or received in advance for goods or services, while the balance included in the invoice will only follow the delivery. The term "advance" may also refer to a loan.
Student loans and grants in the United Kingdom are primarily provided by the government through the Student Loans Company (SLC), an executive non-departmental public body. The SLC is responsible for Student Finance England and Student Finance Wales, and is a delivery partner of Student Finance NI and the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. Most undergraduate university students resident in the United Kingdom are eligible for student loans, and some students on teacher training courses may also apply for loans. Student loans also became available from the 2016/17 academic year to postgraduate students who study a taught Masters, research or Doctoral course.
Universal Credit is a United Kingdom social security payment. It is means-tested and is replacing and combining six benefits, for working-age households with a low income: income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, and Income Support; Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit; and Housing Benefit. An award of UC is made up of different elements, which become payable to the claimant if relevant criteria apply: a standard allowance for singles or couples, child elements and disabled child elements for children in the household, housing cost element, childcare costs element, as well as elements for being a carer or having an illness or disability and therefore having limited capability to work.
The United Kingdom government austerity programme is a fiscal policy that was adopted for a period in the early 21st century following the Great Recession. The term was used by the Coalition and Conservative governments in office from 2010 to 2019, and again during the 2021–present cost of living crisis. The two periods are separated by a stint of interventionist, Keynesian spending during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Social Fund in the UK was a form of welfare benefit provision payable for exceptional or intermittent needs, in addition to regular payments such as Jobseeker's Allowance or Income Support.
The Welfare Reform Act 2012 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which makes changes to the rules concerning a number of benefits offered within the British social security system. It was enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 8 March 2012.
The March 2021 United Kingdom budget, officially known as Protecting the Jobs and Livelihoods of the British People was a budget delivered by Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer in March 2021. It was expected to be delivered in autumn 2020, but was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It succeeds the budget held in March 2020, and the summer statement and Winter Economy Plan held in summer and autumn 2020, respectively. The budget is the second under Boris Johnson's government, also the second to be delivered by Sunak and the second since Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. The budget was the first for government expenditure in the United Kingdom to exceed £1 trillion.