The following bills were also announced:
NHS Overseas Visitors Charging Bill
 The Bill will extend the number of services for which the NHS
can charge overseas visitors and migrants
 Changes to residency rules will mean that fewer visitors from
the European Economic Area will be entitled to free NHS
health care
 The Bill will improve the NHS’s ability to recover the full cost
of treatment provided to overseas visitors, with plans for the
money to be put back into the NHS
Pensions Bill
 “A bill to provide new protections, guidance and flexibility to
the way that UK customers access their pensions savings”
 The Government will introduce better protection for people
paying into multi-employer pension schemes that are
provided by external organisations (‘Master Trusts’)
 Master Trusts will be required to meet new criteria, and will
be subject to closer supervision
 Early-exit fees charged by trust-based occupational pension
schemes will be capped
 The Pensions Regulator will be given greater powers to
authorise and supervise schemes
 A new pensions guidance body will be created, bringing
together the Pensions Advisory Service, Pension Wise, and
the pensions services offered by the Money Advice Service
Education for All Bill (England)
 The Bill will introduce new powers for the ‘academisation’ of
under-performing schools in under-performing local
authorities
 The Government will aim to make every school an academy,
but there will be no compulsion for schools to convert
 The Bill will transfer responsibility for school improvement
from councils, to head teachers
 A new national funding formula for schools will be introduced
 Schools will be made responsible for assisting excluded
pupils
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 Technical education will be reformed through an employerled system, which focuses on high quality qualifications that
lead to skilled employment
Higher Education and Research Bill (England)
 “A bill to ensure that more people have the opportunity to
further their education, and to promote choice and
competition across the higher education sector”
 The Bill will remove barriers that prevent new universities
from being established, and that prevent existing higher
education providers from acquiring university status
(alongside this, the Bill will also introduce tests for providers
who want to enter the system)
 A new ‘Teaching Excellence Framework’ will focus on raising
standards in further education, meaning that higher
education funding will be linked to teaching quality
 Universities will be required to publish application, offer and
progression rates, broken down by: ethnicity; gender; and
socio-economic background.
Small Charitable Donations Bill
 “A bill to reform the Gift Aid Small Donations scheme to
ensure that it supports the maximum number of charities and
donations as possible”
 The ‘Gift Aid Small Donations’ scheme will be changed,
following public consultation
 The Government will aim to increase the scheme’s benefits
for new and smaller charities
 The Bill will clarify rules on how charities connected with
community buildings can benefit from such donations
Wales Bill (Wales)
 The Bill will clarify the division of powers between the UK
parliament and National Assembly for Wales
 The Bill will devolve powers over energy, transport and
elections (including powers to set the voting age) to Wales
 The Bill will repeal the requirement that a referendum take
place prior to the devolution of income tax powers
 Please note that the Wales Bill was published in draft in
October 2015
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Local Growth and Jobs Bill (England)
 The Bill will enable local authorities to retain 100% of
business rates levied, giving them freedom to invest in local
communities, and support business (thereby developing their
local economy)
 Local authorities will also be given powers to reduce
business tax rates
Children and Social Work Bill (England)
 “A bill to increase life-chances for the most disadvantaged,
by increasing opportunities for young people in care,
promoting stability through adoption, and improving the
standard of social work in England”
 The Bill includes measures to speed-up adoption processes
 Councils will be required to publish a ‘local offer’ for care
leavers, setting out the services that they are entitled to
access
 All care leavers will be offered a ‘personal adviser’, up until
the age of 25
 A new, specialist social work regulator will be established,
and will focus on training and professional standards
 A new duty on councils and schools will require the
promotion of the educational achievement of adopted
children
 The Bill will enable local authorities to pilot new approaches
to child safeguarding and social work
Prison and Courts Reform Bill (England and Wales)
 “A bill to legislate to reform prisons and courts to give
individuals a second chance”
 New, “reformed” prisons will open, and will focus on training,
rehabilitation and education
 Governors of the new prisons will have greater freedom to
choose how they will improve education, healthcare and
security
 Governors of the new prisons will have powers to enter into
contracts and establish boards with specialist, external
expertise
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 The Bill will require the publication of detailed statistics on
education, reoffending and employment
 Courts and tribunals will be modernised, and greater use of
technology will speed-up case management, and reduce
costs
National Citizen Service Bill
 A new statutory framework will put the ‘National Citizen
Service’ on a statutory footing
 The Service aims to encourage 16 and 17-year-olds to take
part in community projects
 All state secondary schools, academies, sixth-form colleges,
private schools and councils will be required to promote the
National Citizen Service
Lifetime Savings Bill
 The ‘Help to Save’ scheme (announced in this year’s
Budget) will help those on low incomes to save
 Workers in receipt of working tax credits, or Universal Credit,
who can save up to £50 a month, will receive a 50 per cent
government bonus (to a maximum of £600) after two years
 A new ‘Lifetime ISA’ for under-40s will be introduced, offering
a £1,000 tax-free payment each year for those saving £4,000
Counter-Extremism and Safeguarding Bill (England and Wales)
 “A bill to prevent radicalisation, tackle extremism and
promote community integration”
 A new civil order regime will be introduced to restrict
“extremist activity”
 New powers of intervention will be introduced to tackle
radicalisation of children in “unregulated education settings”
 The Government will have powers to intervene when
councils fail to tackle extremism (this measure will be
introduced subject to consultation)
 Ofcom will be given powers to regulate internet-streamed
material originating from outside the EU
Criminal Finances Bill
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 “A bill to tackle corruption, money laundering and tax
evasion”
 Corporations that fail to stop staff who are facilitating tax
evasion will be prosecuted; a new criminal offence will be
introduced
 The Bill will amend laws on the proceeds of crime, to make it
easier for police and courts to recover criminal assets
Cultural Property Bill
 The UK will ratify the Hague Convention for the Protection of
Cultural Property in the Event of an Armed Conflict
 The Bill will introduce two new criminal offences: those who
illegally import cultural property from occupied territories will
be prosecuted; as well as those who make such property the
object of an attack
 The Bill will enable the seizure and return of such property at
the conclusion of hostilities
 A ‘Blue Sheild’ emblem will be introduced to identify cultural
property that is protected under the above Convention
Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Bill
 “A bill to make the UK the best place in Europe to innovate,
patent new ideas, and set-up and expand a business”
 The Bill will amend laws relating to unjustified threats of legal
action in cases involving patents, trade-marks and design
rights
 The above changes will make it easier for companies to
settle intellectual property deputes out of court
 The Bill will be subject to consultation and a Law
Commission report
(Draft) Law of Property Bill
 The Government has announced this draft bill in response to
a Law Commission report on the need to simplify laws on
land ownership
The following bills will be carried over from the last
session of parliament
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High Speed Rail Bill
 The Bill will give government the power to build a highspeech rail network between London and the West Midlands
Investigatory Powers Bill
 The Bill will overhaul laws governing the gathering and
retention of private communications, to “combat crime”
 Broadband and mobile phone providers will be compelled to
hold a year’s worth of communications data
Policing and Crime Bill
 The Bill will require closer collaboration between emergency
rescue services, and the police
 The police complaints and disciplinary systems will be
overhauled
 The Bill will ban the use of police cells as “places of safety”
for under-18s
A number of non-legislative measures will be taken on
the following issues, with further detail yet to be
announced:
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Constitutional affairs
Home building
International development spending
Life chances strategy
National security
Armed forces covenant
Nuclear deterrent
Northern Powerhouse
Seven-day NHS
UK economy and fiscal issues
Support for working people
The UK’s role in the world
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