Queen’s Speech 2022

Prince Charles, standing in for the Queen, delivered her speech to both Houses of Parliament last week.  The speech highlighted some of the 38 laws that ministers intend to pass in the coming year. This number includes some bills carried over from the previous session of Parliament, which ended last month.

Prince Charles outlined that it was the governments priority to grow and strengthen the economy and help ease the cost of living for families. Critics have argued the government is not doing enough to help struggling families as inflation soars.   

Some of the main business points include:

• The Brexit Freedoms Bill which will give ministers the power to change current EU laws;
• A Levelling up and Regeneration Bill to give councils new planning and redevelopment powers;
• Changes to business rates;
• The new UK Infrastructure Bank, a body designed to increase financing of infrastructure projects;
• An online safety Bill to improve regulation of content appearing on the internet;
• A Data Reform Bill to replace EU rules on data protection;
• The Electronic Trade Documents Bill to enable more digitisation of trade-related paperwork;
• An extension of 5G mobile coverage and new safety standards for digital devices;
• A draft Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill to tackle fake consumer reviews and boost competition;
• An Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill will strengthen the investigatory powers of Companies House and aim to increase corporate transparency;
• A Financial Services and Markets Bill will aim to simplify EU rules governing the sector; and
• The Procurement Bill will replace EU rules on how the government buys services from the private sector.

The new Financial Services and Markets Bill, announced in the Queen’s Speech, will support consumers by protecting access to cash. It will ensure the continued availability of withdrawal and deposit facilities across the UK, and that the country’s cash infrastructure is sustainable for the long term.

The Bill will also enable the Payment Systems Regulator to require banks to reimburse authorised push payment (APP) scam losses, totalling hundreds of millions of pounds each year. This will ensure victims are not left paying for fraud through no fault of their own.

We will keep you updated over the next few months of business-related developments and once legislation is passed we will ensure you get the information you need if these changes affect you.

See:   Queen’s Speech 2022 - GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/queens-speech-2022)