ANALYSIS By Steve Schifferes BBC News website reporter

The speech will outline a big programme of legislation over the parliamentary session that lasts until November 2006.

The focus will be on crime, welfare and public sector reform, with key policy papers on nuclear power, council tax reform and pensions also flagged up.

A number of bills which were introduced last autumn - but did not receive parliamentary approval due to the election - will be re-introduced.

The most notable will concern identity cards, where there could be another backbench revolt.

The government also has plans to tackle issues raised in the election, including immigration, MRSA, and anti-social behaviour.

WELFARE REFORM ID CARDS VIOLENT CRIME PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM SMOKING AND MRSA

IMMIGRATION PENSION REFORM COUNCIL TAX NUCLEAR POWER CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM

You can watch the Queen's Speech Live on the BBC News website, with key points in text, at 1100 BST on 17 May.

A key part of the reforming impulse of New Labour has always been welfare changes.

The government wants more people on benefits working

Now the government wants to tackle incapacity benefit, in order to encourage the nearly 3m claimants (many of them older men) to rejoin the workforce.

It will publish a Green Paper (outlining the options) before the summer recess and introduce a Welfare Reform Bill in the new Parliament.

QUICK GUIDE Family issues

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown both believe that moving people from welfare to work is both economically beneficial and morally right, and they speak of "rights going along with responsibilities".

The degree of compulsion associated with such policies has always been contentious. In its first term, it sparked a backbench revolt over the withdrawal of lone parent benefit.

Now, under David Blunkett, the government is likely to adopt a robust approach to reform - with the looming pensions crisis giving the struggle added impetus.

Mr Blunkett has made clear he wants to boost the number of workers who can help pay the growing pensions bill.

Another part of this approach is Labour's pledge to expand vastly the amount of childcare available, and give more rights to maternity and paternity leave and flexible working.

It hopes such measures will encourage more women to keep working after having children.

This was a key part of Labour's election campaign, and will be dealt with in a separate Work and Families Bill.

The government plans to re-introduce one of its most controversial measures on law and order - ID cards - despite the threat of a backbench revolt.

The terrorist threat has prompted new approaches

The bill received its second reading in the last Parliament - with the Conservatives abstaining, and the Lib Dems opposed, along with 19 Labour backbenchers - but had to be shelved when the election was called.

The Labour government believes the cards are crucial to the fight against terrorism, people smuggling and illegal immigration, and crime.

Critics say they will reduce civil liberties while being ineffective against determined criminals and people smugglers.

And they argue that the costly national computer system needed to implement the system will be expensive and ineffective.

Tony Blair has made the fight to restore "respect" in the community, the town centre, and the school one of his top priorities.

Violent crime has risen sharply

In legislative terms, the main measure that is expected to be introduced is a Violent Crime Reduction Bill, to tackle the use of knives and guns in committing crimes.

It will also provide some measures to deal with binge drinking and give schools the right to search pupils for weapons.

The government is expected to tackle the relationship between drugs and crime, perhaps increasing the number of places available for drug rehabilitation.

QUICK GUIDE Law and order

The government is also planning to give community groups and parish councils the power to apply for Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) - raising civil liberties concerns.

There are other bills in the pipeline to make driving under the influence of drugs a separate criminal offence and to ensure the full sentences are served for certain types of crime - a measure criticised in advance by the lord chief justice.

Mr Blair just created a new "minister for yobs", David Miliband, it will interesting to see if any of this legislation will be managed by his new department.

Central to Tony Blair's legacy is his plan to "modernise" public services like health and education, increasing patient and parent choice, and make more use of the private or voluntary sector to provide such services.

Labour wants more choice for pupils and parents

Much of the legislative underpinning of this policy is already in place, such as laws allowing the creation of foundation hospitals (quasi-independent bodies in the NHS) and the independent City Academies.

However, there will be an Education and Skills Bill, which will "promote effective leadership and diversity in school provision", with new powers for parents to ask Ofsted to close failing schools and to allow successful schools to take over less successful ones.

QUICK GUIDE Education issues

And there will be two White Papers (consultation documents) in the autumn, outlining government plans for more "personalised" health care and education.

But some Labour backbenchers, the public sector unions, and possibly Chancellor Gordon Brown, may feel uneasy about the increasing use of the private sector to provide public services.

The government is planning to introduce a Health Improvement Bill to prevention of health problems - a measure signalled last year when its published its White Paper outlining its plans for "A Healthier Nation".

A smoking ban was put forward by the Scottish Executive last week

Among the most controversial measures was a ban on smoking in enclosed public places, except in pubs and restaurants that do not serve food.

The bill is also likely to include measures to tackle MRSA by changing the way hospitals are managed to give new priority to infection control, and perhaps more legal responsibilities.

