The coalition agreement lists 45 areas to "review", "investigate" or "consider"

By Neil O'Brien

At the fag end of the Brown administration, policy making increasingly came to resemble the desperate scenes in The Thick of It, as ministers launched half-baked schemes on an increasingly bemused public.

Reality seemed to blur into fiction. The BBC series gave us the idea of  "Pet Asbos". But the real government came up with the "dog tax". In a desperate moment Malcolm Tucker and his pals came up with the "National Spare Room Register". But the real Labour government wanted to make everyone renting out a room pay to register on a new "national landlords database".

The new coalition suffers from no such shortage of good ideas - in fact the coalition agreement lists about 400 different policies.

It states that many areas are going to be put out to review. On some occasions this will just be a way of kicking issues into the long grass, which is a shame. We can all think of things that a coalition is not going to be able to do, and there are plenty of compromises that might be unpleasant to have to swallow. That's coalition government for you.

But while the media will probably mock, many of the reviews are positively a good thing.  Policy-on-the-hoof and sofa government led to a series of preventable disasters.  From the ten pence tax rate to "marching yobs to the cashpoint", press-release-driven policy making was not a success.

I think life under a coalition will tend to favour slower but much more evidence-based politics.  I'm struck by how the best developed policies survived the pressures of the general election campaign, and are now in the coalition agreement - while the ones that hadn’t been so well thought-through haven’t made it.

The fine details of policy are being haggled about as never before. What exactly will the role of local authorities in school choice be?  How exactly will elected police oversight be implemented?  Detail is everything now.  Conservatives who agree with Mrs T, and think that "the facts of life are conservative" will see little to be afraid of in this process. In fact thinking things through properly is supposed to be a conservative virtue.

The full list of reviews, investigations and considerations is below (I haven't included the spending review).

It's an interesting guide to the strengths and weaknesses  of the coalition and the opportunities it faces. There are some great ideas in there - and some less great ones.  Some are massive, like the West Lothian question, while others are pretty obscure.

I'd love to know what people find most hopeful, most depressing, or just plain interesting?

Things to "Review"

1. We will review employment and workplace laws, for employers and employees
2. We will review IR 35, as part of a wholesale review of all small business taxation
3. We will review the range of factors that can be considered by regulators when takeovers are proposed.
4. We will review libel laws to protect freedom of speech.
5. We will promote the radical devolution of power and greater financial autonomy to local government and community groups. This will include a review of local government finance.
6. We will phase out the ring-fencing of grants to local government and review the unfair Housing Revenue Account.
7. We will review the effectiveness of the raising of the stamp duty threshold for first-time buyers.
8. We will have a full review of the terms and conditions for police officer employment.
9. We will review alcohol taxation and pricing to ensure it tackles binge drinking without unfairly penalising responsible drinkers, pubs and important local industries.
10. We will review the operation of the Extradition Act – and the US/UK extradition treaty – to make sure it is even-handed.
11. We will work to rebuild the Military Covenant by... [amongst many other things they specify] reviewing the rules governing the awarding of medals.
12. We will reform energy markets to deliver security of supply and investment in low carbon energy, and ensure fair competition including a review of the role of Ofgem.
13. We will review the governance arrangements of National Parks in order to increase local accountability.
14. We will undertake a fair pay review in the public sector to implement our proposed ‘20 times’ pay multiple.
15. We will review the criminal records and vetting and barring regime and scale it back to common sense levels.
16. We will conduct a comprehensive review of family law in order to increase the use of mediation when couples do break up, and to look at how best to provide greater access rights to non-resident parents and grandparents.
17. We will review what action can be taken against ‘vulture funds’.
18. We will conduct a full review of sentencing policy to ensure that it is effective in deterring crime, protecting the public, punishing offenders and cutting reoffending. In particular, we will ensure that sentencing for drug use helps offenders come off drugs.
19. We will carry out a fundamental review of Legal Aid to make it work more efficiently.
20. We have commenced a Strategic Defence and Security Review, commissioned and overseen by the National Security Council, with strong Treasury involvement. We will also develop and publish a new National Security Strategy.
21. We will urgently review Control Orders, as part of a wider review of counter-terrorist legislation, measures and programmes. We will seek to find a practical way to allow the use of intercept evidence in court.
22. We will commit to establishing an independent commission to review the longterm affordability of public sector pensions, while protecting accrued rights.
23. We will phase out the default retirement age and hold a review to set the date at which the state pension age starts to rise to 66, although it will not be sooner than 2016 for men and 2020 for women.
24. We will review the control and use of accumulated and future revenues from the Fossil Fuel Levy in Scotland.
25. We will keep external assessment, but will review how Key Stage 2 tests operate in future.
26. We will review the taxation of non-domiciled individuals.
27. We will review support for part-time students in terms of loans and fees.

Things to "Investigate"

We will establish a Commission to investigate the creation of a British Bill of Rights that incorporates and builds on all our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, ensures that these rights continue to be enshrined in British law, and protects and extends British liberties. We will seek to promote a better understanding of the true scope of these obligations and liberties.

We will take steps to reduce systemic risk in the banking system and will establish an independent commission to investigate the complex issue of separating retail and investment banking in a sustainable way; while recognising that this will take time to get right, the commission will be given an initial time frame of one year to report.

We will investigate ways to share with livestock keepers the responsibility for preparing for and dealing with outbreaks of disease.

We will... investigate further ways of improving corporate accountability and transparency.

We will investigate measures to help with fuel costs in remote rural areas, starting with pilot schemes.

We will take Sure Start back to its original purpose of early intervention, increase its focus on the neediest families, and better involve organisations with a track record of supporting families. We will investigate ways of ensuring that providers are paid in part by the results they achieve.

We will investigate a new approach to helping families with multiple problems.

We will investigate how to simplify the benefit system in order to improve incentives to work.

We will investigate ways of improving access to preventative healthcare for those in disadvantaged areas to help tackle health inequalities.

We will establish a commission on long-term care, to report within a year. The commission will consider a range of ideas, including both a voluntary insurance scheme to protect the assets of those who go into residential care, and a partnership scheme as proposed by Derek Wanless.

Things to "Consider"

We will develop effective proposals to ensure the flow of credit to viable SMEs. This will include consideration of both a major loan guarantee scheme and the use of net lending targets for the nationalised banks.

We will consider the implementation of the Dyson Review to make the UK the leading hi-tech exporter in Europe,

We will abolish the Government Office for London and consider the case for abolishing the remaining Government Offices.

We will introduce a system of temporary bans on new ‘legal highs’ while health issues are considered by independent experts.

If necessary, we will consider using the part of the TV licence fee that is supporting the digital switchover to fund broadband in areas that the market alone will not reach.

We will introduce an annual limit on the number of non-EU economic migrants admitted into the UK to live and work. We will consider jointly the mechanism for implementing the limit.

We will consider how to use proceeds from the Victim Surcharge to deliver up to 15 new rape crisis centres, and give existing rape crisis centres stable, long-term funding.

We will establish a commission to consider the ‘West Lothian question’.