Law and order

A bill on criminal justice will amalgamate previously trailed policies under one act, including reforms to the sentencing regime and a new (but previously announced) offence of possessing “violent and extreme pornography”.

A serious crime bill will formally introduce measures designed to restrict the travel and financial affairs of drug traffickers, fraudsters and other “Mr Bigs”.

There is unlikely to be a bill on anti-terrorism because the government is still waiting to hear the result of an appeal in the House of Lords on the use of controversial “control orders”. But a terror bill may emerge later in the parliamentary session and ministers are still pondering whether to allow evidence from intercepted phone calls to be used in court.

Pensions

The government will propose legislation to restore the link between pensions and earnings, raise the pension age to 68 and provide powers for John Hutton, the minister, to start work on a new low-cost government savings scheme.

Road transport

This will pave the way for tolls on motorways and possibly smaller roads as well. Prices and standards will be fixed by Whitehall.

Welfare reform

Ministers aim to deter malingerers and hope that up to 85% of the 2.7m incapacity benefit claimants can be coaxed back into work.

Local government reform

Supposed to free town halls from Whitehall targets and give them more control over their own affairs. Council leaders will get more powers, turning them into “mini mayors”. But there will not be anything about the issue that voters really care about — council tax.

Child Support Agency

This will kill off the quango that has made a hash of collecting maintenance payments from divorced and separated fathers. It has a backlog of 30,000 cases and debts of £3 billion.

Further education

This bill will seek to reduce the number of teenagers dropping out of school at 16 and there will be a new right to free education to A-level standard for all 19 to 25-year-olds. The downside? Current subsidies for evening classes for older adults will be cut.

Carbon budgets

This measure has been hyped as a “climate change” bill but is now expected to have a new title. It is expected to set out plans to reduce carbon emissions, establish an independent body to oversee reductions and set targets every 10 years.

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