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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Business
Gemma Jones

Cost of living crisis: PM's proposals to help drivers and parents cut back on costs

The Prime Minister is reportedly looking at ways to cut costs for the nation - mainly drivers and parents.

During Tuesday's cabinet meeting, Boris Johnson asked for proposals from his team that do not rely on spending taxpayers' money to help tackle the cost of living crisis. Two scenarios suggested were to reduce childcare costs by easing health and safety rule and to relax the frequency of MOTs.

Record inflation prices have pushed up food and energy prices. Inflation is now at a 30-year high and household bills are continuing to rise.

READ MORE: What you can do now to help bring bills down

The Prime Minister reportedly asked ministers to come up with "innovative ways" to ease living costs. It comes after opposition parties have said the help on offer from the government to tackle rising living costs was insufficient. Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats have all called for an emergency Budget to give more support to households.

Reducing childcare costs

According to the BBC, one of the proposals came from the PM himself, with sources saying he wanted to lower the legal limits on adult supervision for children in England, as part of a drive to reduce living costs.

Current legal requirements in England say there must be at least one member of staff for every three children in groups aged two years and under. For two-year-olds and over, there must be one member of staff for every four children.

But, earlier this month, experts warned the government against relaxing nursery staffing rules as ministers reviewed ways to improve the cost, choice and availability of childcare. The idea was slammed as Liberal Democrat education spokesperson, Munira Wilson, said Mr Johnson has chosen to "cut corners and endanger our children", instead of addressing this issue "head on".

Relaxing the frequency of MOTs

Another proposal presented to cabinet came from Mr Shapps, who suggested reducing the need for an annual MOT. Currently, every vehicle that is three-years-old or over must have a current MOT test certificate and drivers must renew this once a year, costing up to £54.85 for a car and £29.65 for a standard motorcycle.

The BBC reported that Transport Secretary Grant Shapps offered the suggestion of reducing how often MOTs are carried out. He allegedly suggested reducing the need for renewal to every two years, rather than one, to cut costs for households.

However, Motoring organisation the AA is against the idea. They have argued that it could in fact make costs worse for drivers due to higher repair bills, as well as reducing road safety.

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