The Queen’s Speech 2021

The full Policy document that underpins today’s Queen’s Speech is attached. The main components that will be of interest to tourism businesses are:

The Government will publish a Levelling Up White Paper later this year, setting out new policy interventions aimed at improving livelihoods and opportunity in all parts of the UK.
A comprehensive Net Zero Strategy, along with sector strategies, including Heat and Buildings and the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, will set out the Government’s vision for transitioning to a net zero economy by 2050.

The Planning Bill will:

- Change local plans so that they provide more certainty over the type, scale and design of development permitted on different categories of land.
- Decrease the time it takes for developments to go through the planning system.
- Simplify and enhance the framework for environmental assessments for developments
- Reform the framework for locally led development corporations to ensure local areas have access to appropriate delivery vehicles to support growth and regeneration.

The Skills and Post-16 Education Bill will:

- Offer adults the opportunity to retrain in later life through the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, helping them to gain in-demand skills and open up further job opportunities.
- Realign the system around the needs of employers so that people are trained for the skills gaps that exist now and in the future, in sectors the economy needs

The High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill will:

- Provide the powers to build and operate the next stage of the High Speed Two (HS2) network from Crewe to Manchester

The National Insurance Contributions Bill will:

- Strengthen powers to tackle attempts to avoid tax and National Insurance contributions.
- Ensuring that self-employed people who must, or have had to, self-isolate due to COVID-19 do not pay National Insurance contributions on their self-isolation support payments

The Subsidy Control Bill will:

- Create the UK’s subsidy control system
- Enable public authorities to deliver subsidies that are tailored to local needs to support the UK’s economic recovery and deliver Government priorities
- Empower local authorities, public bodies, and central and devolved governments to design subsidies that deliver strong benefits for the UK taxpayer and local communities.

The Professional Qualifications Bill will:

- Create a new framework to recognise professional qualifications from across the world to ensure the UK can access professionals in areas of a workforce shortage

The Dormant Assets Bill will:

- Expand the Dormant Assets Scheme into the insurance and pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors – thereby providing £880m for social and environmental initiatives

The Charities Bill will:

- Change the law to help charities amend their governing documents more easily with Charity Commission oversight where appropriate
- Give charities more flexibility to obtain tailored advice when they sell land, and removing unnecessary administrative burdens
- Increase flexibility for charities to use their permanent endowment (assets or investments where the capital value must be preserved), with checks in place to ensure its protection in the long term.
- Remove legal barriers to charities merging.
- Give trustees advance assurance that litigation costs in the Charity Tribunal can be paid from the charity’s funds

The Environment Bill will:

- Put the environment at the centre of policy making, making Government accountable for making progress on environmental issues.
- Introduce a framework for legally-binding environmental targets and establish a new, independent Office for Environmental Protection
- Introduce measures to revolutionise how we recycle; enhance local powers to tackle sources of air pollution; secure long-term, resilient water supplies and wastewater services; and protect nature and improve biodiversity