Queen's Speech 2021: Executive Summary

This Queen’s Speech will deliver a pandemic recovery that makes the UK stronger, healthier and more prosperous.

The Speech sets out how we will beat COVID-19 and back the NHS:

• We will continue our lifesaving Vaccine Programme - the biggest in NHS history -

  and plan for a potential booster campaign.

• We will prioritise recovery in NHS services to bring down waiting times and deliver the care that people need. On top of record investment, we have increased funding for frontline health services through the pandemic, already committing an additional £63 billion last year (£18 billion for the NHS) and £29 billion (£9.6 billion for the NHS) this year, ahead of any Spending Review settlement later this year.

• The Health and Care Bill will lay the foundations for a more integrated and efficient health and care system, enabling staff to focus on delivering the best possible treatment and care for their patients and giving the NHS and local authorities the tools to level up health and care across England so people can live healthier, longer and more independent lives.

• We will bring forward proposals for social care reform in 2021 to ensure that every person receives care that provides the dignity and security they deserve.

• We will continue work to improve the health and wellbeing of the nation, including tackling obesity, making healthier choices easier and more affordable for everyone and giving treatment support through GPs to those who need it. We will address the significant and wide-ranging harms caused by the misuse of drugs and increase investment in treatment and recovery support.

• We will address the impact of the pandemic on mental health and wellbeing and will continue work to reform the Mental Health Act, giving people greater control over their treatment and ensuring dignity and respect.

  The Government will build back better, with a variety of measures for jobs and economic recovery:

• To unleash the full potential of people and places across the country, we will level up across the UK, boosting jobs, driving growth and innovation, increasing opportunity for everyone, and ensuring everyone has access to excellent public services, regardless of where they live. A landmark Levelling Up White Paper will set out bold new policy interventions to improve livelihoods and opportunity in all parts of the UK as we recover from the pandemic, grasping the opportunities of Brexit.

• We have acted on an unprecedented scale to protect jobs, livelihoods, businesses and public services throughout the pandemic. We will build on this with our flagship Plan for Jobs that will increase job opportunities in all parts of the UK and our Plan for Growth that will lay the foundations for a recovery driven by the private sector, spreading investments and opportunity throughout the UK. We will bring public service debt under control through a fair and progressive package that achieves fiscal sustainability, delivers first-class frontline public services and builds the future economy.

• A Skills and Post-16 Education Bill will transform access to skills across the country to ensure that people can train and retrain at any stage in their lives, supporting them to move into higher quality, higher skilled jobs and equipping the workforce with the skills employers need.

• We will make the UK a global science superpower by developing our Life Sciences sector so it attracts the best people and business from across the world, increasing public expenditure on research and development to £22 billion; and creating the Advanced Research and Invention Agency focused on funding high- risk, high-reward research and development.

• We will transform UK infrastructure, providing jobs in the short term, and creating the conditions for long-term sustainable growth.

• The Planning Bill will create a simpler, faster and more modern planning system, ensuring homes and infrastructure can be delivered more quickly across England.

• We will reform our rail and bus networks to deliver a better, greener and more reliable service for passengers, including simpler fares. High Speed 2 is already creating thousands of jobs and boosting productivity and will provide low-carbon transport. The High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill will bring our biggest cities closer together, a key component to levelling up.

• The National Insurance Contributions Bill will provide a relief for employers of veterans, for employers in Freeports, and for the self-employed who receive NHS Test and Trace Payments.

• Following our departure from the EU, we will introduce a number of significant regulatory reforms that allow us to support British business and deliver the UK’s needs, including:

o A Subsidy Control Bill that will implement a domestic UK subsidy control regime that reflects our strategic interests and national circumstances;

o A Procurement Bill that will consolidate and streamline the 350+ EU- derived regulations and make our procurement regime quicker, simpler and easier to use, allowing more freedom for suppliers and the public sector to innovate and work in partnership with the private sector; and

o A Professional Qualifications Bill that will create a new bespoke framework for the UK to recognise professional qualifications from across the world to ensure employers can access professionals where there are UK shortages.

• The Turing Scheme will give young people across the UK, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds, the opportunity to work and study globally.

To protect the United Kingdom and its citizens, the Speech sets out how the Government will build back safer:

• The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will ensure we can cut crime, support our police and build confidence in our criminal justice system by reforming bail, and modernising court processes.

