Growth is the theme of the King's Speech 2024

The Government has put economic growth at the heart of its legislative agenda in the King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday 17 July.

There were some 40 bills proposed, although tax only appears in one, that being the proposed removing of the VAT exemption from private school fees.

See the 105-page briefing guide.

Timetable

July 17 - state opening of parliament, King's speech, and new MPs sworn in
July 30 - parliament in recess
Sep 22-25: Labour party conference
Sep/Oct: Autumn Budget (date to be advised)

Budget oversight

As well as growth, particularly through planning reform to boost housebuilding and attracting private investment for green energy projects, the powers of the Office for Budget Responsibility are to be enhanced so that it can more independently scrutinise the Chancellor's fiscal statements, such as the forthcoming autumn budget.

This is intended to add credibility to statements made by Rachel Reeves, although she may come to regret the self-imposed oversight in due course.

National Wealth Fund

A National Wealth Fund Bill will set up a new fund to invest £7.3bn over five years in infrastructure and green industry.

This isn't really a sovereign wealth fund in the traditional sense, but more of a way of encouraging private enterprise to invest in projects that might otherwise be too risky or too difficult without public backing.

Apprenticeship Levy

The apprenticeship levy has long had its critics, and it is now intended that this levy be replaced by a new Skills Levy to create a more seamless connection between employers, unions, education and training providers.

Employment rights

A central theme of the government's plans is the reform of employment rights, so employers will need to deal with a raft of new rules coming from the Employment Rights Bill, This is likely to cover the banning of zero-hour contracts and the practise of firing and rehiring staff, as well as giving workers certain rights from day one of employment.

Along with reformed employment rights, the national minimum wage will also be raised to what the government calls a "genuine living wage".

It remains to be seen how the government's wish to promote business growth dovetails with these extra costs and administration for employers.

Tax avoidance

Another key manifesto pledge of the Labour administration was to crack down on tax avoidance by boosting the effectiveness of HMRC, but the King's Speech doesn't appear to mention this. HMRC clearly needs additional funds, so it is surprising that this was not mentioned. Maybe it is something to be covered in the forthcoming autumn budget.

Pensions

A new Pensions Scheme Bill will be introduced to strengthen pension investment and to allow old pension pots to be consolidated into one.

Consolidating pension pots should reduce costs for pension savers.

Property rights

A new bill will ban no fault evictions for tenants, as well as improving building safety rules.

In addition, there will be a bill to reform leasehold and commonholds to regulate ground rents and prevent leaseholders from loosing their homes for small unpaid debts.

Previous legislation scrapped due to the election

It is also expected that legislation will be reintroduced from the Conservative government to abolish the tax treatment of Furnished Holiday Lets and to reform the non-dom tax regime, both from April 2025.

We can expect to see consultations on these and other measures mentioned in the King's Speech in due course.

Further information

Contact us

We will keep you updated as Labour's tax and other relevant policy announcements arise ahead of the autumn budget.

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss how the change of government may affect your taxes or those of your business, please contact your usual Bishop Fleming advisor.

[Gary Mackley-Smith]