This House of Lords Library Briefing has been published ahead of day 2 of the Lords debate on the December 2019 Queen’s Speech, covering the following subjects: home affairs, justice, constitutional affairs and devolved affairs.
Queen's Speech January 2020: Debate in the House of Lords Day 2 (297KB PDF)
This briefing is one of three prepared ahead of the three days of debate in the House of Lords on the Queen’s Speech, scheduled to take place between 7 and 9 January 2020. The briefings detail the legislative and policy announcements made by the Government, in the Queen’s Speech and in the associated documents, and provide links to further reading.
This briefing looks at home affairs, justice, constitutional affairs and devolved affairs, providing details on the following legislative announcements:
It also covers proposals to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, to set up a royal commission on the criminal justice process, to establish a constitution, democracy and rights commission and the Government’s policies concerning the devolved administrations.
Queen's Speech January 2020: Debate in the House of Lords Day 2 (297KB PDF)
The House of Lords (Alternative Second Chamber Bill) [HL] is a private member’s bill introduced by Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru). It would require the secretary of state to carry out a consultation regarding proposals for replacing the House of Lords with an alternative second chamber. The bill specifies whom the secretary of state would be required to consult with and the timeframe of that consultation.
![House of Lords (Alternative Second Chamber) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 11 of 2026–27](https://lordslibrary-parliament.studio24.dev/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/House-of-Lords-568x426.png)
The British Sovereignty Protection (Chagos Islands) Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill sponsored by Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party). The bill would restrict any cession or transfer of sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) unless certain requirements were met, including the consent of the Chagossian people and an act of parliament. It would also see the UK remain sovereign over the military base on Diego Garcia.
![British Sovereignty Protection (Chagos Islands) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 15 of 2026–27](https://lordslibrary-parliament.studio24.dev/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/Defence-VIGs-568x426.jpg)
The Health Bill is intended to make changes to the NHS in England, including abolishing NHS England. It would also abolish Healthwatch and move the Heath Services Safety Inspectorate Board into the CQC. The bill would establish a single patient record, making patient data available across healthcare settings and directly to patients. In the House of Commons, amendments were made on visiting patients, medicines and medical devices regulation, and pharmaceutical services.
