| Business in the Queen’s Speech This week the government set out its legislative priorities for the current session of Parliament, including the following: An Energy Security Bill later this year to deliver a cleaner, more affordable, and more secure energy system and help to protect consumers against global price fluctuations. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill to reform the UK’s competition regime, strengthen consumer rights and introduce new rules to address the market power of a small number of tech firms. A Draft Audit Reform Bill to establish a new statutory regulator, the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority, improve protection against risks to jobs, pensions, and suppliers from unexpected company collapses, and increase competition to reduce the dominance of the largest audit firms. An Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill to reduce economic crime, including fraud and money laundering, and improve Companies House processes and data collection to inform business transactions across the country. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will introduce a Non-Domestic Rating Bill to modernise the business rates system with more frequent revaluations based on more accurate data, shortening the business rates revaluation cycle from five to three years, and incentivising business ratepayers to enhance productivity and energy efficiency by investing in their properties. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will introduce an Electronic Trade Documents Bill which will put electronic trade documents on the same legal footing as paper documents, enabling businesses to move from paper-based to digital-based transactions when buying and selling internationally. Full details of all these measures are available in Queen’s Speech background briefing note on GOV.UK Levelling up panel discussion The Secretary of State recently hosted a panel event on the role of businesses in Levelling Up, with panellists including Dr Helen Turner (Midlands Innovation), Dr Susie Mitchell (Glasgow City of Science and Innovation) and Tristia Harrison (TalkTalk). The panel answered questions from viewers including on how industrial areas can transition to net zero, attracting private investment into regions and overcoming existing barriers to productivity. The full discussion is available to view on YouTube. |
Information from BEIS Bulletin: 12th May 2022