The rate of inflation may have eased slightly but it is clear that UK households are facing a surge of rising costs ahead.

As the UK economy struggles to grow, the government’s solution is a hike in employer taxes to raise money for investment in public services, which has prompted criticism from the business community.

“The majority of retailers have little choice but to raise prices in response to these increased costs,” BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said. The British Retail Consortium has warned of food prices going up, rising by an annual rate of 4.2% by the year’s end, while two-thirds of top bosses across the retail industry as a whole are planning to raise prices.

Discover what we are doing to help our beneficiaries now.