Rail fare rises pegged back and council tax freeze to go on

Ministers said yesterday they are scrapping plans to allow train companies to raise the average price of regulated fares – which include season tickets – by three per cent above the rate of inflation in the new year, and again in January 2014.

Instead, while fares will still rise, it will be at a lower rate of inflation plus one per cent.

In a separate move, the Government also announced it is setting aside £240m to allow councils to freeze council tax for the third consecutive year.

The money will be used to cover local authorities’ own inflationary costs, with town halls receiving the equivalent of a one per cent funding increase if they agree to hold down council tax for another year. Meanwhile Chancellor George Osborne will today confirm plans for another all-out attack on welfare spending as he announces further huge savings are required in order to reduce the deficit.

In a joint statement with Work and Pension Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, the Chancellor will confirm a further £10 billion must be cut from the welfare budget as part of a “need to look for further savings in most Government departments and most areas of spending”. Mr Osborne will also announce plans for a massive investment in scientific research in order to help get the British economy moving.

In his keynote speech this afternoon, he will reveal a capital fund the government makes available to universities is to be trebled to £300m. To access the money, aides to Mr Osborne said universities must at least double the funding they collect through contributions from private companies or charities.