Ten things to know from the King’s Speech

This year’s King’s Speech focuses on creating wealth in every corner of the country, and improving the living standards of working people.    

We’re bringing in more than 35 bills and draft bills to enable economic growth – including a Bill that enforces tough new spending rules.    

The package of bills will focus on growing the economy through speeding up the building of houses and infrastructure, improving transport, creating more jobs and securing clean, green energy – helping to make every part of the country better off.    

New laws will also help to create wealth in every community and hand power back to local leaders who know what is best for their areas.   

Here are ten things to know about our new programme of legislation, and what they mean for you.    

1) Kickstart economic growth  

We are making sure nobody can play fast and loose with public finances – and that we avoid chaos which leaves families with spiralling bills.    

A new Bill will strengthen the role of the Office of Budget Responsibility, meaning significant fiscal announcements must be properly scrutinised and that taxpayers’ money is respected.   

And we will introduce a Bill to ensure the National Wealth Fund will make transformational investments across the UK. 

2) Get Britain building    

We’ll get Britain building, through planning reform, as we speed up the delivery of high-quality housing and infrastructure.    

This will help provide more housing across the country and support sustained economic growth.   

We will also give more rights to people renting their homes, including putting an end to unfair no-fault evictions, and reforming grounds for possession.   

3) Make work pay   

Our Employment Rights Bill is a significant step towards delivering this Government’s plan to make work pay – the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation.  

We will ban exploitative zero-hours contracts, end fire and rehire, and introduce basic employment rights from day one.  

And through our changes to the Low Pay Commission, we’ll make sure the minimum wage is a genuine living wage. 

4) Hand back power to communities    

New legislation will help to create wealth in every community and hand power back to local leaders.   

We’ll introduce a Bill to move power out of Westminster and back to those who know their areas best – giving local leaders the tools they need to drive growth.   

New laws will give more powers to metro mayors and combined authorities, helping support local plans that bring wealth to communities.    

5) Provide better transport    

We’ll put our rail system back on track with new laws to deliver for passengers.     

New laws will improve the railways by reforming rail franchising, establishing Great British Railways and bringing train operators into public ownership.   

And we’ll introduce a Bill to allow local leaders to take control of their bus services.   

6) Make Britain a clean energy superpower  

We’re committed to making Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030 – helping lower household bills for good over time.    

A new Bill will help set up Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean-power company that will help boost energy security, create jobs and build supply chains in every corner of the UK.   

We’ll also introduce legislation that helps unlock investment in energy infrastructure, supports sustainable aviation fuel production and strengthens the water regulator’s powers.    

7) Strengthen our border  

The government will strengthen the border with a new Bill that modernises the asylum and immigration system, including launching a new Border Security Command.    

The command will deploy more police and investigators to smash the criminal smuggling gangs, tackling the problem at source. The Bill will give law enforcement new enhanced counter-terror style powers to destroy the evil business model of human trafficking.   

8) Take back our streets  

We’ll introduce laws to strengthen community policing, giving the police greater powers to deal with anti-social behaviour and strengthen support for victims.    

New laws will improve the safety and security of public venues and help keep the public safe from terrorism, and we will bring forward plans to halve violence against women and girls.   

9) Break down barriers to opportunity  

We’ll take action to raise educational standards and break down barriers to opportunity.  This includes measures to help people back into employment after the pandemic and a Bill to raise standards in education and promote children’s wellbeing.    

We’ll end tax breaks for private schools – funding 6,500 new teachers – and set up Skills England to make sure we have the highly trained workforce that England needs.    

Our plan also includes reforming the apprenticeship levy and setting out work on legislation to enshrine the full right to equal pay in law.   

And we’ll launch an independent football regulator to ensure greater sustainability in the game and stronger protections for fans.   

10) Improve the NHS   

Our government will take steps to improve the National Health Service for everyone – including reducing waiting times and focusing on prevention.   

We’ll improve mental health provision for young people and make sure it’s given the same attention and focus as physical health and we will modernise the Mental Health Act, so it is fit for the twenty first century, ensuring all patients are treated with dignity and respect.   

Our plan includes introducing legislation to help stop young people smoking and vaping, and to restrict advertising junk food to children, along with the sale of high caffeine energy drinks to children.   

To read the full King’s Speech click here.