The King’s speech set out the UK Government’s Legislation for this Parliament. The key takeaways in the speech that may impact investment including sustainable investment are as follows:
Legislation will be introduced “to strengthen the United Kingdom’s energy security and reduce reliance on volatile international energy markets and hostile foreign regimes. This Bill will support the future licensing of new oil and gas fields, helping the country to transition to net zero by 2050 without adding undue burdens on households.”
Alongside this, the Government will seek “to attract record levels of investment in renewable energy sources and reform grid connections, building on the United Kingdom’s track-record of decarbonising faster than other G7 economies.”
Further steps will be taken “to make the economy more competitive, taking advantage of freedoms afforded by the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union. A bill will be brought forward to promote trade and investment with economies in the fastest growing region in the world”.
New legal frameworks will be introduced “to support the safe commercial development of emerging industries, such as self-driving vehicles, introduce new competition rules for digital markets, and encourage innovation in technologies such as machine learning. Legislation will be brought forward to support the creative industries and protect public interest journalism.”
Fully autonomous vehicles could get the green light to operate on UK roads under legislation by updating to make manufacturers liable if a driverless vehicle crashes while in autonomous mode and give immunity to people sitting behind the wheel.
The Automated Vehicles Bill would give the Department for Transport additional powers to certify the safety of driverless vehicles. The government said the UK market for autonomous vehicles is up to £42bn and could create 38,000 skilled jobs by 2035.
A housing bill will be brought forward “to reform the housing market by making it cheaper and easier for leaseholders to purchase their freehold and tackling the exploitation of millions of homeowners through punitive service charges. Renters will benefit from stronger security of tenure and better value, while landlords will benefit from reforms to provide certainty that they can regain their properties when needed.”
(Source: UK Government)