Queen's Speech 2012

The Government's priorities for the coming parliamentary year have this afternoon been set out in the Queen's Speech 2012.

At the official State Opening of Parliament, the Queen's Speech highlighted the Government's priorities of economic growth and deficit reduction.

Some of the Bills laid out in the Speech were:

• Public Service Pensions Bill - will reform public service pensions in line with the recommendations of the report prepared by the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission.
  Enterprise, Employment, Regulatory Reform and Repeals Bill - will promote enterprise and fair markets, including provisions on a Green Investment Bank, a new Competition and Markets Authority and reforming employment tribunals.
• Banking Reform Bill - will put into law the ring-fencing of retail banking and its separation from investment banking.
• Families and Children Bill - will improve the lives of children, young people and families, especially those coping with special educational needs.
• Pensions Bill - will reform the state pensions system, creating a fair, simple and sustainable foundation for private saving.
• Energy Bill - will reform the electricity market.
• Crime and Courts Bill - will establish the National Crime Agency to tackle serious, organised and complex crime and strengthen border security.
• Justice and Security Bill - will provide for strengthened oversight of the security and intelligence agencies; to provide for closed material procedures in certain civil proceedings; and to prevent disclosure contrary to the public interest of certain material in judicial proceedings, including material shared with us by our allies.
• House of Lords Reform Bill - will change the composition of the House of Lords
• Royal Succession Bill - will remove the rule under which a younger son displaces an elder daughter in the line of succession to the Crown, permit a person who marries a Roman Catholic to succeed to the Crown and replace the Royal Marriages Act with narrower provisions.
• Electoral Administration Bill - will introduce individual electoral registration and make improvements to other areas of electoral administration.

For more information on the Queen's Speech please visit the Downing Street website