Your voice 2026: insights from the Bank of England’s outreach programmes

Introduction from the Citizens’ Panels chairs

This was another valuable and enriching series of events which helped the Bank to better understand economic conditions in the UK. The Citizens’ Forum, Community Forums, and Youth Panel programmes invited a broad spectrum of people to share their views and experiences. Together, these accounts provide vital qualitative insights that complement economic data to develop a more holistic picture of the UK economy. This report has been written on behalf of us, the independent chairs of the regional Citizens’ Panels, and summarises the findings across all the Bank’s outreach activities during this period, centring the voices of participants and charity organisations.

These outreach sessions are not just a listening and learning exercise for the Bank. They also provide an opportunity for participants to learn about the Bank’s responsibilities, and the workings of the economy more broadly. People tell us they leave better informed about economic developments that affect them and their households.

It is evident that the cost of living challenges that have affected people since late 2021 are not yet over. Participants shared their experiences of struggles to adapt to higher prices, a weaker job market, and housing costs that are unaffordable for many.^{footnote [1]} The challenges that charities told us they faced are also stark, with limited funding and resources to support ever growing demand for their services.

In last year’s report, we commented that the general mood from the events we chaired was gloomy and pessimistic. This time, events have been characterised by a sense of fear and uncertainty. People told us they were worried about a growing economic divide particularly between generations. This was a cross-cutting issue that relates to many of the themes summarised in this report.

The Bank’s commitment to holding these conversations with the people it serves is very important. That is not just our view. It was also a resounding finding from the independent review of the Citizens’ Panels that was published in August 2025. This report explores steps taken by the Bank to date in response to the review’s recommendations.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who has participated in these programmes for their active engagement, candour, and enthusiasm. Many of you shared deeply personal experiences – something that is not easy to do. We would also like to thank the Bank for delivering these sessions and giving us the opportunity to contribute to them, helping to ensure voices from our communities are heard.

These sessions have provided some thought-provoking, if sobering, discussions to reflect on and we hope you find the insights collated in this report informative.

Footnotes

• Citizens’ Panel in Northampton, February 2026. Photographer: Elif Miotti.

How the Bank uses insights from its outreach programmes

The Bank draws on various sources of intelligence in developing policy and informing decision-making to achieve its monetary and financial stability objectives. One way is through its UK-wide network of Agents gathering insights from businesses up and down the country about economic conditions, employment, investment plans, and access to finance among other things. This is complemented by the Bank’s outreach programmes whose participants, drawn from a broad cross section of UK society, provide rich qualitative insights and diverse perspectives of the UK economy (refer to the infographic below). Summaries of these insights are combined with Agents’ latest economic intelligence in regular reports prepared ahead of each Monetary Policy Committee meeting to decide the level of Bank Rate. A summary of these findings is routinely published on the Bank’s website.

At the beginning of each outreach event, the Bank’s representatives, which always include a policymaker or director as well as the local Agent, explain its responsibilities to participants. The discussions that follow are often quite wide-ranging and touch on some areas that are beyond the Bank’s remit. Where possible, the Bank team share the findings with relevant public authorities for their information.

At these events, Bank staff from across the organisation facilitate discussions and, in the process, learn about how its policies affect communities up and down the country. These insights are shared internally to inform the Bank’s thinking when developing monetary and financial stability policy. They also help to shape the Bank’s external communications to ensure they are accessible, relatable, relevant, and timely to a wide range of audiences.

Footnotes

• Infographic showing how intelligence from the Bank's various outreach initiatives, such as the Citizens’ Panels, Community Forums, and Youth Panels, are relayed to and inform Bank policymakers.

Citizens’ Panels themes

The Bank hosted 16 Citizens’ Panels between March 2025 and February 2026. Events were held in all 12 regions and nations covered by the Bank’s Agency network. They were attended by a total of 605 members of the public (refer to the appendix for a full demographic breakdown). One of the constant threads throughout the discussions was the ongoing adjustments people are making in response to higher prices. Despite inflation being closer to the Bank’s 2% inflation target than it had been in recent years, the chairs heard that earlier price rises had not reversed. For many people this had further squeezed their spending power. Participants often made comparisons with the more favourable economic conditions that previous generations benefited from several decades ago. The generational divide was a cross-cutting theme across most of the topics discussed. This section summarises the main themes that emerged from this set of Citizens’ Panels.

