This House of Lords Library Briefing has been published ahead of day 3 of the Lords debate on the Queen’s Speech, covering the following subjects: economic affairs, business, agriculture, environment, energy and transport.
Queen's Speech: Debate in the House of Lords Day 3 (593 KB , PDF)
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:
Several bills were lost at the close of the previous parliamentary session on 8 October 2019, having not been carried over. These included two bills concerning non-domestic ratings and the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill. The Government has said it remains committed to recognising animal sentience in UK law post-Brexit but has not said whether it intends to pursue this through the Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Bill, published in draft in December 2017. The High Speed Rail (West Midlands–Crewe) Bill was carried over, but the future of the HS2 project is currently subject to review.
To provide context, the briefing gives a snapshot of current economic performance across several indicators. It also sets out the key announcements made in the spending round in September. In his speech, the Chancellor, Sajid Javid, announced there would be increases in spending across all government departments. Following the announcement, doubt has been expressed by some as to whether the spending round was consistent with existing fiscal rules.
Queen's Speech: Debate in the House of Lords Day 3 (593 KB , PDF)
The importance of social cohesion and strong communities has often been discussed in the context of international events which have increased tensions between groups in the UK. This briefing examines what is meant by social cohesion, provides an overview of recent reports on social cohesion and communities, and sets out recent government statements on its policies to address concerns about social cohesion.
Reported retail crime has increased significantly in recent years. This criminal activity, encompassing offences such as shoplifting and assaults on retail workers, has impacted businesses, their employees and local economies. The government has outlined plans to tackle retail crime in response to this issue. This includes legislating to create a new specific offence of assaulting a retail worker and to remove the threshold on so-called “low-value” shoplifting offences.
In the autumn budget the chancellor announced changes to inheritance tax reliefs. From April 2026, taxes would apply to agricultural assets over £1mn (or up to £3mn in certain circumstances). The government has said this will just affect the wealthiest landowners and disincentivise buying agricultural land to avoid tax. Farming groups have argued the policy is a threat to the future of family farming.
