Ministers are understood to have put welfare reform at the heart of the Government's next legislative programme, with an insistence that almost everyone on benefits should be preparing themselves for work.

But they are on course for a bruising encounter with leftwing Labour MPs and the unions.

Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell threw his weight behind a review prepared by academic Paul Gregg, which is now likely to be the blueprint for the forthcoming Welfare Reform Bill.

The legislation is likely to require unemployed people to carry out community service-style duties like digging gardens if they do not look for work but still want their benefits.

It is also likely to include a new category of benefit claimants called the 'progression to work' group, which would include lone parents with children aged one or more.

This group would have to make themselves ready for work or face benefit "sanctions".

The measure beefs up previous proposals to make it a requirement for lone parents with children aged seven or more to seek work.

Mr Purnell said: "The approach that virtually everyone should be doing something in return for benefits is the right one."

The most recent Government figures showed there were 1,800 lone parents in Preston, 1,470 in Lancaster, 740 in Chorley and 700 in South Ribble.

But the proposal is likely to be deeply unpopular with union chiefs and some MPs.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "This approach to welfare assumes a utopian world of unrestricted childcare and widely available jobs where only the lazy opt for life on the dole."

The Queen's Speech is also likely to make it easier for councils to block new lap dancing clubs.

Ministers want to reclassify lap-dancing clubs as "sex encounter establishments."

This would mean they are regarded in the same way as peep shows that "provide visual sexual stimulation" and would make it easier for town halls to throw applications out.

Ground-breaking legislation to fulfil Labour's pledge to end child poverty is also likely to feature in the speech.

And it is also likely to include a policing and crime reduction Bill which would introduce directly-elected police representatives - despite a warning that the move could land Lancashire taxpayers with a £2m bill.

The LEP reported warnings earlier this month from Lancashire Police Authority that the election of 14 Crime and Policing Representatives (CPRs) in the county could lead to British National Party (BNP) politicians getting a say over policing.

Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle today added his voice to the growing opposition to the plans, saying: "I do not think it is the way forward. We elect local councillors and this is just another cost burden."

The Government's programme is also expected to include a citizenship, immigration and borders Bill requiring new immigrants to learn English and restricting full access to benefits and social housing to full British citizens.