Intelex queens speech 2016 summary

Queen’s Speech 2016
Summary and Analysis

Contents
Analysis – One year into a Conservative Majority- What next?....................................................3
Legislation.............................................................................................................................................4
Better Markets Bill...............................................................................................................................4
Bill of Rights..........................................................................................................................................4
Bus Services Bill ...................................................................................................................................5
Children and Social Work Bill ............................................................................................................5
Education for All Bill ...........................................................................................................................7
Higher Education and Research Bill .................................................................................................8
Investigatory Powers Bill ....................................................................................................................9
Lifetime Savings Bill ............................................................................................................................9
Local Growth and Jobs Bill ..............................................................................................................10
Wales Bill ..........................................................................................................................................10
Modern Transport Bill.......................................................................................................................11
National Citizen Service Bill .............................................................................................................11
Neighbourhood Planning and Infrastructure Bill .........................................................................11
NHS (Overseas Visitors Charging) Bill ...........................................................................................12
Pensions Bill........................................................................................................................................12
Policing and Crime Bill......................................................................................................................13
Prisons and Courts Reform Bill........................................................................................................13
Small Charitable Donations Bill.......................................................................................................14
Soft Drinks Industry Levy.................................................................................................................14
Non-legislative briefs.........................................................................................................................15
Constitutional Affairs ........................................................................................................................15
Home Building....................................................................................................................................15
International Development Spending.............................................................................................15
Life Chances Strategy ........................................................................................................................15
National Security................................................................................................................................15
Northern Powerhouse........................................................................................................................16
Seven Day NHS...................................................................................................................................16

Analysis
It might be thought cruel to require a 90-year-old lady to make the journey to Westminster to
announce such a thin government programme. This year's Queen’s Speech had an end of parliament
air about it. No horses were to be frightened on right or left as the government seeks to avoid trouble
six weeks before the EU referendum.
The whole event may have been better postponed. A few months ago, the Prime Minister had
decided to move the Queen’s Speech until after the referendum. That would have allowed the
government to announce its new forward-looking programme after a Cabinet reshuffle and free from
the distractions and divisions of the campaign. However other ministers felt that voters would be
unimpressed with government focusing entirely on the referendum and not getting on with their day
jobs of governing the country. Hence the Queen’s Speech was restored to its original timetable but
devoid of much substantial content.
To be fair, some important and likely controversial proposals did survive. The prison and courts
reform bill for example with a new emphasis on training, rehabilitation and education, will not be
popular with the Tory right or the tabloid press. It is an example of genuine liberal reform championed
by chief Brexiter Michael Gove and supported by remain leader David Cameron. The Home Office
has a number of difficult bills including counter-extremism, criminal finances and investigatory powers
(the so-called snoopers’ charter) carried over from the last session.
The Digital Economy Bill provides for a legal right to a fast broadband connection through a new
broadband universal service obligation. It will be easier to build mobile phone masts and there will be
a right to automatic compensation when broadband service goes down. A Modern Transport Bill,
meanwhile, underlines the government’s determination to make Britain a world leader in the fields of
driverless cars, drones and even commercial spaceflight.
There are also useful tidying up proposals on pensions, intellectual property and provisions to make it
easier for customers to switch banks, broadband and energy providers. In keeping with the Prime
Minister’s focus on “life chances” the speech contained a Higher Education Bill which aims to
encourage new providers to enter the sector and to widen participation, especially among
disadvantaged groups. Controversially, particularly for the business community, a Local Growth and
Jobs Bill devolves business rates to local councils. The new mayors of combined authorities will also
have scope to levy additional business rates to support infrastructure.
The politics of the Queen's Speech cannot be seen outside the framework of the referendum
campaign. The Conservative right had already inflicted damage on a number of government
proposals including the forced conversion of all schools in England to academies which resulted in a
watering down of the proposals. The immediate reaction of pro-Leave Conservatives today was
criticism of the absence of a Sovereignty Bill to assert the supremacy of parliament over European
law, which the Prime Minister had promised earlier in the year. This will cause him difficulties amongst
an already-disgruntled group of people. It is difficult to understate the unpopularity of the Prime
Minister among his more ardent Brexiter MPs. Their hostility to legislation which they do not like will
be more aggressive, particularly if the referendum results in a majority for Remain.
After June 23, if there is a Remain decision – and the polls seem to be pointing more strongly to a
Remain lead – the Prime Minister's priority will be to stitch back together the Conservative coalition.
That will make any future reshuffle tricky to handle. It will be an uphill task but the ability of even this
light legislative programme to succeed will depend on his skills in reconciling the bitterly divided
factions of his party.

