The Yorkshire Post understands that Kit Malthouse, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster wrote to the Prime Minister, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak last week to lay out the scale of the problems that must be solved by the country’s next leader and their cabinet.

He has also told ministers to prepare for “pressure points” which include rising prices such as energy, pressures on the NHS in flu season, blackouts, supply chain disruption, labour shortages and widespread industrial action which will start to be felt this winter and beyond.

It comes amid warnings that inflation could hit 22.4 per cent next year, according to Goldman Sachs, who predicted the UK will go into recession by December until at least 2024.

Meanwhile the Resolution Foundation think tank has warned that three million more people will fall into absolute poverty in 2023-24, with real household incomes falling by over 10 per cent.

Mr Malthouse’s intervention reflects a wider concern by figures within the Government that senior figures have sufficiently grasped how dire the situation will be this winter.

This week Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is not a business or treasury minister, but is tipped for a job in either department under Liz Truss, was reportedly meeting oil and gas firms to talk about new drilling projects, to the confusion of some in Whitehall.

One government source told the Yorkshire Post that the departments for Business, Health and the Treasury “are all asleep at the wheel, and they’re the ones that need to wake the heck up”.

Nadhim Zahawi’s decision to spend his last week as Chancellor flying to the US to meet with bankers was labelled an “international chinwag” in the middle of the cost of living crisis by Labour.

Mr Malthouse yesterday chaired a meeting of officials across government to reduce the risks of the UK collapsing from a series of “compounding” problems over the next 18 months.

Mr Malthouse said that it will be the “clinically vulnerable, socially and economically deprived, the elderly, the young, and the disabled” unless the next government acts decisively.

“My chief priority has been to make sure that we are prepared for the significant challenges we expect to face this autumn and winter, and I have held regular meetings to make sure departments maintain pace and grip on this essential work now, and in the coming months, as this will be a marathon not a sprint,” he said.

“The cost of living, driven in part by higher energy prices, is biting for individuals, families and businesses, and the NHS is already under pressure - and that’s ahead of the flu season.

“These risks have potentially severe impacts, stacking up on the most vulnerable people in society, and it is vital that we develop robust plans urgently to mitigate their impact and come up with solutions.”

Relative child poverty is projected to reach 33 per cent in 2026-27, its highest level since the peaks of the 1990s, according to the report by the Resolution Foundation published today, with household disposable income falling by £3,000, which it calls “the worst for at least a century”.

Cabinet minister warns incoming prime minister of winter chaos that awaits them