King's Speech 2024: On-the-day briefing

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Stability will be the cornerstone of my Government's economic policy and every decision will be consistent with its fiscal rules. It will legislate to ensure that all significant tax and spending changes are subject to an independent assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility.”

• Economic stability is the foundation of the Government’s growth mission. This Bill delivers on the manifesto commitment to introduce a ‘fiscal lock’ – to ensure that the mistakes of Liz Truss ‘mini budget’ cannot be repeated by requiring every fiscal event which makes significant and permanent changes to taxation or spending to be subject to an independent assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility. This will ensure there will always be scrutiny of the Government’s fiscal plans.

What does the Budget Responsibility Bill (HM Treasury) do?

• The Bill will introduce a ‘fiscal lock’ which will:
  • ensure any Government making significant and permanent tax and spending changes will be subject to an independent assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), giving them the power to produce an assessment at a time of its choosing.
  • reinforce market credibility and public trust by preventing large-scale unfunded commitments that are not subject to an OBR fiscal assessment. 

• The National Wealth Fund (NWF) will be central to this Government’s mission to deliver growth and a greener economy. Capitalised with an additional £7.3 billion, the NWF will make transformative investments across every part of the country - mobilising billions of pounds worth of additional private sector investment.
• The Government has already begun work to align the UK Infrastructure Bank and the British Business Bank under the National Wealth Fund. The National Wealth Fund Bill will ensure this institution is at the heart of the country’s mission to grow the economy and create wealth in every community.

What does the National Wealth Fund Bill do?

• The National Wealth Fund will play a central role in the Government’s industrial strategy and growth and clean energy superpower missions making transformative investments across every part of the country supporting thousands of good jobs and making everyone better off, while generating a return for the taxpayer. It will directly invest in the priority sectors set out in the manifesto in every corner of the country. The NWF will work with local partners, including mayors, to bring together a finance and investment offer that supports the needs of local areas and catalyses growth in all corners of the country.
• To ensure investments can start immediately, the Fund will deploy funding through the UK Infrastructure Bank, expanding its remit and providing an additional £7.3 billion to catalyse private investment at an even greater scale. It will aim to generate £3 of private sector investment for every £1 it invests.
• The National Wealth Fund will simplify the UK’s fragmented landscape of support for businesses and investors, aligning critical institutions like the UK Infrastructure Bank and British Business Bank to create a step change in our ability to mobilise private capital in the industries of the future.
• The Bill will put the National Wealth Fund on a permanent statutory footing. Aligning these institutions under the National Wealth Fund will create a single coherent offer for businesses and a compelling proposition for investors, to smartly deploy public capital to unlock investment opportunities. 

Bills will be brought forward to strengthen… pension investment.”

• The Pensions Schemes Bill will support over 15 million people who save in private-sector pension schemes get better outcomes from their pension assets and support the Government’s mission to deliver growth.
• This Bill is designed to increase the amount available for pension savers and could help an average earner, who saves over their lifetime in a defined contribution scheme, to have over £11,000 more in their pension pots with which to secure their retirement income.

What does the Pension Schemes Bill do?

• A private pensions market that encourages consolidation and focuses on value and outcomes for members will not only enable security in retirement, but also enable pension schemes to invest in a wider range of assets, driving growth.
• The Bill’s measures include:
  • preventing people from losing track of their pension pots through the consolidation of Defined Contribution individual deferred small pension pots. This will enable an individual’s deferred small pots to be automatically brought together into one place to maximise income in retirement, and deliver value for every saver. This measure will also benefit pension schemes, which currently are required to manage a substantial number of loss-making pots, undermining their ability to invest in improving their offer for savers.
  • ensuring all members are saving into pension schemes delivering value through the Value for Money framework. Introducing a standardised test that trust based defined contribution schemes will need to meet to demonstrate they deliver value. This should result in consolidation in the pensions market by leaving a smaller number of well-performing, well governed schemes which will not only improve outcomes for savers but is likely to lead to more productive investment of funds. The Financial Conduct Authority will ensure the framework is applied to contract schemes and therefore consistently across the whole pension market.
  • requiring pension schemes to offer retirement products so people have a pension and not just a savings pot when they stop work by placing duties on trustees of occupational pension schemes to offer a retirement income solution or range of solutions, including default investment options, to their members. This will improve outcomes for savers and is likely to lead to more funds being invested for longer, giving the potential for investments in productive assets – boosting economic growth.
  • consolidating the Defined Benefit (DB) market through commercial Superfunds. This will offer greater protection for members in closed legacy Defined Benefit schemes from the risk of losing part of their pension if their employer becomes insolvent.
  • reaffirming the Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) as a competent court, removing the need for pension schemes to apply to the courts to enforce TPO decisions in relation to the recovery of overpayments. Re-establishing the Ombudsman powers to those of a competent court will alleviate pressures and cost for courts, schemes, and members, ensuring recovery costs are kept to a minimum.
  • amending the Special Rules for End of Life (Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS)) extending the definition of 'terminal illness', allowing eligible members within the Pension Protection Fund and the Financial Assistance Scheme to receive a lump sum payment at an earlier stage

My ministers will get Britain building, including through planning reform, as they seek to accelerate the delivery of high quality infrastructure and housing”

• The current planning regime acts as a major brake on economic growth. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will play a key role in addressing this constraint, unlocking more housing and infrastructure across the country and supporting sustained economic growth. The planning system must be an enabler of growth – enabling democratic engagement with how, not if, homes and infrastructure are built.
• Reforming the planning system is key to unlocking our country’s economic growth – enabling us to deliver both the housing and critical infrastructure that communities need. The Bill will speed up and streamline the planning process to build more homes of all tenures and accelerate the delivery of major infrastructure projects in alignment with our industrial, energy, and transport strategies.

Planning and Infrastructure Bill: What does the Bill do? 