Legislation
Better Markets Bill
The purpose of the Bill is to open up markets, boost competition, give consumers more power and
choice and make economic regulators work better. The main benefits of the Bill will be to give
consumers more power and choice through faster switching, and more protection when things go
wrong. It will simplify the way economic regulators operate to make things more straightforward for
business and cut red tape, speeding up decisions from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
to benefit both businesses and consumers; and it will seek to help deliver the manifesto commitment
to increase competition and consumer choice in the energy market .
The main elements of the Bill are set to be announced in due course, but are expected to feature
measures to:
 Encourage consumers to switch providers and get a better deal.
 Speed up the decision making process for competition investigations, to give the competition
authorities more powers to take on anti-competitive behaviour.
 Improve the landscape for economic regulation.
 Take steps to ensure open and competitive markets, including delivering the manifesto
commitment to act quickly on the Competition and Market Authority’s final recommendations
to promote competition in the energy market.
 Help businesses by simplifying regulatory processes and removing unnecessary
requirements.
This Bill suggests the Government will keep seek to continue to drive competition in a range of
markets, in particular the energy market. The Government has also stated that it wants to ‘Simplify the
way economic regulators operate to make things more straightforward for business and cut red tape’
indicating that there may be further changes for the FCA and the PRC. It also dovetails with the
Government’s agenda to reduce red tape and burdensome regulations on businesses.
Bill of Rights
This Bill is part of the Government’s overall strategy to strengthen national security. The specific
purpose of the Bill is to reform the UK human rights framework. The main benefits of the Bill will be to
continue protecting fundamental human rights. It would also protect against abuse of the system and
misuse of human rights laws and would restore common sense to human rights applications.
The main elements of the Bill are that:
 These rights would be based on those set out in the European Convention on Human Rights,
while also taking into account the UKs common law tradition.
 The Government will consult fully on the proposals when they are published in due course.
The Bill of Rights has already proven to be a particularly controversial piece of legislation. Jeremy
Corbyn has stated Labour’s opposition to withdrawing from the European Court of Human Rights and
the SNP have stated their opposition as the ECHR underpins the devolved institutions in Scotland.
The Government will face fierce opposition in trying to implement this Bill.

Bus Services Bill
This Bill proposes the devolution of powers over bus services to elected mayors and local transport
authorities, so as to improve service for the user. It would spread the London franchising model to
other cities. This Bill would apply only to England as transport is devolved to the other nations.
The main elements of the Bill are expected to feature:
 Local authorities would gain power to set standards, e.g. on ticketing and frequency.
 Powers over franchising granted to directly elected mayors, and to other local authorities on a
case-by-case basis.
 Making data accessible to app developers to promote better information for customers,
including in real time.
This Bill is an effort to introduce a more flexible and responsive bus service market, and to promote
competition; the accompanying information notes that at present, bus services are largely operated by
a few providers and rarely in direct competition with one another. By devolving decisions the
Government will hope to see a liberalisation in bus services.
Children and Social Work Bill
This Bill will facilitate faster adoptions for children in care and also aims to raise standards in the
social work sector. It seeks to ensure children going through the care system have the best possible
life chances, including by increasing the number of children placed into adoption. It will largely apply
only to England, though some aspects will affect Wales.
The main elements of the Bill are expected to include measures to:
 Alter the considerations that courts must give in favour of permanent adoption where that is in
the child’s best interests.
 Creating a specialist regulator for the social work profession.
 Create a ‘Care Leavers Covenant’, based on statutory obligations, to ensure local authorities
set out the rights of care leavers, e.g. on housing, jobs, access to a Personal Adviser and
healthcare.
This Bill is a clear effort to emphasise the ‘one nation’ Conservativism by David Cameron, perhaps
with one eye on ensuring his successor is anchored in the centre ground.
Counter-Extremism and Safeguarding Bill
The Bill will provide stronger powers to disrupt extremists and protect the public. The Bill will include
measures to enable the Government and law enforcement agencies protect the public against
dangerous extremists and make use of a new full range of powers.
The main elements of the clauses are:
 The introduction of a new civil order regime to restrict extremist activity, following consultation.
 Safeguarding children from extremist adults, ‘taking powers to intervene in intensive
unregulated education settings which teach hate and drive communities apart’.
 Closing loopholes so that Ofcom can continue to ‘protect consumers who watch internet-
streamed television content from outside the EU’.

