Cost of living latest: Full list of Wilko stores closing today; tax-free ISA limit could be raised; millions of Britons to get water bill rebate

Britain should adopt a Swedish-style three-day working week for over-50s, former Pensions Minister Baroness Ros Altmann has said.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Baroness Altmann said Britain should adopt the system to encourage older people to stay in work rather than retire early. 

She recommended tax breaks for employers to make hiring older people more attractive and help them see "how valuable older people can be".

Tax breaks such as this are currently only available to workers over 66, and not to employers, leading the Baroness to ask: "Is that the right way round?" 

"The industry and the pension products are not working to encourage people to not take their pension," she said. 

She urged employers to offer more flexible and part-time work options for older generations, with job sharing that is available to mothers also a potential opportunity. 

Workplace absences have hit their highest level in over a decade, according to a report which is urging employers to take health more seriously if they want to retain staff.

The Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) said that analysis of data from over 900 companies employing 6.5 million staff found an average 7.8 absence days per employee over the past year.

That was up a whole two days per person compared to pre-pandemic levels.

While minor illnesses were the main factor behind short-term absences, stress was also high on the list - with work-related and cost of living pressures among the reasons.

Read the full story by business reporter James Sillars here...

The last Wilko store is set to shut its doors for the final time on 8 October - finishing a staggering of shop closures since administration was announced at the beginning of August. 

Nearly 80 stores will close this week alone, with 37 rolling down the shutters for the last time today, and a further 37 on Thursday. 

Here is the full list of stores closing today:

• Acocks Green, Birmingham, West Midlands
• Alnwick, Northumberland
• Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales
• Armley, Leeds, West Yorkshire
• Arnison-Durham, Durham, County Durham
• Bedford, Bedfordshire
• Blyth, Northumberland
• Boston, Lincolnshire, East Midlands
• Brentwood, Essex
• Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
• Chester Le Street, County Durham
• Gillingham, Kent
• Gloucester, Gloucestershire
• Greenwich, London
• Halesowen, Dudley, West Midlands
• Harlow, Essex
• Hartlepool, County Durham
• Kidderminster, Worcestershire
• Lewisham, London
• Longton, Stoke-on-Trent
• Meadowhall, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
• Motherwell, North Lanarkshire
• Newark, Nottinghamshire
• Nuneaton, Warwickshire
• Rainham, London
• Runcorn, Cheshire
• Six Acre Shopping Centre, Sale, Greater Manchester
• Salford, Greater Manchester
• South Shields, Tyne and Wear
• Sutton-In-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire
• Thornaby, North Yorkshire
• Watford, Hertfordshire
• Wellington, Somerset
• Whitehaven, Cumbria
• Wigston, Leicestershire
• Worksop, Nottinghamshire
• Yeovil, Somerset

The UK's water regulator has ordered some of Britain's biggest water suppliers to hand £114m back to customers due to underperformance.

17 companies will pay varying amounts back - in the form of discounts off of next year's bills. 

Ofwat said seven companies in particular  were "lagging" in performance in 2022-23, judging them on pollution incidents, customer service and leakage. 

Customers of these companies can expect money back...

• Anglian Water
• Dŵr Cymru
• Southern Water
• Thames Water
• Yorkshire Water
• Bristol Water
• South East Water
  

This year, no company has been ranked in the "leading" category.

"The targets we set for companies were designed to be stretching - to drive improvements for customers and the environment," David Black, Ofwat CEO said.

"However, our latest report shows they are falling short, leading to £114m being returned to customers through bill reductions.

"While that may be welcome to billpayers, it is very disappointing news for all who want to see the sector do better."

The government is considering increasing the tax-free ISA allowance to help people invest in British companies, according to a report. 

Current rules allow adults to save £20,000 a year into ISAs without being taxed. 

The four types of ISAs are cash, stocks and shares, innovative finance, and lifetime. 

Under the plans being considered, people could be offered an additional tax-free ISA allowance strictly for money invested into companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, the Financial Times is reporting. 

The Treasury has spent weeks consulting with experts in the City discussing how to unlock extra funding from millions of accounts. 

The newspaper says an ISA shake-up could be announced as soon as November's autumn statement. 

It would be a welcome boost for the City of London, which has seen a number of large companies announcing plans to leave the London Stock Exchange this year in favour of New York. 

Doctors are reporting an increase in patients presenting with problems linked to poverty and poor diet over the past year. 

In a survey by the Royal College of General Practitioners, 73% of respondents said they had seen an increase in such problems.

It warned GP practices were seeing patients with disease that "should have been consigned to the annals of history" such as malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies and rickets. 

The RCGP linked this rise to the cost of living crisis. 

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, its chair, said: "We hear a lot in the press about the rising cost of living, but our survey results show the tangible and worrying impact that this is having on our patients' health and on the dedicated GPs who are caring for them.

"Our GPs witness daily the devastating health effects that the rising cost of living and spiralling deprivation is having on patients in many communities across the UK. 

"The link between poverty and worsening health has long been established, taking a physical, emotional, and psychological toll that can result in the early development, or exacerbation of existing multiple chronic conditions."

GP practices also highlighted an increasing number of requests for help with non-medical issues, such as access to council services and financial advice.