• The Bill will make improvements to the planning system at a local level, modernising planning committees and increasing local planning authorities’ capacity to deliver an improved service.
• The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will accelerate housebuilding and infrastructure delivery by:
  • streamlining the delivery process for critical infrastructure including accelerating upgrades to the national grid and boosting renewable energy, which will benefit local communities, unlock delivery of our 2030 clean power mission and net zero obligations, and secure domestic energy security. We will simplify the consenting process for major infrastructure projects and enable relevant, new and improved National Policy Statements to come forward, establishing a review process that provides the opportunity for them to be updated every five years, giving increased certainty to developers and communities.
  • further reforming compulsory purchase compensation rules to ensure that compensation paid to landowners is fair but not excessive where important social and physical infrastructure and affordable housing are being delivered. The reforms will help unlock more sites for development, enabling more effective land assembly, and in doing so speeding up 19 housebuilding and delivering more affordable housing, supporting the public interest. o improving local planning decision making by modernising planning committees.
  • increasing local planning authorities’ capacity, to improve performance and decision making, providing a more predictable service to developers and investors.
  • using development to fund nature recovery where currently both are stalled, unlocking a win-win outcome for the economy and for nature, because we know we can do better than the status quo. Our commitment to the environment is unwavering, which is why the Government will work with nature delivery organisations, stakeholders and the sector over the summer to determine the best way forward. We will only act in legislation where we can confirm to Parliament that the steps we are taking will deliver positive environmental outcomes. Where we can demonstrate this, the Bill will deliver any necessary changes.

My Government is committed to making work pay and will legislate to introduce a new deal for working people to ban exploitative practices and enhance employment rights”

• This Government’s Plan to Make Work Pay will create a new partnership between business, trade unions and working people and is fundamental to our growth mission. The Employment Rights Bill, to be introduced within the first one hundred days, is a significant step towards delivering this ambition and represents the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation.
• In addition to this Bill, we will deliver a genuine living wage that accounts for the cost of living and we will remove the discriminatory age bands to ensure every adult worker benefits. These changes will improve the lives of working people across the country.
• We will work in close partnership with trade unions and business to deliver our New Deal and invite their views on how best we can put our plans into practice.

What does the Employment Rights Bill do?

• The Government is committed to delivering its New Deal for Working People in full. The Bill will deliver on policies as set out in the Plan to Make Work Pay that require primary legislation to implement. The Plan includes commitments to the following:
  • banning exploitative zero-hour contracts, ensuring workers have a right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work and that all workers get reasonable notice of any changes in shift with proportionate compensation for any shifts cancelled or curtailed. This will end ‘one sided’ flexibility, ensuring all jobs provide a baseline level of security and predictability.
  • ending the scourges of ‘Fire and Rehire’ and ‘Fire and Replace’ by reforming the law to provide effective remedies and replacing the previous Government’s inadequate statutory code.
  • making parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal available from day 1 on the job for all workers. We will continue to ensure employers can operate probationary periods to assess new hires. o strengthening Statutory Sick Pay by removing the lower earnings limit to make it available to all workers as well as the waiting period.
  • making flexible working the default from day-one for all workers, with employers required to accommodate this as far as is reasonable, to reflect the modern workplace.
  • strengthening protections for new mothers by making it unlawful to dismiss a woman who has had a baby for six months after her return to work, except in specific circumstances.
  • establishing a new Single Enforcement Body, also known as a Fair Work Agency, to strengthen enforcement of workplace rights.
  • establishing a Fair Pay Agreement in the adult social care sector and, following review, assess how and to what extent such agreements could benefit other sectors.
  • reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body, to establish national terms and conditions, career progression routes, and fair pay rates.
  • updating trade union legislation so it is fit for a modern economy, removing unnecessary restrictions on trade union activity – including the previous Government’s approach to minimum service levels – and ensuring industrial relations are based around good faith negotiation and bargaining.
  • simplifying the process of statutory recognition and introduce a regulated route to ensure workers and union members have a reasonable right to access a union within workplaces.

My Government believes that greater devolution of decision making is at the heart of a modern dynamic economy and is a key driver of economic growth and my Ministers will introduce an English Devolution Bill.”

• Devolved areas now account for almost half of England’s population and more than half of its economic output. However, the inconsistent, deal based and patchwork approach has left too many levers for growth in the hands of central government, and too many institutions with different powers and governance arrangements.
• England is one of the most centralised economies in the world and has some of the highest levels of geographic inequality. These two things are linked. Westminster does not have the local knowledge, capacity and flexibility needed to take advantage of every opportunity available in every place.
• Recognising the vital role local leaders play in our national mission to drive economic growth, the English Devolution Bill will deliver the Government’s manifesto commitment to transfer power out of Westminster and into our local communities, allowing them to take back control.
• It will also enable our towns and cities to thrive by strengthening mayoral powers, giving local leaders the tools to kickstart their economies, as well as empowering communities to transform their neighbourhoods, high streets and important community assets.

What does the English Devolution Bill do?

• The English Devolution Bill will establish a new framework for English devolution, moving power out of Westminster and back to those who know their areas best. It will give local leaders the tools they need to drive growth by:
  • putting a more ambitious standardised devolution framework into legislation to give local leaders greater powers over the levers of local growth. This will include enhanced powers over strategic planning, local transport networks, skills, and employment support, enabling them to create jobs and improve living standards. We will also introduce new powers and duties for local leaders to produce Local Growth Plans.
  • making devolution the default setting, meaning places will be granted powers without the need to negotiate agreements where they meet the governance conditions. Local leaders will be able to formally request additional powers according to the framework and the Government will be required to consider the request and either devolve them or publicly explain their reasons for not doing so.
  • making it easier to provide devolved powers quickly to more areas through establishing a simpler process for creating new Combined and Combined County Authorities, to ensure that every part of England can rapidly benefit from devolution. The Bill will establish a legislative foundation upon which to widen and deepen devolution, with a weighting towards creating advanced mayoral settlements where there is the capacity and ambition to do so.
  • improving and unblocking local decision making through more effective governance arrangements, ensuring mayors and Combined Authorities can get on and deliver for their areas.
  • empowering local communities with a strong new ‘right to buy’ for valued community assets, such as empty shops, pubs and community spaces. This will help to revamp high streets and end the blight of empty premises.

A Bill will be introduced to allow local leaders to take control of their local bus services.”

• The Better Buses Bill delivers the Government’s manifesto commitment to reform the bus system by delivering new powers for local leaders to franchise local bus services and lifting the restriction on the creation of new publicly owned bus operators.
• This legislation will help bring an end to the postcode lottery of bus services and will give local communities throughout England the power to take back control of their bus services. It will give local leaders the tools they need to deliver better bus networks, at pace, reflecting the needs of the local communities that rely on them.

