King’s Speech key announcements – from the economy to public transport
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The new government has set out its legislative agenda for the next year in the King’s Speech.
The announcements focus on improving living standards by driving economic growth, the first of Sir Keir Starmer’s five “missions for national renewal”.
Big ticket items include a plan to build more houses and infrastructure, nationalise the railways and give greater powers to the UK’s fiscal watchdog over spending commitments.
This page is being updated as the points are being announced in parliament.
Here’s a look at the key points so far:
Budget Responsibility Bill
This will ensure that all significant tax and spending changes are subject to an independent assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility, preventing ministers from making large unfunded spending commitments.
National Wealth Bill
This will establish a National Wealth Fund capitalised with £7.3bn to make investments across the country, with the aim to bring in £3 of private sector investment for every £1 the government invests.
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
This will “get Britain building” through planning reform, to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing.
Measures will include changing compulsory purchase compensation rules to ensure that compensation paid to landowners is fair but not excessive where important infrastructure and affordable housing are being delivered, improving local planning decision making by modernising planning committees and increasing local planning authorities’ capacity.
Employment Rights Bill
This will legislate to introduce a new deal for working people in the first 100 days to ban exploitative practices and enhance employment rights.
Measures will include: Banning “exploitative” zero-hour contracts, ending “Fire and Rehire” and “Fire and Replace”, making parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal available from day one on the job, strengthening Statutory Sick Pay, making flexible working the default, improving rights for new mothers and a new fair pay agreement for adult social care.
English Devolution Bill
Legislation to give new powers to metro mayors and combined authorities to support local growth plans that bring economic benefit to communities.
Better Buses Bill
A bill to remove the ban on publicly owned buses so local leaders can take control of their local bus services.
Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill
A bill to deliver on Labour’s manifesto commitment to bring rail services back into public ownership, improving passenger journeys and save the taxpayer “millions of pounds”.
Rail Reform Bill
Legislation to improve the railways by establishing Great British Rail – a unified and simplified governance structure for the operation of Britain’s railways.
Great British Energy Bill
A bill to set up Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean power company headquartered in Scotland, which will help accelerate investment in renewable energy such as offshore wind. It will develop own and operate assets with a capitalisation of £8.3bn of new money over the parliament.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (Revenue Support Mechanism) Bill
A bill to support sustainable aviation fuel production.
Water (Special Measures) Bill
A bill to strengthen the powers of the water regulator to ensure water bosses face personal criminal liability for lawbreaking and ban the payment of bonuses if environmental standards are not met.
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
A bill to establish a new Border Security Command which will have enhanced counter terror powers to tackle organised immigration crime. The bill will also aim to end hotel use through clearing the asylum backlog, ensure fast-track returns for individuals coming from safe countries.
Children’s Wellbeing Bill
A bill to raise standards in education and promote children’s wellbeing, including measures to remove the exemption from VAT for private school fees, which will enable the funding of six and a half thousand new teachers.
This bill will also require free breakfast clubs in every primary school, limit the number of branded items of uniform and PE kits that a school can require and create a duty on local authorities to have and maintain Children Not in School registers.
Skills England Bill
Legislation to establish Skills England, which will have a new partnership with employers at its heart, and reform the apprenticeship levy.
Renters’ Rights Bill
Legislation to give greater rights and protections to people renting their homes, including ending no fault evictions and reforming grounds for possession
Draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill
Draft legislation will be published on leasehold and commonhold reform.
Mental Health Bill
Legislation to ensure mental health is given the same attention and focus as physical health, including modernising the Mental Health Act so it is fit for the twenty first century.
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
A Bill to progressively increase the age at which people can buy cigarettes and impose limits on the sale and marketing of vapes.
Ministers will also legislate to restrict advertising of junk food to children along with the sale of high caffeine energy drinks to children.
Draft Conversion Practices Bill
A draft bill to ban conversion practices which intend to change people’s sexual orientation or their gender identity.
Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill
Legislation on race equality to enshrine the full right to equal pay in law.
Crime and Policing Bill
Legislation to strengthen community policing and give the police greater powers to deal with anti-social behaviour.
Victims, Courts and Public Protection Bill
This covers plans to halve violence against women and girls and strengthen support for victims of crime.
Terrorism (Protection of Premises)
Measures to improve the safety and security of public venues and help keep the British public safe from terrorism.
Armed Forces Commissioner Bill
A bill to establish a statutory Armed Forces Commissioner to act as a strong independent champion for Armed Forces and their families.
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill
This will include measures to modernise the constitution, including House of Lords reform to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the Lords.
The government will also propose a modernisation committee of the House of Commons which will be tasked with driving up standards, improving work practices and reforming procedures.
Other:
Hillsborough Law
Legislation to introduce a duty of candour for public servants.
Northern Ireland Legacy Legislation
Measures to begin the process of repealing and replacing the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.
Football Governance Bill
A bill to establish an independent football regulator to ensure greater sustainability in the game and strengthen protections for fans.
