TALA COMMUNITY NEWS: QUEEN'S SPEECH 2022

BBC News 10 May 2022

Prince Charles stood in for the Queen, who missed the ceremony for the first time since 1963

Prince Charles has outlined the government's priorities for the year ahead, as he delivered the Queen's Speech.

He stood in for the Queen at the ceremony to officially reopen Parliament, after she dropped out due to health issues.

The speech highlighted some of the 38 laws that ministers intend to pass in the coming year.

This number includes some bills carried over from the previous session of Parliament, which ended last month.

It also includes a number of bills included in past Queen's Speeches. Here is a summary of the main points.

Levelling up and infrastructure

A Levelling up and Regeneration Bill will give councils new planning powers, including to force landlords in England to let out empty shops to rejuvenate high streets
A Harbours (Seafarers' Remuneration) Bill will give British ports powers to refuse ferry services that do not pay their crews the national minimum wage, after a row over P&O Ferries
A new state-run agency to regulate railway services across the UK, Great British Railways, will be established by a Transport Bill
Changes to business rates, the property tax paid by companies, will be introduced via a Non-Domestic Rating Bill
There will be new legislation to set up the UK Infrastructure Bank, a body designed to increase financing of infrastructure projects
New powers to build and operate the next stage of the HS2 high-speed rail line are contained in the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill

The Online Safety Bill is a mammoth piece of legislation to deliver a government pledge to better regulate content appearing on the internet
A new Media Bill will enable the planned privatisation of Channel 4, and allow Ofcom to regulate on-demand streaming services
A Data Reform Bill will replace EU rules on data protection
The Electronic Trade Documents Bill will enable greater digitisation of trade-related paperwork
The Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill will extend 5G mobile coverage and introduce new safety standards for digital devices
A draft Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill will aim to tackle fake consumer reviews and boost competition between social media firms

A Public Order Bill will introduce new police powers over disruptive protests, which were blocked by the House of Lords earlier this year
The National Security Bill will give new powers to the security services and overhaul the UK's laws protecting official secrets
A draft Victims' Bill will implement a long-promised pledge to create new rights for the victims of crime
Legal duties to consider the risk of terror attacks in public places will be created by a draft Protect Duty Bill

A Brexit Freedoms Bill will give ministers new powers to overhaul EU laws they copied over after the UK left the EU
A new Bill of Rights will deliver a longstanding Tory pledge to replace provisions in the Human Rights Act
The speech contains a reference to protecting the Good Friday Agreement, but did not mention specific legislation to give ministers new powers to rip up the Northern Ireland Protocol
However, the BBC understands a bill could be introduced at a later stage

A new Schools Bill will give the schools regulator powers to crack down on unregistered schools in England, and introduce attendance registers
The Higher Education Bill will deliver a pledge to make loans available to students at any stage in their lives
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill will place new legal duties on English universities to ensure free speech on campus
A Conversion Therapy Bill will ban conversion therapy for gay or bisexual people
It will not cover transgender people, with ministers concerned about unintended consequences for parents, teachers and therapists

An Energy Security Bill will contain new powers aimed at boosting renewable energy, and promote a market in electric heat pumps
An Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill will introduce new animal welfare standards and new powers to tackle puppy smuggling
However the long-mooted Animals Abroad Bill to implement a ban on importing hunting trophies is not included
The bill was previously due to include a ban on imports of fur and foie gras, but this plan faced cabinet opposition
The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill will relax the regulation of gene-edited crops

An Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill will beef up the investigatory powers of Companies House and aim to increase corporate transparency
The Procurement Bill will replace EU rules on how the government buys services from the private sector
The Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Bill will stop public bodies imposing their own boycotts on foreign countries
The government will aim to increase completion among auditors and improve financial reporting in a draft Audit Reform Bill
Ministers say a Financial Services and Markets Bill will aim to simplify EU rules governing the sector
A Modern Slavery Bill will force companies with an annual turnover of more than £36m to publish a statement every year on the steps they are taking to prevent modern slavery among their suppliers

A Social Housing Regulation Bill will increase regulation of the social housing sector and give tenants new rights to information
The Renters Reform Bill would deliver a Tory manifesto commitment to end so-called "no fault" evictions after tenancies end

A draft Mental Health Bill to overhaul the mental health system in England and Wales
A Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill will place restrictions on future prosecutions of British soldiers and give families new rights to information about Troubles-related deaths
A Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Bill will create powers to implement trade deals with those two countries
A Social Security Bill will aim to streamline the process for people claiming certain benefits towards the end of their lives
An Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill will provide official recognition in law to the Irish Language in Northern Ireland