2015 Queen’s Speech: the new bills announced

Her Majesty has just delivered the first Conservative Queen’s Speech in 19 years — or as David Cameron described it, a ‘One Nation Queen’s Speech from a One Nation Government’. Here are the key pieces of legislation the government will be looking to pass over the next 12 months.

Full Employment and Welfare Benefits Bill (and related legislation): To freeze the main rates of the majority of working-age benefits, tax credits and child benefit. Pensioners and extra costs relating to disability will be protected. The benefit cap will be reduced to £23,000 per year. A new Youth Allowance for 18-21 year olds will be introduced, with stronger work conditions. Automatic entitlement to housing support for 18-21 year olds will be scrapped. Frequent reports will be required on progress towards full employment, three million apprenticeships and the status of the Troubled Families programme.

Enterprise Bill: Aiming for £10 billion of red tape savings by 2020, creating the Small Business Conciliation Service to help resolve business disputes, improving the business rates system ahead of a revaluation in 2017 as well as other measures to ‘strengthen the UK’s competitiveness’.