What does the Better Buses Bill do?

• A modern transport network is vital to kickstarting economic growth. Buses are the lifeblood of our communities, connecting us to opportunities, providing access to services, improving air quality and tackling climate change. However, it is widely accepted that the current system is not working for passengers.
• The Better Buses Bill will deliver improved services up and down the country, and support local leaders to create the transport networks that are right for their communities.
• The Bill will put power over services back in the hands of the communities that depend on them, and will provide the powers necessary to deliver the Government’s 5-point plan to build better bus networks across England:
• allowing every community to take back control of their buses by removing barriers that currently limit bus franchising powers only to metro mayors. o accelerating the bus franchising process by supporting local leaders to deliver better buses, faster.
  • supporting public ownership by removing the ban on publicly owned bus companies and building on the success of award-winning public bus services still in operation. 
  • stepping in to safeguard local bus networks by providing more accountability over bus operators and ensuring standards are raised wherever you live across the country.
  •  empowering local transport authorities and reforming funding by giving local leaders more control and flexibility over bus funding and allowing them to plan ahead to deliver their local transport priorities.

• This Bill will preserve the UK’s status as a global leader in product regulation, supporting businesses and protecting consumers. It will ensure the UK is better placed to address modern day safety issues, harness opportunities that deliver economic growth, and ensure a level playing field between the high street and online marketplaces. 
• The majority of the UK’s product safety and metrology framework is derived from EU law developed over the past four decades. As technology and regulation continues to develop, we need new powers to address current or future threats and hazards, and ensure a continued supply of safe goods on our market and so this Bill will enable us to make the sovereign choice to mirror or diverge from updated EU rules, so that we can maintain high product safety while supporting businesses and economic growth.

What does the Product Safety and Metrology Bill do?

• This Bill will support growth, provide regulatory stability and deliver more protection for consumers by:
  • responding to new product risks and opportunities to enable the UK to keep pace with technological advances, such as AI, and address challenges, such as the fire risk associated with e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries. Without these powers, we will not be able to effectively regulate these high-risk products and protect consumers and workers.
  • identifying new and emerging business models in the supply chain, ensuring the responsibilities of those involved in the supply of products, such as online marketplaces, are clear, enabling Government to better protect consumers, so they can have confidence in the products they buy and whom they buy them from. Without these powers it will remain far too easy for unscrupulous overseas suppliers to place unsafe goods on the UK market through online marketplaces.
  • ensuring that the law can be updated to recognise new or updated EU product regulations, including the CE marking, where appropriate to prevent additional costs for businesses and provide regulatory stability. This legislation will also ensure the UK can end recognition of EU product regulations, where it is in the best interests of UK businesses and consumers.
  • enabling improvements to compliance and enforcement reflecting the challenges of modern, digital borders. This Bill will enable the Government and its regulators to tackle non-compliance, target interventions by allowing greater sharing of data between regulators and market surveillance authorities, and future-proof the nature and capacity of the Regulator, ensuring it can provide national leadership on product safety and metrology issues.
  • updating the legal metrology framework, which governs the accuracy of weights and measures for purchased goods. This plays a role in product legislation, giving consumers and business confidence in what they are buying. This will allow for technological progress, including in support of net zero aims and infrastructure, for example enabling innovation whilst ensuring energy meters continue to be accurate in their readings.
• As most product safety legislation falls within scope of the Windsor Framework, EU changes to product regulation only apply in Northern Ireland, resulting in divergence within the UK internal market as EU laws are updated. This Bill gives the Government specific powers to make changes to GB legislation to manage divergence and take a UK-wide approach, where it is in our interests to do so. 

• The Government wants to ensure we harness the power of data for economic growth, to support a modern digital government, and to improve people’s lives.
• The Bill will enable new innovative uses of data to be safely developed and deployed and will improve people’s lives by making public services work better by reforming data sharing and standards; help scientists and researchers make more life enhancing discoveries by improving our data laws; and ensure your data is well protected by giving the regulator (the ICO) new, stronger powers and a more modern structure. These measures start delivering on the Government’s commitment to better serve the British public through science and technology.

What does the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill do?

• The Bill will harness the power of data for economic growth. We are giving a statutory footing to three innovative uses of data that people can choose to participate in and which will accelerate innovation, investment and productivity across the UK. This includes:
  • establishing Digital Verification Services, which make people’s everyday lives easier through innovative and secure technology. These measures support the creation and adoption of secure and trusted digital identity products and services from certified providers to help with things like moving house, pre-employment checks, and buying age restricted goods and services.
  • developing a National Underground Asset Register, a new digital map that is revolutionising the way we install, maintain, operate and repair the pipes and cables buried beneath our feet. It gives planners and excavators standardised, secure, instant access to the data they need, when they need it, to carry out their work effectively and safely.
  • setting up Smart Data schemes, which are the secure sharing of a customer’s data upon their request, with authorised third-party providers.
• The Bill will improve people’s lives and life chances. The Bill will enable more and better digital public services. By making changes to the Digital Economy Act we will help the Government share data about businesses that use public services. We will move to an electronic system for the registration of births and deaths. And we will apply information standards to IT suppliers in the health and social care system.
• The Bill will help our scientists make better use of data for world-class research by reflecting the realities of modern interdisciplinary science research in our data laws. Scientists will be able to ask for broad consent for areas of scientific research, and allow legitimate researchers doing scientific research in commercial settings to make equal use of our data regime.
• The Bill will ensure your data is well protected. We are modernising and strengthening the ICO. It will be transformed into a more modern regulatory structure, with a CEO, board and chair. And it will have new, stronger powers. This will be accompanied by targeted reforms to some data laws that will maintain high standards of protection but where there is currently a lack of clarity impeding the safe development and deployment of some new technologies. We will also promote standards for digital identities around privacy, security and inclusion.
• The Bill also establishes a Data Preservation Process that coroners (and procurators fiscal in Scotland) can initiate when they decide it is necessary and appropriate to support their investigations into a child’s death. This will help coroners get access to online information they need when investigating a child’s death.

