Border security and renters’ rights play key role in Prime Minister’s plan for Government, but Lords retirement age absent from list
Source - Daily Telegraph
Here is everything included in the King’s Speech, along with some notable exceptions.
Border security
A Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill gives Sir Keir’s Border Security Command powers to use counter-terrorism-style powers to investigate and smash the people-smuggling gangs.
Tougher penalties will be introduced for advertising people-smuggling services and supplying materials to organised crime gangs, such as boats, motors and safety belts.
The King’s Speech confirms the new command will be funded by scrapping the Rwanda deportation scheme, which will save £100 million in future payments and “tens of millions of pounds” that would have been paid for relocated migrants.
It also pledges to clear the backlog of asylum claims including some 90,000 migrants who would have been sent to Rwanda and end the use of hotels to house them.
Equality
An Equality Bill will put race on the same footing as sex in equal pay claims to “create a more equal society and support a growing economy”.
Under the reforms, ethnic minorities and disabled people will have a “full right to equal pay” enshrined in law, bringing their legal protections on par with those of women.
In Labour’s view, this would make it “much easier” for people from minority groups to bring a claim against their employer because they would no longer have to prove “direct discrimination”.
Renters’ rights
A Renters’ Rights Bill will abolish Section 21 “no-fault evictions” and empower tenants to challenge rent increases “designed to force them out by the back door”.
It will also crack down “bidding wars” driving up prices for renters and give tenants the right to request a pet, which landlords cannot “unreasonably refuse”.
Awaab’s Law, which forces social landlords to repair mouldy homes, will be extended to the private rented sector, along with a “decent homes standard” to ensure properties are “secure and hazard free”.
The Bill will also make it illegal for landlords to discriminate against tenants receiving benefits or those with children, and will support “quicker, cheaper” resolutions when there are disputes, while giving councils new investigating powers to fine “bad actors”.
Meanwhile, it will create a “digital private rented sector database” to bring together key information for landlords, tenants, and councils.
Crime and policing
Respect orders – a revamped form of Asbos – will give police powers to place restrictions on adults to tackle anti-social behaviour. Breaching the orders would be a crime, punishable by imprisonment and/or a fine.
The new Crime and Policing Bill will give police new powers to quickly scrap noisy dirt and quad bikes causing havoc in neighbourhoods. An extra 13,000 neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs will be deployed as part of the crime crackdown.
The Bill will also make assaulting a shop worker a specific offence and scrap the £200 limit on the amount of goods stolen so police are required to investigate such “low-level” thefts.
It will also close loopholes which allow the sale of ninja swords and samurai swords, the type of weapon used to kill 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin in London earlier this year. Tech firm executives will face up to two years in jail if banned zombie knives and machetes are sold on their platforms under the new law.
A Terrorism Bill will introduce Martyn’s Law, under which premises will be required to take preventative measures to mitigate against a terror attack. It is named after Martyn Hett, one of 22 victims of the Manchester Arena attack in 2017.
A Victims’ Bill will give courts powers to force convicted offenders to attend their sentencing hearings, while there will be restrictions on the ability of sex offenders to change their names.
Education
A Children’s Wellbeing Bill will deliver on Labour’s manifesto pledges to introduce free breakfast clubs in every primary school and limit the number of branded uniform items that schools can require in a bid to cut costs for parents.
Academies will be required to teach the national curriculum, bringing them in line with maintained schools.
All teachers entering the classroom will be required to hold, or be working towards, Qualified Teacher Status, while support staff will be given a “national voice” when it comes to setting their pay and conditions.
Elsewhere, the Bill will give Ofsted stronger powers to investigate unregistered independent schools and require all schools to work with councils on admissions and special needs.
It will also strengthen safeguarding provisions and force local authorities to keep a register of children not attending school.
Separately, Labour will establish Skills England, a body convening employers, unions, education and training providers to develop a “single picture” of Britain’s skills needs.
Planning
A Planning and Infrastructure Bill will speed up the planning process to help build 1.5 million homes by 2029.
It will reform compulsory purchase rules to ensure that money paid to landowners is fair but not excessive.
Town hall planning committees will be modernised, and planning authorities will be given extra capacity to provide quick decisions.
The way critical infrastructure is approved will also be streamlined, allowing upgrades to the National Grid and onshore wind turbines.
Workers’ rights
An Employment Rights Bill will increase the minimum wage, taking account the cost of living and removing discriminatory age bands.
It will ban exploitative zero-hour contracts, ensuring that workers have a right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work.
The Bill will end the practice known as “fire and rehire”, where people lose work-based benefits.
It will extend flexible working, making it the default from day one in employment that firms must seek to accommodate people’s requests.
Tory trade union legislation since 2010 will be repealed and benefits such as parental leave and sick pay will be available from day one on the job.
It will bring in a new “fair pay agreement” for the adult social care sector.
Transport
A Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill will bring rail companies back into public ownership when their contracts expire, or if they fail their customers. There will be no compensation.
