Summary of measures in the Queen's Speech

The Queen's speech today set out the governments programme for the last year of this parliament. It includes 11 bills - not as heavy a workload as in some recent years but personally as I argued yesterday I think it's far better to have 11 bills and get them right than pass twenty or thirty bad laws.

Supporting the speech David Cameron said the government's "long-term economic plan is working but there is much, much more to do," adding that it would "take the rest of this Parliament and the next to finish the task of turning our country around".

Among the measures announced were:

  • A bill implementing reforms to annuities allowing people to draw their retirement income in one go if they choose
  • A separate bill to allow employees to pay into collective pension funds shared with other workers
  • A new state-funded childcare subsidy worth up to £2,000 a year, replacing the existing employer-funded scheme
  • A bill offering extra legal protection for people being sued for negligence if they acted heroically or in the public interest
  • Curbs on "excessive redundancy payments" for highly-paid public servants
  • Tougher penalties for employers who fail to pay the minimum wage and a crackdown on the abuse of zero hours contracts
  • Plans for a 5p charge for plastic bags in England
  • A bill allowing fracking firms to run shale gas pipelines deep under private land without getting prior permission
  • Tougher powers to seize the assets of crime bosses, tackle cyber crime and make possession of written paedophilia a criminal offence
  • A Modern Slavery Bill with tougher penalties for human trafficking
  • Help for pub landlords including a statutory code and a body to adjudicate disputes
  • Giving voters the power to trigger by-elections where MPs have committed serious wrong-doing

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