Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that working people’s pay aligns with the rising cost of living.

The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living because of high inflation. The government is providing over £15bn of additional support, building on the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totaling over £37bn this year. Support includes helping all domestic electricity customers in Great Britain with the impact of higher energy bills, with £400 off their bills from October.

In addition, the government has also increased the National Living Wage (NLW) by 6.6% to £9.50 an hour for workers aged 23 and over, 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. In the long term, the best approach to managing the cost of living is to help people into work, supporting them to increase their incomes, helping them keep more of what they earn and growing the economy sustainably.