Queen’s Speech: Debate in the House of Lords Day 5

The briefing identifies key bills that may be announced in the Queen’s Speech. This is based on existing government commitments foreshadowing such legislation and press reports. Additional bills may be announced not covered in this briefing. Details vary but at the time of writing possible government bills include:

• A health service safety investigations bill, to establish the Health Service Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) as an independent statutory body, with legislative powers to conduct investigations.
• A bill to support integrated healthcare in the NHS, following an NHS England board paper which recommended its introduction.
• A home education bill, based on proposals to create four new duties in primary legislation set out in a recent consultation.
• An online harms bill, containing a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator.
• A pensions schemes bill, including delivery of pensions dashboards.

Several bills were lost at the close of the previous parliamentary session on 8 October 2019. The Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill was not carried over. However, the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Bill [HL] will return in the new session.

To provide additional context and a flavour of government policy positions, the briefing sets out some of the key announcements made since the new Government took office in July. These include the Government’s priorities for healthcare, education, broadband and 5G, and welfare.