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Northumbrian Water has agreed to pay out 拢15.7m after failures in the maintenance and operations of its sewage and water network.

Water sector regulator Ofwat said its failures led to "excessive spills from storm overflows".

The water company will pay out the "enforcement package" to local environmental causes and improvements to the region's water infrastructure.

Ofwat also said the package agreed with the company means it will be spent on local improvements for customers, rather than being directed to the Treasury's consolidated fund.

News of the payout last week came after Thames Water was fined a record 拢122.7m. It was found to have broken rules over sewage treatment and paying out dividends.

Waitrose shoppers will be allowed to "borrow" a reusable cup in order to redeem their free coffee.

Those using the supermarket's loyalty scheme will be able to take a cup from a dispenser by tapping their card. 

They can then use the cup for seven days before returning it to the store, or they will be charged 拢3. 

The concept has been rolled out across nine stores as part of a trial so far. 

Money understands the stores involved are: 

• Newark
• Harpenden
• Norwich
• Faringdon
• Cambridge
• Abingdon
• Wallingford
• Berkhamstead
• Cheltenham

"It kicked off last week and is available for My Waitrose members to use when redeeming their free coffee, or for our cafe customers to use if purchasing one," a spokesperson said.

Waitrose brought back its free hot drink offer in 2022 after scrapping it during the pandemic to reduce costs. 

A special investigations team at HMRC has doubled its tax haul in a crackdown on wealthy people. 

The unit, which focuses on people who earn more than 拢200,000 a year or have assets above 拢2m, yielded more than 拢1.5bn in the 2023/24 tax year, figures obtained from HMRC by law firm Pinsent Masons showed. 

That's up from 拢713m raised in the previous year. 

The overall amount collected across HMRC from wealthy taxpayers increased to 拢5.2bn 鈥� up from 拢4bn.

"HMRC have been set some very hard targets for extra tax collection by the chancellor. It is hard to see how they can achieve those targets without a sharp rise into tax investigations into the wealthy," Ian Robotham, one of the legal directors at Pinsent Masons, said. 

"The scale of specialist investigations into wealthy taxpayers shows HMRC has already been clamping down much harder on those suspected of underpaying tax." 

Charities have welcomed the government's decision to make winter fuel payments available to more pensioners. 

Earlier today, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed all pensioners earning less than 拢35,000 a year will be eligible for the payment, which is worth up to 拢300. 

The benefit used to be universally available to those above pension age, but this was scrapped by the government last year, which opted instead to means-test it. 

This meant the number of eligible people dropped from 11.4 million to 1.5 million.

Today's change means around 9 million pensioners will be eligible this winter. 

Age UK said the U-turn was "the right thing to do" and will "bring some much-needed reassurance for older people and their families".

Caroline Abrahams, the charity's director, called it a "good day for older people".

She said: "We have always said what really matters is that the estimated 2.5 million older people who lost their winter fuel payment when they couldn't afford it get the money back, by one means or another.

"This new policy will help all these people by restoring their winter fuel payment, and we welcome it as a result."

The Centre for Ageing Better also welcomed the decision, with its chief executive Carole Easton saying it will help "avoid unnecessary suffering this winter". 

But she warned that there needs to be a "longer-term solution which eventually could reduce or remove the need for such payments". 

Nine million pensioners in England and Wales will get the winter fuel payment this year, the chancellor has confirmed after a major government U-turn. 

Last year, one of Labour's first acts in government was to scrap the payment for almost all pensioners. 

Only those who received pension credit or similar benefits were eligible for it - a drop from 11.4 million to 1.5 million. 

The decision was aimed at balancing what was described as a 拢22bn "black hole" in the public finances.

But Sir Keir Starmer announced there would be a partial U-turn in May, after the policy drew heavy criticisms from charities, opposition parties and voters, and Labour suffered poor local election results. 

So, who will be eligible this winter? 

The payment, worth up to 拢300, will be given to pensioners with an income of less than 拢35,000 a year. 

Those with an income above this threshold (around two million pensioners) will also receive the payment, but it will then be reclaimed from them in tax.

To be eligible, you will need to have reached state pension age by 15 September this year.

You do not need to do anything to claim the amount. It will be paid into your account automatically. 

Pensioners who do not want to receive the payment will be able to opt out, according to the Treasury. 

How much is it costing? 

The Treasury claims the new arrangement will cost 拢1.25bn, but it is not clear how it will be funded. 