Cost of living and the economic outlook

How people perceive and react to cost of living pressures – for example by cutting spending, delaying purchases, changing the types of goods and services they purchase – feeds directly into the economic outlook. People’s expectations about inflation – whether it will fall, rise or stay the same – are also important because they shape decisions (eg on wage demands) which can themselves feed into inflation.

The period covered by these events saw both inflation and interest rates ease.^{footnote [2]} Despite this, participants were largely pessimistic about the state of the economy after the acute and prolonged financial strain caused by several economic shocks.

It was noticeable to the chairs in this set of discussions that participants referred repeatedly to the higher price level compared with previous years, recognising the compounding effects of high inflation. This had created hardship for many households. As a result, many participants were uncertain about what the future held for them and their families. This uncertainty was made worse by the prospect of further unpredictable external economic shocks, such as the proposed US tariff regime changes and global political instability which threatened to drive UK living standards even lower.

Another theme this year was that more middle-income earners said they were being impacted by the higher cost of living. Participants remarked that, while it was well established that higher prices for food, housing, utilities, and transport disproportionately affected low-income households, more middle-income households were scaling back their spending in response. People also frequently commented that these price rises, especially of staples such as food, seemed higher than the official inflation statistics suggested.^{footnote [3]}

The Bank was interested to hear how people had responded to these higher prices. Almost all participants reported that they had changed their spending habits in some way. For example, some said they had cut down non-essential spending, substituted branded products for cheaper non-brand alternatives, and shopped around more for deals, visiting discount supermarkets more frequently.

Examples of what we heard:

• In Bridgwater (July 2025), participants observed that higher costs for food, utilities, and other bills (eg council tax, TV licences, and insurance) placed greater strain on already stretched budgets. There were also several mentions of regressive standing charges for utility bills which penalised those in single-occupancy households.
• At Northampton (February 2026), there was a discussion about intergenerational dependence where participants were having to support their adult children who were unable to live independently because of rising expenses, covering bills, contributing to rent or having them return to the family home.
• In Belfast (September 2025), a charity worker reported that one in five of their food bank users were in full-time employment, reflecting a wider theme of a rise in cases of in-work poverty.
• At Wolverhampton (September 2025), a gas engineer reported that some customers were not heating their homes as they prioritised spending on food and other essentials.

Across all the panels, participants felt that rising prices had weakened households’ resilience. Beyond the clear economic strain, they warned that prolonged financial pressure was causing significant and lasting public health harms, leaving many unsure about affording a decent standard of living or what the future holds.

Jobs and pay

The labour market is an area of interest to the Bank as it forms such a key part of the economy and directly affects the outlook for inflation. The panels are an opportunity for the Bank to hear from people involved in all aspects of it – as employers (particularly small business owners), employees, and those looking for work.

The panels took place during a period when unemployment was below its 30-year average and real wages (accounting for inflation) were rising.^{footnote [4]} However, the unemployment rate was increasing and, for workers aged 16–24, had reached 14.9% in December 2025.^{footnote [5]} This trend was reflected in the mood of the panels. Participants noted that job opportunities seemed hard to come by, particularly for young people.

Many working-age participants highlighted the challenges of finding work or moving careers because of recruitment slowing down amid a weaker economic outlook. Participants at several panels noted the intense competition for entry-level and unskilled roles, made worse in their opinion by the rollout of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. This was further reducing opportunities in sectors such as retail where technology has replaced some staff. Although some accepted the opportunities that could potentially arise from deploying AI, for many the structural impacts on people’s jobs and the broader economy were still unclear.

There was particular concern, among panel members from all generations, for the prospects of young people entering work. The Bank heard of several graduates who had applied for jobs that they were ‘overqualified’ for in retail and hospitality just to get by instead of building up experience in their preferred career of choice. Panel members feared this did not bode well for the long-term future of the economy.

Few participants recognised the official picture of rising real wages and said that, where salaries had increased, the rate of growth lagged inflation. As a result, many found that their standards of living had declined in real terms over recent years, made worse by increasing costs for commuting.

