More cost of living payments worth up to £1,100 planned by Rishi Sunak

More cash to help with the cost of living crisis could be on the way for around eight million households. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have been working through all the details of the fiscal statement being announced on Thursday (November 17), which is expected to include additional energy bills support for the most vulnerable.

The PM is said to have plans for another round of cost of living payments, which would include £650 for benefit claimants, £300 for pensions and an additional £150 disability payment, as he brings back the plan he introduced as chancellor last summer. A Government source reportedly told The Sun: "Rishi saw his cost of living plan work last time and so is sticking with it again".

The extra help for the most vulnerable comes as he reportedly prepares to strip back energy bills support measures and let heating costs continue to rise. Mr Sunak said today (Tuesday, November 15) that he will make "difficult decisions that are required to fix" the mistakes of his predecessor Liz Truss.

His budget is expected to include billions of pound worth of tax hikes and spending cuts. Mr Sunak told BBC News: "The number one challenge we face is inflation. We're not alone in that, actually, for example, Germany and Italy have inflation that is even higher than ours at the moment.

"And it's important that we get a grip of that, it's important that we limit the increase in mortgage rates that people are experiencing. And the best way to do that is to get a grip of our borrowing levels and have our debt on a sustainable basis falling."

Mr Sunak told Sky News he has acknowledged that "mistakes were made" during Ms Truss' brief reign as PM, adding: "What I want to do now is fix them". He said: "I think I demonstrated over the summer that I'm prepared to be honest with the country about the challenges we face and to make the difficult decisions that are required to fix them." 

Reference: Leicestershire Live: Andrew Brookes -