Queens Speech contains few surprises

25th May 2010 15:24

The coalition government's legislative programme was outlined in the Queen's Speech in the House of Lords on Tuesday, and there was good news for disgruntled Equitable Life policy holders.The government intends to introduce The Equitable Life Bill, which will seek to ensure that "fair and transparent" compensation is paid to policy holders who lost out through what Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban, described as "regulatory failure".Chris Wiscarson, chief executive of Equitable Life, declared himself "delighted with the government's immediate response" and said he looked forward to working with them.There was also some good news for the UK's beleaguered pub trade in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, in which the government proposes to ban the sale of alcoholic drinks at below cost price. The licensed trade has complained vociferously in recent years at being unable to compete with cut price booze offered by supermarkets. The Bill also includes proposals to give greater powers to local councils and police to enable them to close down trouble-making clubs and bars. There was mixed news for outsourcing companies. The government, as expected, is abandoning the planned introduction of identity cards, a programme that most likely would have been administered by an outsourcing firm. At the same time, the door to greater involvement in running school services was opened up by the Academies Bill, which will allow more schools - including primary schools - to become academies, freeing them of local authority control.Plans to get privatise parts of Royal Mail were revived, with Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, given ownership of the Postal Services Bill that will "enable an injection of private capital, along with other measures, to help Royal Mail and ensure the provision of the universal postal service".