By David Cornock BBC Wales' Parliamentary correspondent

Almost all the 23 Bills and 7 draft Bills announced by the Queen apply across Wales and England, although some work in very different ways.

As a package, the speech also paves the way for significant transfers of power from Westminster to the assembly.

The most controversial new law is the Higher Education Bill.

This will allow universities in England to charge tuition fees of up to �3,000 a year (which would be repaid after graduation, not upfront). It also gives the Welsh Assembly Government responsibility for student funding.

The administration in Cardiff doesn't want to introduce top-up fees, and has ruled them out until May 2007 - six months after they are due to be introduced in England.

Then, it will face a very difficult decision (governing isn't just about rescuing botanic gardens and the nice things in life).

KEY BILLS Immigration and Asylum Higher Education Domestic violence Judicial reform Pensions Civil contingencies Civil partnerships Traffic management Lords reform Finance Child protection Read full text of speech

If tuition fees are abolished in Wales, then the assembly will have to find a way of funding universities so they can compete with their counterparts in England. The money will either have to come from the students of the assembly.

There is one Bill in the Queen's Speech that affects Wales alone.

The Public Audit (Wales) Bill is unlikely to set the pulse racing but it sets up a single public audit watchdog to ensure taxpayers' money is spent wisely.

The Fire and Rescue Services Bill will give the assembly responsibility for the fire service - not for firefighters' pay and conditions but for the structure of the service.

And the plight of former workers at the ASW steel plant in Cardiff has prompted a change in the law, but it won't benefit those workers who lost their pensions when the company went bust, only those facing similar problems in future.

'In their dreams'

A pensions protection fund will protect employees and pensioners if companies fail.

Political reaction has been predictable.

The Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru were both hoping (in their dreams?) for a Bill to give the assembly law-making and tax-raising powers. Not this year.

The Welsh Tories were hoping for the Queen to announce that St David's Day is to be made a bank holiday. The government's response was the same as that of its Conservative predecessor - most of us will be working on March 1 next year.

In the short term, there's more chance of Prince Harry turning up in a red shirt at a Six Nations match.