Bills will be brought forward to strengthen audit and corporate governance…”

• Investors and the public need access to truthful reporting from our most important businesses on their finances and related issues. This is critical for enabling trust in major companies and to underpin growth.
• With this draft bill, a revamped regulator will uphold standards and independent scrutiny of companies’ accounts, as well as accountability for company directors. Requiring better transparency from large companies will help avoid company failures and protect jobs, which is central to delivering a secure economy.
• The Bill will also support long-term investment in UK companies, reduce the harm that financial reporting errors can do to businesses and communities up and down the country, and help ensure quality audit for all businesses that need it.

What does the draft Draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill do?

• Robust and rigorous scrutiny of large companies by auditors and greater transparency around their finances is essential to ensuring that investors, employees and consumers have an accurate picture of the health of the company, which in turn delivers a more secure economy.
• The draft bill will replace the Financial Reporting Council with a new regulator – the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority – with the powers it needs to tackle bad financial reporting and to build that trust.
• This statutory regulator will form a platform for other important changes:
  • a wider remit, through extending Public Interest Entity (PIE) status to the largest private companies and thus making sure the audits of those important businesses are high quality and giving early warning of financial problems.
  • removing unnecessary rules on smaller Public Interest Entities, making life easier for important smaller businesses by cutting requirements that are disproportionate.
  • powers to investigate and sanction company directors for serious failures in relation to their financial reporting and audit responsibilities, so there are consequences for putting forward dodgy accounts.
  • a regime to oversee the audit market, protect against conflicts of interest at audit firms, and build resilience so quality audit is available to all companies that need it.

Great British Energy Bill (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

A Bill will be introduced to set up Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean power company headquartered in Scotland, which will help accelerate investment in renewable energy such as offshore wind.”

• The Bill establishes Great British Energy – a new, publicly-owned energy production company which will own, manage and operate clean power projects up and down the country.
• Great British Energy will be owned by and for British people, helping to make our country energy independent and so ensure British taxpayers, bill payers and communities reap the benefits of clean, secure, home-grown energy and lower bills for families. In this way, Great British Energy will help us take back control of the country’s energy, achieve energy independence, create new jobs, save money for households and tackle climate change.

What does the Great British Energy Bill do?

• The Bill establishes Great British Energy which will:
  • develop, own and operate assets, investing in partnership with the private sector. It will have a capitalisation of £8.3 billion of new money over the Parliament. Through these investments, Great British Energy will take a stake for the British people in projects and supply chains which accelerate technologies of the future, reaping benefits at home in cheap clean power and securing Britain at the front of the global race for technology which has major global export potential.
  • facilitate, encourage and participate in the production, distribution, storage and supply of clean energy, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from energy produced from fossil fuels as well as measures for furthering the transition to clean energy and improving energy efficiency.
• The Bill gives the Secretary of State the ability to provide Great British Energy with the financial backing needed for it to meet its aims and ambitions. The Secretary of State will be required to prepare a strategic priorities statement for Great British Energy, to ensure it focuses its efforts on Government priorities.
• The Bill builds on the immediate work by the Energy Secretary to deliver the Government’s mission to achieve clean energy by 2030, including scrapping the ban on onshore windfarms and appointing Chris Stark - the former chair of the Climate Change Committee - to lead the Mission Control for 2030. 

My Government recognises the need to improve water quality and a Bill will be introduced to strengthen the powers of the water regulator.”

• The Water (Special Measures) Bill delivers on our manifesto commitment to put water companies under tough special measures by strengthening regulation and begin the work of cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas.
• As an immediate step, this Government will strengthen regulation to reverse the tide on the unacceptable destruction of our waterways, ensuring water companies deliver for customers and the environment and attract private-sector investment to upgrade our crumbling infrastructure.
• Change will take time. The Government will outline further legislation to fundamentally transform our water industry and restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health.

What does the Water (Special Measures) Bill do?

• Water companies are failing to deliver for their customers and the environment, and the public have, rightly, had enough. The Government will introduce a new Bill to put water companies under tough special measures to strengthen regulation as a first step to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas. The Water (Special Measures) Bill will:
  • strengthen regulation to ensure water bosses face personal criminal liability for lawbreaking.
  • give the water regulator new powers to ban the payment of bonuses if environmental standards are not met.
  • boost accountability for water executives through a new ‘code of conduct’ for water companies, so customers can summon board members and hold executives to account.
  • introduce new powers to bring automatic and severe fines.
  • require water companies to install real-time monitors at every sewage outlet with data independently scrutinised by the water regulators.
• These measures will strengthen the enforcement regime and make clear that the Government will not tolerate poor performance across the water sector. The Government will outline further legislation to fundamentally transform and reset our water industry and restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health. 

My Government will seek to strengthen the border and make streets safer. A Bill will be introduced to modernise the asylum and immigration system, establishing a new Border Security Command and delivering enhanced counter terror powers to tackle organised immigration crime.”

• Strong and effective border security is vital to protect our national security. Small boat crossings are undermining our border security and costing lives. Existing policies have failed to deter crossings or prosecute the people smugglers responsible, and our current asylum system is broken.
• The Bill will support our priority of secure and stronger borders and a properly controlled and managed asylum system by launching a Border Security Command to bring criminal people smugglers to justice, tackling criminal gangs who exploit migrants and fuel the small boats crisis, and clearing the asylum backlog to end hotel use and increase returns.

What does the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill do?

• The Bill will enable stronger borders and a properly controlled and managed asylum system by:
  • giving the new Border Security Command and wider law enforcement the tools and powers they need to crack down on criminal gangs by building on the success of robust powers to counter terrorism and including stronger powers for law enforcement officers to investigate involvement in organised immigration crime for example in stopping and searching at the border.
  • providing a strong deterrent and penalty for criminals involved in organised immigration crime (OIC), ensuring there are stronger penalties in place against a range of OIC and border criminality, including preparatory offences such as enabling the advertising the services of a migrant smuggling group and precursor offences such as relating to the supply of materials needed to facilitate organised crime gangs.
  • fixing the broken asylum system, making it more efficient and effective to ensure the rules are properly enforced by ending hotel use through clearing the asylum backlog, ensuring fast-track returns for individuals coming from safe countries and ending the failed and incredibly costly Migration and Economic Development Partnership to redirect money into the Border Security Command.

Legislation will be brought forward to strengthen community policing, give the police greater powers to deal with anti-social behaviour.”

