The King’s Speech: Focus on Legislative Initiatives 

Following on from our previous article on what we might expect to see from the new Government. On 17th July 2024, the King’s speech laid out the new Government’s legislative agenda aimed at addressing the nation’s most pressing challenges.  

With 40 Bills in total, there is a lot to cover, and so this article delves into several major bills and legislative measures highlighted in the speech, providing an analysis of their objectives and potential impact. 

Focus on the Economy 

The new Budget Responsibility Bill aims to prevent uncosted measures being announced without them first been scrutinised. The Government intend to achieve this by introducing a new ‘fiscal lock’ which will in their words: 

“Ensure any Government making significant and permanent tax and spending changes will be subject to an independent assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), giving them the power to produce an assessment at a time of its choosing.  

Reinforce market credibility and public trust by preventing large-scale unfunded commitments that are not subject to an OBR fiscal assessment.” 

On one hand this signals that the Government is serious about its responsibility towards public finances, but it could also become an issue in the future if they box themselves in with too many rules which could hinder growth.  

Growth Delivery and a Greener Economy  

The proposed National Wealth Fund Bill (NWF) is central to the Government’s mission to increase growth and deliver a greener economy at the same time.  

Capitalised with £7.3bn the hope is that the fund will attract £3 of private investment for every £1 of public. NWF will invest in the priority sectors that were set out in the Governments manifesto, such as Manufacturing.  

The NWF Bill also aims to align institutions like the UK Infrastructure Bank and British Business Bank to simplify and help mobilise investment to British business.  

Getting Britain Building 

The Governments proposed Planning and Infrastructure Bill is designed to accelerate the delivery of housing and infrastructure projects across the country.  

In terms of planning, one of the key issues that slows building down is the length of time it takes to make decisions.  

According to the Government:  

“Only 9 per cent of Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) are determining more than 70 per cent of non-major applications within 8 weeks. Only 1 per cent of LPAs determine more than 60 per cent of major applications within the statutory 13-week period”. 

The Bill looks to address this by boosting capacity to speed up decision making, which will have a knock-on effect of accelerating future house building.  

Regarding infrastructure, the Bill aims to streamline delivery, which includes bringing forward upgrades to the national grid and boosting renewable energy. This is crucial if the Government are going to meet their target of clean power by 2030.  

The Government also says it will: 

“Simplify the consenting process for major infrastructure projects and enable relevant, new, and improved National Policy Statements to come forward, establishing a review process that provides the opportunity for them to be updated every five years, giving increased certainty to developers and communities.” 

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is extensive, and ambitious, it is also crucial to the economic growth of the country. Successive Governments have wrestled with how best to approach these issues, and with this Bill it seems as if the new Labour Government are meeting those issues head on, it remains to be seen how that approach will fare when it comes up against local objections or indeed objections from its own MPs worried about development in their constituencies.  

Renters Rights Bill 

A bill bolstering protection for renters has been much discussed, and the Bill announced in the Kings Speech, aims to protect the rights of those renting. According to the Government: 

“More than 11 million people in England live day in, day out with the knowledge that they could be uprooted from their home with little notice and minimal justification, and a significant minority of them are forced to live in substandard properties for fear that a complaint would lead to an instant retaliatory eviction”. 

The main areas of the Bill aiming to change that are: 

Abolishing Section 21 Notice or as they are more commonly known, no fault evictions. This will increase tenant stability and security, but expanding possession grounds so that landlords can reclaim properties when needed.  

The Bill also makes it illegal for landlords to discriminate against tenants in receipt of benefits or with children.  

Strengthen tenants’ rights and protections, by empowering tenants to challenge increases in rent and a ban on rental bidding wars.  

Introducing ‘Awaab’s Law’ (Awaab was aged just two when he died in December 2020, as a direct result of exposure to mould in the social home his family rented from Rochdale Boroughwide Housing), setting out the parameters on timeframes for landlords who are required to make homes safe when they contain serious hazards.  

The Bill is extensive in scope and if implemented as written, it has the potential to make a significant difference to renters across the country.   

Employment Rights Bill 

The Government has said they wish to ‘create a new partnership between business, trade unions and working people that is fundamental to our growth mission’.  

The main areas covered in the Bill are: 

Banning zero-hours contracts, providing a basic level of security and predictability.  

Banning fire and rehire/fire and replace.  

Parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal available from day 1 as well as removing lower earnings limit to make statutory sick pay available to all workers. 

Flexible working to be the default, with a duty on employers to accommodate as far as reasonable.  

Protections for new mothers, it will be illegal to dismiss a new mother for six months after her return to work, except in specific circumstances.  

Creation of a Single Enforcement Body or Fair Work Agency to strengthen the enforcement of workplace rights.  

Other Bills 

There are many other pieces of legislation that we cannot yet cover here, such as: 

There is no doubt that the Government’s plans are an ambitious, robust legislative agenda, designed to address the nation’s economic, environmental, healthcare, educational, and social challenges.  

The successful implementation of these legislative measures will require concerted efforts from Government and Industry. Crucially there must also be a recognition from the general public that achieving this will not be easy, and if we are to succeed, we must work together towards common goals. 

While the bills are big on ambition, there is still much detail to be laid out on how they will be implemented and how they will impact both Businesses and individuals, who will be hoping when the Chancellor delivers her first Budget in the autumn, that the landscape becomes clearer still.  

Get in touch 

As always, the team here at RLK pride themselves in staying abreast of changes or updates that may be announced to ensure that we are able to provide the best possible service to our clients.  

If there are any announcements or proposed changes that affect you or your business, you wish to discuss, please do contact one of the team who will be more than happy to help.