With the UK government toasting the fall in inflation, a report suggested it may also save them some money.
Ahead of the figures, Bloomberg reported the government is considering using October’s inflation number for next year’s rise in working-age benefits, citing two people familiar with official thinking.
The report said ministers are waiting to see the data before deciding how much to lift support for the roughly nine million households on working-age benefits from April.
The convention is that the September data is used but the government has refused to make that commitment.
Using October’s inflation rate would save roughly £2 billion a year.
The Guardian reported charities Action for Children and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) have both warned against using today’s inflation figure, and say the Treasury should stick with using September’s CPI.
JRF chief analyst, Peter Matejic, said many families “live in a world where their income, in many cases, simply doesn’t cover costs, while the government talks about cutting their support further”.