The impact of the pandemic on people’s lives has been unique in our history, and the Government remains focused on beating this disease, saving lives and livelihoods, and rolling out vaccines. But the Government are also determined to look forward and get on with fulfilling the promises we have made to the British people - backing the NHS, making streets safer, supporting jobs and businesses, and working towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Rebecca Harris MP is pleased that this Queen’s Speech not only addresses the legacies of the pandemic, but goes further to unite and level up the country, spreading opportunity across the country as we build back better.

Rebecca Harris MP commented:

“I am pleased that the Government has taken this Queen’s Speech to not only set out how we are going to recover from the pandemic, but how we are going to build back a better, safer, fairer and greener Britain. The new measures announced in the Queen’s Speech today will build on the Government’s progress so far, in spite of the pandemic, following a period which saw the UK successfully become an independent nation outside the EU.

“The Government remains committed to delivering the promises made to the British people before the pandemic and I am determined to fulfil these commitments for my constituents in Castle Point.”

The Queen’s Speech sets out how we will beat COVID-19 and back our NHS by:

• Continuing our lifesaving Vaccine Programme - the biggest in NHS history - and plan for a booster campaign in the autumn.

• Prioritising recovery in NHS services to bring down waiting times and deliver the care that people need. On top of record investment, the Government has increased funding for frontline health services through the pandemic, already committing an additional £63 billion last year (£18 billion for the NHS) and £29 billion (£9.6 billion for the NHS) this year, ahead of any Spending Review settlement later this year.
• Introducing the Health and Care Bill, which will lay the foundations for a more integrated and efficient health and care system. The Bill will enable staff to focus on delivering the best possible treatment and care for their patients and giving the NHS and local authorities the tools to level up health and care across England so people can live healthier, longer and more independent lives.

• Bringing forward proposals for adult social care reform in 2021, to ensure that every person receives care that provides the dignity and security they deserve.
• Continuing work to improve the health and wellbeing of the nation, including tackling obesity, making healthier choices easier and more affordable for everyone and giving treatment support through GPs to those who need it. The Government will address the significant and wide-ranging harms caused by the misuse of drugs and increase investment in treatment and recovery support.

• Addressing the impact of the pandemic on mental health and wellbeing, and the Government will continue work to reform the Mental Health Act, giving people greater control over their treatment and ensuring dignity and respect.

We will build back better, supporting jobs and our economic recovery by:

• Unleashing the full potential of people and places across the country, by levelling up across the UK, boosting jobs, driving growth and innovation, increasing opportunity for everyone, and ensuring everyone has access to excellent public services, regardless of where they live. To do this the Government will publish a landmark Levelling Up White Paper which will set out bold new policy interventions that grasp the opportunities of Brexit to improve livelihoods in all parts of the UK as we recover from the pandemic.
• Acting on an unprecedented scale to protect jobs, livelihoods, businesses and public services throughout the pandemic

The Government will build on this with our flagship Plan for Jobs that will increase job opportunities in all parts of the UK and our Plan for Growth that will lay the foundations for a recovery driven by the private sector, spreading investments and opportunity throughout the UK. The Government will bring public service debt under control through a fair and progressive package that achieves fiscal sustainability, delivers first-class frontline public services and builds the future economy.

• Introducing the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill to transform access to skills across the country, ensuring that people can train and retrain at any stage in their lives, supporting them to move into higher quality, higher skilled jobs and equipping the workforce with the skills employers need.

• Making the UK a global science superpower by developing our Life Sciences sector, so it attracts the best people and business from across the world, increasing public expenditure on research and development to £22 billion; and creating the Advanced Research and Invention Agency focused on funding high-risk, high-reward research and development.

• Transforming UK infrastructure, providing jobs in the short term and creating the conditions for long-term sustainable growth.
• Introducing the Planning Bill to create a simpler, faster and more modern planning system, ensuring homes and infrastructure can be delivered more quickly across England.
• Reforming our rail and bus networks to deliver a better, greener and more reliable service for passengers, including simpler fares. High Speed 2 is already creating thousands of jobs and boosting productivity, as well as providing low-carbon transport. The High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill will bring our biggest cities closer together, a key component to levelling up.

• Introducing the National Insurance Contributions Bill, which will provide a relief for employers of veterans, for employers in Freeports, and for the self-employed who receive NHS Test and Trace Payments.
• Following our departure from the EU, the Government will introduce a number of significant regulatory reforms that allow us to support British business and deliver the UK’s needs, including:
  • A Subsidy Control Bill which will implement a domestic UK subsidy control regime that reflects our strategic interests and national circumstances.
  • A Procurement Bill which will slash the 350+ EU-derived regulations and make our procurement regime quicker, simpler and easier to use, allowing more freedom for suppliers and the public sector to innovate and work in partnership with the private sector.
  • A Professional Qualifications Bill that will create a new bespoke framework for UK to recognise professional qualifications from across the world to ensure employers can access professionals where there are UK shortages.
• Setting up the Turing Scheme to give young people across the UK, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds, the opportunity to work and study globally.

