Queen's Speech: What does it mean for family businesses?

Yesterday, the Prince of Wales, on behalf of Her Majesty read the Queen’s Speech, marking the State Opening of Parliament. The Government has set out the legislative agenda for the year ahead, with detail on the Bills they intend to pass.

Key Bills of interest to family businesses include: 

Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. To grow the economy evenly across the United Kingdom. Its proposals include:

• Placing a duty on the Government to set Levelling Up missions and produce an annual report updating the country on delivery of these missions
• Creating a new model of combined authority: the ‘County Deal’ which will provide local leaders with powers to enhance local accountability, join up services and provide transparent decision making to rejuvenate their communities, increase their ability to reflect local preferences in arrangements including directly elected leaders’ titles
• Unlocking new powers for local authorities to bring empty premises back into use and instigate rental auctions of vacant commercial properties in town centres and on high streets.
• Strengthening neighbourhood planning and making it easier for local authorities to get local plans in place, we will limit speculative development.

Non-Domestic Rating Bill (Business Rates). To deliver manifesto is to review and create a fairer, more accurate business rates system, meaning businesses will have the confidence they are paying the right tax.

• Shortening the business rates revaluation cycle from five to three years from 2023.
• Improving the valuation accuracy and timeliness in a shorter revaluation cycle through new duties on ratepayers, with measures to support compliance.
• Creating a power for the Valuation Office Agency to provide ratepayers with information on the calculation of their rateable value
• Introducing new 12-month rates relief on increases to rateable value arising from improvements made to a property, and a new 100 per cent rates relief for low carbon heat networks that are assessed as separate entities for business rates

The Higher Education Bill. To ensure that the post-18 education system promotes real social mobility, helping students onto pathways in which they can excel, and is financially sustainable aspirations and to help grow the economy

• Ensuring that appropriate fee limits can be applied more flexibly to higher education study within the Lifelong Loan Entitlement.
• Set setting minimum qualification requirements for a person living in England to be eligible to get student finance support to enter higher education.
• Fulfilling the manifesto commitment to tackle uncontrolled growth of low-quality courses by taking specific powers to control numbers of students entering higher education at specific providers in England 

Procurement Bill. Public sector procurement will be simplified to provide new opportunities for small businesses.

• Enshrining in law the objectives of public procurement including: delivering value for money, maximising public benefit, treating suppliers equally and without discrimination, and acting, and being seen to act, with integrity.
• Requiring buyers to have regard to the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement as set out in the National Procurement Policy Statement.
• Introducing new, clearer arrangements for how contracting authorities can buy at pace if necessary to protect life or health, public order or safety, with strengthened safeguards for transparency.
• Tackling unacceptable behaviour and poor performance through new exclusion rules and giving buyers the tools they need to properly take account of a bidder’s past performance.
• Providing a number of sector-specific features where necessary, including tailored rules to better suit defence and security procurement in order to protect our national interests.
• Reforming the Single Source Contract Regulations to ensure we continue to pay fair prices on single source defence contracts while providing value for money.

Brexit Freedoms Bill. To fulfil the Government’s manifesto commitment to end the supremacy of European law and ensure regulation fits the needs of the UK.

• Enshrining in law the objectives of public procurement to better deliver value for money, maximising public benefit, treating suppliers equally without discrimination, and acting, and being seen to act, with integrity.
• Requiring buyers to have regard to the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement as set out in the National Procurement Policy Statement.
• Introducing new, clearer arrangements for how contracting authorities can buy at pace if necessary to protect life or health, public order or safety and strengthen safeguards for transparency.
• Tackling unacceptable behaviour and poor performance through new exclusion rules and giving buyers the tools to understanding a bidder’s past performance
• Reforming the Single Source Contract Regulations to ensure we continue to pay fair prices on single source defence contracts while providing value for money.

UK Infrastructure Bank Bill. Establish the UK Infrastructure Bank in legislation, with objectives to support economic growth and the delivery of net zero.

• Enshrining the Bank’s objectives and functions in legislation to ensure that it will be a long-lasting institution with a clear policy mandate to support economic growth, including at a regional and local level, and the delivery of net zero.
• Protecting the Bank’s operational independence by setting out clear accountability for how it is to be run, including reporting and board requirements.
• Providing the Bank with the necessary powers to lend directly to local authorities and the Northern Ireland Executive, enabling the Bank to play a key role in delivering public sector infrastructure projects.

Financial Services and Markets Bill. To strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in financial services and ensure the sector continues to deliver for individuals and businesses across the country.

• Revoking retained EU law on financial services and replacing it with an approach to regulation that is designed for the UK.
• Updating the objectives of the financial services regulators to ensure a greater focus on growth and international competitiveness.
• Reforming the rules that regulate the UK’s capital markets to promote investment.
• Introducing additional protections for those investing or using financial products, to make it safer and support the victims of scams.

A Draft Audit Reform Bill was announced, which will take forward the Government’s proposed audit and corporate governance reform proposals, including replacing the FRC with a new body ARGA.  The IFB has previously raised concerns about the proposal to extend Public Interest Entity status to large private companies.  This announcement of a Draft Bill signals the Government’s intention to move ahead with audit and corporate governance reform, however they will not legislate this year.  The Government has still not published its response to the consultation on this, and we await the detail on which proposals will be taken forward and in what form.

A Draft Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill was also announced - to promote competition, strengthen consumer rights and protect households and businesses will be published. Measures will also be published to create new competition rules for digital markets and the largest digital firms.”

You can find more details on all the Bills announced here.