Policy paper

Queen’s Speech 2016: what it means for you

Published 18 May 2016

Read the Queen’s Speech 2016.

This is a One Nation Queen’s Speech from a One Nation Government. It uses the opportunity of a strengthening economy to:

• deliver security for working people
• increase life chances for the most disadvantaged
• strengthen our national security

1. Delivering security for working people

This is the next step in our long-term economic plan for our country. Whether it is:

• continuing to bring the public finances under control so that Britain lives within its means
• delivering the infrastructure that British business needs to carry on creating jobs
• making our country a world leader in the digital economy
• spreading prosperity across our country and building a Northern Powerhouse
• supporting aspiration by promoting home ownership

This is a Queen’s Speech that delivers on the government’s promise of providing security at every stage of people’s lives.

1.1 Digital Economy Bill

This Bill will modernise our climate for enterprise, making sure Britain remains at the forefront of the global 21st century economy so that our businesses continue to create jobs and our families remain financially secure. It will include:

• giving every household a legal right to a fast broadband connection
• new laws to help telecommunications providers build the infrastructure needed for faster broadband and better mobile networks
• allowing consumers to be automatically compensated when things go wrong with their broadband service

1.2 Modern Transport Bill

This Bill will put Britain at the forefront of the modern transport revolution, so that we create new jobs and fuel economic growth around the country. It will include:

• legislation to enable the future development of the UK’s first commercial spaceports
• new laws to make the UK ready to pioneer driverless cars
• new rules to bring safe commercial and personal drone flight for households and businesses a step closer

1.3 Neighbourhood Planning and Infrastructure Bill

This Bill will reform planning and give local communities more power and control to shape their own area so that we build more houses and give everyone who works hard the chance to buy their own home. It will include:

• measures to reform and speed up the planning process by minimising delays caused by pre-commencement planning conditions
• a new statutory basis for the independent National Infrastructure Commission, to help invest in Britain’s long-term future
• streamlined processes supporting neighbourhoods to come together to agree plans that will decide where things get built in their local area.

1.4 Local Growth and Jobs Bill

This 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. It will include:

• a transfer of up to £13 billion to councils through allowing them to retain 100% of the business rates they collect
• 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

2. Increasing life chances for the most disadvantaged

At the heart of this Queen’s Speech are bold reforms that tackle some of the deepest social problems in our country and remove all barriers to opportunity:

• giving children in care the best possible start in life
• reforming our prisons
• transforming the education system
• helping people save

This is a Queen’s Speech aimed at giving everyone in our country the chance to get on.

2.1 Children and Social Work Bill

This Bill will tackle state failure and transform the outcomes of children in care, so that we give all of them the hope of a better future. It will include:

• changes to the considerations that courts must take into account in adoption decisions, tipping the balance in favour of permanent adoption where that is the right thing for the child – helping to give children stability
• a new system of regulating social workers by setting up a specialist regulator for the profession with a clear focus on driving improvement and introducing more demanding professional standards
• a new ‘Care Leavers Covenant’, underpinned by statutory duties, to make sure local authorities set out clearly the entitlements for care leavers – including housing, jobs and healthcare

2.2 Education for All Bill

This Bill will deliver the next phase of our transformation of education, extending the principles of freedom and accountability across the country so that we encourage excellence everywhere and give every child the best start in life. It will include:

• new laws to expand the academies programme in the poorest performing local authority areas
• a new funding formula to deliver fair funding for every school and pupil in the country
• measures to make schools accountable for the provision and progress of excluded pupils so that those currently let down by the system are given an excellent education

2.3 Higher Education and Research Bill

This Bill will deliver the biggest supply-side reforms to the higher education sector for a quarter of a century, so that we open more universities and give more young people – from all backgrounds – the chance to succeed. It will include:

• measures to make it easier for new high quality universities to open, boosting competition to improve teaching quality
• reform of university funding that will link funding for universities to the quality of teaching rather than student numbers, with graduate employment prospects tracked so students can be sure they are getting value for money
• new requirements on all universities to publish detailed information about application, offer and progression rates, broken down by ethnicity, gender and socio-economic background. This will shine a spotlight on universities that need to go further and faster on social mobility and spur further action to ensure all institutions reach out to disadvantaged groups.

