Keir Starmer has laid out long-promised changes to education, health and the courts in the king’s speech, which maps out the government’s agenda for the next year.
The speech delivered by King Charles cited bills to abolish NHS England, overhaul the provision of special educational needs teaching, limit trials by jury, introduce digital ID and end the leasehold system in England and Wales. It also included vehicles for closer alignment with the EU, and measures to boost the economy through the nationalisation of British Steel and pilot schemes to boost innovation in areas such as defence technology and AI-controlled ships.
So, what are some of the key areas that the government’s legislative agenda will focus on over the next 12 months?
Europe
Keir Starmer and his ministers have been talking with increasing emphasis in recent months about the damage done to the UK economy by Brexit and the need for a reset of relations with the EU. In the king’s speech we heard more about the European partnership bill, which will indeed contain the controversial powers to fast-track legislation to deliver a series of new agreements planned with the EU. The bill, which comes ahead of the next EU-UK summit this summer, will also “seek to improve relations with European partners as a vital step in strengthening European security”.
Economy
We already knew that Starmer was planning the full nationalisation of British Steel, but the steel industry (nationalisation) bill in the king’s speech has provided the legislative vehicle that will bring the steelmaker under formal government control, a year after it took over the daily running of the loss-making business from its Chinese owner. The regulating for growth bill will allow pilot schemes to boost innovation in areas such as defence technology and AI-controlled ships, while the competition reform bill will aim to speed up reviews by the competition regulator, and the small business protections (late payments) bill will increase penalty interest for companies that fail to pay suppliers on time.
Public services
The package in the king’s speech will bring in several bills aimed at repairing major problems, including long NHS waiting lists, extensive courts backlogs and the escalating costs of providing special educational needs support. The NHS modernisation bill will abolish the arm’s length body that runs NHS England, allow patient records to be viewed on the NHS app, and require “mayoral nominees” to sit on local health boards, while the draft conversion practices bill will finally deliver a promised ban on measures intended to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The education for all bill will enact the changes to special educational needs provision that the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, outlined earlier this year, with the government stating: “Every child deserves the chance to succeed to the best of his or her ability and not be held back due to poverty.”
The courts modernisation bill will introduce controversial plans to scale back the use of jury trials in England and Wales.
Housing
Starmer is promising two significant changes to housing in England and Wales after stating that it “can be a source of insecurity for many people”. These will include a bill to make it harder for people to buy their own council houses, and another to all but end the leasehold system. The commonhold and leasehold reform bill will introduce a ban on new flats being sold as leasehold properties and will cap ground rents at £250 a year. The housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, recently said the ban would not be enacted until after the next election, however.
The social housing renewal bill will exempt newly built social homes in England from the right to buy for 35 years and introduce new protections for social tenants who are victims of domestic abuse to stay in their property, while the remediation bill will require all landlords to remove unsafe cladding on buildings by the end of 2029, and give powers to make construction product manufacturers pay towards the removal.
Immigration
One bill that could trigger a backlash from Labour MPs is the immigration and asylum bill, which includes measures to make it harder for migrants to gain settled status in the UK, make it easier to revoke refugee status, and restrict taxpayer support for asylum seekers. These are at the heart of Shabana Mahmood’s immigration changes, but some Labour backbenchers accused the home secretary of mimicking Donald Trump, with 100 of them signing a letter arguing: “You don’t win back public confidence in the asylum system by threatening to forcibly remove refugees who have lived here lawfully for 15 or 20 years.”
Reacting to the announcement of the bill, Imran Hussain, the director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, said it risked “forcing many into destitution, keeping families separated and making it even harder for people to put down roots in the UK”.
What was missing?
After Labour backbenchers delivered a bruising blow to the government by opposing controversial changes to the benefits system, which resulted in a major U-turn, there was a chance that the government would try again. But while the speech promised ministers would “respond to the Milburn review and the Timms review and continue to reform the welfare system to support both young and disabled people to flourish in work”, it did not include a standalone bill. Ministers have said primary legislation would follow the reviews, with findings expected later this summer and autumn.