 A consultation will be launched on powers to enable Government to intervene
where councils fail to tackle extremism.
The Bill has been the subject of much controversy recently, with the Department for Education (DfE)
having a huge role to play in tackling extremism in schools. Further legislative measures will also be
considered following Louise Casey’s review into integration in communities ‘most separated from the
mainstream’.
Criminal Finances Bill
This Bill will help the Government ‘recoup’ criminal assets and deliver its pledge to tackle tax evasion
and economic crime. Specifically, it will reform law on proceeds of crime, and will include provisions to
strengthen enforcement powers and protect the public. It will aim to implement a regime to facilitate
the reporting of suspicious financial activity and make it easily to get control of illegal funds, whilst
helping improve coordination between the public and private sector to deal with illegal financial
activity.
The Bill will include measures to:
 Introduce a criminal offence for corporations who fail to stop their staff facilitating tax evasion.
 Improve the operation of the Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) regime to encourage better
use of public and private sector resources against the highest threats and to target entities
that carry out money laundering instead of individual transactions; and to provide the National
Crime Agency (NCA) with new powers.
 Improve the ability of law enforcement agencies and courts to recover criminal assets more
effectively, particularly in cases such as those linked to grand corruption.
This Bill suggests the Government is taking action to address tax evasion, corruption and other forms
of financial crime. This is a particularly topical issue following the release and subsequent backlash
from the Panama Papers and should resonate with the public.
Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill
This Bill will enable the UK to accede to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property
in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols, and allow the UK to better protect cultural
property in times of armed conflict.
The main elements of the Bill are to:
 Introduce offences designed to protect cultural property in the event of an armed conflict at
home and abroad, including an offence of making such property the object of attack.
 Introduce the Blue Shield as an emblem that signifies cultural property protected under the
Convention and its two Protocols.
 Introduce an offence of dealing in cultural property that has been illegally exported from
occupied territory and a provision for such property to be seized and returned to the occupied
territory after the close of hostilities, where appropriate.
 Introduce immunity from seizure for cultural property in the UK which is being transported for
safekeeping during a conflict between two or more other states.

