How will the Queen's Speech affect you?

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Published:
18 November 2009
Topic:
News,Money

With a massive budgetary deficit, a looming election and growing calls for action on risk-taking bankers; what's actually in this year's Queen's Speech and what will it mean for you?

So what is actually in it and how could the policies affect your finances if Labour can pass them ahead of the next election?

What's included?

The Fiscal Responsibility Bill would commit the government to reducing the country's budget deficit by half by 2014 - currently the UK has debt of £825billion.

The Energy Bill would give watchdog Ofgem greater powers to protect consumers from soaring fuel prices.

The Digital Economy Bill requires the regulator Ofcom to assess the country's digital infrastructure every two years.

The Financial Services Bill will outline a raft of measures designed to increase the power of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and protect consumers.

What's in the Fiscal Responsibility Bill?

If this bill were passed, the government would have a legal commitment to cutting the budget deficit in half by 2014.

 

We don't yet know exactly how the government plans to do this - but there should be more details next month in the chancellor's Pre-Budget Report on 9 December.

What's in the Energy Bill?

The Energy Bill will be particularly interesting to householders, who faced soaring energy bills last year.

Labour intends this bill to protect the very poorest consumers from unaffordable bills, especially as the country moves towards a low-carbon energy future, which could cause bills to rise.

Ofgem would have a duty to "step in proactively to protect consumers" and promote a more competitive energy market.

What's in the Digital Economy Bill?

The most hotly-debated aspect of this bill is that it includes plans for repeat copyright offenders to have their internet cut off.

Ofcom will have a duty to promote investment in the country's media infrastructure and assess it every two years to keep the nation competitive.

What's in the Financial Services Bill?

There was a huge amount of discussion about what this bill might include - here are the key measures:

  • Unsolicited credit card cheques would be banned.
  • Consumers would be offered the chance to learn more about their finances through the creation of a national money guidance service.
  • The FSA would be given more powers over bankers' pay and contracts that encourage excessive risk-taking.
  • Banks would have to create "living wills" that outline how they could be taken apart if they failed, in order to protect the taxpayer from bailing them out in the future.
  • A new consumer protection agency will be set up using a levy paid by the banks - it will champion the public and make it possible for 'class action' suits to be brought by a group of consumers.

What will this mean for you?

Many consumers will welcome the number of measures designed to protect the vulnerable from fuel poverty and the whole country from a repeat of the banking crisis. However, plans to cut the deficit in half would be likely to impact on people's spending power over the next few years as public services are cut back and taxes potentially rise.

Plans to cut off the internet from serial copyright breachers have already caused controversy, however, the government insists this measure would only be used against repeat offenders.

There's been lots of talk about whether or not Labour will have time to put these bills through Parliament before it has to call a general election - which is on or by 3 June 2010.

If it doesn't succeed then the election result could affect whether or not these measures become law.

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About This Author

Felicity Hannah

Deputy Editor

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