Addressing Lords and MPs, King Charles announced in his King’s Speech 2024 that the Government’s legislative programmes will be “mission-led and based upon the principles of security, fairness and opportunity for all”.
In total, Labour will bring in more than 35 bills and draft bills to enable economic growth, such as speeding up the building of houses and infrastructure, improving transport, creating more jobs and securing clean, green energy.
Here are six key takeaways that will impact you and your money:
1) Employment Rights Bill
Labour’s commitment to “making work pay” will include legislation to introduce a new deal for working people to ban “exploitative practices” and to enhance employment rights.
As such, it will ban zero-hours contracts, end fire and rehire tactics and introduce basic employment rights from day one.
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It will also ensure the minimum wage is a genuine living wage.
Ben Harrison, director of the think tank Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said: “The commitment to introduce legislation to outlaw exploitative working practices – such as zero-hour contracts is crucial given 6.8 million people in the UK today find themselves in severely insecure work.
“Insecure jobs carry an average £3,276 per year pay penalty compared to more secure roles, and can be detrimental to workers’ health. As part of these reforms, Government should introduce a right for all workers to access guaranteed hours in their role, and end the era of ‘one-sided flexibility’ for millions at work.”
2) Better Buses Bill and Passenger Railway Service (Public Ownership) Bill, plus Rail Reform Bill
His Majesty confirmed a bill will be introduced to allow local leaders to take control of their local bus services. Further, ministers will bring forward legislation to improve the railways by reforming rail franchising. This will include establishing Great British Railways and bringing train operators under public ownership.
Zoe Watters, public sector infrastructure partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), said: “We should not underestimate the impact of bus travel on economic growth, as twice as many journeys are made via bus than trains and they are, in many localities, the only means of public transport.
“With the removal of a ban on public ownership of bus operators, it will be a challenge for authorities to navigate fair competition between public and private operators. Authorities will need to ensure a level playing field and to avoid ‘cherry picking’ of more profitable routes by all operators, regardless of ownership.”
Grant Klein, transport leader at PwC, added: “The combination of moves by creating Great British Railways, accelerating devolution of transport in Combined Authority areas, and extending bus franchising to all local leaders all give the green light to greater levels of connectivity to help connect the economy through greater access to places and jobs.
“There’s an exciting opportunity in this combination of proposals for a region to take control, to make decisions directly relevant for that geography. There will be details to work through – not least how local and combined authorities will input and benefit from any changes to rail fares.”
3) Great British Energy Bill
King Charles said: “My Government recognises the urgency of the global climate challenge and the new job opportunities that can come from leading the development of the technologies of the future. It is committed to a clean energy transition, which will lower energy bills for consumers over time.”
A bill will be introduced to set up Great British Energy – a publicly owned clean power company to accelerate investment in renewable energy such as offshore wind.
Labour also intends to introduce legislation to help unlock investment in energy infrastructure, support sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production and strengthen the water regulator’s powers.
Mike Thornton, chief executive of the Energy Saving Trust, said: “It’s welcome to hear commitment to a bill to establish Great British Energy to support the UK’s transition to clean energy. Ambition must now quickly turn to action.
“The UK is over-reliant on fossil fuels, energy bills remain high and people need help to engage with net zero. Addressing the climate emergency by reducing carbon will result in healthier homes, cleaner air and greener, cheaper energy for all.”
4) Renters’ Rights Bill
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.
Draft legislation will also be published on leasehold and commonhold reform.
The last government managed to rush through its Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Act before Parliament was dissolved, with measures to make it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to extend their leases. However, it did not include a mooted cap on ground rents.
In its election manifesto, the Labour Party said it would review how to protect leaseholders from costs associated with improving building safety and speed up the pace of remediation.
Matt Hartley, director of engagement at the Money Advice Trust – the charity behind National Debtline and Business Debtline – said: “The Government is right to prioritise the Renters’ Rights Bill, which will ensure renters struggling with their finances are protected from unfair eviction.
“However, with 6.8 million people struggling to pay for essentials, we also need to see a clear plan to help people afford the basics, including improving support under Universal Credit.
“And while the aim of approving affordability in the energy market longer term is welcome, energy arrears levels are already at record highs. What’s needed now is support for people dealing with unmanageable energy debts through a Help to Repay scheme.”
5) Budget Responsibility Bill
With stability the cornerstone of Labour’s plan, it will legislate to ensure that “all significant tax and spending changes are subject to an independent assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility [OBR]”.
This will ensure “nobody can play fast and loose with public finances” and that it “avoids chaos [that] leaves families with spiralling bills”.
As such, the new bill will strengthen the role of the OBR so that significant fiscal announcements “must be properly scrutinised and that taxpayers’ money is respected”.
6) Pension Schemes Bill
In a quick inclusion, the king announced bills will be brought forward to strengthen audit and corporate governance, alongside pension investment as part of the Draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill and Pension Schemes Bill.
Mike Ambery, retirement savings director at Standard Life, said: “The bill referenced in the King’s Speech focuses primarily on initiatives that were already underway in the previous Parliament. The growth of numerous DC small pots threatens retirement outcomes and it appears the new Government will continue to move towards existing plans to implement a default consolidator as a means to address the issue. Continued focus on Value for Money is a welcome step to ensuring people are investing in products that work for them, but we’d like to see factors like customer service feature in judgements of what constitutes good value for money.
“It’s encouraging to see a focus on ensuring every saver has access to suitable retirement income products at the point of retirement. This is an area where there’s a lack of consistency at present. Ideally, this bill will spur a renewed focus on how people structure their retirement incomes and the level of guaranteed and flexible income they require.”
