Urge to reform the public services forces Blair to trim Queen's Speech

Tony Blair's determination to put reform of public services at the heart of his second administration means a series of cherished schemes will be missing from today's Queen's Speech.

There will be no mention of plans to press ahead with modernisation of the Lords, to outlaw tobacco advertising or to relax licensing laws to allow 24-hour drinking. Nor will there be any sign of Britain taking the first steps towards holding a referendum on membership of the euro.

The omissions will disappoint left-wingers, Euro-enthusiasts, anti-tobacco campaigners and brewers. But they have been forced on a government promising to drive up standards in public services. A Whitehall source said: "The emphasis will be on crime, education, health and enterprise. There will be a very strong reform flavour."

Mr Blair will avoid an immediate showdown with the Lords by backing away from plans to end the right of hereditary peers to sit in the upper House. But he will signal that ministers will continue to work on reform plans.

The legislative programme being announced today is more extensive than usual, as it will cover the next 16 months. The new Home Secretary, David Blunkett, will steer through Bills bringing in tougher sentences for persistent criminals, new powers to seize the assets of major criminals and a shake-up of police training.

In a radical overhaul of the police complaints system, chief constables will be forced to hand over documents on the conduct of their officers to teams of civilian investigators.

The Home Office plans to create a body, to be called the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which will recruit and train civilians to investigate allegations of serious police misconduct and corruption. In future legislation, to be announced today, the IPCC will replace the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) in response to criticisms of bias. Under the present system police officers investigate allegations of wrongdoing by fellow officers.

Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, will take charge of a concerted effort to raise standards in secondary schools. Education Bills foreshadowed include moves to encourage more comprehensives to become specialist schools.

The Department of Health will press ahead with Bills overhauling adoption laws, abolishing community health councils and giving family doctors greater powers over their budgets. Among changes to the welfare system will be the reform of the Employment Service and Benefits Agency to switch its emphasis from paying benefits to matching job-seekers to vacancies.

The Government will bring back a three-option Bill on fox-hunting, which ran out of time in the last parliament in the face of opposition from peers. The revived Bill will offer a choice of self-regulation, licensing or an outright ban.