CHANCELLOR George Osborne is being urged to help savers by doubling the cash Isa allowance in his autumn statement next week, amid hopes the end of Funding for Lending support for mortgages in January will help savings rates recover next year.

Savings returns have halved in the past two years, despite no change in the base rate.

"Over the last three months alone there have been almost 500 rate cut announcements," says Anna Bowes at Savingschampion.co.uk. "What is urgently needed in the savings market is more competition, to drive rates back up to previous levels."

But the savings monitoring service also notes that consumer price inflation has more than halved, from 5% to 2.2%, since November 2011.

Back then, the best easy-access account was paying 3.15%. It is now 1.7%. The best notice account then offered 3.2%, now 1.8%, and the best variable-rate Isa was 3.05%, now 1.8%.

The Building Societies ­Association has called on the Chancellor to step in. It wants the cash Isa limit (currently £5760) to be doubled to match the full Isa limit (currently £11,520); transfers from share Isas into cash Isas to be allowed; Child Trust Funds transfers into Junior Isas allowed; and a First Isa scheme for new savers, with a pound for pound Government contribution.

The Treasury, however, has been floating the idea of a cap on lifetime Isa savings of £100,000. Alasdair MacDougall, of Martin Aitken Financial Services in Glasgow, commented: "I think the Isa allowance will go up by some silly amount - it should go up to £20,000 or £30,000, or match the allowance for lifetime pensions, to give people a choice."

The Tax Incentivised Savings Association said: "For some years, the UK appears to have had a financial culture based upon debt as opposed to assets, and there appear to be no Government policies in place to return the UK to a culture of saving."

A survey by HSBC has found that 2.5 million UK households have savings of £250 or less, while almost 6.5 million have no financial safety net at all.

And the bank says the ­situation is getting worse, with an extra 800,000 households admitting to savings of £250 or less -about five days' spending, based on average monthly outgoings of £1500.

Mr Cook said: "As a general rule, a minimum of three months' salary should be available for a rainy day."

According to NS&I, Scots savers are the UK's most ­committed, typically putting away almost 9% of their income.

However, one in 10 confess to having no savings at all, half of those who do have cash set aside recognise it is not enough, and almost one in six Scots don't think they need an emergency fund, compared to fewer than one in 10 people across Britain as a whole.

The latest Lloyds Bank Savings Index reveals a similarly depressing picture, with one-third of respondents not saving anything at all in the past 12 months.

However, fewer than half of non-savers say they cannot afford to put anything away - most simply choose not to.

The bank says one-third of Scots admit they would rather spend than save, compared to a UK average of a quarter of respondents. Many people who can afford to save claim it is not worth doing when interest rates are so low.

John Prout, NS&I retail customer director, said: "By taking control of your finances, and, if possible, putting aside some money for a rainy day, you can protect yourself should anything unfortunate happen and have peace of mind that you have your emergency fund to dig in to."

Many people who do have savings are earning considerably less than they could be.

Bank of England data shows the average branch-based savings account currently pays just 0.26% annual interest.

However, many easy-access accounts, including those available from member-owned credit unions, pay 1% or more.

Nationwide Building Society, NS&I and Virgin Money have tax-free instant access Isas (individual savings accounts) paying 1.75%, while Dunfermline Building Society's Isa pays 1.6%.

Those who have already used their annual Isa allowance can earn 1.6% in a taxable instant access account with Coventry Building Society (online only) or 1.5% with Virgin Money, Tesco Bank or the Post Office.

Savings Champion says there is a glimmer of improvement in fixed rate bonds. The best five-year fixed rate has risen from 3% to 3.15% (Aldermore) since August, FirstSave and the Skipton Building Society both offer seven-year bonds at 3.5% and Secure Trust pays 3.52%, and the current three-year bond leaders are Shawbrook (2.65%) and Vanquis (2.61%).

Interest-paying current accounts pay higher rates, though usually on limited amounts. The Nationwide FlexDirect Current Account offers 5% on balances of up to £2500 - but for the first year only. Clydesdale Bank's recently launched Current Account Direct pays 4% on balances up to £3000 until March 2015 and 2% thereafter.

Both accounts require £1000 to be paid in every month.

Santander's 123 current account gives cashback on household bills plus 3% interest on balances between £3000 and £20,000, with lower interest on smaller amounts.

There is a minimum monthly funding requirement of £500 - but also a £2 monthly fee, so keeping £3000 in the account over a year would earn a net £66 or 2.2%