This Bill has been a long time coming onto the Government’s legislative programme, having
been first suggested in draft in 2008. The Government have remained committed to ratifying
the Convention and the Protocols but had been unable to find parliamentary time for the
legislation. When passed, the UK would be the first permanent member of the UN Security Council to
ratify both the Convention and its two Protocols.
Draft Law of Property Bill
The Government will bring forward proposals to respond to the recommendations of the Law
Commission’s report on ‘Making land work: easements, covenants and profits á prendre (2011)’ to
simplify the law around land ownership.
Education for All Bill
This Bill will give powers to convert under-performing schools in ‘unviable’ local authorities to
academies. The purpose of the Bill is to make all schools academies but it will not force them to do
so. The Bill will also deliver plans which will be set out in the forthcoming Skills Plan, which intends to
reform technical education.
The main elements of the Bill are:
 To move towards a system where every school is an academy through powers to convert
schools to academies in under-performing and unviable local authorities.
 To make the process of becoming an academy swifter for schools and local authorities.
 To move towards a more schools-led system, shifting the responsibility for school
improvement from Local Authorities to Head Teachers and others in the school system.
 To redress ‘historic unfairness’ in school funding through a National Funding Formula to
allocate funding more fairly.
 To make schools responsible for finding the right provider for excluded pupils, and make them
accountable for their education.
This Bill demonstrates the departure from the Government’s initial controversial plan to force all
schools to become academies. As education is a devolved matter, the majority of the substantive
issues in the Bill will apply to England only.
Digital Economy Bill
The Bill will make the UK a ‘world leader in digital provision’, describing the UK as a place where
Technology ‘ceaselessly transforms the economy, society and Government’. The main benefits of the
Bill are to enable the building of a ‘world-class’ digital infrastructure, supporting digital industries,
strengthen the protections for citizens in the digital world and reform the way Government uses data
to deliver public services.
 A pledge to fast broadband, which will be delivered via a universal service obligation (USO)
and a new Electronic Communications Code, simplifying regulations on infrastructure.
 More powers to be given to consumers, with Ofcom being able to order communications
providers to release data in the interests of the consumer and competition, helping consumers
to make informed choices.

 Intellectual property to be protected by addressing the difference in online/offline
copyright laws and enabling registered design owners to give notice of their rights
more cheaply and flexibly.
 The use of Government data to be reformed to deliver better public services, combat sector
fraud and help those in debt.
 Greater protection for citizens in the digital economy, such as a protection from spam emails
and children from online pornography.
The Bill builds on the Government’s recent work to extend broadband to 95 per cent of the country,
with the Prime Minister promising the introduction of a USO several months ago. Greater protection
for consumers within a digital economy is an aspect which has seen great parliamentary pressure to
be introduced, with many MPs raising the issue of child pornography online in recent months, and the
Home Secretary being very critical of nuisance calls.
Higher Education and Research Bill
The purpose of this Bill is to deliver greater competition in the Higher Education sector and make it
easier for new universities to be set up. It will also seek to maximise the Government’s investment of
over £6 billion a year in research and innovation.
 To make it easier and quicker for new high quality providers to start up and achieve degree
awarding powers and secure university status.
 To ensure rigorous tests for providers that want to enter the Higher Education system and
enable their students to receive funding.
 The new Teaching Excellence Framework (which the Government are consulting on).
 To increase transparency, requiring universities to publish detailed information about
application, offer and progression rates, broken down by ethnicity, gender, and socio-
economic background.
This Bill demonstrates the Conservative Government’s attempt to increase competition in the Higher
Education sector, as well as showing attempts to meet their targets to widen participation in the
university sector.
High Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Bill
This bill has been carried over from the last session. Its purpose is to provide the Government with
legal powers to construct and operate Phase One of High Speed 2 (HS2). On becoming an Act, it will
provide the Government deemed planning permission for the railway between London and the West
Midlands. This will deliver on the Government’s manifesto commitment to build HS2.
The cross-party support for HS2 means it is likely this bill will continue to pass through Parliament.
The Bill is currently at the Committee stage in the House of Lords and it is expected it will receive
considerable scrutiny, having been met with opposition from interested parties affected by the
construction of the project.
Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Bill

