Two leaders, two styles and a search for substance. The draft legislative programme set out by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, was aimed at calming fears engendered by the economic downturn and boosting accountability of public services. Measures to give the people who use the health, education and police services in England more control over how they are delivered is intended to provide greater transparency. That runs the risk of being met with scepticism after weary weeks in which measures to help poor families have been undone because the effects of abolishing the 10p tax rate were not initially made clear.

Two leaders, two styles and a search for substance. The draft legislative programme set out by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, was aimed at calming fears engendered by the economic downturn and boosting accountability of public services. Measures to give the people who use the health, education and police services in England more control over how they are delivered is intended to provide greater transparency. That runs the risk of being met with scepticism after weary weeks in which measures to help poor families have been undone because the effects of abolishing the 10p tax rate were not initially made clear.

In Scotland, Alex Salmond marked a year as First Minister with a speech that was more a reiteration of achievements than an outline of future bills.

Transparency, however, was a common theme. The Scottish environment department is to pilot a scheme to give the public access to background papers, and a database will allow progress on policy implementation to be monitored. If this heralds a new openness in government it will be widely welcomed, but its worth will depend on the quality and extent of the information available.

Mr Salmond made much of the popular policies announced by his minority government, but the consequences for health and education budgets of saving rural schools, accident and emergency units and rural hospitals have yet to be experienced. Most obviously missing from the anniversay appraisal was further detail about how the flagship policy of replacing council tax with a local income tax is to be implemented without a funding shortfall.

The announcement that a bill for a referendum on independence will be tabled early in 2010 can only be an uncomfortable reminder to Labour under Wendy Alexander that it has failed to be an effective opposition and must present a united front both in Scotland and with its Westminster colleagues.

In reserved matters, Mr Brown's plans to require incapacity benefit claimants to undergo medical checks to determine whether they can work, alongside training for the unemployed, are an overdue reform of the benefits system. However, the announcement coincided with an increase in unemployment figures which should act as a warning that moving people off benefits will require more than a welfare to work slogan. Extending the shared equity scheme beyond key workers to people with a household income of less than £60,000 should help first-time buyers affected by the credit crunch. The scheme to buy unsold houses and make them available for rent is innovative thinking, but will meet only a tiny proportion of the need. A coherent strategy for social housing is urgently required and in that regard the announcement in Scotland that councils are to be able to build new houses looks like a step ahead, although we should also look at extending shared equity.

Mr Brown and Mr Salmond are at different points in the political cycle, but both are about to be tested on the substance, rather than the headlines, of their policies. If the draft Queen's Speech is to be a strategy relaunch for Labour under Gordon Brown, his policies must be implemented not only effectively but quickly to provide confidence in housing, health, education security and, above all, the economy before the General Election in two years' time. For Mr Salmond, the challenge will be to keep up the momentum on policies that have made him Scotland's most popular politician.