Examples of what we heard:

• In Harlow (October 2025), participants expressed a preference for flexible working, with many reluctant to return to the office full time due to unaffordable commuting costs. Rising expenses also created worries for more senior participants who were unsure whether they could retire comfortably.
• In Bristol (November 2025), some participants were delaying retirement to build up larger pensions to absorb the higher cost of living.
• A participant at the Northampton Citizens’ Panel (February 2026) who was close to retiring and had been made redundant was actively looking for work because they had no pension savings to fall back on, illustrative of the financially precarious positions that some senior workers were experiencing.

Employers noted that the weaker job market created several challenges for them. The first was that there was a skills shortage for some key sectors such as construction or technical roles, with employers being inundated with expressions of interest from applicants without the requisite skills and experience. Participants noted that rising employment costs had led to job cuts in sectors such as hospitality, engineering, and IT.^{footnote [6]} Younger participants said they were reluctant to train in traditional trades given the length of time and the prohibitive costs involved, which further exacerbated skills shortages.

Participants at all stages of life were by and large pessimistic about the prospects for the labour market, job security, career progression, and pay. This heightened concerns about the ability of people to continue adjusting to higher price levels after prolonged financial hardship.

Footnotes

• Huw Pill, Bank of England Chief Economist and Executive Director for Monetary Analysis, with participants at a Citizens’ Panel event in Belfast, September 2025. Photographer: Isabel Lee.

Housing and rent

The housing market is an important part of the UK economy. It is a driver of consumer spending and household wealth, supports many jobs and economic activity, influences productivity and labour mobility, and is central to the financial system. Rents and housing costs also directly impact household budgets, which influences inflation.

The chairs heard that house prices and rents continued to rise during this period, albeit at a slower rate than in earlier years. During this period many homeowners were moving off long-term fixed-rate mortgage deals from a period when borrowing costs were at historic lows. This meant that many faced big hikes in mortgage costs, even though rates trended down during the year.

Housing was chosen by the Bank as a focus topic for discussion at panels in Bradford (March 2025), Darlington (April 2025), Reading (April 2025), and Liverpool (May 2025). But even at those events where it was not specifically on the agenda, the topic was often raised by panel members. The cost, quality and availability of housing generated much discussion. Many participants agreed that the housing market was afflicted by high prices, inaccessible rents, regressive taxes and charges, higher mortgage costs, and poor quality which made it hard for many people to have a decent standard of living.

Home ownership, many participants agreed, was an increasingly remote aspiration given the growing disparity between house prices and incomes, which many noted was not the case decades earlier.^{footnote [7]} Those who owned their homes outright felt fortunate. Participants who had remortgaged following the expiry of long-term fixed-rate deals spoke of the impact the hike in mortgage costs had on their standard of living.

Renters voiced their frustrations about the high cost of low-quality housing which absorbed an ever greater proportion of their incomes. They attributed the shortage of suitable rental properties as the reason for higher rents. Many described feeling that they were caught in the ‘rental trap’ where they are unable to save for a deposit to buy a house because higher rents consume a larger proportion of their income. Renters also expressed frustration at the barriers and affordability requirements they faced getting a mortgage despite proving that they could afford a mortgage after paying high rents over an extended period. Higher rents were negatively impacting communities, with participants explaining how some people had to move to the peripheries of large cities or nearby towns or villages to find affordable housing.

Homeowners described being discouraged from moving by high house prices, stamp duty, and renovation costs. This meant that some families were stuck in properties that were too small for them, whereas older people remained in homes that were too large for their requirements. Participants who were able to get onto the property ladder through rent-to-buy schemes found this option unaffordable in the long term.

Examples of what we heard:

• In Reading (April 2025) many participants expressed that they could not afford to buy a property due to the large deposit requirements. Consequently, they were in private rental agreements, with rents ranging from £1,200 to £1,500 per month for modest housing, which made it difficult for them to save.
• In Darlington (April 2025), one participant who was in the process of remortgaging their property was moving from a preferential mortgage rate of 1.29% to 4.29% and had to extend the duration of their initial 25-year mortgage to accommodate the higher mortgage cost.
• In Liverpool (May 2025), some participants said families were having to move to areas they deemed unsafe to find affordable housing with impacts on their wellbeing.