PUBLIC HEALTH TARGETS Focus on government's key target areas At-a-glance

The NHS has already published a five-year plan outlining the changes in provision and the legislation for increasing choice is already in place.

However, the rapid expansion of public spending on health is likely to come to a halt by 2008, putting more pressure on the service.

Improving public health could help reduce the pressure on the NHS caused by illnesses resulting from smoking, obesity and excessive alcohol and drug consumption.

During the election, Labour criticised the Conservative approach to immigration and asylum, saying that the British people were "tolerant and decent" - but polls showed this was the one issue on which Labour was behind.

Asylum applications: Down over two years

Now Mr Blair says that it would be unfortunate if it became a central part of an election debate again.

So the government will swiftly implement its plans to improve the immigration and asylum system, including tightening security at the borders and introducing a points system for people wanting to move to the UK for work reasons on a temporary basis.

QUICK GUIDE Immigration issues

Labour will introduce a new immigration bill to introduce those restrictions on permanent settlement. Most of the changes to the asylum system have already taken place.

There are two big questions of constitutional reform.

Labour has already had one stage of Lords reform

Labour has already made some of the biggest changes in the UK constitution in 400 years, extending devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and abolishing most hereditary peers in the House of Lords.

Now it plans to complete that reform, addressing the question of whether elected peers should sit in the Lords or it should be made up of appointed peers only, or some mixture.

The government has signalled that it will allow a free vote on this issue, although last time that happened the House of Commons failed to agree any reform plan (with the Prime Minister stating his opposition to a fully-elected chamber).

QUICK GUIDE Constitutional reform

The government also wants to limit the length of the time the House of Lords can debate legislation to two months before it has to return to the Commons - something peers are likely to try to resist.

Labour has also pledged to give more powers to the Welsh Assembly, which currently has fewer powers than the Scottish Parliament and cannot pass its own legislation.

There could be a referendum before such changes, and given the uncertainty of winning such a vote, Labour is likely to announce a wide consultation which would also give the option of a more modest extension of powers.

Finally, the government is expected to introduce a bill to tighten postal voting rules to prevent fraud and abuse.

One of the biggest - and potentially most expensive - issues for the government is sorting out the pensions crisis.

Labour has boosted the incomes of young and old to tackle poverty

The interim report of the Turner commission showed there was a huge pensions shortfall, and highlighted the need for more spending on state pensions and more savings by individuals.

Its final report, expected in November, could well recommend compulsory savings and an extension of the retirement age to 70.

Ed Balls, the advisor to the chancellor who is now an MP, said during the election campaign that any major decision on pension reform would need to be agreed across all the parties, and then put to the electorate in the next election.

QUICK GUIDE Pensions

The new Pensions Secretary, David Blunkett, has made it clear that all options are still on the table, and has suggested he will give some indication of government thinking by the summer.

The TUC, among others, has called for compulsory private pensions, while the National Association of Pension Funds has argued for an expansion of the state pension system by creating an earnings-linked citizens pension.

It is not clear when any specific legislation is planned for this session of Parliament, but the Queen's Speech is likely to signal the government's intent to enter into a debate on this issue.

Another big issue that Labour has postponed until after the election is the reform of the council tax system.

Council taxes have risen sharply under Labour, and Gordon Brown was forced in the Budget to agree a temporary, one-off �200 rebate for pensioners to reduce their bills.

Labour's own internal review of council finance last summer suggested business rates might have to rise and argued the case for a partial local income tax - something that has attracted derision when put forward by the Liberal Democrats in the election.

The Lyons Inquiry, reporting in December, will make recommendations on whether councils should be given more revenue-raising powers than the 25% they currently control (the rest comes from central government grants and business rates).

The government will also have to decide whether to go ahead with the property revaluation in England, which the Conservatives promised to scrap as it could lead to higher council tax bills on properties in some areas.

Although there is unlikely to be immediate legislation, the appointment of Tony Blair's former policy advisor, David Miliband, as a new Cabinet minister with responsibility for council tax suggests that it will be a priority in the next Parliament.

Among the biggest issues confronting the government is the decision on replacing Britain's ageing power stations.

Any decisions will have far-reaching implications for the future of Britain's role in the world and the future of climate change.

Dungeness B will shut in 2008

Britain is falling short of its Kyoto targets on reducing CO2 emissions, and that could get worse as more nuclear power stations (which supply 25% of the UK's electricity) come off-stream in the next decade.

The government's chief scientist, David King, has argued that nuclear power - which has no emissions - might hold the key to the long-term control of climate change, despite the worries about nuclear waste.

But that would be fiercely opposed by environmental groups, and even Tony Blair says it would require public acceptance of those risks, and the costs of disposal.

There is unlikely to be any specific legislation proposed on this issue in the Queen's Speech; rather, the government will signal that it wants a debate on this issue after it issues its report on climate change over the summer.