We should find this out at the Autumn budget, which is usually delivered by the chancellor at the end of October or early November. 

You can read more about this in our Politics Hub...

Regulators have joined forces for an international effort to protect social media users from rogue promotions by some financial influencers, also known as "finfluencers".

Nine regulators from a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Italy, the UAE and the UK, took part in a global enforcement effort that began on 2 June. 

In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued 50 warning alerts, which the regulator said will result in more than 650 take-down requests on social media platforms and more than 50 websites operated by unauthorised finfluencers.

It has also sent seven "cease and desist" letters, and invited four "finfluencers" for interview.

The FCA said it has also made three arrests with the support of the City of London Police and authorised criminal proceedings against three people.

What are 'finfluencers'?

Finfluencers are social media personalities who may promote financial products and share insights and advice with their followers.

Many are acting legitimately and not breaking any laws - but others may tout products or services illegally and without authorisation through online videos and posts, where they use the pretence of a lavish lifestyle, often falsely, to promote success, the regulator said.

Elsewhere, the Treasury Committee said it had sent a letter to Meta, the owners of Facebook and Instagram, asking for information on its approach to financial influencers.

A restaurant deliberately designed to give customers a bad service experience will close its final UK site this month. 

Karen's Diner in London's Islington will shut up shop on 29 June after two years of trading due to the "additional burden" of increased costs. 

"People don't understand how hard it is to run both a restaurant and a theatre simultaneously, especially in such fierce trading conditions," a statement from the owner of the site, shared with The Caterer, said. 

The chain's parent company, Viral Ventures UK LTD, entered liquidation last year due to "mounting financial pressure". 

Karen's Diner became a TikTok sensation, with clips of the staff insulting customers racking up millions of views. 

It takes its name from the meme "being a Karen", which refers to people who are rude to those who work in customer service, or are particularly difficult. 

First launched in Australia, the restaurant came to the UK in 2022, with sites in Sheffield, Manchester and Birmingham. 

Sky News launched a new - and free - Money newsletter on Friday.

Each week, subscribers will get exclusive content that goes beyond the blog, with digestible information to help you make decisions on your savings, mortgages, holidays and much more.

All of this will be curated by the team behind the award-winning Money blog that is read by millions of Britons each month.

You can sign up here.

Here, our Money live reporter Jess Sharp talks through what you can expect from the newsletter...

By James Sillars, business and economics reporter 

The eyes of global financial market investors are firmly on London today.

Why? It's where US and Chinese delegations are meeting in the hope of making further progress in ending their trade war - the most significant element of Donald Trump's "America first" fight.

Following an apparently positive phone conversation between the US president and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping last week, there is pressure to deliver a full tariff truce after the pair reduced punitive duties on each other for 90 days last month.

It allowed some time for further talks between the world's two largest economies as investors fret over the damage the spat, and wider trade war, is having on the global economy.

Trump has described the status of the negotiations as "very far advanced". We'll see.

Data out of China today demonstrated the damage caused by the trade war to date.

Deflationary pressures have deepened as factory gate prices - an important signal on the pace of price growth ahead for an economy - slid further into negative territory during May.

It can be partly explained by customs data showing that China's exports to the US - its biggest single market- slumped by 34.5% year-on-year during May in value terms.

That was up from a 21% drop the previous month.

There is very little else about to give direction to investors this morning.

As such, the FTSE 100 is up 7 points at 8,844.

At that level, the index is 30-odd points behind its record closing high.

Trade talks progress between the US and China this week could be the catalyst needed to help the FTSE 100 find uncharted territory.

Amazon has promised a crackdown on fake reviews on its site following an investigation by the competition watchdog.

The retail giant has committed to "robust processes" to quickly detect and remove fake reviews after an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

As part of its measures, Amazon has promised to tackle concerns around "catalogue abuse", where sellers hijack the reviews of well-performing products and add them to an entirely separate and different product in order to falsely boost the star rating.

Businesses that boost their star ratings via bogus reviews will also be sanctioned, and even banned from selling on Amazon.

The site has also promised to provide clear and robust mechanisms to allow consumers and businesses to report fake reviews and catalogue abuse quickly and easily.

It follows an investigation by the CMA into Amazon over concerns that the company was breaching consumer law by failing to take adequate action to protect people from fake reviews.

The CMA estimates that around 90% of consumers use reviews when making purchasing decisions, and that as much as 拢23bn of UK consumer spending is potentially influenced by online reviews annually. 

Fake reviews are now explicitly banned under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA).