NHS prescription charge frozen to help ease cost-of-living crisis

The price of NHS prescriptions will be frozen for a year to help with the cost-of-living crisis, ministers have announced.

It means the cost for a single prescription in England will remain at £9.35, while a three-month prescription prepayment certificate will stay at £30.25.

The cost normally rises in line with inflation, but Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, said it would remain the same to "put money back in people's pockets".

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the freeze means those in England who normally pay for their prescriptions would save £17 million over all. Twelve-month prescription prepayment certificates will remain at £108.10, and can be paid for in instalments.

Mr Javid said: "The rise in the cost of living has been unavoidable as we face global challenges and the repercussions of Putin's illegal war in Ukraine.

"Whilst we can't completely prevent these rises, where we can help we absolutely will. This is why I am freezing prescription charges to help ease some of these pressures and put money back in people's pockets."

The move comes after Boris Johnson instructed ministers to come up with measures to ease the pressure on household budgets caused by soaring global prices.

Following the Queen's Speech on Tuesday, the Prime Minister chaired the first meeting of the Government's cost-of-living committee and urged ministers to be as "creative as possible" in coming up with ideas to help families that would not require fresh Treasury funding.

But with the Bank of England forecasting that inflation this year will reach double digits, the Government is likely to remain under pressure to go further.

After the Conservatives lost nearly 500 seats in the local elections, some Tories called for tax cuts as the only way to deliver real help to those who are struggling.

Meanwhile, ministers have been resisting calls for a windfall tax on the profits of the energy companies, which have been swollen by rising oil and gas prices, warning of the impact on investment in new green technologies.

However, in a sign their opposition may be weakening, Mr Johnson said the Government will "have to look at it" while Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, said he would be "pragmatic".