Banking Bill leads Queen's Speech

The programme for the Prime Minister's last full year before a general election includes 13 new Bills, along with a Constitutional Renewal Bill which will be introduced "when time allows".

The package's centrepiece is a Banking Bill designed to enhance financial stability through measures to reduce the likelihood of banks getting into difficulty, improve the tools available to the authorities when they do and strengthen protection for depositors if they fail.

In an address prepared for her by the Government, the Queen told MPs and peers that ministers' "overriding priority" in the new parliamentary session will be "to ensure the stability of the British economy through the global economic downturn". And she added: "My Government is committed to helping families and businesses through difficult times."

The programme represents a scaling back of the draft legislative programme set out by the Prime Minister in May, with less urgent bills dropped or merged to allow ministers more time to address the UK's economic difficulties.

Most notable absence from the May list is a Communications Data Bill which would have paved the way for a national database of phone calls and emails, but has been postponed by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

The programme includes measures to give local councils greater decision-making power and new means to promote the economy of their area, as well as a legal duty for them to respond to petitions from the public.

The construction sector, which has been one of the main victims of the recession, is to be helped with new measures to provide a "fairer" system of commercial contracts and more cash flow.

A Welfare Reform Bill will introduce new requirements for disabled people and single parents to seek work, with the aim to cut Incapacity Benefit claimants by one million, help 300,000 lone parents and one million older people into work and achieve an all-time high employment rate of 80%.

The Bill will also abolish Income Support in favour of a new streamlined system of out-of-work benefits. A Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Bill will place new responsibilities on migrants wishing to settle in the UK, slowing down the path to citizenship if they commit crimes or fail to integrate. It will also bring Customs functions under the UK Borders Agency, providing an "integrated approach to border control".