It was clear to the chairs that the housing market was the source of much anguish for many people up and down the country. Participants acknowledged that generational dynamics were at play when it came to home ownership, drawing comparisons between housing affordability in previous decades and today. Several participants also noted that, while some first-time buyers received support from parents or relatives who benefited from increases in house prices, there were many who did not have such support which made house ownership very difficult given the cost of housing. There was general agreement among participants that the housing market was creating deep inequalities in the UK with wide-ranging and undesirable social, public health, and economic impacts.

Savings and debt

When households save more, they spend less. Consumption is highly sensitive to interest rates, and the Bank relies on this relationship to steer the economy. Households often adjust spending in response to interest rate changes but their ability and willingness to save or borrow varies. The Bank needs to understand saving behaviour because it can affect the impact of interest‑rate changes on spending and inflation.

The household saving ratio, which measures savings as a percentage of total available household resources, rose a little in 2025 Q4 (October to December) to 9.9% compared to the previous quarter (9.5%).^{footnote [8]} Despite this, the saving ratio today remains lower compared with the period following the pandemic.^{footnote [9]} This is thought to be due to several factors including relatively high interest rates over recent years and heightened levels of uncertainty.

The evidence from panellists highlighted, however, that the ability to save more is not widespread across the economy. Far from increasing savings, most attendees talked about reducing the amount they save due to the higher cost of living, lower real incomes, and higher housing costs. Understandably this was particularly the case for those from lower-income households. In fact, several participants said they were drawing down savings to support themselves and their families to fund day-to-day expenditure because of prolonged financial distress. This was despite concerted efforts to save by adjusting spending habits and reducing overall consumption.

Participants frequently said saving was impossible with the current cost of living, impacting their ability to put aside money for large purchases or for a home deposit. Rising costs accounted for an ever-larger proportion of household income, with some participants resorting to taking on debt to fund day-to-day spending. This was a trend also reported by many debt charities. Some households were in such financially precarious positions that they were completely unprepared to cope with any unexpected expenses. There was general alarm for young adults’ prospects given the weak outlook for the UK economy, lower living standards, and lack of financial security. There was also concern for those nearing retirement, retired or on fixed incomes being able to save.

Examples of what we heard:

• In Bradford (March 2025), some participants mentioned they were helping their adult children with expenses, and in some cases, their grandchildren. One participant who planned on retiring in the next 12 months was still supporting his daughter who lives at home.
• A participant in Wolverhampton (September 2025) said they used a ‘buy now, pay later’ service to purchase their weekly food shopping due to financial hardship.
• Some participants in Belfast (September 2025) mentioned using savings to supplement their income, or to support their families. A retired teacher shared that they were using their Individual Savings Account (ISA) to top up their pension pots.
• In Harlow (October 2025), newly retired individuals spoke of adjusting to significantly reduced incomes. One retiree was considering returning to work due to rising living costs, while a full-time employee felt unable to retire because they were heavily reliant on their wages to meet daily expenses.

Participants agreed that the higher cost-of-living challenges had significantly disrupted financial resilience, with many unable to save and reliant on short-term debt to fund everyday spending. As a result, some UK households were in financially exposed positions, adding to anxiety about being able to afford a decent and dignified standard of living.

Future of money

The future of money was one of the discussion topics at several panels. People’s relationship with money has been changing rapidly over recent years, with a decline in cash usage, and growth of various types of digital money. Despite this, the Bank remains committed to providing cash for as long as people want it. In June 2025, the Bank announced plans for its next series of banknotes. The Citizens’ Panels in Leeds, Bridgwater, and Newport, all held in July 2025, were used to gather public views on what theme should feature on the new banknotes.

There was broad agreement across different demographic groups that the adoption of digital payments was the preferred method of payment for a wide range of goods and services. Participants cited convenience and better security features as reasons for preferring to use digital payments rather than physical cash. But participants also acknowledged that there were risks in being too reliant on digital payments if a security breach occurred and that data-rich personal information could be compromised.