The purpose of this Bill is to reform the law of unjustified threats of infringement proceedings
for patents, trademarks and design rights and deliver the Law Commission’s detailed
recommendations for reform.
 To make a clearer distinction between approaches made to different parts of the supply chain,
forcing the rights holder to focus their allegations on the source of the alleged infringement.
 To exempt professional legal advisers from liability for making threats, if they are acting on
instructions from a client and in their professional capacity, so that they can help settle
disputes.
This Bill builds on work from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, helping to turn the UK
into an innovation hub. It also furthers work done by Department for Culture, Media and Sport to help
IP disputes be settled quicker.
Investigatory Powers Bill
This Bill has been carried over from the last session. It will help modernise law and ensure it is ‘fit for
purpose in a digital age’, introducing enhanced authorisation and oversight arrangements. It will also
ensure police and security and intelligence agencies have the powers they need to continue to protect
the public from threats.
The main elements of the bill are:
 To deliver on the Government’s manifesto pledge on communications data in order to
strengthen the ability to disrupt terrorist plots, criminal networks and organised child grooming
gangs.
This Bill has been widely scrutinised in both chambers of the House and also by the Draft Bill
committee. Among the many criticisms include the worry that mass amounts of data will be passed
onto intelligence services in order to find a small piece of information, often described as inefficient as
well as an unnecessary breach of privacy.
Lifetime Savings Bill
The Bill aims to allow the Government create a Help to Save scheme to support low earners to save,
and to develop a new Lifetime ISA, providing savers with a bonus on savings to be used towards a
first home or retirement. Specifically, the Bill aims to encourage younger people to save for both their
first house and retirement without having to choose between one or the other.
 Enable those who are in receipt of working tax credits or Universal Credit and are able to
save up to £50 a month, receive a bonus of 50% - totalling to a maximum of £600 – after two
years. This would be under the Government’s Help to Save Scheme. Savers who use the
scheme for a further two years could earn up to another £600.
 Top-up subscriptions to a Lifetime ISA for adults under 40, with a bonus of 25% on all savings
up to £4,000 a year. This would equate to a tax free payment of up to £1,000 a year.

 Allow Lifetime ISA account holders to access some or all their funds to buy their first
home (up to £450,000), or from age 60 without charge.
Local Growth and Jobs Bill
This Bill is part of an overall package of bills aimed at ‘strengthening the economy to deliver security
for working people’. The Government claims the Local Growth and Jobs Bill will deliver the biggest
change in local finance for decades, giving local authorities full control of the money they raise
through business rates, so they can attract business and investment to their local areas.
 Transfer of up to £13bn to councils through allowing them to retain 100 per cent of the
business rates they collect.
 Introduce new measures to allow combined authority mayors to levy business rate
supplements in order to fund infrastructure projects where there is the support of local
business.
The Government says this Bill is part of their one nation vision for the UK. Given Labour’s support for
devolution and de-centralisation it is hard to imagine how they could oppose the Local Growth and
Jobs Bill.
Local Wales Bill
This Bill is part of the Government’s strategy to ‘strengthen devolution and local decision making’
across the UK and specifically seeks to establish a ‘strong and lasting devolution settlement in
Wales’. The Government claim that the benefits of the Bill would be to:
 Make Welsh devolution clearer by introducing a reserved powers model to clarify the division
of powers between the National Assembly for Wales and Westminster.
 Make Welsh devolution stronger by devolving important powers to the National Assembly for
Wales over energy, transport and elections in Wales.
 Give the National Assembly for Wales control over its own affairs, including what it should be
called, its size, electoral system and voting age.
 Reflect the permanence of the Assembly and the Welsh Government in statute.
 Remove the requirement of the Wales Act 2014 for a referendum before a proportion of
income tax is devolved.
The Wales Bill seeks to strengthen devolution in Wales and, in the long term, create a balanced
constitutional settlement for Wales within the UK. All three main parties in Wales will welcome the
move to enshrine the permanence of the Assembly in law and to devolve further energy and transport
powers. The Conservatives, whilst not ruling out further devolution in the future, say this creates a fair

