Chris Fletcher, Policy Director at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, looks at the Bills launched by the new government.
After what has seemed like a stop start few months after July’s election there has been a flurry of activity with government launching a series of Bills and key consultations on major manifesto promises.
A Bill is what an Act of Parliament starts out as and there is a process they follow through various readings and committee stages. Once it gets Royal Assent it becomes an Act and is then law, so these still have some way to go on their journey and can still be changed.
This recent spate of activity is mainly down to finally getting the two periods of recess out of the way and finally being in a position where our politicians can get on with running the country. It must also come as a welcome relief especially to the PM to get people’s focus back on what Labour were elected to do rather than what free gigs he’s been to.
So, what has been launched and what is there still to come?
The Passenger Railways Services Bill and Great British Energy Bill are already going through the House of Commons, ahead of going through the Lords. These were early bits of legislation brought in during Summer, and are designed to tackle some of the long running issues. The former is around renationalising the railways and the latter establishing a new energy generator (not a supplier) that, it is hoped will eventually bring prices down whilst securing green energy for the UK.
Late last week the Employment Rights Bill was launched. This is probably the Bill that has been most contentious so far from an employer’s perspective with legislation proposed to give employees ‘day one rights’ against unfair dismissal and to receive maternity and paternity rights alongside a whole host of other ambitions changes in the workplace. There are also proposals to standardise probationary periods under law that would still allow staff to be dismissed if necessary but under a different regime than currently exists – a so called lighter touch process. Don’t get too carried away though as there will still be a duty on an employer to ensure all relevant legislation has been followed as well as internal evaluation processes which, of course, should be in place now. As with all such Bills this isn’t cast in stone and will probably change before it comes into law sometime in 2026.
Hot on the heels of this came the release of ‘Invest 2035 - A Modern Industrial Strategy’. Perhaps the broadest ranging and best example yet of how it seems this government will overlay different strategies to achieve a result. This is what is known as a Green Paper so it is open for consultation and comment before it goes any further. It’s a packed document but not too long for these types of things – about 60 pages - and focusses on 8 key sectors identified by government as being critical for future growth. Overlaying these are 7 issue areas such as People and Skills, with which changes will be made through other legislation to create the necessary environment, structure and landscape for the 8 sectors to reach their targets. There are other elements overlaid on these so it is a bit complex to get your head around on a first read but you do get the general sense of direction and purpose.
The Industrial Strategy will bring together bits of the new Skills England being established, elements of the Great British Energy Bill, Local Growth Plans designed for Mayoral Combined Authority areas such as GM and a range of other policy areas.
This is possibly the most significant piece of policy so far, yes the employment rights bill will be impactful but the scale and scope of the Industrial Strategy is both bold and ambitious.
One surprising omission though is that Construction is missing in the 8 named sectors. It’s alluded to in various parts but considering the country will have to build 300,000 homes per year for the next 5 years and expand our infrastructure build, it does seem a bit odd that this vital sector – one of the critical ones here in GM - is missing.
We’ll come back to these again and again over the coming months as things progress and more Bills start their journey. Plus with the budget in two weeks things are going to get even busier so our job is to make sure you stay up to speed with all this and also have your say on these issues.
So, why not book your place at our Autumn Assembly or answer our Call to Action? We’re after your views and input as we develop our activity and response to the above. More details can be found here.
After a long period of various governments being singularly focussed on issues we have flipped into a period of change across a swathe of areas and issues. Your views are vital in this and, we can make sure your voice is heard. So get involved and let us know.