Many agreed that physical cash still had a role to play in today’s economy, at least for now, citing the disruption caused by the Iberian Peninsular power outage in April 2025 where digital payments stopped functioning and the importance of cash as a back-up form of payment. Participants recognised that cash was also a convenient form of payment, particularly for older generations or those who were less digitally savvy. In Leeds (July 2025), participants recognised that digital payments had their place in the payments method mix although did not want to be compelled to adopt digital payments but rather have a choice of how to pay that suited them. As with previous years, some participants lamented the closure of local bank branches, which impacted people who preferred face-to-face banking and were less familiar with online banking.

Turning to the banknote consultation, participants were largely favourable of the Bank’s proposals. They welcomed the inclusion of other potential themes such as nature, wildlife, architecture, industry, historical sites, and landscapes to reflect the UK’s rich heritage. Although Scotland and Northern Ireland produce their own banknotes, many participants stressed that the new banknotes should have a stronger representation of different English regions, devolved nations, and communities to truly reflect the constituent parts that make up the UK. Those who wanted to see historical figures represented said they preferred figures relevant to today’s society although in Bridgwater (July 2025) a majority felt that historical figures could be divisive. Participants also saw the banknotes refresh as an opportunity to improve the notes themselves. For example, people wanted the notes to be easier to handle and to include braille for visually impaired users. There was a small number of participants who did not see new banknotes as a priority given the state of the UK’s economic challenges, questioning why banknotes had to be refreshed. In March 2026, it was announced that wildlife was selected as the new theme for the next series of notes with a further consultation to follow in the summer.

Footnotes

• Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, with participants at a Citizens’ Panel event in Wolverhampton, September 2025. Photographer: James Oxley.

Citizens’ Panels participant feedback

Following each Citizens’ Panel, the Bank collates feedback to gauge how helpful the sessions have been for participants’ awareness and understanding of the Bank and its responsibilities, as well as how the Bank can enhance the sessions for maximum impact. For this set of sessions, 421 participants provided feedback. Some 96% of respondents said the Citizens’ Panels improved their understanding of the Bank, 91% said their understanding of the topics discussed improved, and 81% said their knowledge of the economy improved. Additionally, 82% said the panels increased their trust in the Bank, 95% said that the event encouraged an open discussion, and 97% said the discussions were relevant to their lives (refer to the appendix for a full breakdown of participants’ feedback).

Motivations for attending the Citizens’ Panels was driven primarily by wanting to learn more about the Bank, its responsibilities, and the wider economy. Another key motivation was wanting to share individual experiences of the economy and to express their opinions to decisionmakers. Others wanted to hear about local and regional issues and take part in a community-based discussion about these important topics.

One in four of participants who provided feedback said that the Bank was actively listening, engaging people UK-wide, and valuing their lived experiences. Roughly a fifth of participants said that they left the Citizens’ Panel event with a better understanding of the Bank, its operational independence, a clearer sense of its responsibilities, as well as the limits of its policy mandate. A large contingent also left feeling that the cost-of-living difficulties remain ongoing and widespread, with a growing number of households across the UK being impacted by the elevated price level despite inflation slowing down and being closer to the Bank’s 2% inflation target.

Participants’ feedback shows that the Citizens’ Panels offer real value, providing an opportunity to engage constructively with the Bank, learn more about the Bank’s roles and responsibilities, and improve knowledge of economic matters more generally to inform their everyday decisions.

Citizens’ Panels independent review

In addition to gathering feedback from events to improve the calibre of the sessions, the Bank commissioned an independent review of the Citizens’ Panels which reported back in August 2025. The review was largely positive about the Citizens’ Panels overall value to both the Bank and its participants, noting that membership and panel data was, broadly speaking, representative of the UK population in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, employment status, and education. The review did, however, set out some recommendations to refine rather than radically change the current set up, some of which are briefly summarised below:

1. Enhance targeted outreach to underrepresented groups.
2. Appoint and engage panel ambassadors and peer recruiters.
3. Improve recruitment, representativeness, and training of Bank facilitators.
4. Continue to share findings internally and externally.