settlement for Wales. Plaid Cymru will, by definition, always want further powers for the
Assembly and, as such, it will fall to Welsh Labour to find a balanced position between
supporting Wales in the UK and being seen to be ambitious on devolution.
Modern Transport Bill
The purpose of this Bill is to put Britain at the forefront of the modern transport revolution and, in
doing so, create jobs and provide economic growth around the country. The Bill will include:
 Legislation to enable the future developments of the UK’s first commercial spaceports
 New legislation to make the UK ready to pioneer autonomous and driverless vehicles
ownership and use
 New rules to bring safe commercial drone flight for households and businesses a step closer.
This Bill continues the Government’s general direction of travel in transport policy and it is likely to be
passed due to the cross-party support for the proposals which it puts forward. SNP MPs have been
particularly vocal in their support for a spaceport in Scotland with MPs in Devon and Wales also
registering their interest in such a project to DfT. The Government’s expressed interest in developing
autonomous vehicles means it is likely will force this section of the Bill through.
Drones have proven to be a controversial topic with some MPs calling for much greater regulation in
light of recent incidents but the commercial opportunities presented will allow the Government to pass
the legislation through. The Government’s ongoing work on drone safety and the planned CAA
consultation safety rules in the summer will likely influence the passage of the Bill.
National Citizen Service Bill
This Bill places the existing National Citizen Service onto a statutory footing, and is aimed at getting
young people to mix with those of different backgrounds and to serve their communities. It will also
support the Service to expand and enhance its cooperation with various bodies including schools.
The main elements of the Bill are expected to include:
 Formalising the National Citizen Service under a statutory framework.
 Providing an £1.2 billion as a ‘cash injection’.
 Establishing a duty on schools and local authorities to promote the scheme to students and
parents.
This is another Bill with an obvious aim of entrenching the kind of ‘Big Society’ Conservative Party
David Cameron has sought to build. Putting one of his flagship initiatives onto the statute book will
make sure that its influence outlives Cameron’s premiership.
Neighbourhood Planning and Infrastructure Bill
The purpose of the Bill is to support the Government’s ambition to deliver one million new homes,
whilst protecting those areas that are most of value and transform the way the Government plans for
major infrastructure projects in the country. The main benefits of the Bill will be to further empower
local communities to plan the homes and infrastructure they need. It will also provide for an
independent assessment of the long-term infrastructure needs of the nation.

The main elements of the Bill will be:
 To further strengthen neighbourhood planning and give even more power to local
people.
 To ensure that pre-commencement planning conditions are only imposed by local planning
authorities where they are absolutely necessary.
 Excessive pre-commencement planning conditions can slow down or stop the construction of
homes after they have been given planning permission. It will also tackle the overuse, and in
some cases, misuse of certain planning conditions
 To make the compulsory purchase order process clearer, fairer and faster for all involved.
This will include reform of the context within which compensation is negotiated – often a very
significant and complex part of finalising a compulsory purchase deal.
 To establish the independent National Infrastructure Commission on a statutory basis.
 The new legislation will enable the privatisation of Land Registry.
This Bill will seek to provide further support for the Government’s ambitious home building programme
by ensuring that pre-commencement planning conditions are only imposed by local planning
authorities where they are absolutely necessary. In addition the establishment of the National
Infrastructure Commission on a statutory basis will provide the Government with further strategic
advice on infrastructure and housing needs to the year 2050.
NHS (Overseas Visitors Charging) Bill
This Bill will introduce measures to ensure that overseas visitors pay for the health treatment they
receive from the NHS. The Bill will meet the Conservative Party’s manifesto commitment to ensure
only UK residents receive free NHS care.
The detail of the Bill is set to be announced in due course, but is expected to feature measures to:
 Ensure cost recovery is effective and efficient and the full cost of care is recovered and can
be put back into the NHS.
 Extend the number of services for which the NHS can charge overseas visitors and migrants.
The introduction of this Bill continues the Government’s willingness to be seen as proactively working
to reduce migration and prevent non-UK citizens for accessing free services, it will be timely for the
Government to achieve press coverage on this ahead of the EU Referendum on June 23
rd
.
Pensions Bill
The purpose of the Bill is to further reform Britain’s private pensions system by providing essential
protections for people in Master Trusts - multi-employer pension schemes often provided by external
organisations. It will also seek to remove barriers for consumers who want to access their pension
savings flexibly and restructuring the delivery of financial guidance to consumers. With regard to
financial guidance the Bill will restructure the delivery of public financial guidance through the creation
of two new bodies and directing more funding to the front line.

