The Queen has outlined the government's policies and proposed legislative programme for the year ahead, as she officially reopened Parliament.
In speech in the House of Lords, Her Majesty highlighted the laws that the government intend to pass in the coming year.
In his foreword the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson MP said -
'We must harness the ingenuity and resolve that has been revealed in the struggle against COVID-19, and use it to create a stronger, healthier and more prosperous nation.
We have been given an historic opportunity to change things for the better, level up opportunities across the whole of the United Kingdom and address the problems that have constrained us far too often before.'
The Speech sets out how we will beat COVID-19 and back the NHS:
- We will continue our lifesaving Vaccine Programme - the biggest in NHS history - and plan for a potential booster campaign.
- Prioritising recovery in NHS services to bring down waiting times and deliver the care that people need. On top of record investment, we have increased funding for frontline health services through the pandemic, already committing an additional £63 billion last year (£18 billion for the NHS) and £29 billion (£9.6 billion for the NHS) this year, ahead of any Spending Review settlement later this year.
- Introducing the Health and Care Bill, which will lay the foundations for a more integrated and efficient health and care system. The Bill will enable staff to focus on delivering the best possible treatment and care for their patients and giving the NHS and local authorities the tools to level up health and care across England so people can live healthier, longer and more independent lives.
- Bringing forward proposals for adult social care reform in 2021, to ensure that every person receives care that provides the dignity and security they deserve.
- Continuing work to improve the health and wellbeing of the nation, including tackling obesity, making healthier choices easier and more affordable for everyone and giving treatment support through GPs to those who need it. We will address the significant and wide-ranging harms caused by the misuse of drugs and increase investment in treatment and recovery support.
- Addressing the impact of the pandemic on mental health and wellbeing, and we will continue work to reform the Mental Health Act, giving people greater control over their treatment and ensuring dignity and respect.
The Government will build back better, with a variety of measures for jobs and economic recovery:
- A Levelling Up White Paper will set out bold new policy interventions to improve livelihoods and opportunity in all parts of the UK as we recover from the pandemic.
- A Skills and Post-16 Education Bill will transform access to skills across the country to ensure that people can train and retrain at any stage in their lives, supporting them to move into higher quality, higher skilled jobs and equipping the workforce with the skills employers need.
- A Planning Bill will introduce changes to the planning system in England, including a new zoning system.
- The Advanced Research and Invention Agency Bill will create a new UK agency to search for ground-breaking scientific discoveries.
- A Subsidy Control Bill will set out post-Brexit regulations on how the government can support private companies, now the UK has left the EU's state aid regime.
- The Procurement Bill will replace EU rules on how the government buys services from the private sector
- A new system for regulating the safety of high-rise buildings and inspecting construction sites, will be set out in the Building Safety Bill.
- The National Insurance Contributions Bill will provide a relief for employers of veterans, for employers in Freeports, and for the self-employed who receive NHS Test and Trace Payments.
The Speech reaffirms our commitment to building a cleaner and greener UK:
- We will continue to lead the way globally in acting on climate change, hosting the vital COP26 climate negotiations in November. Our sector strategies and comprehensive Net Zero Strategy will transition the UK to a net zero economy by 2050.
- The Environment Bill will set legally binding targets, restore nature and 15 biodiversity, tackle air pollution, establish an independent Office for Environmental Protection, cut plastic use and revolutionise how we recycle.
- Taking the opportunities presented by having left the EU, we will demonstrate our world-leading commitment to the highest standards of animal welfare by delivering important animal welfare and conservation improvements including microchipping, while promoting our values to our trading partners through the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, Kept Animals Bill, Animals Abroad Bill.
To protect the United Kingdom and its citizens, the Speech sets out how the Government will build back safer:
- The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will ensure we can cut crime, support our police and build confidence in our criminal justice system by reforming bail, and modernising court processes.
- There will be a refreshed Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy to better protect women and improve outcomes for rape cases.
- The New Plan for Immigration legislation will better protect and support those in genuine need of asylum, deter illegal entry into the UK, break the business model of criminal trafficking networks and protect the lives of those they endanger, and enable us to remove more easily from the UK those with no right to be here.
- A draft Online Safety Bill will require tech giants to tackle harmful and illegal content online.
- A Counter-State Threats Bill will introduce new registration requirements for foreign agents and rules for protecting state secrets
- The Telecommunications (Security) Bill will place new legal duties on telecoms firms to increase network security, and restrict the use of 'high risk' technology.
- A draft Victims Bill will create new rights for the victims of crime, including new standards on support offered to sexual and domestic victims.
The Queen’s Speech sets out how we will strengthen the Union and the constitution and continue to promote Global Britain:
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We will protect and promote the strengths of the United Kingdom, building on hundreds of years of partnership as the most successful political and economic union in history
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The Electoral Integrity Bill will place the participation of British citizens at the heart of our democracy and maintain confidence in the electoral process.
- The Higher Education (Free Speech) Bill will strengthen freedom of speech and academic freedom in higher education in England.
- A Judicial Review Bill will protect the judiciary from being drawn into political questions and preserve the integrity of Judicial Review for its intended purpose.
- The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill will repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, reinstating the constitutional principle that the Government of the day has the confidence of Parliament and is able to seek a fresh democratic mandate when it is needed.
- The Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill will strengthen Northern Ireland’s institutions, making them more sustainable and resilient.
- We will introduce legislation to address the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland that delivers better outcomes for victims and survivors, focuses on information recovery and reconciliation, and ends the cycle of investigations - in line with our commitment to veterans.
- Government support for veterans will be outlined in an Armed Forces Bill, putting the Armed Forces Covenant into law.
- The speech also said that the government would be introducing measures to reduce racial disparities following the recent publication of the 'Race Report'.
More details on all the bills can be found here.
