Planning, housing and employment law shake-up promised in King’s speech

As widely expected, a Planning and Infrastructure Bill to speed up planning decisions for major infrastructure and house building is a centrepiece of the legislative programme unveiled in the King's speech today. The bill will reform compulsory purchase compensation rules 'to ensure that compensation paid to landowners is fair but not excessive where important social and physical infrastructure and affordable housing are being delivered'.

The measure is one of 40 bills and draft bills announced in the speech and accompanying government briefing notes.

Another widely trailed measure, the Employment Rights Bill, 'will ban exploitative practices and enhance employment rights'. It will make parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal 'available from day one on the job for all workers'.  Meanwhile a Renters’ Rights Bill will strengthen protection for renters, including abolishing section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. The law will also support 'quicker, cheaper resolution when there are disputes – preventing them escalating to costly court proceedings'. 

Draft legislation will be published on leasehold and commonhold reform. This would invigorate commonhold by 'modernising the legal framework'. The government will consult on the best way to achieve this. 

On crime and justice, the government 'will bring forward legislation to strengthen community policing and give police greater powers to tackle anti-social behaviour and strengthen support for victims'. This will be achieved through a Crime and Policing Bill and a Victims, Courts and Public Protection Bill. This measure will require offenders to attend their sentencing hearings and reduce delays in the courts system by allowing associate prosecutors to work on appropriate cases, the government said. 

Elsewhere in the justice sector, an Arbitration Bill will implement the recommendations made in the 2022 Law Commission review of arbitration law. Among other measures, it will codify a duty on arbitrators to disclose circumstances that might give rise to doubts about their impartiality. Arbitrators will have powers to make awards on a summary basis on issues that have no real prospect of success, avoiding nuisance claims and making arbitrations more efficient, the government said. 

Legislation was also promised 'to modernise the Mental Health Act so it is fit for the twenty first century'. This would include revising detention criteria to ensure that detention and treatment under the Mental Health Act takes place only when necessary. its briefing notes, the government says reform 'will take a number of years to implement, as we will need to recruit and train more clinical and judicial staff'.

Draft legislation will be published on race equality 'to enshrine the full right to equal pay in law'. This will introduce mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting for organisations with more than 250 employees.

Another expected measure will introduce a duty of candour on public servants, the so-called ‘Hillsborough law’. 

A Digital Information and Smart Data Bill will bring forward some of the content in the previous government’s Data Protection and Digital Information Bill abandoned in the pre-election washup. The Information Commissioners Office 'will be transformed into a more modern regulatory structure', with 'new, stronger powers'.

In a less ambitious statement than expected on artificial intelligence, the speech said the government will 'seek to establish the appropriate legislation to place requirements on those working to develop the most powerful artificial intelligence models'.

A draft audit reform and corporate governance bill will ‘revamp’ the current Financial Reporting Council, replacing it with an Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority. This will have powers to investigate and sanction company directors for serious failures in relation to their financial reporting and audit responsibilities, 'so there are consequences for putting forward dodgy accounts', the government said. 

A Football Governance Bill will 'establish an independent football regulator to ensure greater sustainability in the game and strengthen protections for fans'. 

Responding to the speech, Law Society president Nick Emmerson said:  'The new UK government has set out an ambitious legislative plan and we are pleased to see the criminal justice system is on their agenda. We hope the government will work proactively to protect and secure access to justice and make our justice system a source of pride again.'

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