• This Bill will deliver on our mission to take back our streets by halving serious violence and increase confidence in policing and the Criminal Justice System. It will give the police the powers they need to crack down on crime and anti social behaviour, whilst introducing new reforms to ensure that our law enforcement agencies perform to the highest standards expected by the public and focus on front-line policing.
• The Bill will set out early measures to help deliver on the Government’s mission to halve serious violence over a decade, with strong action to tackle knife crime and violence against women and girls. 

What does the Crime and Policing Bill do?

• The Bill will include measures to:
  • rebuild neighbourhood policing. Bring forward arrangements to get neighbourhood police and Police Community Support Officers back on the beat in local communities.
  • deliver higher policing standards. Expand the powers of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services to intervene in failing police forces, introduce higher mandatory national vetting standards across policing, and establish new mandatory arrangements to deliver efficiency savings through nationwide standards for procurement, shared services and specialist functions.
  • crackdown on anti social behaviour. Introduce new Respect Orders to tackle persistent adult offenders, fast-track Public Spaces Protection Orders to make it quicker and easier to clamp down on rapid escalations in street drinking, and new powers to tackle the dangerous and anti social use of off-road bikes. Create a duty for local partners to co-operate to tackle anti social behaviour, with an anti social behaviour lead in every local authority area.
  • tackle retail crime. Create a new specific offence of assaulting a shopworker and introduce stronger measures to tackle low level shoplifting.
  • tackle knife crime. Get dangerous knives and other weapons off our streets by banning ninja swords and other lethal blades, and introducing strict sanctions on senior executives of online companies who fail to operate within the law. Prevent young people being drawn into crime and criminal gangs by strengthening the law to tackle those who exploit children for criminal purposes, and create arrangements for local Young Futures prevention partnerships to bring together services to support at-risk teenagers.
  • provide a stronger, specialist response to violence against women and girls. Ensure the police have the capability to respond robustly to domestic abuse, rape and other sexual offences, and strengthen the law to improve the police response to spiking.
• Through this Bill and other measures, neighbourhood policing will be rebuilt. Bring forward arrangements to get neighbourhood police and Police Community Support Officers back on the beat in local communities.

Measures will be introduced to improve the safety and security of public venues and help keep the British public safe from terrorism.”

• The first duty of any government is to keep the country safe. Introducing this Bill will deliver the Government’s manifesto commitment to bring in Martyn’s Law, and strengthen the security of public events and venues.
• The Government is deeply grateful to Figen Murray, mother of Martyn Hett, who was one of the 22 victims of the horrific Manchester Arena attack. Her campaigning has been crucial in driving this Bill and raising awareness about security measures at public venues.

What does the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill do?

• The Bill requires those responsible for certain premises and events to take steps to mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack and reduce harm in the event of a terrorist attack occurring. The measures required vary according to the capacity of the premises or event.
  • smaller premises in the ‘standard tier’ will be required to notify the regulator of their premises and put in place reasonably practicable procedural measures to keep the public safe. Some measures could be as simple as educating staff on locking doors and evacuation procedures.
  • the requirements for organisations at these smaller premises will be focused on simple, low-cost activities surrounding policies and procedures.
  • those responsible for larger ‘enhanced tier’ premises and certain public events will be required to put in place counter terrorism measures that could be expected to reduce, so far as reasonably practicable, both the risk from an attack occurring at the premises or event as well as the risk of physical harm being caused if an attack was to occur.

 Legislation will be brought forward to… strengthen support for victims”

• This Government was elected on a promise to deliver a justice system that puts the needs of victims first.
• This Bill will deliver on that commitment and mission to take back our streets by strengthening public protections, reducing delays in the criminal courts and ensuring that victims get the support they deserve.

What does the Victims, Courts and Public Protection Bill do?

• This Bill will make good on our commitment to deliver a justice system that gives victims the justice system they deserve and ensure victims of crime and anti-social behaviour get the support they deserve.
• The Bill will include measures that:
  • ensure victims of crime and antisocial behaviour get the support they deserve.
  • strengthen powers for the Victims’ Commissioner to ensure that they are empowered to hold the system to account for the needs of victims not being met.
  • require offenders to attend their sentencing hearings so that victims and bereaved family members of deceased victims see criminals face the consequences of their actions.
  • protect the public from sex offenders, restricting parental responsibility for child sex offenders and implementing restrictions on sex offenders changing their names.
  • reduce delays in the courts system by allowing Associate Prosecutors to work on appropriate cases.
• In addition to the Bill, we will deliver on our manifesto commitment to fast-track rape cases, with specialist courts at every Crown Court.

A Bill will be introduced to raise standards in education and promote children’s wellbeing.”

• The Children’s Wellbeing Bill will put children and their wellbeing at the centre of the education and children’s social care systems, and make changes so they are safe, healthy, happy and treated fairly.
• The Bill will remove barriers to opportunity and raise school standards to ensure the school system is fair for every child, no matter their background and deliver our manifesto commitments on children’s social care to ensure that all children can thrive in safe, loving homes.

What does the Children’s Wellbeing Bill do?

• The Children’s Wellbeing Bill will ensure our education and social care systems transform life chances for millions of children and young people in England.
• The Bill will remove barriers to opportunity for children and their families by:
  • keeping children safe, happy and rooted in their communities and schools by strengthening multi-agency child protection and safeguarding arrangements.
  • requiring free breakfast clubs in every primary school to ensure that every child, no matter their circumstances, is well prepared for the school day and can achieve their full potential.
  • introducing legislation to limit the number of branded items of uniform and PE kits that a school can require to bring down costs for parents and remove barriers from children accessing sport and other school activities.
  • The Bill will improve the education system and make it more consistent and safer for every child by
  • creating a duty on local authorities to have and maintain Children Not in School registers, and provide support to home-educating parents. These measures will ensure fewer children slip under the radar when they 64 are not in school and more children reach their full potential through suitable education.
  • making changes to the legislation about regulating and inspecting independent schools, including by providing Ofsted stronger powers to investigate the offence of operating an unregistered independent school. These measures will help keep children safe and ensure they are receiving a suitable education.
  • making changes to enable serious teacher misconduct to be investigated, regardless of when the misconduct occurred, the setting the teacher is employed in, and how the misconduct is uncovered. This will protect and safeguard more children.
  • requiring all schools to cooperate with the local authority on school admissions, SEND inclusion, and place planning, by giving local authorities greater powers to help them deliver their functions on school admissions and ensure admissions decisions account for the needs for communities.
  • ensuring greater consistency between academies and maintained schools by requiring all schools to teach the national curriculum, giving every child a broad and rounded education. This measure will be commenced after the review of curriculum and assessment is concluded and is reflected in Programmes of Study. The review will set the foundations to equip every child with the essential knowledge and skills for the future.
  • recognising the status of the teaching profession and the difference that teaching makes to a child’s education by ensuring any new teacher entering the classroom has, or is working towards, Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). This will be accompanied by recognising the essential role of support staff in schools by giving them a national voice in the setting of their pay and conditions.
  • bringing multi-academy trusts into the inspection system, to make the system fairer and more transparent, and enable direct intervention when schools and trusts are not performing to the highest standards.

