Cost: £500m, funded
On Wednesday, the government announced it would reduce the cap on bus fares in England from £3 to £2 from 1 January 2027, though this does not include London.
It estimated this cap would cost the Department for Transport more than £500m.
It said most of this would be found by replacing grants for international climate projects with loans. This would save the government money because the loans would be expected to be paid back in full, plus interest, freeing up funds to pay for the bus cap policy.
But there are still uncertainties with this approach, said Max Warner from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
“It’s not clear how much we would expect to be paid back nor what the interest rates will be,” he said.