The cost of living is the biggest issue facing Britain today, and will require action from all sections of our society - whether politics, business, or all of us as individuals helping out our friends, neighbours and local communities where we can.
Whilst the cost of living crisis will affect the poorest in society the most, with the poorest households facing a higher level of inflation, one of the biggest challenges for government is that the rising cost of living will affect almost everyone. The Chancellor of the Exchequer recently said that anyone earning £45,000 or less will need help with their energy bills. The challenge of the crisis is that those in professional jobs - such as teachers and nurses - face being pushed into poverty, in a way that has not been seen before.
An ongoing response to the biggest challenge facing Britain the Taskforce will meet monthly - across the country - in order to share insights, track progress and ensure maximum impact. Crucially, the Cost of Living Taskforce needs to bring ideas from across the United Kingdom together, and therefore meetings will take place in all corners of the country.
The pandemic set a new standard for what people expect from government, businesses and their employers. It is no longer good enough to deliver primary function, without making a wider contribution to society.
As the UK now deals with the cost of living crisis, expectations will be the same, and the importance of responsible organisations and the role they play has never been greater.
As we confront a huge inflation crisis, we are launching the Cost of Living Taskforce to do more to support Britain through the cost of living challenge. We want organisations to ask what they can do for their:
Customers
Colleagues
Communities
through this cost of living crisis. Every responsible organisation needs to ask what they are doing on these three things.
The Cost of Living Taskforce leaders are setting out some of the bold and significant commitments in order to help their customers, colleagues and communities through this difficult time.