Queen’s Speech: Debate in the House of Lords Day 4

This House of Lords Library Briefing has been published ahead of day 4 of the Lords debate on the Queen’s Speech, covering the following subjects: home affairs, justice, local government, devolved affairs and constitutional affairs.

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 bill or bills to enshrine the Police Covenant, tackle serious violence, replace current arrangements for the European Arrest Warrant and modernise espionage laws.
• The Domestic Abuse Bill, which was carried over from the last session.
• An immigration bill, possibly following on from the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill which was lost at the end of the last session.
• A bill or bills concerning sentencing of prisoners and denying parole to murderers who refuse to reveal the location of their victims.
• A bill or bills about housing matters, including commonhold and leasehold, and the statutory regulation of letting agents.
• A bill to implement recommendations by the Hart Inquiry into Historical Institutional Abuse in Northern Ireland.
• An electoral law bill concerning intimidation, influence and information. 

Several bills were lost at the close of the previous parliamentary session on 8 October 2019 having not been carried over. These included Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill and the Courts and Tribunals (Online Procedure) Bill [HL]. It is unclear whether these bills will be reintroduced and in what format. The Sentencing (Pre-consolidation Amendments) Bill was carried over.