King Charles III made his second-ever King’s Speech today, marking the 2024 State Opening of Parliament.
The King laid out Labour’s vision for the country and the critical legislation the government will begin working on in the coming months.
Labour’s legislative agenda promises to be eventful, focusing on growth, accountability, and social justice. The Budget Responsibility Bill sets the tone, ensuring all government spending is independently forecasted, a clear nod to avoiding a repeat of the Liz Truss mini-budget debacle.
Labour’s commitment to reform shines through in the Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill, aiming to bolster investor confidence and tighten regulations on UK companies. Similarly, the Employment Rights Bill seeks to deliver a ‘New Deal for Working People,’ focusing on a genuine living wage, flexible working rights, and ending the controversial ‘fire and rehire’ practices. On the transport front, the Passenger Railways Services (Public Ownership) Bill and the Better Buses Bill aim to bring public transport under a more unified and accountable structure, much to the delight of frustrated commuters.
40 commitments were made within the Speech. Here are just some of them:
Budget Responsibility Bill: A commitment from Labour to introduce legislation that guarantees all new government spending changes or tax changes have an independent forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility beforehand
Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill: Part of Labour’s central pledge to grow the economy and hold companies accountable for delivering for and in the UK, ensuring that companies undergo more rigorous audit requirements while removing unnecessary rules on smaller companies to reduce their regulatory burden.
Pension Schemes Bill: This bill will establish a consolidated defined contribution for individuals, combining their smaller pension pots.
Planning and Infrastructure Bill: House building was always expected to feature heavily in the King’s Speech. The introduction of this Bill is likely to include a commitment to modernise the planning system, previously spoken about by both the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor. The Bill will look to streamline the delivery of new housing and critical infrastructure to accompany it.
Employment Rights Bill: The creation of a genuine living wage, editing employment rights for flexible working and ending fire and rehire are all huge legislative changes which will take time but be crucial for Labour to retain support.
English Devolution Bill: After just four days in office, both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister immediately focused on devolution in the UK. The PM’s first calls were to the Leaders of all UK nations, and the following day, Metro Mayors were called to Downing Street to discuss how decisions could be moved from the centre of Westminster to their regions.
Passenger Railways Services (Public Ownership) Bill: This Bill will set out a timetable for bringing all railway services into public ownership as contracts with external providers begin to expire over the next Parliament.
Rail Reform Bill: This legislation will establish Great British Railways to manage the rail network more simply and automatically.
Great British Energy Bill: A new body will be established in Scotland and a new publicly owned company co-investing with technologies and industry to deliver clean power.
Water (Special Measures) Bill: This Bill will look to strengthen Ofwat’s current powers to better hold water companies accountable for their performance. It will potentially face strong criticism to go further so amendments around tightening or setting more stringent rules could be proposed as part of the debate.
Skills England Bill: This legislation will establish a new body responsible for all apprenticeships and technical education, which Labour previously pledged.
Other commitments
In addition to specific legislative commitments, some other priorities and introductions of policy were made within the Speech. These included
Strategic Defence Review: The Prime Minister announced a thorough ‘root and branch’ defence review to tackle the country’s most pressing threats. Starting immediately, the review will consult military personnel, veterans, and industry experts, with a report expected in early 2024.
Establish an Industrial Strategy Council: Growth was the golden thread in the King’s Speech, and the establishment of this council was promised to boost business and the economy. Consider it a business boot camp for Britain.
What happens next?
The next five days are now reserved in the House of Commons for debate and it’s already kicked off with each Party Leader speaking. This will include maiden speeches from new MPs and will begin the move into a regular Parliamentary timetable. Now that the key legislative priorities have been set out, we can expect that a timetable from the Chancellor for the fiscal events will be set out next week before the House then rises on the 30th July.
Remarking on the legislative programme, Theo Plowman, Assistant Director of Policy at the British Property Federation (BPF) said:
“We are pleased to see the Government push ahead with the long-awaited Renters’ Reform; for too long the reforms have caused uncertainty for tenants and investors alike. The previous Renters’ (Reform) Bill in the last Parliament had achieved broad support, and key to this support was a minimum term of 6 months, a promise of court reform, and a carve out for Purpose Built Student Accommodation and the wider student sector. We believe that the Bill should retain these aspects and therefore the support of the industry.”
Read the briefing notes on the announcements made in the 2024 King’s Speech.