Discount supermarket Aldi has become the latest retailer to give body-worn cameras to its staff in a bid to tackle increasing rates of shoplifting.

Chief executive Giles Hurley announced the move during the company's annual results, saying: "There's an uptick [in shoplifting] across the industry and we're not immune to that.

"With body cams, we currently have a trial which is underway in part of our business, exploring what benefits we can derive from that for our colleagues."

The cameras are part of a "range of security measures in place" in response to rising levels of shoplifting, he said. 

According to The Grocer, the cameras have been offered to assistants and security guards at a small number of Aldi stores as part of a trial period.

Once the trial is over, a further decision will be made on how they will be used. 

Similar measures have been taken by Morrisons and Tesco - with the former handing out body cams to all store workers. 

Eating out is expensive - and it's only getting more so - with food inflation, rising energy bills for restaurants and other cost of living-related issues. 

So, we chatted to an expert to see if they could share some expertise. 

Jed Hackling, co-founder of Ambl - a free app that helps people find last minute bar and restaurant reservations - had the following top tips for people looking to save money when going to restaurants. 

Jed's first tip is all about being vigilant and alert to sniff out the best deals.

"Keep an eye out for specials or deals in your local area - lots of restaurants have daily or weekly specials," he said, pointing to steakhouse Gaucho's two-course set lunch for just £27 and three £30". 

"The best deals are usually those last-minute offers where restaurants are looking to fill their tables," he said.

His next tip was to follow your favourite restaurants on social media - to keep in the loop for offers and competitions to win dining experiences. 

"Turn on post/story notifications so you're first to know," he advised. 

He also suggested signing up for dining club offers.

His own, Ambl Perks, offers incentives when making a booking such as complimentary drink on arrival, a free starter for each guest with every booking, and money off your final bill.

Here is a handy list of 10 apps you could turn to for last-minute bookings and rewards. 

We talked earlier about the craze around bottomless brunch (see 12.43) - something Jed also sees the value in.

"Booking a set menu so there are no surprises when the bill arrives - this can be in the form of a bottomless brunch option where food and unlimited drinks are included for a set fee or a lunch special where you know exactly what you're getting at a reduced price," he said. 

His final two tips are simple and effective.

Consider skipping a course, he said, as "not all meals have to be at least three course to be enjoyable - maybe skip the starters or better yet share one with friends to leave room for dessert!"

Finally, always check the bill, he said. 

"Sometimes errors happen, make sure you [only] pay for what you've had."

With October just the round the corner - here are some key dates to keep an eye on.

1 October - Energy price cap change

From Sunday, the price for energy for a typical household (paying for gas and electricity by direct debit) will go down from £2,074 to £1,923 per year.

Great - right?

Well. Not necessarily. 

The cost of energy for those on standard variable tariffs is going down - although most households will face similar, or in some cases more expensive, energy bills compared with last winter - because there is now no government support available.

1 October - Premium Bonds rates boost

Also on Sunday is an increase in prize fund rate by National Savings and Investments on its Premium Bonds product. 

The rate will rise from 1.40% to 2.20%, adding an expected £76m to the prize fund for the month.

5 October - Deadline to register for self-assessment tax return

Check here before you read any further to see if you need to do this. 

If you have never done one before and you need to - you must register for a self-assessment tax return by 5 October (a week on Thursday). 

19 October - Inflation rate announcement for September

We'll bring you, as we do every month, the latest inflation figures in the UK.

It remains to be seen whether August's unexpected fall to 6.7% can be built upon in September. 

30 October - Clocks go back

Shift workers beware! 

If you are paid hourly - make sure you get some clarity from your employer if you need to work an extra hour when the clocks back, and how you will be compensated if you are. 

Naturally, the days get shorter, darker and colder round this period, too - so prepare to read through energy tips galore!

TBA - Warm home discount scheme

Speaking of energy tips - applications for the government's warm home discount scheme will be opened at some stage in October - although we don't have an exact date just yet.

Check here throughout the month to see if applications are open.

You could qualify for £150 off your electricity bill for the winter, so it's absolutely worth keeping an eye on. 

To qualify in England/Wales you:

• get the guarantee credit element of pension credit;
• are on a low income and have high energy costs.

To qualify in Scotland you:

• get the guarantee credit element of pension credit;
• are on a low income and meet your energy supplier's criteria for the scheme.

Let's have a look at today's biggest business stories. 

Aldi has reported record sales, with the company saying cost of living concerns have driven up shopper numbers.

Annual sales topped £15.5bn in the year to December 2022, nearly a £2bn increase from a year earlier and a record in its 33-year history in the UK.

On HS2 - Rishi Sunak has declined to back building the highspeed railway to the North in the face of warnings by senior Tories that axing the line to Manchester would be a "gross act of vandalism".

The prime minister is understood to be considering scrapping or delaying the leg of the network from Birmingham to Manchester in response to soaring costs.

KPMG is in advanced talks with regulators about a record fine running into tens of millions of pounds for failings in its auditing of Carillion, the construction company which collapsed in 2018 with the loss of thousands of jobs.

Sky News has learnt that discussions between the accountancy firm and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) are close to being finalised, with an announcement possible in the coming weeks.