My Government will establish Skills England which will have a new partnership with employers at its heart, and my Ministers will reform the apprenticeship levy.”

• The aim of Skills England will be to bring together businesses, providers, unions, Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and national government to ensure we have the highly trained workforce that England needs.
• The Skills England Bill delivers on our manifesto commitment to simplify and improve the skills system, ensuring the supply of skills needed for the economy and breaking down barriers to opportunity.
• It will pave the way for the establishment of Skills England by transferring functions from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE). 

What does the Skills England Bill do?

• The Bill will transfer functions from IfATE to Skills England, which will sit at the heart of a system that provides learners with the skills required to thrive in life, businesses with the trained workforce they need to succeed, and local areas with access to the right skills to spur economic growth. Skills provision ranges from the essential skills people need to participate in the labour market, to the highly technical skills required to drive productivity and economic growth.
• Skills England will support economic growth by greater coherence to the assessment of skills needs and training landscape; ensuring training programmes are well designed and delivered to meet these needs; and that regional and national skills systems are providing the skilled workforce needed to enable businesses to thrive and to contribute to the Industrial Strategy at the heart of our growth mission.
• Skills England will convene employers, unions, education and training providers, and experts with national government to:
  • develop a single picture of national and local skills needs. Skills England will work with industry, the Migration Advisory Committee, unions and the Industrial Strategy Council to build and maintain a comprehensive assessment of current and future skills needs. This will also inform the Department for Education’s policy priorities.
  • Identify the training for which the Growth and Skills Levy will be accessible - this includes consulting on (and maintaining a list of) levy-eligible training to ensure value for money, and that the mix of government-funded training available to learners and employers aligns with skills needs.
  • ensure that the national and regional skills systems are meeting skills needs and are aligned, including using local and regional vacancy data as part of a robust evidence base. Skills England will convene MCAs and other key stakeholders to identify system issues and provide advice to Government, leading to a more coherent system.
• To deliver this role, it is expected that Skills England will need to take on several of the functions the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. 

Legislation will be introduced to give greater rights and protections to people renting their homes, including ending no fault evictions and reforming grounds for possession.”

• More than 11 million people in England live day in, day out with the knowledge that they could be uprooted from their home with little notice and minimal justification, and a significant minority of them are forced to live in substandard properties for fear that a complaint would lead to an instant retaliatory eviction. The Government is determined to address the insecurity and injustice that far too many renters experience by fundamentally reforming the private rented sector and improving the quality of housing in it.
• We value the contribution made by responsible landlords who provide quality homes to their tenants and believe they must enjoy robust grounds for possession where there is good reason to take their property back. However, the Government is determined to level decisively the playing field between landlord and tenant by providing renters with greater security, rights and protections and cracking down on the minority of unscrupulous landlords who exploit, mistreat or discriminate against tenants with bad practices such as unfair rent increases intended to force tenants out, and pitting renters against each other in bidding wars.
• The Renters’ Rights Bill delivers our manifesto commitment to transform the experience of private renting, including by ending Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions – we will take action where the previous Government has failed. The Bill will giveing renters much greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes for longer, build lives in their communities, and avoid the risk of homelessness.

What does the Renters’ Rights Bill do?

• The private rented sector must work for all those who depend upon it for a secure home. A functioning sector can provide flexibility for those who want it, and a secure stepping stone for aspiring homeowners.
• Too many renters are being exploited by a minority of unscrupulous landlords, unable to challenge bad practices because they could be evicted at any moment. This is bad for economic growth and productivity, poor for health, and a drain on aspiration.
• The Renters’ Rights Bill will overhaul the private rented sector, with this Government determined to take action where the previous Government failed, transforming rights for the 11 million private tenants in England by:
• abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault evictions’, removing the threat of arbitrary evictions and increasing tenant security and stability. New clear and expanded possession grounds will be introduced so landlords can reclaim their properties when they need to.
  • strengthening tenants’ rights and protections, for example we will empower tenants to challenge rent increases designed to force them out by the backdoor and introduce new laws to end the practice of rental bidding wars by landlords and letting agents.
  • giving tenants the right to request a pet, which landlords must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse. Landlords will be able to request insurance to cover potential damage from pets if needed.
  • applying a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector to ensure homes are safe, secure and hazard free – tackling the blight of poor-quality homes.
  • applying ‘Awaab’s Law’ to the sector, setting clear legal expectations about the timeframes within which landlords in the private rented sector must make homes safe where they contain serious hazards.
  • creating a digital private rented sector database to bring together key information for landlords, tenants, and councils. Tenants will be able to access information to inform choices when entering new tenancies. Landlords will be able to quickly understand their obligations and demonstrate compliance, providing certainty for tenants and landlords alike. Councils will be able to use the database to target enforcement where it is needed most.
  • supporting quicker, cheaper resolution when there are disputes – preventing them escalating to costly court proceedings – with a new ombudsman service for the private rented sector that will provide fair, impartial and binding resolution, to both landlords and tenants and reducing the need to go to court.
  • making it illegal for landlords to discriminate against tenants in receipt of benefits or with children when choosing to let their property – so no family is discriminated against and denied a home when they need it.
  • strengthening local councils’ enforcement powers. New investigatory powers will make it easier for councils to identify and fine unscrupulous landlords and drive bad actors out of the sector.

A Bill will be introduced to establish an independent football regulator to ensure greater sustainability in the game and strengthen protections for fans.”