Work is in progress to meet the review’s recommendations and the Bank has already made concerted efforts to expand recruitment of underrepresented groups through a targeted focus on recruiting more women and young participants (aged 18–24 and 25–44), in addition to those with no formal qualifications. Paid social media adverts have been used to target these groups in relevant areas ahead of events with some success, as well as working with local charities, educational institutions, and local authorities. Where possible, the Bank oversamples underrepresented groups to ensure discussions promote views and experience from people from all walks of life. These efforts have paid dividends, with 1,243 new members registering for Citizens’ Panels between March 2025 to February 2026. Of these, just under half (598) were women, 28% were from ethnic minorities (350), 28% had an A-level qualification or lower (344), and 11% were aged 16–24 (137).

The Bank’s Outreach team has also expanded its communications across internal Bank channels to attract a wider range of facilitators across the Bank, as well as presenting findings at internal directorate meetings to showcase the work and opportunities offered by the Citizens’ Panels, in addition to the Bank’s other outreach programmes. Work remains ongoing to implement the review’s recommendations in full to ensure Citizens’ Panels’ continued success.

Views from the Bank’s policymakers

Chief Economist and Monetary Policy Committee member Huw Pill and Financial Policy Committee member Nathanaël Benjamin, who jointly chair the Bank’s Citizens’ Forum steering group:

Our outreach programmes matter because good policy cannot be made in isolation. Hard data and quantitative analysis are essential but need to be supported by a deep understanding of people’s decisions to best support policymakers’ assessments. At these events we hear from people about the decisions they are making – and why they are making them – in real time. Those lived experiences bring depth and context to the evidence, helping us understand what is really happening across the economy and where pressures are being most keenly felt.

Community Forums themes

The Bank and its charity partners held 16 Community Forum events across the UK between March 2025 and February 2026 to hear directly from local organisations (refer to the appendix for a full list of organisations that participated). As with previous annual reports, the effects of the pandemic and the higher cost of living have been wide-ranging and long lasting, adversely affecting service users and creating operational challenges for charities dedicated to serving their communities. The themes from these discussions are summarised in this section.

High demand for charity services

Charities explained that it was a challenging period for their service users given the compounding effects of inflationary pressures, higher housing costs, and rising unemployment. As a result, demand for their services continued to rise. Charities themselves were facing significant operational challenges due to higher rent and energy prices, and changes to employment taxes. The higher cost of living, against a background of tightening public spending, had wide-ranging impacts on communities and charity services across the UK.

Many of the charities who attended Community Forum events said that financial pressures were having a detrimental impact on service users’ wellbeing. In fact, charities highlighted that the higher cost of living had exacerbated existing issues, such as debt, housing, and unemployment which made service users’ cases increasingly complex and time-consuming to address. For example, at the Slough Community Forum (November 2025) the Slough Voluntary Council reported that 88% of charities had seen an increase in demand for their services because of issues related to the cost of living. Some charities reported that the cut back of vital community services by local councils, such as in Stockton-on-Tees (December 2025), created increased demand for charity services with potentially detrimental, long-term impacts.

Charities at the Luton Community Forum event (July 2025) described seeing increasing instances of in-work poverty, citing households with a combined income of over £40,000 reliant on food banks to make ends meet. Meanwhile, charities in Cambridge (May 2025) said they now delivered 18,000 food parcels a year, double the amount a few years ago. In Wakefield (October 2025), an advice-giving organisation reported that in the past three months, 75% of its calls were about general benefits advice, one in four about debt arrears, and one in five about energy debt. At the London Community Forum event (June 2025), charities observed a wide range of issues that afflicted communities which included, but were not limited to, growing levels of poverty particularly among those in work and on fixed-incomes, growing levels of crime as a result of financial hardship, and higher levels of youth unemployment which were attributable to the breakdown in social cohesion that charities were witnessing.

In Gateshead (October 2025), it was noted that many clients’ issues were made worse by a lack of financial education and budgeting skills to adjust to the higher price levels. In Wakefield (October 2025), one organisation said that half of its service users had budgeting issues.

Several charities noted that high levels of youth unemployment would have long-term social consequences for communities across the UK. In Blackpool (November 2025), discussions with charities centred on youth unemployment revealed the view that many young adults were not given the necessary support to help guide their careers post-education. Charities said that the weaker UK economic outlook did not bode well for youth unemployment.

