Queen focuses on elderly in last speech before polls

London: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Wednesday put the country's neediest pensioners at the heart of the government's legislative programme in the Queen's last speech before the general election.

In one of the most heavily trailed speeches in recent times, the Queen told MPs and peers: "My government's overriding priority is to ensure sustained growth to deliver a fair and prosperous economy for families and businesses, as the British economy recovers from the global downturn.

"By the active creation of jobs, restructuring the financial sector, strengthening the national infrastructure and providing responsible investment, my government will foster growth and employment."

The personal care at home bill is intended to enable elderly and disabled people to remain in their own homes rather than going into residential care while laying the foundations for the new national care service promised by Brown in his party conference speech in September.

With less than seven months to go before the country must go to the polls, Brown used the state opening of parliament to showcase a series of initiatives designed to draw battle lines between the parties.

New laws will ensure free personal care for 280,000 elderly and disabled people with the highest needs.

Guarantees

There will also be new guarantees for parents on schooling as well as a crackdown on "risky" bank bonuses, and legislation committing the government to halve its deficit over the next four years.

But, with parliamentary time running out, not all of the 14 bills are expected to make it to the statute book before the election.

Officials estimate that about 400,000 people will benefit from the measures in the bill.

They include a guarantee of free personal care at home for up to 280,000 people with the greatest needs although 166,000 do already receive free care.

A further 130,000 who need home care will also benefit for the first time from other measures including adaptations to their homes such as the installation of electronic pill dispensers so that they can carry on living independently.