Social security benefit increases and levels of inflation

That this House notes that social security benefits are set to rise in April 2022 by the rate of general inflation in September 2021, which was 3.1 per cent; further notes that inflation reached 5.1 per cent in November 2021 and is expected to reach approximately 6 per cent in April 2022, resulting in a real terms cut in the value of social security benefits; notes that this will add to the financial difficulties being faced by households on low incomes who, based on recent evidence from the Threehills Community Supermarket and the broader Feeding Britain network, are already struggling to afford food and fuel; and calls on the Government to protect those households from the rising cost of living by using nearer-term forecasts to increase benefits in line with the actual rate of inflation that will apply in April 2022.