A SHAKE-up of secondary schools and new measures to fight crime are the flagship Bills in today's Queen's Speech.

A total of 25 Bills are included in the first legislative timetable since Labour won its landslide this month.

The emphasis is on improving Britain's battered schools, hospitals and police forces - "putting pupils, patients and victims of crime first".

The measures pave the way for greater involvement of the private sector in running public services.

Ministers said pressures on Parliamentary time had led to some Bills being placed on hold - but one to ban fox hunting is to be reintroduced in this session.

As revealed in yesterday's Evening News, the revived Bill, blocked by the Lords in the last Parliament, will again offer three options: self-regulation, an independent licensing system, or an outright ban.

But there is no commitment to force a ban through if, as expected, peers refuse to give way.