Eight million people on lower incomes will receive 50p from the Government for every £1 they save under a new scheme to encourage savings.

The maximum government contribution under the Saving Gateway, unveiled as part of the Queen’s Speech, will be £300 per person.

Saving Gateway accounts will be open to people receiving the working families tax credit and child tax credit, whose income is below a certain level, as well as those on income support, jobseeker’s allowance, incapacity benefit, employment and support allowance and severe disablement allowance.

Those wishing to join will sign up to save a monthly amount for two years with a bank or a building society, at the end of which the Government will chip in its additional contribution. People can contribute up to £25 a month to the accounts for 24 months, after which the Government contribution of up to £300 will be added.

The Government hopes that the initiative will encourage people on low incomes to plan for the future, as well as encouraging them to engage with financial institutions.A pilot of the scheme involving 22,000 people resulted in about £15 million being saved.

The accounts will be offered by a range of financial institutions such as banks, building societies, credit unions and the Post Office.

The proposals received a mixed welcome from financial experts. Maggie Craig, the Association of British Insurers’ director of life and savings, said: “Any measures to promote the savings habit are to be applauded. While the Saving Gateway is specifically focused on people on low incomes over a relatively short period of time, it could and should act as a catalyst for longer-term saving for retirement.”

But Mike Warburton, of Grant Thornton, the accountant, said that the scheme did not do enough to encourage saving. “Limiting the Government’s matching amount to 50p per pound, and the total payable to £300 per person, is not very generous. This Government has largely ignored savers, which is why the savings ratio has fallen from about 8 per cent of income when it came to power to less than zero today. People are now dipping into their savings rather than putting money aside for a rainy day.

“If the Government is serious about saving, it should introduce measures which encourage saving and discourage spending. Most of the measures in this Pre-Budget Report are designed to encourage spending,” he said.