Charities were emphatic that financial instability created mental health issues for service users. In Gateshead (October 2025), for instance, charities said that in the past each service user case had on average six issues compared with recently where this had jumped to roughly 11 issues on average with mental health being a repeated issue across cases. Charities in Ashford (April 2025) said that one of the key issues they were witnessing was the breakdown of family units, increased violence, and self-harm rising at an alarming rate. This was made worse by inadequate housing provision. The most vulnerable in society were exposed to the depredations of financial distress, ill health, and rising poverty which had long-term implications for social and economic wellbeing. Charities were unequivocal when they said that many households were teetering on the edge because of the extensive impacts of the higher cost of living and associated issues.

Footnotes

• Dave Ramsden, Deputy Governor, Markets and Banking, with charity leaders at a Community Forum in Wakefield, October 2025. Photographer: Isabel Lee.

Operational challenges

Charities had to deal with a number of operational issues during the year.

Higher inflation in recent years and its compounding effects have been detrimental to charity finances for several reasons. Most grants and funding, for example, are not-inflation linked, which means that charity funding has shrunk in real terms at a time when demand is significantly oversubscribed. Additionally, grants and funding tend to be short term and have conditions attached, such as stipulations that grants and funding could not be used for operational running costs. Many charities also reported that individual and corporate donations were lower over this period compared to previous years, while their reserves had been depleted. Real term cuts to grants and funding, in addition to restrictive grant and funding conditions, made budgeting and planning difficult.

Charities that maintained a physical presence in their communities were also impacted by higher wage bills, rents, and utility costs. The higher wage bill meant that charities were unable to retain or attract more staff for critical roles, such as fundraising. Charities said that the employer National Insurance Contributions and National Living Wage uplifts squeezed charity finances further. In Slough (November 2025), charities agreed that in-person service delivery was essential, although doing so added to charities’ expenses because of short-term renting of usually older, energy inefficient properties.

To respond to these operational challenges, charities have had to cut working hours or reduce staff count to remain afloat. In other instances, some charities have had to scale back their services to meet the cost challenge. In Stockton-on-Tees (December 2025), for example, a hospice with 10 beds could only afford to offer 8 beds because of high-operating costs. Equally, in Wakefield (October 2025), charities shared that they could only accommodate service users with moderate needs because they did not have the resources to deal with more complex cases.

Many charities the Bank spoke to said that the surge in demand for their services and operational challenges made it unsustainable for them to continue providing services in their communities in the long term.

Youth Panels

The Bank has a longstanding commitment to engaging younger audiences, whether through its Museum in London or its comprehensive and tailored education resources for children aged 5–16. In recent years, the Bank has redoubled its efforts by connecting to younger audiences through targeted, educational social media content and, more recently, launching a new podcast, Money Matters. The Bank’s Youth Panels complement these efforts by hearing the views of 16–19 year olds to better understand their concerns and experiences of the economy, and in turn shape how the Bank connects with them through tailored external communications.

Youth Panels between March 2025 and February 2026 were organised in Blackburn (June 2025), Darwen (June 2025), London (June 2025), Sheffield (November 2025), and Wigan (November 2025). These sessions focused on understanding young people’s payment and budgeting habits, in addition to seeking their views on the future of money.

Young people said they were more likely to use digital payments compared with physical money, citing the convenience and ease of finding discounts. They also valued being able to track their spending and account balances by using online banking applications. Although some young people said they carried physical money and their bank cards with them, these were largely for emergencies. In Sheffield (November 2025), cash was almost entirely absent from young people’s spending habits, with the exception for paying for services that only accepted cash. That said, and notwithstanding the fact that young people preferred digital payments, there was a general consensus that in-person transactions felt secure compared to online purchases.

Budgeting was another feature of these Youth Panels discussions. Young people said they relied on a wide range of sources for their budgeting and financial advice which included but was not limited to parents, televised programmes, and financial advice books.

