The King’s Speech: Takeaways for business
King Charles III has delivered his second ever King’s Speech, laying out the new Labour government’s vision and legislative agenda over the coming months.
With it came a total of 39 bills which Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers hope to pass in the next parliamentary session.
“My government will be committed to uniting the country in our shared mission of national renewal,” said the PM.
“We will serve every person, regardless of how they voted, to fix the foundations of this nation for the long term.
“The era of politics as performance and self-interest above service is over.”
So, what does it all mean for business? Below are some key takeaways from the speech.
Property and Construction
The new government plans to put in place a Planning and Infrastructure Bill to streamline the process for approving critical infrastructure, allowing more homes to be built quicker. Rules on the compulsory purchase of land would also be reformed.
Alongside that comes a Renters’ Rights Bill, first introduced by Rishi Sunak’s government in 2023 but dropped after the election was called. The revived and revised bill would ban ‘no-fault’ evictions and extend to private renters the building safety rules currently afforded to social tenants.
A Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill has also been drafted, banning forfeiture – where leaseholders with unpaid debts may be forced to have their homes repossessed – and curbing ground rent for existing leaseholders. The new government hopes commonhold will become the default tenure.
Energy and Infrastructure
GB Energy is to be the country’s new state-owned energy company, coming as part of the Great British Energy Bill.
A National Wealth Fund Bill will see £7.3 billion invested over the next five years in energy infrastructure and green industry, while the Water (Special Measures) Bill aims to put more responsibility on the leadership of private water companies.
Transport
Labour plans to renationalise almost all passenger rail services as current contracts expire, overseen by the new state-owned body Great British Railways.
Meanwhile, the Better Buses Bill would give local leaders more say over the running of bus services in their regions.
Employment
An Employment Rights Billhas been tabledto ban ‘exploitative’ zero-hours contracts and ‘fire and rehire’ practices. Parental sick leave will be available from day 1 in a new job, and statutory sick pay will be strengthened.
The new government also plans to enact a Race Equality Bill, allowing ethnic minority employees and disabled people to make equal pay claims under the Equality Act and ushering in new pay reporting requirements for big companies.
Tax and Spending
Labour’s new Budget Responsibility Bill introduces a ‘fiscal lock’, ensuring that major tax or spending changes – such as those pushed through in the Liz Truss mini-budget of September 2022 – must be approved by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
A Pension Schemes Billwill also be brought in with new controls over private sector pension schemes.
Miscellaneous
The Skills England Bill looks to transfer power from IfATE, the quango responsible for shaping the country’s skills training, to the newly established Skills England. The body will ‘bring together businesses, providers, unions, mayoral combined authorities (MCAs) and national government to ensure we have the highly trained workforce that England needs’.
New rules will be set out to protect the country’s critical infrastructure as part of the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.
Deputy PM Angela Rayner has vowed to kickstart a ‘devolution revolution’ as Labour plans to put more power in the hands of locally elected mayors in combined council areas.
And finally, Rishi Sunak’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill will be brought back, banning anyone born after 1 January 2009 – those who are currently age 15 – from buying tobacco products.
