Supermarkets are discussing ways to bring back top-up vouchers for a government scheme that helps struggling families with the cost of healthy essentials. 

Bosses from Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Aldi told MPs they were in talks with industry bodies about how to bring back the vouchers to boost the Healthy Start programme.

Oonagh Turnbull, head of health and sustainable diets at Tesco, told the Health and Social Care Committee the company was "actively involved in conversations with industry bodies to see what was possible". 

Nilani Sritharan, Sainsbury's head of healthy and sustainable diets, said the supermarket was willing to offer £2 top-ups to the scheme if some changes were made. 

The programme gives eligible parents a prepaid card worth £8.50 a week for children under one and £4.25 a week for pregnant mums and children from one to four. 

The card can be used to buy milk, vegetables, baby formula and vitamins. 

During the pandemic, retailers gave those families an extra £2 a week to spend. 

But they have since raised concerns that moving to a prepaid card, instead of using paper vouchers, has made it harder for them to police and identify the customers who need the top-up. 

Sritharan said Sainsbury's had already raised the issue with the government. 

Beth Fowler, senior manager for health and sustainable choice at Asda, told the committee: "Because it is a debit card, we cannot control for example, what customers are buying with that card and we have concerns around topping that up for customers and it not being used on the categories the government intend it to be used for." 

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

Customers are saving £8 a year in car insurance costs and £3 on home insurance, according to research from the UK financial regulator. 

People paying monthly for these premiums saved a combined £157m a year, as research from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said half of the providers it surveyed lowered the interest rates charged on spreading annual insurance costs across 12 months. 

It is in part due to the regulator contacting firms at risk of not offering what it said was a fair price for an insurance product. 

Among these high-risk providers contacted by the FCA, prices have dropped £14 on the average motor policy and £4 on a typical home policy per year.

Nearly half of motor and home insurance policies were paid monthly in 2023, the FCA added. 

Paying for insurance in one lump sum annually, if you are able, is almost always the cheapest option.

The mortgage rate war seen at the start of 2026 is well and truly over as several major lenders announced hikes. 

Nationwide has increased rates by up to 0.19%, with Virgin following close behind with raises of up to 0.14%. 

HSBC has also upped some of its home mover, first-time buyer and remortgage products by up to 0.1%. 

It comes after Barclays recently made some price increases and product withdrawals, NatWest raised some fixed rates by 0.1% and Santander put up rates by up to 0.07%.

One broker described it as a "kick in the teeth" for borrowers, while others warned the road to lower rates could be longer than expected. 

Justin Moy, managing director at mortgage brokers EHF Mortgages, said rising swap rates, which banks use to determine mortgage rates, were to blame for the increases. 

"There are still some very good deals to take advantage of, but time is now of the essence for existing borrowers to get their paperwork in and secure the cheapest deals," he told Newspage. 

Darryl Dhoffer, founder at brokerage The Mortgage Geezer, added: "Nationwide and Virgin Money hiking rates signals an end to January’s price war. 

"This isn't a crash, but a correction: the market is realising the path to lower rates will be slower and bumpier than hoped."

Ben Perks, managing director at Orchard Financial Advisers,  described the rate increases as "a kick in the teeth for borrowers that have been full of optimism lately" but said he hoped this was a blip rather than the beginning of a more material repricing in rates.

"Hopefully there will be more positive news in the coming weeks and months if inflation falls back into line and the Bank of England cuts rates further," he said. 

The Bank of England is expected to hold the base rate at 3.75% this week - with markets predicting another cut by April.

A new 100% mortgage deal has launched to help renters buy their first home without a deposit. 

Melton Building Society has launched the five-year fixed rate product at 5.99%. It comes with a £199 application fee and £199 cashback on completion. 

But it is only available to first-time buyers purchasing a property in the East Midlands, with a plan to roll out the deal more widely later this year.

It's the latest 100% mortgage deal to return to the market after an increase over the past year. 

In total, there are 25 100% LTV products now available, according to Moneyfacts data shared with the Money blog. 

Reminiscent of the early 2000s, before the financial crash, they aren't without risk.

Some have described the latest product as a "responsible solution" for renters struggling to get on the housing ladder, while others have warned of the risk of negative equity and high monthly repayments. 

An estimated one million people missed the self-assessment tax return deadline, according to HMRC.

More than 11 million Britons met the 31 January deadline, but HMRC was expecting more than 12 million people to file a return.

