The boss of an anti-poverty charity in Suffolk said the chancellor's spring statement was "better than nothing" but was not the fundamental intervention needed to solve the cost-of-living crisis.

Rishi Sunak increased the amount of money people can take home without paying National Insurance, cut fuel duty by 5p per litre and increased the Household Support Fund – which supports vulnerable households to meet daily needs such as food, clothing, and utilities – by £500million.

Rev Nic Stuchfield, chairman of Suffolk Coastal Debt Centre, said: "I don't really want to criticise the government, because finances are tight, but this is incremental. And what we actually need – because of the massive step-change in prices across the waterfront – is something fundamental.

"I'm not saying that we are not saying the right time to do that is now but people are hurting now and the right time to do that is at the earliest possible opportunity when we have a bit of stability.

"I think it's going to require the government to look at what the cost of living is, and then work out where the safety net needs to be set to enable enough members of our society to be kept out of extreme poverty through a combination of work and benefits."