Our Top Takeaways from The King’s Speech 2024
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Greater focus on Environmental, Social and Governance issues. Building the foundations of a new Great Britain. Greater protection against Terrorism. Leverets breaks down the top takeaways from the King’s speech, as our new Labour Government sets out its vision for the country and the legislation aimed at delivering change for all.
Uniting the country in a shared mission of national renewal
This was the pledge made by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during the State Opening of Parliament this week.
Key to his vision for change is a slate of new bills – 39 in fact – each brought to the table with a mandate to alter the direction of the lives of every individual and business across the country. So, what are the key changes our clients need to know about?
Here are our Top 5 takeaways:
A new Planning and Infrastructure Bill was introduced. It aims to accelerate the development of infrastructure and the construction of 1.5 million new homes, by streamlining the planning system and ensuring a faster and more efficient approval process for major projects, as well as reinstating compulsory housebuilding targets for local councils.
There is, however, some concern that this legislation could compromise green belt areas, fail to consider community concerns and wider necessary infrastructure needs, and override local council decision making, thereby hindering the devolution pledge made in the Labour manifesto.
Countering these concerns, the Bill will make improvements to planning systems at local level and increase local planning authorities’ capacity through the modernisation of planning committees. It will also enable National Policy Statements (NPSs), reviewed and updated every five years to increase certainty for both developers and communities alike, and include a nature recovery fund.
Leverets recently expressed concern about the role, or lack of, that social and ethical performance will play in the next parliament.
We were pleased therefore to see green issues featuring highly in the new legislative programme, including planned reforms such as the formation of a new national green energy company, a crackdown on the appalling behaviour of water companies, and planned improvement to the public transport network. Importantly, the speech also included plans to strengthen audit and corporate governance rules, which could potentially require large-listed companies and investors to produce net zero transition plans.
There will also be a new Employment Rights Bill to ban exploitative practices and enhance employment rights. Whilst like changes to planning laws, this broad and rapid change of approach is welcomed, businesses have responded with concerns that the government will rush reforms to the labour market and do more harm to workers than good. Certainly, a consultative and collaborative approach would be advisable here to ensure the Bill’s success for both employees and employers alike.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, otherwise known as Martyn’s law or the Protect Duty, was outlined in the Speech. It includes a range of measures aimed at protecting the public from terrorist attacks at live events and venues, and the establishment of a regulator with the power to inspect and enforce the requirements and hand out sanctions and penalties for non-compliance.
As we highlighted in recent blog post, the reforms must be proportionate and workable, striking the right balance between proportional public protection measures and undue burden on businesses. Read our previous blog post for an in-depth analysis of the issues at play.
The Renters (Reform) Bill was one of those lost in the legislation “washup” following the dissolution of parliament ahead of the General Election. We were therefore delighted to see Labour bring it back, and importantly include the scrapping of Section 21 “no fault” eviction notices – the controversial power allowing landlords to evict tenants from their properties at two months’ notice without needing to give any reason. Labour is also expected to strengthen the existing bill by empowering tenants to challenge “unreasonable” rent increases.
For more background on The Renters (Reform) Bill, take a read of our blog.
Notable by its absence was the lack of an AI Bill, something the previous Conservative Government had prioritised. This raises concerns that the government could be left playing legislative catch-up, given the pace of AI development.
The speech did however include a Digital information and Smart Data Bill, intended to enable new, innovative uses of data to help boost the economy. As well as a Cybersecurity and Resilience Bill, giving enhanced power to regulators when enforcing better cybersecurity defences within companies, and increasing the reporting requirements placed upon businesses to build up a picture of cyber threats.
If you would like more information on any of these legislative changes and how they might affect your business, contact a member of Leverets’ expert team today.