In London (June 2025) and Sheffield (November 2025), young people said they were least likely to get financial advice from social media because they were sceptical of social media influencers’ qualifications to provide it. In Blackburn (June 2025), although students said they did not currently follow ‘finfluencers’ and did not read finance-related articles, they expressed an interest in wanting to study personal finance. Across the Youth Panels there was general agreement that financial education delivered in a school environment was the preferred learning approach.

There was a limited discussion about the future of money with a high degree of distrust in cryptocurrency investments as these were viewed as an intangible and unreliable store of money. Some young people said that they had limited knowledge of cryptocurrency to engage sufficiently with the topic. While there was acknowledgement that people’s investments in cryptocurrencies could pay off, Youth Panels participants felt they lacked the time and knowledge to research the market adequately to make sound investment decisions. Additionally, young people said they were unclear what a central bank digital currency is, unconvinced by its user case, and unable to distinguish it from current forms of digital payments.

The overall mood was positive and engaged across these panels, with young people eager to contribute and share their views.

Footnotes

• Youth Panel in St. George’s Catholic School, London (June 2025). Photographer: Tracey Coleman.

Conclusion and how to get involved

The Bank’s outreach activities remain a critical mechanism in which members of the public can engage and share their opinions with a national public body that affects lives across the UK. At the same time, they represent an opportunity for the Bank to learn and gather evidence about people’s lived experiences of economic conditions that is not always obvious from economic data. During these challenging times, the Bank’s outreach initiatives are doubly important to amplify unheard, but critical voices that inform policymaking and external communications at the Bank.

The cost of living and its enduring impact on communities across the UK remains, as has been the case in recent years, the preoccupying issue for people and charities who have generously given up their time to participate and enrich this set of outreach sessions with their insight. Although inflation was closer to the Bank’s 2% target, the higher price level has had detrimental effects on household finances, leading to rising levels of poverty, ill health, and lower living standards in the UK. This has also exposed vulnerable households to economic fluctuations and global political uncertainty, with Citizens’ Panels participants and charities concerned about what a weakening UK economy means for those already struggling to stay afloat alongside other issues related to housing, employment, and debt. Although the Bank’s limited responsibilities prevent it from addressing all the issues raised in this set of outreach events, it has routinely relayed many of these findings to the relevant authorities, in addition to offering financial education resources for all ages to equip people with lifelong skills to support their budgeting and financial decisions.

Time and again, these outreach activities have proven themselves to be a valuable platform to exchange views, learn, and gather crucial intelligence about local and regional economic conditions. Feedback from the Citizens’ Panels illustrates the positive impacts they have on participants who attend, improving awareness and understanding about the Bank, its mandate, and the economy more generally. The continuing work to enhance the Citizens’ Panels following the independent review will ensure that these panel discussions continue to go from strength to strength, attracting wider, more diverse participants and amplify the positive impacts of these sessions.

To take part in one of the Bank’s outreach events, please visit the Bank’s outreach webpage and sign up by emailing outreach@bankofengland.co.uk

Footnotes

• Catherine L. Mann, external member of the Monetary Policy Committee at a Citizens’ Panel in Newport (July 2025). Photographer: Isabel Lee.

Appendix

Citizens’ Forum demographic breakdown of attendees

The following charts summarise the demographic breakdowns for attendees of the Citizens’ Panels held between March 2025 and February 2026.

Chart A.1: Citizens’ Panels attendee gender breakdown

Chart A.2: Citizens’ Panels attendee age breakdown

Chart A.3: Citizens’ Panels attendee ethnicity breakdown

Chart A.4: Citizens’ Panels attendee employment status breakdown

Chart A.5: Citizens’ Panels attendee household income breakdown

Citizens’ Panels feedback

The following charts summarise the Citizens’ Panels attendee feedback held between March 2025 and February 2026.

Chart B.1: The Citizens’ Panel event increased my understanding of the Bank?

Chart B.2: The Citizens’ Panel event increased my trust in the Bank?

Chart B.3: The Citizens’ Panel event improved my understanding of the economy?

Chart B.4: The Citizens’ Panel event was interesting and relevant to my work/life?

Chart B.5: The Citizens’ Panel event format encouraged an open discussion?

List of charities who took part in the Community Forum events

The following is a thematic list of charities who participated in the Community Forums events held between March 2025 and February 2026.