• We will address the effect of COVID-19 on the criminal justice system, speeding up cases and renewing efforts to tackle issues that pre-date the pandemic.

• We will refresh our Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy to better protect women and improve outcomes for rape cases.

• A draft Victims Bill will place the simplified and stronger set of rights for victims, set out in the new Victims’ Code, on a statutory footing.

• The New Plan for Immigration Legislation will better protect and support those in genuine need of asylum, deter illegal entry into the UK, break the business model of criminal trafficking networks and protect the lives of those they endanger, and enable us to remove more easily from the UK those with no right to be here.

• A draft Online Safety Bill will make the UK the safest place in the world to be online, improving protections for users, especially children, whilst protecting freedom of expression, making companies responsible for their users’ safety online, and supporting a thriving and fast growing digital sector.

• The Counter-State Threats Bill will provide the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to tackle the evolving threat from hostile activity by foreign states and foreign actors.

• The Telecommunications (Security) Bill will ensure the long-term security and resilience of the UK’s telecoms networks and infrastructure and minimise the threat of high risk vendors.

• We will continue an unprecedented programme of funding and modernisation of our Armed Forces, making them fit for the threats of a more competitive age and the opportunities of a Global Britain. We will deliver our manifesto commitment to further incorporate the Armed Forces Covenant into law through the Armed Forces Bill.

The Queen’s Speech contains a variety of measures to build back fairer and improve and increase opportunity:

• On top of the multibillion pound school investment and COVID-19 catch up support already put in place, the Education Recovery Plan will contain a package of ambitious and long-term measures to make sure pupils have the chance to make up their learning over the course of this Parliament.

• The Building Safety Bill will strengthen the regulatory system for building safety, changing the industry culture and introducing rigorous safety standards for construction products and a clearer path to redress for homeowners.

• The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rents) Bill will ensure leaseholders of new, long residential leases cannot be charged a financial ground rent for no tangible service.

• We will bring forward reforms to deliver a fairer and more effective private rental market in England.

• We will continue our efforts to level up and unite the whole country, responding in detail to the findings and recommendations of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities.

• We will ban conversion therapy, ensuring abhorrent and coercive practices are prohibited.

• The Dormant Assets Bill will unlock around an additional £880 million for social and environmental initiatives across the UK.

  The Speech reaffirms our commitment to building a cleaner and greener UK:

  • We will continue to lead the way globally in acting on climate change, hosting the vital COP26 climate negotiations in November. Our sector strategies and comprehensive Net Zero Strategy will transition the UK to a net zero economy by 2050.

  • The Environment Bill will set legally binding targets, restore nature and biodiversity, tackle air pollution, establish an independent Office for Environmental Protection, cut plastic use and revolutionise how we recycle.

• Taking the opportunities presented by having left the EU, we will demonstrate our world-leading commitment to the highest standards of animal welfare by delivering important animal welfare and conservation improvements, while promoting our values to our trading partners.

Finally, the Queen’s Speech sets out how we will strengthen the Union and the constitution and continue to promote Global Britain:

• We will protect and promote the strengths of the United Kingdom, building on hundreds of years of partnership as the most successful political and economic union in history.

• The Electoral Integrity Bill will place the participation of British citizens at the heart of our democracy and maintain confidence in the electoral process.

• The Higher Education (Free Speech) Bill will strengthen freedom of speech and academic freedom in higher education in England.

• A Judicial Review Bill will protect the judiciary from being drawn into political questions and preserve the integrity of Judicial Review for its intended purpose.

• The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill will repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, reinstating the constitutional principle that the Government of the day has the confidence of Parliament and is able to seek a fresh democratic mandate when it is needed.

• The Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill will strengthen Northern Ireland’s institutions, making them more sustainable and resilient.

• We will introduce legislation to address the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland that delivers better outcomes for victims and survivors, focuses on information recovery and reconciliation, and ends the cycle of investigations - in line with our commitment to veterans.

• To ensure a coherent approach to foreign relations, we will stop public bodies from imposing their own approach or views via boycott, divestment or sanctions campaigns.

• We will implement the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, taking action at home and with other countries to ensure that we are stronger, safer and more prosperous in a more competitive age.