Queen’s Speech 2021 (UK)

The State Opening of Parliament is scheduled to take place on 11 May 2021. Parliament was prorogued on Thursday 29 April 2021, bringing the 2019-21 Session to an end.

The House of Commons Library has a Research Briefing that identifies issues and bills that may appear in the Queen’s Speech on 11 May or that may require legislation in the forthcoming parliamentary session. This Briefing is here.

A number of items to note :

(1) some bills have been subject to carry-over motions, notably –

* the Environment Bill (again)

On 26 January 2021, special arrangements were made to carry-over the Environment Bill 2019-21. Normally bills that are carried over must complete their passage through both Houses in 12 months. The Environment Bill 2019-21 was re-introduced on 30 January 2020 (as a reinstatement of the previous administration’s Environment Bill with some additions, and some deletions). The motion to carry-over the January 2020 bill allowed two years instead of the one year provided for in Standing Orders for the completion of the passage of the Bill. The motion was agreed without a division.

Progress of the Environment Bill can be seen here.

* the Finance (formerly Finance No. 2)) Bill (this contains the landfill tax rates from 1st April 2021 – England and Northern Ireland, the CCL uprating from 1st April 2022, abolition of the carbon emissions tax provision, and provision for the packaging tax from 1st April 2022)

* the Draft Building Safety Bill (published in the 2019-2021 session)

(2) a number of issues are identified as potential subjects for legislation, notably –

* Planning reform in England

The August 2020 White Paper said that the proposed changes would require primary and secondary legislation, as well as updating the National Planning Policy Framework. In response to a parliamentary question in September 2020, the Government said it would “set out any decisions and any associated proposed implementation” in “due course.” A newsletter from MHCLG’s chief planner in December 2020 said that the Government would “publish a response in the Spring setting out its decisions on the proposed way forward including preparing for legislation, should the government so decide, in the Autumn.”

No further detail has been announced.