The main elements of the Bill are set to be announced in due course, but are expected to
feature measures to:
 Master Trusts would have to demonstrate that schemes meet strict new criteria before
entering the market and taking money from employers or members.
 Creating greater powers for the Pensions Regulator to authorise and supervise these
schemes and take action when necessary.
 Capping early exit fees charged by trust-based occupational pension schemes and creating a
system that enables consumers to access pension freedoms without unreasonable barriers.
 A new pensions guidance body will be created, bring together the Pensions Advisory Service,
Pension Wise and the pensions services offered by the Money Advice Service, providing
access to a straightforward private pensions guidance service for customers.
 In addition to this a new money guidance body would replace the Money Advice Service and
be charged with identifying gaps in the financial guidance market to make sure consumers
can access high quality debt and money guidance.
This Bill will seek to build on existing Pensions freedoms and to further allow those with Pensions to
access their savings in a timely and cost effective manner by providing for a cap on early exit
charges. In addition to current Government commitments this will provide the legislative vehicle for
the abolishment of the Money Advice Service and the setting up of a new body to provide more
effective financial advice to consumers.
Policing and Crime Bill
The purpose of the Bill is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces, to be achieved
through closer collaboration with other emergency services. It will enhance the accountability of police
forces and fire and rescue services and build public confidence in policing by strengthening protection
for those under investigation by, or who come into contact with, the police. The Bill will:
 Facilitate closer cooperation between emergency services to drive efficiency and achieve
better money for the tax payer. It will provide greater scope for joint working.
 Simplify the current complaints system and reform the police disciplinary system
 Reduce the reliance on the use of police cells as ‘places of safety’ when dealing with people
experiencing a mental health crisis by banning their use as places of safety for under 18s.
Prisons and Courts Reform Bill
This Bill delivers the Conservative Government’s manifesto commitment to reform the prisons system,
and will seek to give prisons Governors greater freedom and enable prisoners to receive better
education. It will also seek to ensure better mental health provision in prisons and close older
institutions, as well as reform and modernise the courts system.
 Reform Prisons, to facilitate a revolution in education, training, healthcare and security for
prisoners, led by Governors with the power to enter into contracts and establish their own
Boards with external expertise.

 Create new freedoms with a new regime of openness across the previously opaque
world of the prison estate as prisons are required to produce statistics on areas
such as prisoner education, reoffending and employment on release.
 Measures to modernise the Courts and Tribunals service, by reducing delay and frustration
for the public.
Cameron sees this drive for prison transformation as a crucial part of his ambition for social reform,
which he hopes will form a key part of his legacy as Prime Minister. He has committed to the
extension of autonomous prisons later in this Parliament, along with the building of the nine new
prisons announced in the Spending Review.
Small Charitable Donations Bill
The Bill will reform the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme, in order that is supports the widest possible
range of charities and helping charities and community amateur sports clubs to maximise their
fundraising power. The Bill seeks to lower the administrative burden and ensure fairness.
The main elements of the Bill are expected to include:
 Simplifying the scheme to make claims easier.
 Introduce a ‘top-up’ for donations collected away from the building a group usually operates
from.
 Establishing a duty on schools and local authorities to promote the scheme to students and
parents
This is a relatively minor Bill as it simply adjusts existing measures, but is part of a wider picture of
promoting the ‘Big Society’, ‘compassionate Conservative’ ethos David Cameron has cultivated during
his leadership.
Soft Drinks Industry Levy
This Bill will introduce a soft drinks industry levy in the Finance Bill 2017 targeted at producers and
importers of soft drinks that contain added sugar from April 2018. The Bill aims to encourage
producers to reformulate their products and reduce portion sizes, in order to help tackle childhood
obesity.
 A mechanism to invest the revenue from the levy in giving school-aged children a brighter and
healthier future.
 A consultation on the technical details of the tax.
It is interesting to note that the accompanying document confirms that the Bill would apply to the
whole of the UK and that the main benefit of the legislation is identified as encouraging companies to
reformulate their products.

