Top of the pension pots: the best place for your Sipp
B arclays Smart Investor and Fidelity International have been crowned the top investment platforms for self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) by the consumer group Which?.
Which? compared charges across 18 platforms for seven different sizes of pension pot, from £25,000 to £1 million. It also asked about 3,000 customersto rank firms on their customer service and value for money.
Sipps give savers control over how their retirement savings are invested, with a broad range of options to invest in, including regulated and unregulated products. Since their introduction in 1989, Sipps have soared in popularity, particularly since 2015, when it became possible to leave your pension money invested after you retire.
The Financial Conduct Authority, the City regulator, said more than 1.7 million people held a total of £205 billion in Sipps in 2023.
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BBC News
26 minutes ago
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What can Northamptonshire expect from Reform UK's Doge teams?
They have caused a stir in Donald Trump's US and now Elon Musk-style Doge teams are descending on Northamptonshire's two unitary councils, which are run by Reform UK. What can people in the county expect from them and what have they achieved elsewhere? What is Doge all about? Hardly anyone had heard the acronym Doge before Donald Trump returned to the White House in idea is reported to have surfaced first at a dinner party where Donald Trump's billionaire advisor, Elon Musk, was speaking in Tesla, Space X and X businessman told fellow diners that, if given the passwords to government computers, he could streamline its Trump became President again this year, he set up the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) and put Musk in charge of aim was to end the "tyranny of bureaucracy", save taxpayers' money and cut the US national debt, said has actually happened so far is two million federal workers being offered a deal to leave. What are Reform UK's Doge team doing in Northamptonshire? A preliminary meeting with the Doge team happened this week at West Northamptonshire Council, and it will be descending on North Northamptonshire in the near future following the huge swing from the Conservatives to Reform UK in the May local Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, who received a hero's welcome when he met his councillors in Corby on Tuesday, explained how it would work."The Doge team comes in and it talks to the officers and says 'we want to look at the books, we want to see what money's been spent on this, what money's been spent on that, we want to see the credit card statements, we want to see the contracts'," he took repairing potholes as an example and said Doge would ask "Who've you assigned to do this job? How long is the contract for? What's the cost? Is it based on results?"He insisted that "not everything about Doge is critical, not everything about Doge is slagging off what's gone before. I'm really hoping that Doge can help everybody".Reform UK said its team in West Northamptonshire would consist of "software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors". How much is Doge costing taxpayers? The short answer, according to Reform UK, is Arnull, leader at West Northamptonshire, said: "The cutting-edge expertise the Doge team are providing free of charge will make it that much easier to identify waste and free up funds."Martin Griffiths, who leads West Northamptonshire, said: "We're not going to pay a penny [for the Doge review] so that's why our officers are fully in support of this."Some politicians have questioned whether experts would really work for free, and have suggested the pro bono element might not be good for local Lehmann, Green party leader in Kent, the first council to undergo the process, said: "The fact that they have software engineers offering to work 'for free' is of particular concern, given that the data they are forcefully requesting access to would include significant volumes of commercially sensitive information and the personal data of many of Kent's most vulnerable residents." How have opposition parties reacted to Doge in Northamptonshire? The leader of the Labour group on West Northamptonshire Council, Sally Keeble is concerned about the team's accountability and use of has submitted a Freedom of Information request for all communication between the council and the team to be said: "If the Reform administration wants to appoint Doge, they should put the organisation through a transparent procurement process with safeguards in place for people's personal data." Helen Harrison, who leads the Conservative opposition in North Northamptonshire, has said she would welcome any efficiencies but believed the review should be carried out by council officers rather than an external Harris, who leads the Liberal Democrat group in the North, said: "We understand that during the visit on Friday, 13 June the Doge team asked for no information, were provided with no information, didn't share a plan, and yet proclaimed that they were already 'starting to save taxpayers money'." Harris added: "It begs the question why taxpayers are paying cabinet member allowances, including basic councillor allowances of around £424,000 to the [Reform UK] administration."It's their job to lead, set strategy and establish savings, not the responsibility of an unelected group of individuals."West Northamptonshire's Independent councillor Ian McCord said he had written to the council leader to ask whether advice had been sought about the legal standing of the Doge unit, and whether data held by the council would be safe. What effect has Doge had elsewhere? NIgel Farage is adamant that the Doge approach is said: "Already, in other counties, we have found examples of pretty egregious expenditure."In