Our legislation for the next parliamentary session is a programme of tough action on the big issues that matter to people, in line with this Government's core values of fairness and responsibility.

At its heart is the conviction that government can be a force for good - to secure economic prosperity and build a fairer society. Not small government or big government, but smarter – reformed and responsive – government.

Our focus, as ever, is economic growth, locking in the recovery and forging a stronger, fairer, Britain for the many not the few.

This is a difficult period for our country, but we are optimistic. Britain has a bright future, not of austerity but progress, based on the country's greatest strength: the talent and enterprise of the people.

So here are some of the major Bills we aim to pass in the next session:

Financial Services Bill – banks will be reformed and made to pay for their own failings. The FSA will also be given greater powers to regulate bankers' pay and bonuses.

Fiscal Responsibility Bill – this will place a legal obligation on the Government to halve the budget deficit within four years.

Equality Bill - I will be taking this through Parliament in my role as Equalities Minister. We will place a duty on the public sector to reduce inequality – the gap between rich and poor. We will also tackle age discrimination and the gender pay gap.

Personal Care at Home Bill – will guarantee free personal care for the 280,000 people with the "highest needs", such as those with serious dementia or Parkinson's disease. Reform is necessary as we face the challenges of an increasingly elderly population.

Child Poverty Bill - will enshrine in law the Government's commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020.

We've shown since the last Queen's Speech what we can achieve together. When the global recession began, there were stark predictions on the likely levels of unemployment, repossessions and company insolvencies.

But we chose action - investing £5bn to help people back to work; and helping 300,000 people to stay in their homes by providing help and advice with paying their mortgage.

Compared with the recession of the 1990s, the fall in employment is lower, the repossession rate is lower, and the company insolvency rate is lower.

Our timely action to tackle the global financial crisis is working.

These new policy pledges showed our continued twin commitment to getting the economy back into growth and supporting people during the downturn. People cannot be left to fend for themselves as they were by the last Tory Government.

The Tories' vision for Britain is fundamentally pessimistic – about a Britain that is broken and with only an age of austerity to look forward to. The Conservative approach is to abandon the responsibility of government; to let the recession take its course; and to leave people to sink or swim.

That's just not good enough. We need to support our economy and support British people and the Queen's Speech set out how we intend to do that over the coming year.

To keep up to date on what I'm doing stop by my website http://www.michaelfoster.org.uk/ .

You can also receive a monthly update on my activities by sending an email to mp@1066.net with 'MPFree' in the subject line.