Devolved and local government has been put at the heart of the Queen's Speech. Although much of the legislation is unlikely to be passed before the general election, the annual announcement contained measures to move more power away from Whitehall. But there were calls for the Government to go further. The LGIU argued reform of the House of Lords offered an opportunity for real change. Chief executive, Andy Sawford, said: ‘One simple way for the Government to demonstrate real commitment to localism and inject local government expertise into the legislative process would be to give councillors a strong role in the reformed second chamber. This would help strengthen the Lords, add accountability through politicians who are elected by local communities, and create a localising force in Parliament.' The Liberal Democrats said localism would also be key to making the Child Poverty Bill a success. Cllr Richard Kemp, leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the LGA, said: ‘To give us a duty while retaining 75% of the budgets and 90% of the processes by which poverty can be fought achieves nothing.' Other bills • reduce the deficit by half in four years • to strengthen national infrastructure • parental responsibility for child anti-social behaviour • improve communications infrastructure in the digital age • equal pay • improve rights for agency workers