Non-legislative briefs
Constitutional Affairs
The Government will continue to work with the Scottish Parliament to implement the powers in the
Scotland Act, and with the Northern Ireland Assembly to secure further progress in implementing the
Stormont House and Fresh Start Agreements.
The draft Wales Bill was published on 20 October, with the Government confirming that they will
introduce the Bill to Parliament in this session.
The Government will also legislate to meet the manifesto commitment to extend the franchise for
British citizens living abroad to vote in UK parliamentary and European parliamentary elections. The
Bill will enable British citizens who have been resident overseas for more than 15 years to continue to
vote in UK elections.
Home Building
Outside of the Government’s legislative agenda on neighbourhood planning, the Government also
reaffirms its commitment to build a million new homes, and outlined that Government policies have
already seen the largest annual growth in housing for 28 years.
The Government also noted that they will be launching a £3 billion Home Building Fund - £2 billion
focused on long term loans to unlock a pipeline of 160,000 to 200,000 homes over the long term, and
£1 billion to support small developments and custom builds.
International Development Spending
The Government again reaffirmed its previous commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of Gross National
Income on overseas development.
Life Chances Strategy
As part of the Government’s commitment to ‘an all-out assault on the root causes of poverty’, the Life
Chances Strategy will outline a comprehensive plan for transforming the life chances of
disadvantaged children and their families and will include a set of indicators for measuring them.
Specifically, the Welfare Reform and Work Act will introduce new statutory life chances measures for
both children in workless households and children’s educational attainment.
National Security
The Government will continue to meet the NATO guideline to spend two per cent of GDP on defence
spending, with the Ministry of Defence’s budget rising by 0.5% above inflation every year to 2020/21.
A £35 billion Defence budget is in place, the biggest in the EU and fifth largest in the world. From April
this year, the Ministry of Defence budget has increased in real terms for the first time in six years.
The four new submarines to replace the Trident system will cost £31 billion to build, test and
commission over 35 years and there is also a £10 billion contingency fund. This revised cost
highlights the Government’s ‘greater understanding’ about the detailed design of the submarines. A
‘Main Gate’ approach to Successor has also been abandoned by the Government, changing to a

staged investment programme. The Government also remains committed to the Armed
Forces Covenant.
Northern Powerhouse
As expected, the Government pledges to continue its support in developing a Northern Powerhouse.
The Government did not make any new announcements on its development, but outlined its
developments to date in areas such as transport, devolution deals, science investment and arts and
culture investment.
Seven Day NHS
The Government has reaffirmed its commitment to deliver NHS services over seven days of the week
in England. It has asserted wider access will include routine GP services at the weekends and
evenings, wider consultant and diagnostics access for the full week, and a more integrated and
personalised 111 service.
It is interesting the Government has sought to reassert their commitment to seven day NHS services
at a time when the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt MP is coming under increasing pressure over the
policy as the junior doctors’ contract dispute continues.
UK Economy and Fiscal issues
The Government reiterated its intention to deliver long-term economic solutions and to support the
needs of the next generation.
Practically, the Government committed to:
 Building an economy based on lower taxes, so that people can take home more of what they
earn.
 Investing in education to equip the next generation for the future, tackling childhood obesity
and investing in school sports.
 Building the housing Britain needs.
 Providing the next generation with better incentives to save, and more choice and flexibility as
they do so.
 Delivering on the Government’s aim to reach full employment, increasing wages so that more
people are in work and earning more.
UK Role in the World
The UK will ‘continue to play a leading role in world affairs’, to meet environmental, economic, security
and humanitarian challenges. The Government has committed to supporting Ukraine and pressuring
Russia to fulfil its promises under the Minsk accords. In the Middle East, the UK will continue to take a
lead role in fighting Daesh, working towards a peaceful resolution to the Syrian Civil War, assisting
Iraq as well as providing aid to refugees fleeing the conflicts. The EU referendum was also referenced
in passing, as was a State Visit by the President of Colombia.

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