2.4 Prison and Courts Reform Bill

This Bill will bring about the biggest reform of our prisons since Victorian times, ensuring they are not just a place of punishment but also rehabilitation, so everyone has the chance to get on the right track and we show as a society we believe in the best in everyone. It will include:

• new powers for prison governors to allow them unprecedented levels of control over all aspects of prison management
• a complete overhaul of education, health and training to reduce re-offending and give people the chance of a fresh start
• new performance measures to assess prisons’ current performance, long-term direction and progress

2.5 Lifetime Savings Bill

This Bill will help people to save and make plans for the future, so we build the financial resilience and security of people across the country – especially the young and those on low incomes. It will include:

• the new Help to Save scheme, which will help those from low incomes build up their savings. Workers in receipt of working tax credits or Universal Credit who save up to £50 a month will receive a government bonus of 50% – to a maximum of £600 – after 2 years.
• a new Lifetime ISA for young people, with a government top up bonus of 25% on all savings up to £4,000 a year

2.6 National Citizen Service Bill

This Bill will see the expansion of the government’s hugely successful National Citizen Service so more young people can mix with people of other backgrounds, and learn what it means to serve their community. It will include:

• a new statutory framework to deliver the programme, which will benefit from a £1.2 billion cash injection
• a new duty on schools and local authorities to promote the scheme to all young people and their parents

3. Strengthening our national security

This Queen’s Speech recognises the duty of government to keep our country safe. So it:

• invests in Britain’s armed forces
• secures the long-term future of our nuclear deterrent
• gives our security and intelligence agencies the powers they need to protect us

3.1 Bill of Rights

This Bill will support and reinforce Britain’s long-standing commitment to human rights and restore common sense to the way human rights law is applied. It will include:

• measures to reform and modernise the UK human rights framework
• protections against abuse of the system and misuse of human rights laws

3.2 Counter-Extremism and Safeguarding Bill

This Bill gives law enforcement agencies new powers to protect vulnerable people, including children, from those who seek to brainwash them with extremism propaganda so we build a stronger society around our shared liberal values of tolerance and respect. It will include:

• stronger powers to disrupt extremists and protect the public
• powers to intervene in intensive unregulated education settings which teach hate and drive communities apart
• a new civil order regime to restrict extremist activity, following consultation
• closing loopholes so that Ofcom can continue to protect consumers who watch internet-streamed television content from outside the EU on Freeview

3.3 Criminal Finances Bill

This Bill will cement the UK’s leading role in the fight against international corruption, crack down on money laundering and people profiting from crime, so that we root out corruption. It will include:

• measures to reform proceeds of crime legislation to allow the government to recoup more illicit income
• a new criminal offence for corporations that fail to stop staff facilitating tax evasion
• new rules to toughen the UK’s anti-money laundering regime

3.4 Policing and Crime Bill

This Bill is the next phase in our reform of the police, reforming out-of-date complaints and disciplinary procedures, so we increase public confidence in the people who keep us safe. It includes:

• a new duty to on all 3 emergency services to collaborate, to improve efficiency and effectiveness
• new authority for chief officers to designate wider powers on police staff and volunteers, so they can make best use of their workforce
• a stronger oversight role for PCCs over local complaints, giving them an explicit responsibility for ensuring the effective and efficient delivery of the local police complaints system, and extending HM Inspector of Constabulary’s remit to enable it to inspect private contractors

3.5 Investigatory Powers Bill

This Bill will fill holes in our security apparatus so that we give law enforcement agencies the tools they need to protect the public in the digital age, while building confidence in the public that powers are operated sensibly. It includes:

• plugging gaps in the abilities of law enforcement agencies to monitor people’s online communications when investigating crime or terrorism
• tough new safeguards for the use of investigatory powers
• establishing a world-leading oversight regime of law enforcement agencies and the security services