Derby, where there is a cabinet member for council efficiency (Doge), the party claimed to have made efficiency savings equating to £6,000 per later admitted that figure was a mistake and was more like £4,000 per day. An unlikely winner so far from the Doge initiative has been the public sector workers' union to data released to Sky News, weekly new memberships increased by an average of 272% in the week after the May election results were a weekly average of 12 new members at North Northamptonshire the union saw the figure shoot up to 27 in the week following the has admitted that efficiencies may be more difficult to find in Northamptonshire's two unitary councils, which came into being in 2021, than in some older politicians have pointed out that councils already face regular audits so Doge teams would simply duplicate that the available evidence, though, two things look certain: Northamptonshire will go through the Doge process, and it will still be controversial. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
26 minutes ago
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Young people in the East of England struggle to buy a first home
The government wants 1.5 million new homes to be built in England by 2029 but, with the average house in the East costing £332,000, about nine times the average salary, what chance do young people have of getting on the housing ladder?Lauren Finch, 29, told BBC Politics East a mortgage broker advised her to ask for a pay rise, get a new job or find a partner to move in with her 28-year-old sister at her parent's home in Lowestoft, Suffolk, she often finds herself house-sitting for friends as a way to get some said her £24,000 salary at a GP surgery meant she could only afford a £90,000 home and would struggle to find a property in the area where she would feel safe."I feel frustrated that I'm at this age and living at home and it is a little bit soul-destroying," she is an option she hopes to avoid: "People I know who rent, struggle to save any money for a (mortgage) deposit." Former Miss Cromer Charlotte Spendlove rents a room in a friend's house and said she received similar advice on getting on the housing ladder."They tell you you have to do x, y and z. They've said I need to get an extra job. At one time I had three jobs. But it's not a way of life," she 26-year-old believes people with second homes are driving up house prices and wants the government to look into the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it inherited a "devastating housing crisis" and was providing support for first-time buyers. Average house prices vary across the East of England, according to the Office for National Statistics:Cambridge: £521,000Colchester: £302,000Northampton: £258,000Norwich: £232,000Ipswich: £228,000The average annual rent in the East of England is approximately £15,660, based on an average monthly rent of £1,305, a 4.2% increase on the previous year. Environmentalist and archaeologist Helen Geake, a former Green councillor from Suffolk, said: "We have a surplus of homes but they are being used in the wrong way, being used for second homes, or short-term lets, or empty."Also, private rentals are a very inefficient use of a house. We have got to see more homes with owner-occupiers and socially rented."James Palmer, chair of regional business champion the Eastern Powerhouse, has called for better infrastructure to be built to support new at a BBC Politics East special at the Big Sky Living development at Cringleford, on the outskirts of Norwich, he said: "The public transport in the East is appalling."We need a long-term infrastructure plan to then deliver the homes." A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokeswoman said: "We have inherited a devastating housing crisis."As set out in our plan for change, we will build 1.5 million new homes and give working people the stability and security of a home they deserve."We're committed to supporting first-time buyers with a new permanent mortgage guarantee scheme, helping them take their first crucial step on the ladder with a small deposit." BBC Politics East will be broadcast on Sunday, 22 June at 10:00 BST on BBC One in the East of England, and will be available after broadcast on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
40 minutes ago
- BBC News
Essex community minibuses to hit road after £195k grant
New minibuses to help people get to school and medical appointments are to hit the road as part of a government investment in seaside communities. Tendring District Council in Essex is encouraging community transport groups to apply for funding for one of three minibuses after it received a grant of £195, buses would run in the Clacton, Jaywick Sands and Holland-on-Sea areas, with two providing general community transport and one specifically for 10 to 18-year-olds "facing personal and social challenges", the council said. Deputy council leader Ivan Henderson said: "This is a fantastic opportunity to strengthen community transport in some of our most underserved areas." "This scheme is about more than just transport – it's about connection, opportunity, raising aspirations and creating pride in our communities," he added."By investing in these minibuses, we are working with our partners to improve quality of life for our residents, whether that's helping young people reach education or ensuring older residents can access healthcare and social activities."The buses would help younger people access alternative education and support services, while also tackling social isolation and improving mental wellbeing across the wider community, the council must apply by 18 July, with three to be chosen by a panel to receive up to £65,000 each to purchase and operate a council said the scheme was part of a wider £20m government investment in the area, announced in December. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