We will build back safer to protect the United Kingdom and its citizens by:

• Passing our Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which will ensure we can cut crime, support our police and build confidence in our criminal justice system by reforming bail, and modernising court processes.

• Addressing the effect of Covid-19 on the criminal justice system, speeding up cases and renewing efforts to tackle issues that pre-date the pandemic.
• Refreshing our Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy to better protect women and improve outcomes for rape cases.
• Bringing forward a draft Victims Bill, which will place the simplified and stronger set of rights for victims, set out in the new Victims’ Code, on a statutory footing.

• Introducing the New Plan for Immigration legislation, which will better protect and support those in genuine need of asylum, deter illegal entry into the UK, break the business model of criminal trafficking networks and protect the lives of those they endanger, and remove more easily from the UK those with no right to be here.
• Bringing forward a draft Online Safety Bill, which will make the UK the safest place in the world to be online, improving protections for users, especially children, whilst protecting freedom of expression, making companies responsible for their users’ safety online, and supporting a thriving and fast growing digital sector.

• Introducing the Counter-State Threats Bill, which will give the security services and law enforcement agencies the tools they need to tackle the evolving threat from hostile activity by foreign states and foreign actors.
• Introducing the Telecommunications (Security) Bill, which will ensure the long-term security and resilience of the UK’s telecoms networks and infrastructure and minimise the threat of high risk vendors.
• Continuing with our unprecedented programme of funding and modernisation of our Armed Forces, making them fit for the threats of a more competitive age and the opportunities of a Global Britain. Building on our record funding increase for our Armed Forces, the Government will deliver our manifesto commitment to further incorporate the Armed Forces Covenant into law through the Armed Forces Bill.

We will build back fairer, improving and increasing opportunity by:

• Introducing an Education Recovery Plan, which will contain a package of ambitious measures to make sure pupils have the chance to make up their learning over the course of this Parliament. This is on top of the multibillion-pound school investment and COVID catch up support already in place.

• Introducing the Building Safety Bill, to strengthen the regulatory system for building safety, change the industry culture and introduce rigorous safety standards for construction products and a clearer path to redress for homeowners.

• Introducing the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rents) Bill, which will ensure leaseholders of new, long residential leases cannot be charged a financial ground rent for no tangible service.

• Bringing forward reforms to deliver a fairer and more effective private rental market in England.
• Continuing our efforts to level up and unite the whole country, responding in detail to the findings and recommendations of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities.
• Banning conversion therapy, ensuring harmful and coercive practices are prohibited.

• Introducing the Dormant Assets Bill, which will unlock around an additional £880 million for social and environmental initiatives across the UK.

We will build back greener and cleaner by:

• Continuing to lead the way globally in acting on climate change, hosting the vital COP26 climate negotiations in November. Our sector strategies and comprehensive Net Zero Strategy will transition the UK to a net zero economy by 2050.

• Implementing the Environment Bill, which will set legally binding targets, restore nature and biodiversity, tackle air pollution, establish an independent Office for Environmental Protection, cut plastic use and revolutionise how we recycle.

• Taking the opportunities presented by having left the EU, the Government will demonstrate our world-leading commitment to the highest standards of animal welfare by delivering important animal welfare and conservation improvements, while promoting our values to our trading partners.

We will strengthen the Union and continue to promote Global Britain by:

• Protecting and promoting the strengths of the United Kingdom, building on hundreds of years of partnership as the most successful political and economic union in history.

• Introducing the Electoral Integrity Bill.
• Introducing the Higher Education (Free Speech) Bill.
• Introducing a Judicial Review Bill.
• Introducing the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill.
• Introducing the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill.
• Introducing legislation to address the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, delivering better outcomes for victims, survivors and veterans, focuses on information recovery and reconciliation, and ends the cycle of investigations.
• Ensuring a coherent approach to foreign relations by stopping public institutions from imposing their own approach or views via boycott, divestment or sanctions campaigns.
• Implementing the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, taking action at home and with other countries to ensure that we are stronger, safer and more prosperous in a more competitive age.

We will continue to build on our 2019 Conservative Party Manifesto which delivers on the priorities of the British people:

• Delivering the biggest cash boost in history for the NHS seeing over 11,200 more nurses in our NHS in the last year;
• Recruiting over 8,000 extra police officers as part of our 20,000 target;
• Launching our New Plan for Immigration to strengthen our borders;
• Boosting school funding by £14 billion over three years; and
• Launching a new £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund.

This People’s Government’s task is to mobilise the extraordinary spirit we have seen in this country’s response to the pandemic, matching talent with opportunity and unleashing our nation’s full potential. This Queen’s Speech is our programme for the task. This is a Queen’s Speech to fulfil our pledge to unite, level up and build back a better Britain.

To view the Queen's Speech 2021 in full, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/queens-speech-2021.