Under a new Consumer Rights Bill, ministers hope to give consumers greater confidence when buying products, switching suppliers or making purchases by telephone or internet.

Laws would also be updated to take account of purchases of online games, music and other content.

Also confirmed today was the introduction of the £144 flat-rate state pension.

The new Pensions Bill aims to create a simpler state pension by scrapping the two-tier system from 2016 and introducing a single tier pension scheme. The retirement age will be delayed to 67 from 2026 to fund the scheme.

The Government will also introduce a cap on social care costs of between £72,000 and £75,000 in a bid to reform the way long-term care is paid for, following recommendations outlined by the Dilnot Comissiion.

Legislation will be introduced “to ensure the elderly do not have to sell their homes to meet their care bills”, the Queen said.

The is a complex piece of legislation that will involve setting up the assessment process which will decide what counts towards the total cost of a person’s social care and which costs can be covered by the NHS.

The Queen’s Speech sets out the government’s legislative plans for the next session of Parliament.

Other measures include giving elderly and disabled relatives in England the right to receive support from their local councils, plans to continue tackling tax evasion and a Bill to provide the Government with the legal powers to compulsorily buy land needed to construct the High Speed 2 railway line.