UK PM Burnham rolls out ‘everyday fixes’ to ease rising cost of living

A crackdown on automatically renewing subscriptions and misleading discount claims on products are two measures unveiled on Monday that Prime Minister Andy Burnham said mark the rollout of a series of “everyday fixes” to help ease the rising cost of living for families across the UK.

Downing Street said that as households watch every pound they spend, the new set of initiatives aims to save substantial annual household costs and restore fairness. It followed an announcement over the weekend of Burnham’s plan to spend the parliamentary summer recess period over August undertaking a so-called “cost-of-living tour” across the country.

“I know people are sick and tired of rip-off discounts and subscription traps," said Burnham.

“Westminster has got used to telling people that everyday hassles like this are just part of life. I don’t think that’s right, especially when the cost of living continues to weigh heavily on so many people’s lives. I’m determined to pull every single lever we can to provide people with some room to breathe on the cost of living,” he said.

Burnham said he wants to see an end to “subscription traps”, where people find it hard to cancel contracts, with new rules coming into force in January 2027 when most new subscriptions usually start.

The changes will mean businesses will need to provide clearer up-front information, regular reminders and a much easier exit to contracts. A new 14-day cooling-off period will also let consumers cancel after a trial or long-term contract renews. 

“We’re also making it as easy to leave a subscription as it is to join," stressed Burnham. 

Shoppers in the UK have often complained about outlets artificially inflating prices to give a false sense of value, such as hiking price tags only to then immediately advertise "discounts" to make savings look larger than they really are.

This includes discounted prices being the same as they were before the discount, intended to trick consumers into thinking they are getting good value whilst saving them nothing and creating an uneven playing field for honest competitors.

“We’re putting an end to phoney bargains. If something is advertised as half price, it should actually be half price. These are just two of the everyday fixes we’re going to be rolling out – today is just the start. 

"We want to put more money in people’s pockets and give people hope that politics really can work for them and their everyday lives," added Burnham.

The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST) said a consultation will be launched in autumn to assess whether tactics such as fake pricing ladders, invented discounts and misleading recommended retail prices should be added to the list of practices banned under the UK's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act. 

“There’s nothing worse than realising you’ve been fleeced by a dodgy deal, or seen money leaving your account because of a subscription you didn’t want to renew or couldn’t easily cancel. This government is on the side of families working hard to make ends meet, while making sure the rules are clear for businesses and easy to follow," said DBIST Secretary of State Jonathan Reynolds. 

Under current laws, it can be difficult for enforcers to take on such cases. Adding these tactics to the Act would mean they will automatically be considered unfair, making it easier to crack down while making rules simpler for businesses to follow. 

The charity Citizens Advice welcomed the UK government’s crackdown on tactics used by companies to “catch consumers out”. 

“At Citizens Advice, we’ve sounded the alarm on this for years, because we know subscription traps and sneaky online practices that hit consumers’ pockets hard are a widespread problem," said Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice.

“We previously found that over 13 million people (26 per cent of UK adults) accidentally took out a subscription in a year. People shouldn’t have to waste their time and effort avoiding dubious online tactics and fixing unwanted purchases and sign-ups," she said.