Queen’s Speech outlines Government’s legislation plans

Construction industry interest in a number of bills outlined.

Her Majesty the Queen has set out the Government’s plans today in her speech to the House of Lords.

With members of the House of Commons present, as is the tradition, the Queen outlined the plans in the many different bills that have been spoken about in the weeks since the General Election.

David Cameron’s victory means this is the first Queen’s Speech for an all-Conservatives Government since 1996 and Her Majesty opened by saying this Government “will legislate in the interests of everyone in our country. It will adopt a one nation approach, helping working people get on, supporting aspiration, giving new opportunities to the most disadvantaged and bringing different parts of our country together.”

Of the bills that were mentioned in the speech, a number are linked to the construction industry, with business opportunities, housing, and devolution all areas which can have an effect on the industry.

Legislation set out to achieve the target of full employment can be seen as significant to construction because, as the Queen said: “Measures will also be introduced to reduce regulation on small businesses so they can create jobs.”

Small businesses in particular will be the main beneficiaries of this, without the bureaucracy of unnecessary red tape getting in the way – set out by Sajid Javid last week.

Housing targets were alluded to yesterday and in the Queen’s Speech, it was confirmed that legislation will support home ownership and give the opportunities to tenants of housing associations to own their own homes – as expected from the Housing Bill.

The Chancellor, George Osborne’s plans in the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill were also laid out during the speech. This is seen as a way to address the economic recovery in the country effectively.

Her Majesty added: “Legislation will be introduced to provide for the devolution of powers to cities with elected metro mayors, helping to build a northern powerhouse.”

Powers will also be given to Scotland and Wales.

The plans for high-speed rail links were reaffirmed during the speech which will be able to link different parts of the country and this is intrinsically linked to the idea of creating a northern powerhouse because having the major cities connected and quicker to get to will improve the flow of business throughout the country.

The main thrust for the construction industry are the Enterprise Bill, Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill, Housing Bill and the HS2 Bill, all of which were touched upon by Her Majesty.

It remains to be seen if these coming weeks, months and years bring about further construction benefits on the back of these bills.

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