State Opening of Parliament 2024: King Charles’ Presents Labour’s Legislative Mission

On 17^th July 2024, King Charles gave a speech written by the Government as part of the “State Opening of Parliament”. The speech was made to state what the government’s legislative priorities are for Labour’s new Parliamentary period. This included 40 bills, most of which were categorised into five of Labour’s missions, which are:

Economic Stability and Growth:

• National Wealth Fund Bill – Establishes a National Wealth Fund to manage and invest for the long-term benefit of UK citizens.
• Pension Scheme Bill – Enables individuals to consolidate their pension funds.
• Planning and Infrastructure Bill – Reforms the planning system to make the process for critical infrastructure projects more efficient.
• Employment Rights Bill – Ban zero-hour contracts, and fire and rehire, and strengthen sick pay and protection for new mothers.
• English Devolution Bill – Create a more regulated framework for English devolution and expedite the devolution process in England.
• Railways Bill – Reform rail including establish GBR and allow rail contracts to be taken into public ownership at the end of contracts or if providers fail to deliver.
• Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill – Amend rail legislation to make a public sector operation the default.
• Better Buses Bill – Reform to bus services and franchising, including enabling local control and promoting public ownership.
• Bank Resolution (Recapitalisation) Bill – Reform how the Bank of England responds to failing banking institutions.
• Arbitration Bill – Reform the laws on arbitration in England and Wales.
• Product Safety and Metrology Bill – Gives government the powers to update product regulations.
• Digital Information and Smart Data Bill – Enables new uses of data to drive growth.
• High Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester) Bill – A hybrid bill to grow powers for building rail infrastructure between Crewe and Manchester. This was carried over from the last Parliamentary session.

Great British Energy and Clean Energy Superpower:

• Great British Energy Bill – Establishes Great British Energy, a public body responsible for owning and operate clean energy projects throughout the UK.
• Water (Special Measures) Bill – Regulate water companies to clean up UK rivers, lakes, and seas.
• The Crown Estate Bill – Reform the Crown Estate to allow it to borrow and invest more widely.
• Sustainable Aviation Fuel (Revenue Support Mechanism) Bill – Support sustainable aviation fuel production in the UK.

Secure Borders, Cracking Down on Anti-Social Behaviour and Take Back Our Streets:

• Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill – Enhance border security, tackle organised immigration crime, and reform the asylum system.
• Crime and Policing Bill – Improve policing, tackle anti-social behaviour, knife crime, and retail crime, and provide a stronger response to violence against women.
• Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill (AKA Martyn’s Law) – Introduce security requirements for certain public venues. This Bill was included in the last King’s speech but wasn’t introduced by the last government.
• Victims, Courts, and Public Protection Bill – Support victims of crimes, make the court system more efficient.

Health:

• Tabacco and Vapes Bill – Ban smoking for those born after 2008 and prevent the availability of vapes for minors.
• Mental Health Bill – Amend the Mental Health Act 1983 to improve treatment for mental health.

Break Down the Barriers to Opportunity:

• Children’s Wellbeing Bill – Improve children’s wellbeing including a requirement for free breakfast clubs in every primary school.
• Skills England Bill – Establish Skills England, a public body to improve skills needed in the workforce.
• Renters’ Rights Bill – Reform the rental market, including abolishing ‘no-fault’ evictions.
• Football Governance Bill – Establish independent football regulator

Other Bills Introduced:

• Hillsborough Law – Place a ‘Legal Duty of Candour’ on public servants and authorities. This requires registered professionals to act in a transparent way with people receiving care or treatment from them.
• Armed Forces Commissioner Bill – Strengthen support for members of the armed forces and their families through an Armed Forces Commissioner.
• House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill – Remove the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords.
• Northern Ireland Legacy Legislation
• Cyber Security and Resilience Bill
• Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill
• Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Bill

Sometimes, the government publishes Bills in draft form to allow for scrutiny before formal introduction into Parliament. There are four of these mentioned in the King’s speech:

• Draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill – Establish a new audit reporting and governance authority to oversee auditing.
• Draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill – Reform leaseholder rights and regulate grounds rights.
• Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill – legally guarantee the right to equal pay for minorities and people with disabilities. 
• Draft Conversion Practice Bill – A bill to ban conversion therapy.

King Charles’ speech outlined Labour’s legislative mission, including 40 Bills that focus on economic growth, clean energy, secure borders, health reforms, and breaking down barriers to opportunity. These Bills aim to strengthen the UK’s infrastructure and reflect a comprehensive and progressive plan for the nation’s future. Although we’re still in the early days of a Labour led Parliament, we’re excited to see which legislations officially go through and make a difference in the UK.