PENNIES DROPPED

Hammond may axe loose change, hitting charities

SMALL change could be a thing of the past as Phillip Hammond looks into axing 1p and 2p coins.

The Chancellor launched a review into copper after claiming 60% of the currency ends up in piggy banks.

But Labour’s Peter Kyle warned the move could hit charity collections. He said: “They rely on loose change.”

PHILIP Hammond would leave charities that rely on small change donations high and dry if he went ahead and axed 1p and 2p coins, MPS warned last night.

The Chancellor launched a review into copper after revealing 60% of the currency is used just once before being stashed away in piggy banks or jars – with 8% dumped altogether.

That means the Royal Mint must issue 500 million coins a year to keep them in circulation, the review paper said. The study questions whether 1p and 2p coins meet people’s needs with the rise of contactless payments and “if not, how should it change”?

But Shadow Civil Society Minister Steve Reed urged Mr Hammond to “think again” about his penny-pinching.

He said: “Cash is the most popular way for people to donate to charities, and much of that comes in small change like 1p and 2p coins.

“If the Government goes ahead, it will directly hit the vulnerable people who rely on charities to feed, clothe, house and care for them.” Labour MP Peter Kyle added: “We need to get this right otherwise charities and sectors that rely on the loose change people carry with them could be affected.”

Even Mr Hammond’s Tories were worried. MP Ian Liddell-grainger branded it a “mistake” and added: “A lot of charities live for those pennies.” Others said scrapping the coins could hit seaside resorts where slot machines are a tradition. Brighton Pavilion Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said: “I wonder if the Government hasn’t just found another way to ruin people’s fun.”

The review does not make a firm proposal to scrap any coin and the Treasury said it was a “listening exercise”. But it also raises questions over the future of “rarely used” £50 notes.

The review warns the rise of digital and contactless payments could have “profound implications for the most vulnerable” in our society.

Theresa May’s spokesman said the study “is not proposing any specific policy changes”.

THREAT Penny could become history

REVIEW Mr Hammond