King's Speech Highlights: Labour's Legislative Marathon Begins
This past Wednesday saw the State Opening of Parliament, though I am sure you will all be aware of this already, given the incessant run of BBC ‘Breaking News’ notifications spanning the entirety of the King and Queen’s journey to the House of Lords. Without wishing to enter into the debate about the monarchy, I personally do not feel their every movement constitutes a nationwide notification. Putting my personal gripes with the BBC app aside, I do enjoy the pageantry that comes with the King’s Speech, and of course a good Parliamentary debate.
It is clear that Labour know they have a lot to prove, and despite earning an overwhelming majority, it feels as though for as much optimism many have for the change in government, this fresh start is met with equal scepticism. But Sir Keir is not shying from the challenge as a whopping 40 bills were announced on Wednesday in the just 12-minute speech, double the average since 2010. You will be glad to hear that I will not be going through each one in detail. With a manifesto built on the promise of rapid, widespread change, it appears that the government is intending to deliver on their promises.
Though, amongst the 40 bills, few references were made to technology, health technology, or even health full stop. But this is not necessarily discouraging, given how high level these announcements for primary legislation tend to be, although it does annoyingly make for a shorter blog. The speech opened with a reiteration of the restructuring intentions laid out in Labour’s manifesto, where the new government will be creating a ‘mission-led’ legislative programme with economic growth as a central goal, as well as recommitting to establishing an Industrial Strategy Council. Here, encouraging investment into new technologies was referenced as an enabler to sustainable growth. This is no surprise as we have consistently heard from Wes Streeting that economic growth will be a priority for the Department of Health and Social Care with three steps towards this, one of which being positioning the country as a ‘powerhouse’ of medical technology.
Early on, as part of the measures to push economic growth, the English Devolution Bill is announced, with legislation to give enhanced powers to local leaders, alongside advanced duties to demonstrate initiatives for local growth. The bill intends to make local governance more efficient by making devolution the ‘default’ with potential impacts on local health and social care decision making.
Naturally there was a section dedicated to the NHS, in which the Mental Health Bill, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, and the Draft Conversion Practices Bill were announced. Promises to reduce waiting times were reiterated, alongside a heightened focus on prevention, a focus that we at ABHI welcome. Regulation is also referenced with the Product Safety and Metrology Bill, seeking to ‘preserve the UK’s status as a global leader in product regulation’, and ensure the UK keeps up with technological advances. The bill considers how we develop a sovereign regulatory framework, outside of the EU, how we recognise the CE mark as it reforms on the continent, and how we stop recognising approvals where it is in our “interests to do so”. Take back control indeed. While we do however expect that medical devices will fall outside of these arrangements, the language surrounding continuity of supply will be helpful, and the Prime Minister has stated intentions to work on improving our trade and investment relationship with the EU.
Data gets a specific callout with the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill, intended to facilitate the safe development of innovative uses for data with changes to our data laws. This extends to creating better digital public services, with changes to be made to the Digital Economy Act and promises to apply information standards to IT suppliers in the health system. It positively talks of the uses of data to accelerate innovation, investment and productivity across the UK. Data protection is also included, following the recent hackings of multiple London hospital NHS Trusts, where Labour will modernise the ICO alongside measures to reform data laws. The briefing notes include plans to broaden the scope and powers of existing cyber security reporting requirements and cost recovery mechanisms. We have begun work to engage with the team leading on the bill to represent your views.
All in all, there were few surprises in the King’s Speech or the Prime Minister’s follow up. Though there were a few commitments that were perhaps unexpectedly, not committed to. Amendments have already been floated regarding arms sales to Israel and the two-child benefit cap. Many also expected to see efforts to bring the voting age down to 16, my opinions on which fluctuate regularly. With the rhetoric around this election being the dethroning of the Conservatives, and a campaign built on disparaging the last 14 years, Labour have come into power with something to prove amid calls for rapid change, and following debates over the nature of their win, they are not guaranteed another shot in five years’ time. But with great emphasis on long-term change and planning, the campaign for 2029 seems to have already begun.