A Railways Bill will set up a new body, Great British Railways, to manage the rail network and bring in a simpler ticket system and automatic compensation for delays.
A High Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester) Bill will provide powers to improve train lines in the north of England. It will not reverse Rishi Sunak’s decision to cancel the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2.
A Better Buses Bill will allow councils to launch publicly owned bus companies and give operators greater responsibilities to provide routes in certain areas.
Economy
A Budget Responsibility Bill will introduce a “fiscal lock” to ensure that all future Budgets must be subject to an independent assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility. This is designed to avoid the mistakes of the disastrous Liz Truss “mini Budget”.
A National Wealth Fund Bill will establish a £7.3 billion fund to invest in projects across the country which can deliver growth. It will incorporate the British Business Bank and the UK Infrastructure Bank.
A Bank Resolution (Recapitalisation) Bill will make it easier for the Bank of England to help small banks and expand the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Companies
An Arbitration Bill will support more efficient dispute resolution between firms. The hope is that it will attract more international legal business.
A Product Safety and Metrology Bill will support businesses by reforming the way products are regulated, with a particular focus on the opportunities of Artificial Intelligence and the dangers of e-bikes.
A draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill will set up a new register to ensure businesses report their financial position truthfully.
Pensions
A Pension Schemes Bill will increase the amount that people who pay into private pensions can draw on in retirement.
It will prevent people from losing track of their pension pots from different companies they have worked for by consolidating them into one.
Trust-based defined contribution schemes will have to demonstrate they deliver value for money. People with terminal illnesses will be able to receive money at an earlier stage.
Football
A Football Governance Bill will introduce an independent football regulator to ensure the financial stability of clubs across England, a plan initially proposed by the Tories but shelved after Mr Sunak called the general election.
Under the reforms, professional clubs will need to have a licence to operate. They will also need to seek permission from fans to change their home shirt colours and get the watchdog’s approval to sell their stadium or relocate.
Meanwhile, the legislation will bar clubs from joining closed-shop, breakaway or unlicensed leagues following the row over proposals to form a European “Super League”.
Health
The new Government will resurrect Mr Sunak’s flagship smoking ban, barring anyone born after 2009 from buying cigarettes.
The legislation had cross-party support, but ran out of time at the end of the last parliament.
Labour’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill will introduce a “progressive smoking ban” to gradually end the sale of tobacco products across the country.
It will also crack down on vapes marketed to children and give ministers new powers to regulate flavours and packaging to “help stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine”.
Conversion therapy
Labour is pushing ahead with its plans to ban conversion therapy despite fears that outlawing the practice, which attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, would risk criminalising parents who try to help children who think they are trans.
Currently in draft form, the Conversion Practices Bill proposes a “fully trans-inclusive” ban on actions not covered by existing legislation.
A briefing on the Bill states that it must not outlaw “legitimate psychological support, treatment, or non-directive counselling”.
“It must also respect the important role that teachers, religious leaders, parents and carers can have in supporting those exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity,” it adds.
Palestine
The King declared in his speech that Labour is “committed to a two-state solution” in the Middle East “with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state”.
“My Government will play its part in trying to secure long-term peace and security in the Middle East,” he said.
Sir Keir has previously said that recognising Palestine needs to be “part of the process” of securing peace in the region, and suggested he would be willing to take the step before the US or Israel.
Private schools
Labour’s plan to impose VAT on private school fees also featured in the King’s Speech, despite not being tied to a specific Bill.
The move, which will be included in the next Budget, will be a key part of the Government’s agenda for the coming year.
Turning to education, King Charles said: “My ministers will seek to raise educational standards and break down barriers to opportunity.
“Action will be taken to get people back in employment following the impact of the pandemic. A Bill will be introduced to raise standards in education and promote children’s wellbeing.
“Measures will be brought forward to remove the exemption from Value Added Tax for private school fees, which will enable the funding of six and a half thousand new teachers.”
Lords, young voters and the two-child benefit cap: everything Starmer left out
While the King’s Speech does deliver on Labour’s pledge to strip hereditary peers of their seats, there is no mention of its commitment to force members to retire at 80.
The latter measure had attracted criticism from Labour peers, who labelled it “ageist”.
A briefing on the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill says it will be a “short and narrowly focused” piece of legislation to “bring about modernisation by removing the right of the remaining hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords”.
There is no mention of Labour’s second manifesto commitment to “introduce a mandatory retirement age”, meaning that “at the end of the Parliament in which a member reaches 80 years of age, they will be required to retire from the House of Lords”.
Votes at 16
Labour’s pledge to lower the voting age to 16 does not feature at all in the speech. It is understood that it will not be enacted in this parliamentary session.
The policy was set out in the party’s manifesto, which said: “We will increase the engagement of young people in our vibrant democracy, by giving 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all elections.”
Two-child benefit cap
Despite coming under pressure from campaigners, Sir Keir has stood firm on his refusal to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
He now faces a potential backbench revolt, with Kim Johnson, the Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, pledging to lay an amendment to the King’s Speech to enact the change.
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