Fifth of working-age families in Rugby are set to lose out if benefits do not rise with inflation

On October 31, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is to set out a plan to fund the tax cuts announced in his controversial September mini-budget.

It will include a decision on whether benefits will be increased by the same rate as wages – which at the current rate of 5.4% would amount to a real-terms cut – or prices, which soared almost 10% in the year to August.

New analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation charity reveals that an estimated 18% of working-age families receiving means-tested support in Rugby – 7,972 households – will be impacted if benefits were only to rise in line with wages.

The planned increase would also apply to child benefits, which are claimed on behalf of 17,385 children in the area.