Millions of households across the UK are struggling to make their incomes stretch to cover the rising cost of living. The government is providing over £15bn of additional support, targeted particularly on those with the greatest need. This package builds on the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totalling over £37bn this year.

The government is helping all domestic electricity customers in Great Britain to cope with the impact of higher energy bills, with £400 off their bills from October through the expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS). This is a doubling of the £200 of support announced in February, and there will no longer be any repayments. The government will deliver equivalent support to people in Northern Ireland.

The government is supporting over 8 million households across the UK in receipt of means tested benefits with a one-off Cost of Living Payment of £650, paid in two instalments.

The government is giving additional UK-wide support to help disabled people with the particular extra costs they will face, with 6 million people who receive non-means tested disability benefits receiving a one-off disability Cost of Living Payment of £150.

The government is also providing extra support to help all pensioners across the UK stay warm this winter. Over eight million pensioner households will receive an extra one-off £300 this year to help them cover the rising cost of energy this winter.

For households that are not eligible for Cost of Living Payments or for families that still need additional support; the government is providing an extra £500 million of local support, via the Household Support Fund. The Fund will be extended from this October to March 2023, bringing total funding for the scheme to £1.5 billion.

Millions of the most vulnerable households will receive at least £1,200 of one-off support in total this year to help with the cost of living.

The government is also committed to tackling the underlying, long-term factors driving cost of living challenges. This includes: helping people into work and supporting them to keep more of what they earn; solidifying our supply chains and boosting our energy security; and driving economic growth through a lower tax, dynamic market economy.

Last year, at the spending review, the Government announced that after years of austerity there would be a small real-terms increase in local authorities’ spending power—but that was when inflation was around 2% to 3%. Has the Chancellor seen the recent assessment from the Local Government Association showing that, with inflation at a somewhat higher level now, it will cost local councils £2.4 billion extra this year? What steps will he and the Levelling Up Secretary take to have talks with the Local Government Association about extra help for local authorities so that we do not get another round of austerity imposed on our constituents?

The Government is providing £37 billion in cost of living support this year, including £15 billion in a new support package announced in late May. This includes extra support to help all pensioners stay warm this winter.

Households eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment will receive an extra one-off payment of £300, paid in November/December alongside the existing Winter Fuel Payment. Pensioners, as all domestic electricity customers, will see £400 off their bills from October with no need to repay, through the expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme. In addition, households in receipt of Pension Credit will receive a one-off payment of £650 in two lump sums, the first from July and the second in the autumn.

Further support for pensioners can be provided by local authorities through the Household Support Fund, which will be in place until April 2023.

Next year, the Triple Lock will apply for the State Pension. Subject to the Secretary of State’s review, pensions and other benefits will be uprated by this September’s CPI which, on current forecasts, is likely to be significantly higher than the forecast inflation rate for 2023/24.

HM Treasury provides departments with settlements on a cash basis, and they are expected to manage the impacts of inflation within these settlements.

Last month, the Government announced an additional £1.3bn funding for military support to Ukraine. This funding was provided for the 2022/23 financial year and reflective of latest cost forecasts.

September CPI has been the default inflation measure for the government’s statutory annual review of benefits since 2011 because it allows sufficient time for the legislative and complex delivery process to take place for new rates to come into force in April.

In addition to uprating social security benefits, the government is also providing support to families worth over £22 billion in 2022-23 to help families with cost of living pressures. This includes cutting the Universal Credit taper rate and increasing work allowances to make sure work pays, freezing alcohol duties to keep costs down, and providing millions of households with up to £350 to help with rising energy bills.

At the Spring Statement, the Chancellor went further, announcing an increase to the annual National Insurance Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit to £12,570, and an additional £500m to help the most vulnerable with the cost of essentials through the Household Support Fund. Families and businesses across the UK will also benefit from a 12-month cut in fuel duty of 5 pence per litre, the largest cash terms cut, that has ever been applied to all fuel duty rates at once. This cut represents savings for consumers worth almost £2.4 billion over the next year.

And, from 1st April 2022, the National Living Wage (NLW) increased by 6.6% to £9.50 an hour for workers aged 23, which will benefit more than 2 million workers. This means an increase of over £1,000 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW.

The government understands the pressures people, in particular vulnerable groups are facing with the cost of living as a result of high inflation. These are global challenges, but the government is providing support worth over £20 billion across this financial year and next that will help families with the cost of living. This includes £500m of funding available through the Household Support Fund to help those most in need with the cost of essentials such as food, clothing and utilities.

Living with a long-term illness or disability can impact on the cost of living. This is why the government invests heavily in supporting disabled people both in and out of work through the welfare system. The government will spend over £58 billion in 2021-22 on benefits for disabled people and people with health conditions – this is around 2.6% of GDP. This includes Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which is a universal and non-means-tested benefit to help individuals with the extra costs of living with a disability, regardless of their income. Those who have a disability or health condition and receive PIP can also get additional support through premiums or additional amounts within Universal Credit (UC) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

The government is continuing to monitor cost of living pressures and carefully considers the equalities impact of policy on those with protected characteristics, in line with both its strong commitment to promoting fairness and its legal obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in the Equality Act 2010.

The Government recognises the challenge that many are facing with the cost of living and is committed to supporting all groups in society, including those on the lowest incomes.

This is why the Government has announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23. This includes a £200 discount on their energy bill this Autumn for domestic electricity customers in Great Britain, a £150 non-repayable rebate in Council Tax bills for all households in Bands A-D in England and a £144 million of discretionary funding for Local Authorities to support households who need support but are not eligible for the Council Tax rebate.

This is on top of existing support for households with the cost of energy bills, such as the Warm Home Discount, the Winter Fuel Payment and the Cold Weather Payment. It also builds on the £500m Household Support Fund, which is helping vulnerable households with the cost of essentials such as food, clothing and utilities.

This is in addition to helping people get into work and progress through the Plan for Jobs, and increasing the National Living Wage by 6.6% to £9.50 an hour.

Pay for most frontline workforces – including nurses, police officers, prison officers and teachers is set through an independent Pay Review Body process. The independent review bodies provide evidence-based advice to the government on levels of pay for their remit groups. In making recommendations, review bodies need to consider both the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people and the financial circumstances of the government. We will be seeking full recommendations and the award for 2022/23 will be announced next year.