Summary of bills outlined in Queen’s Speech

A summary of each of the bill’s outlined in the Queen’s
Speech:-

Education bill: will provide for further
streamlining of the inspection of extended schools services, and
establish three-year ring-fenced budgets for schools.

Extending financial support for 16-19 year
olds: financial support will be extended for 16-19 year
olds engaged in training and education.

Identity cards bill: a compulsory national
identity card will be introduced targeting illegal working and
immigration, and restricting access to public services. A national
identity register will be established.

Serious organised crime and police bill: the
Serious Organised Crime Agency will be established, and the powers
of community support officers will be extended. There will also be
a new offence of incitement to religious hatred, and automatic
reporting restrictions in youth courts where a juvenile is
convicted of breaching an anti-social behaviour order will be
scrapped.

Drugs bill: will introduce the power to test
drug offenders on arrest rather than when charged, and to refer
those testing positively to an assessment by a drugs worker.

Clean neighbourhoods and environment bill: will
give greater powers to local authorities to tackle problems such as
night-time noise and litter, and introduce on the spot fines.

Management of offenders bill: will give the
home secretary greater control to direct probation boards to
commission services from other providers, and extend the use of
electronic monitoring for those serving community sentences.

Draft youth justice bill: will establish
intensive supervision and surveillance orders as an alternative to
custodial sentences, and allow temporary release from custody with
tagging to allow managed re-integration into the community.

Equality bill: will establish a single
Commission for Equality and Human Rights to replace the Equal
Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and
the Disability Rights Commission. Will also create a duty for
public sector bodies to promote gender equality, and new
legislation prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of age,
religion or belief, or sexual orientation.

Disability discrimination bill: will extend the
Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to transport and will introduce
a new duty on public bodies to promote equality of opportunity for
disabled people. Will extend the DDA to cover people with HIV,
cancer and multiple sclerosis.

Mental capacity bill: will provide for living
wills – an advance decision to refuse treatment, and create a
new criminal offence of willfully neglecting or ill-treating a
person who lacks capacity.

Reform of mental health law: a draft bill is
currently being scruitinised by a parliamentary committee. It would
mean all use of compulsory treatment beyond 28 days would have to
be authorised by a new mental health tribunal, and would enforce
treatment for some people against their will.

Child contact and inter-country adoption: will
provide courts with more powers to enforce contact orders,
including prison and fines.

Consumer credit bill: will create an unfair
credit test, making it easier for people to take lenders to court
for unfair lending practices, and will give the Office of Fair
Trading more power to regulate credit businesses.

Charities bill: will mean charities have to
pass a public benefit test, and will improve the regulation of
charity fundraising.

National lottery bill: will establish the Big
Lottery Fund and allow increased public involvement in distribution
decisions.

Public services ombudsman (Wales) bill: will
create a new office of public service ombudsman for Wales, and
strengthen powers for the informal resolution of disputes involving
police authorities.