Chancellor Rishi Sunak has also announced a cut to fuel duty, increases to the household support fund, and nil-rate Vat for energy-saving materials to address the cost of living crisis in the UK.

At 12:30 today Chancellor Rishi Sunak gave his Spring Statement speech to the House of Commons.

Over the past few days he has come under considerable pressure to tackle the growing cost of living crisis, with people across the country facing rising energy, food and fuel costs.

CPI rose by 6.2% in the 12 months to February, the fastest rise for 30 years.

Mr Sunak announced three measures to help UK households with the growing cost of living.

Fuel duty will be cut by 5p per litre for the next 12 months, the biggest ever cut to the tax.

He has also introduced 0% VAT for energy-saving materials in an attempt to help tackle increasing energy costs. The nil-rate will apply to all energy-efficient materials such as insulation, heat pumps and solar panels for the next five years. However, the nil-rate will not apply to those in Northern Ireland due to the Northern Ireland protocol under Brexit.

Mr Sunak has also doubled the household support fund for local authorities from April. The fund, with grants controlled by local council officers, helps support vulnerable households.

Several industry spokespeople called on Mr Sunak to delay the planned 1.25% increase to National Insurance payments and increase in dividend taxes being raised as part of the Social Care levy to fund caps to later life care.

However, Mr Sunak did not delay the increases or address the particular challenges faced by pensioners within his Spring Statement.

Some pensions experts have been calling on Mr Sunak to increase State Pension payments for the year following the Government’s suspension of the Pensions Triple-Lock.