Prescription charges frozen to help with cost of living crisis, Sajid Javid says

Move will save total of 17m, says health secretary, as Labour and head of TUC say windfall tax needed to tackle issue

Prescription charges will be frozen for the first time in 12 years as a gesture to help with cost-of-living pressures, the government has said.

The move is one of a number of small measures that government departments have been ordered to find to reduce families' costs, but comes amid criticism that steps taken so far have done little to ease the burden of rising bills and inflation.