• The Football Governance Bill delivers our manifesto commitment to introduce an Independent Football Regulator. The new regulator will protect football clubs across England, ensuring their financial sustainability and giving fans a greater say in the way their clubs are run. It will also ensure that clubs can’t be syphoned off from the English football pyramid to set up their own closed league while providing the certainty and sustainability required to drive future investment and growth, so that English Football remains a global success story.
• The Bill will provide greater protections for club heritage and ensure responsible owners for these community assets. Most importantly, the Government is strengthening these proposals to ensure that fans have a greater voice in their own clubs. It will not change the fundamentals of the game we love - but will ensure a more sustainable future, with fans at its heart, for generations to come.

What does the Football Governance Bill do?

• The Government is introducing legislation to ensure that English football is sustainable and benefits its fans and communities by:
  • establishing a new independent regulator to address financial sustainability and ensure fans’ voices are heard. The regulator would operate a licensing system, where regulated clubs would require a licence to operate as professional football clubs. The new regulator would be tasked with ensuring that individual clubs are financially sound; the overall English football system is more financially resilient; and safeguarding the heritage of individual clubs.
  • introducing financial regulation to improve the financial resilience of clubs across the football pyramid. Clubs will be required to demonstrate sound basic financial practices; have appropriate financial resources to enable the club to meet cash flows, including in the event of a financial shock; and protect the core assets and value of the club - such as the stadium. This will reduce the risk of clubs facing financial failure, which at its most extreme can lead to clubs ceasing to exist.
  • creating a new, strengthened owners’ and directors’ test to make sure a club’s custodians are suitable and protect fans from irresponsible owners. This follows too many cases of clubs being put at risk of administration or liquidation due to mismanagement by their owners and directors. Some of these acquired clubs without having adequate finances or were involved in criminality. Some directors made crucial financial decisions without holding suitable professional qualifications.
  • setting a minimum standard of fan engagement and requiring clubs to get fan approval to changes to the badge and home shirt colours, as well as placing the strong existing FA protections for club names on a statutory footing. This comes after fans at clubs like Cardiff City and Hull City had to battle to bring back, or keep, their club’s colours and badge and name.
  • requiring clubs to seek the regulator’s approval for a stadium sale or relocation. The stadium a club plays in not only has significant value to fans but can also be a club’s most valuable asset, and the recent administration at Derby County highlighted the issues caused by the decision to sell the club’s stadium.
  • preventing clubs from joining closed-shop, breakaway or unlicensed leagues, such as the European Super League. The legislation would set out a number of duties that clubs would need to comply with in order to obtain and keep their licence, including not playing in competitions prohibited by the regulator, where they are not based on merit, open competition or if they harm the heritage of English football.
  • ensuring fair financial distributions between leagues. When authorities cannot agree appropriate financial flows, and the sustainability of football is at risk, giving the regulator the backstop power to ensure a fair financial flow.
  • establishing a ‘Football Club Corporate Governance Code’. Clubs would be required to report annually on corporate governance, setting out how they apply the principles of the Code and why this is suitable for their circumstances. The code would be developed in consultation with industry and encourage clubs to be better run.

Draft legislation will be published on leasehold and commonhold reform.”

• The Government will act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
• The Government will further reform the leasehold system, enacting remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to leasehold enfranchisement and the Right to Manage, tackling unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, and removing the disproportionate and draconian threat of forfeiture as a means of ensuring compliance with a lease agreement.
• The Government will take steps to bring the feudal leasehold system to an end, reinvigorating commonhold through a comprehensive new legal framework and banning the sale of new leasehold flats so commonhold becomes the default tenure.

What does the draft Draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill do?

• The Government will take steps to bring the feudal system of leasehold to an end and reinvigorate commonhold by:
  • enacting remaining Law Commission recommendations to bolster leaseholders’ fundamental rights to extend their lease and buy their freehold (enfranchisement), and take over the freeholders building management functions (Right to Manage).
  • reinvigorating commonhold by modernising the legal framework. We will also restrict the sale of new leasehold flats. The Government will consult on the best way to achieve this, so that generations to come will benefit from absolute homeownership.
  • tackling existing ground rents by regulating ground rents for existing leaseholders so they no longer face unregulated and unaffordable costs.
  • bringing the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ private estates and unfair costs to an end – the Government will consult on the best way to achieve this and implement new protections for homeowners on private estates in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
  • ending the injustice of forfeiture so that leaseholders are protected against losing savings they have in their home for potentially small unpaid debts.
• In addition, the Government will implement the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 so that leaseholders can benefit from more rights, power and protections over their homes.

Legislation on race equality will be published in draft to enshrine the full right to equal pay in law.”

• The draft Bill delivers our manifesto commitments to enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for ethnic minorities and disabled people and to introduce mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting. This will seek to create a more equal society and support a growing economy.

What does the draft Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill do?

• The draft Bill will tackle inequality for ethnic minority and disabled people by:
  • enshrining in law the full right to equal pay for ethnic minorities and disabled people, making it much easier for them to bring unequal pay claims. Claimants currently face significant barriers when bringing pay discrimination claims on the grounds of ethnicity or disability. Enshrining in law the full right to equal pay for ethnic minorities as well as disabled people will make it easier for them to bring forward equal pay claims where they have been underpaid.
  • introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting for larger employers (those with 250+ employees) to help close the ethnicity and disability pay gaps. Surfacing pay gaps will enable companies to constructively consider why they exist and how to tackle them.

A Bill will be introduced to progressively increase the age at which people can buy cigarettes and impose limits on the sale and marketing of vapes.”

• The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will deliver on our mission to improve healthy life expectancy and reduce the number of lives lost to the biggest killers, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
• The Bill will deliver on the Government’s manifesto commitment to introduce a progressive smoking ban. This will make sure the next generation can never legally be sold cigarettes, paving the way for a smoke-free UK.
• The Bill will also stop vapes and other consumer nicotine products (such as nicotine pouches) from being deliberately branded and advertised to appeal to children. Together these measures will help stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine. 

What does the Tobacco and Vapes Bill do?

