What the Queen said

The Queen making her speech

The government has outlined its plans for the next year in the Queen's Speech to Parliament.

Here are some of the financial issues that were covered.

Company Pensions - A Bill will be introduced to protect the retirement savings of UK workers.

Under the current law thousands have lost their company pensions when their firm has closed.

From 2005 employers are to be forced to pay into a protection fund which will cover workers pensions if they go bust.

This proposals was welcomed by Malcolm McLean of the Pensions Advisory Service.

"Any responsible employer would accept that you've got to ensure the pension entitlements of individuals," he says.

But the law won't be backdated, so there'll be no help for those who have already suffered.

State Second Pension - This will give more help to low earners, carers and long-term disabled people with broken work records.

University top-up fees - This is one of the most controversial measures.

The plan to charge students top-up fees has already been condemned by a large group of Labour MPs, including several former ministers.

The National Union of Students says this will simply add to the debts faced by graduates.

In research by the BBC, 64% of universities said they would be prepared to charge the maximum £3,000.

Nearly half said they thought the fees would deter poorer students, with 40% disagreeing.

Child Trust Fund - It was confirmed that this would apply to children born since 1 September 2002.

It will give a minimum of £250 and a maximum of £500 to each child. A further payment will be made when the child is aged seven and the money can be accessed at age 18.

There are no restrictions at this point on what the money can be spent on. Parents can choose whichever investment vehicle they would like to use.

"Many parents will never have purchased an investment product before," says James King of the National Consumer Council.

"They should think about the risks associated with different types of products.

"Many people will want to opt for equity-linked products but they need to think that through and think about the implications and the duration of the product."

He recommends getting advice before committing the money to one fund or account.

Home information packs - This is an idea that has been around for some years but will now be brought in.

The aim is for sellers to pay for all the information a buyer will need so the process of housebuying can be speeded up. This will include things like a survey, local authority searches and any relevant planning permission. To read more about this,

click here.

Charity - Fundraisers who approach people on the streets could face new restrictions.

They have become known as "chuggers" - charity muggers - and they try to persuade people to sign up on the spot to direct debits.

In future they will have to be more upfront about how the money is spent, including how much goes on paying the fundraisers.