Nearly half a million people waited until the final day to file, with more than 27,000 people filing in the last hour. Those who haven't could face fines.

The penalties for filing late are:

• An initial £100 fixed penalty, which applies even if there is no tax to pay, or if the tax due is paid on time;
• After three months, additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900;
• After six months, a further penalty of 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater;
• And after 12 months, another 5% or £300 charge, whichever is greater.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC's chief customer officer, urged anyone who hadn't yet filed to do so "as soon as possible".

Rome is introducing a fee for tourists hoping to visit its most famous fountain.

From this week, visitors to the Trevi Fountain have to pay €2 (£1.72).

It follows similar efforts to curb crowds and raise funds from tourists elsewhere in Italy.

The first tourists who paid the charge yesterday seemed unbothered.

Ilhan Musbah, from Morocco, said: "Before, there were problems accessing the fountain. There were a lot of people. Now, it's very easy. You can take photos, you feel good, you're comfortable and on top of that €2 is not much."

The fee was introduced alongside a €5 fee (£4.31) for some of the city's museums.

Rome residents are exempt from both fees and officials estimate that as much as €6.5m (£5.6m) a year could be raised.

Millions of women working in local government will see their pensions improve under reforms coming in April.

The government is taking action to tackle a problem that experts say "actively punishes women for having children".

When women take unpaid additional maternity leave, it can create gaps in pension payments, affecting their retirement income and widening the gender pension gap.

The new measures include making unpaid additional maternity, shared parental and adoption leave automatically pensionable, as well as making gender pension gap data reporting mandatory.

Financial advisers welcomed the reforms, with Molly Pile, chartered financial adviser at Octopus Money, saying: 

"The gender pension gap actively punishes women for having children. What starts as a relatively small hit early on quietly compounds, and by the time many women see the full impact, they're already nearing retirement. It can be staggering when compared to their male peers."

Greggs is launching its first matcha drinks range.

The budget bakery, mostly known for its sausage rolls, will sell three flavours of the popular drink:

• Iced matcha latte, £3
• Vanilla iced matcha latte, £3.60
• Strawberry iced matcha latte, £3.60

The launch will put Greggs in competition with the likes of Starbucks and Costa, and to mark it, it has decided to hold "a Greggs-inspired Pilates session".

Greggs told Money:

"We're on a mission to offer our customers more choice and quality than ever before, without the premium price tag. By introducing our trio of iced matcha drinks, we're making a trending favourite accessible to everyone on the high street."

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

Only yesterday we were talking about sharp falls in metal prices after Donald Trump revealed his nomination for chair of the US central bank.

But today gold is on course for its biggest daily gain since 2008 - and silver has risen nearly 9% so far. 

It appears the price drop encouraged investors to buy, which in turn pushed the value up. 

Precious metals reached all-time highs throughout January amid geopolitical and economic uncertainty and threats to the Federal Reserve's independence, boosting demand for investments like silver and gold, seen as safe havens. 

Mining companies have benefited this morning, with the top four biggest risers on the London Stock Exchange all mining giants. 

The pound could hit a six-month high against the euro this week. After rising over the past few weeks, a pound is hovering just below €1.16. Less than a week ago, you'd get €1.14.

City centre flats are quickly becoming "the sub-prime assets of the UK housing market", according to experts.

Brokers say more first-time buyers are skipping the first rung of the property ladder and buying homes they can grow into, rather than quickly grow out of.

This, experts say, is due to a combination of:

• Improving affordability;
• Growing awareness of the costs around moving;
• Issues with leasehold properties. 

Justin Moy, managing director at EHF Mortgages, says he is seeing a definitive trend: "It's now crystal clear that more savvy first-time buyers are looking beyond traditional starter homes, such as flats, and setting their sights on houses as they are able to benefit from improved affordability. 

"This also enables them to bypass expensive stamp duty and other moving costs associated with repeated buying and selling.

"Gone are the days of moving every two or three years to climb the property ladder. The market is starting to see a significant shift in buying habits."

'A mug's game'

Kundan Bhaduri, portfolio landlord at The Kushman Group, warns the value of city centre flats could come under pressure if the current shift in buying habits continues.

He said: "Buyers have done the maths on the transactional friction of moving, namely stamp duty, legal fees and estate agent commissions, and realised that moving every three years is a mug's game in a high-tax economy.

"This shift spells disaster for the valuation of city centre flats, which are rapidly becoming the sub-prime assets of the UK housing market."