Businesses offering deals and discounts to help with cost of living

Major UK businesses are to offer deals and discounts as part of the government's Help for Household campaign.

A meeting with the prime minister, the cost of living business tsar David Buttress and senior business leaders was held to discuss the new deals and what more can be done to support families.

Signatories include Asda, Morrisons, Amazon and Vodafone and the deals are designed to reduce prices at the checkout, help provide entertainment and ensure access to necessary services for families.

Examples of the available deals include Asda's 'Kids eat for £1 scheme' and Sainsbury's 'feed your family for a fiver' campaign.

Also mentioned in the government press release is the theatre scheme 'Kids Week', where children can see a West End show for free with a full paying adult. This scheme is not new and has been around for a number of years. It is one of the initiatives facing criticism, for being out of touch as people struggling to feed their families cannot afford a full price West End theatre ticket.

Also included is Amazon’s new ‘help for households’ page that will provide access to free entertainment such as Freevee and Amazon Music, as well as educational resources for school-aged children and low-price essential groceries.

The deals are part of the Help for Household campaign with the aim of provided deals for families over four periods: summer holidays, back to school, autumn pressures and Christmas.

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said: "We’re facing incredibly tough global economic headwinds and families across the country are feeling the pinch.

"That’s why this government is providing an unprecedent [sic] £37bn worth of support to help households through the storm.

"Both the public and private sector have a role to play here – and that’s why it’s great to see so many leading UK businesses are now coming forward to offer new deals and discounts that will provide much needed respite at the checkout.

"This won’t solve the issue overnight but it’s yet another weapon in our arsenal as we fight back against scourge of rising prices and inflation."

The government's cost of living support pages have already been visited over 2.2 million times and charities have criticised the government's lack of action.

Alison Garnham, the chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group said: “With school holidays starting today and parliament heading off for recess, government has abandoned children and families to face a difficult summer with inadequate support,”

“As families battle to stay afloat, investment in social security for the long term has to be the top priority for the next prime minister. A decent living standard for children should never be dependent on retail discounts.”