• Sitting alongside wider support across the health service to support smokers to quit, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will be a landmark step in creating a smoke-free UK. It will:
  • introduce a progressive smoking ban to gradually end the sale of tobacco products across the country (including herbal smoking products and cigarette papers). Children born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be able to legally be sold cigarettes, preventing the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine. The majority of smokers start in their youth (4 in 5 start before the age of 20) and are then addicted for life.
  • stop vapes and other consumer nicotine products (such as nicotine pouches) from being deliberately branded and advertised to appeal to children meaning they are only available as a tool to help smokers quit. The Bill will provide Ministers with powers to regulate the flavours, packaging, and display of vapes and other nicotine products. These steps will help stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine.
  • strengthen enforcement activity, allowing Trading Standards to take swifter action to enforce the law and closing loopholes. It will prevent underage sales of tobacco and vapes by providing enforcement authorities in England and Wales with the power to issue Fixed Penalty Notices for the underage sale of tobacco and vaping products.

My ministers will legislate to modernise the Mental Health Act so it is fit for the twenty first century.”

• The Mental Health Bill will deliver our manifesto commitment to modernise the Mental Health Act 1983 which is woefully out of date. The Bill will make it fit for the 21st century so that patients have greater choice, autonomy, rights and support, and make sure all patients are treated with dignity and respect throughout their treatment.
• This Bill, along with our wider plans to tackle the mental health crisis, will help deliver the Government’s mission to see people living healthier for longer, including reversing the rising trend in the rate of lives lost to suicide. 

What does the Mental Health Bill do?

• The Mental Health Bill takes forward the vast majority of Professor Sir Simon Wessley’s 2017 recommendations for legislative reform and includes a wide range of changes to shift the balance of power from the system to the patient, putting service users at the centre of decisions about their own care.
• The Mental Health Bill will amend the Mental Health Act 1983 to give people detained greater choice and autonomy, enhanced rights and support, and ensure everyone is treated with dignity and respect throughout treatment by:
  • ensuring that detention and treatment under the Mental Health Act takes place only when necessary, by revising the detention criteria to ensure that people can only be detained if they pose a risk of serious harm either to themselves or to others, and where there is a reasonable prospect that treatment would have a therapeutic benefit. It will also revise and shorten the period that a patient may be kept in detention for treatment and provide faster, more frequent reviews and appeals of both detentions and treatment.
  • further limiting the extent to which people with a learning disability and/or autistic people can be detained and treated under the Mental Health Act and supporting such individuals to live fulfilling lives in their community. It will do this by introducing duties on commissioners to improve understanding of the risk of crisis amongst people with a learning disability and/or autistic people in their local area and also ensure an adequate supply of community services to prevent inappropriate detentions.
  • strengthening the voice of patients by adding statutory weight to patients’ rights to be involved with planning for their care, and to make choices and refusals regarding the treatment they receive.
  • strengthening and improving the statutory roles which protect and support those who are detained by introducing a new statutory role – the nominated person – who is chosen by the patient, to replace the nearest relative and extend access to Independent Mental Health Advocates to informal patients and introduce an opt-out system for formal patients.
  • removing police stations and prisons as places of safety under the Mental Health Act to ensure people experiencing a mental health crisis or with severe mental health needs are supported in the most appropriate setting.
  • supporting offenders with severe mental health problems to access the care they need as quickly and early as possible, and improve the management of those patients subject to a restriction order (for the purposes of public protection).
  • These reforms will take a number of years to implement, as we will need to recruit and train more clinical and judicial staff. We plan to introduce these reforms in phases as resources allow, and we will not commence new powers unless we have sufficient staff in place that means it is safe to do so. 

A Bill will be introduced to establish a statutory Armed Forces Commissioner to act as a strong independent champion for our gallant Armed Forces and their families.”

• The men and women of our Armed Forces serve our country with dedication and risk their lives for this country, and they are at the heart of our security.
• We will strengthen our support for our Armed Forces communities with a new Armed Forces Commissioner to act as a strong independent champion for our service personnel and their families. 

What does the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill do?

• Over the last decade, we have seen morale amongst our armed forces personnel hit record lows and a crisis in recruitment and retention. We need to renew the contract with those who dedicate their lives to serve, and their families, and ensure their needs are represented by a strong, independent voice. That’s why, in legislation, we are establishing an Armed Forces Commissioner.
• The Bill will create the Commissioner and give them the necessary powers to champion our Armed Forces and improve service life. The Commissioner will:
  • be a new, direct and independent contact point for serving personnel and their families, outside their chain of command, to raise issues which impact service life.
  • strengthen parliamentary oversight of issues facing our Armed Forces personnel, and report directly on an annual basis to ensure proper accountability.
  • be fully empowered to investigate and highlight issues, with access to information and MoD sites as appropriate. This could include inspecting accommodation, work-life balance, faulty kit, childcare arrangements and other issues impacting service and family life. 

• Our digital economy is increasingly being attacked by cyber criminals and state actors, affecting essential public services and infrastructure. In the last 18 months, our hospitals, universities, local authorities, democratic institutions and government departments have been targeted in cyber attacks.
• Our essential services are vulnerable to hostile actors and recent cyber attacks affecting the NHS and Ministry of Defence show the impacts can be severe. We need to take swift action to address vulnerabilities and protect our digital economy to deliver growth. The Bill will strengthen the UK’s cyber defences, ensure that critical infrastructure and the digital services that companies rely on are secure.

What does the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill do?

• The Bill will strengthen our defences and ensure that more essential digital services than ever before are protected, for example by expanding the remit of the existing regulation, putting regulators on a stronger footing, and increasing reporting requirements to build a better picture in government of cyber threats.
• The existing UK regulations reflect law inherited from the EU and are the UK’s only cross-sector cyber security legislation. They have now been superseded in the EU and require urgent update in the UK to ensure that our infrastructure and economy is not comparably more vulnerable.
• The Bill will make crucial updates to the legacy regulatory framework by:
  • expanding the remit of the regulation to protect more digital services and supply chains. These are an increasingly attractive threat vector for attackers. This Bill will fill an immediate gap in our defences and prevent similar attacks experienced by critical public services in the UK, such as the recent ransomware attack impacting London hospitals.
  • putting regulators on a strong footing to ensure essential cyber safety measures are being implemented. This would include potential cost recovery mechanisms to provide resources to regulators and providing powers to proactively investigate potential vulnerabilities.
  • mandating increased incident reporting to give government better data on cyber attacks, including where a company has been held to ransom – this will improve our understanding of the threats and alert us to potential attacks by expanding the type and nature of incidents that regulated entities must report.