King’s Speech – the UK’s legislative programme for the tech, climate, and energy sectors

On 17 July, King Charles III delivered the King's Speech, outlining the government's legislative programme for the new parliamentary session. The government has announced 40 bills which aim to unlock growth and ‘take the brakes off Britain’. This blog examines the proposals affecting the tech, climate, and energy sectors, and what business should expect as the government introduces legislation.

Technology

The government will introduce a Digital Information and Smart Data Bill to enable new innovative uses of data to be safely developed and deployed by the private and public sector. The bill will make ‘targeted reforms’ to clarify how data laws apply to new technologies; and give the Information Commissioner’s Office stronger powers and modernise its structure. The bill is expected to include many of the less controversial reforms contained in the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, which fell at the end of the last Parliament. Notably, it will not include heavily criticised measures ordering banks to monitor the accounts of benefits claimants as an anti-fraud measure.

A Product Safety and Metrology Bill will update the UK’s product safety regulation. It will address product safety challenges with new technologies such as AI; and identify emerging business models in the supply chain to ensure the responsibilities of those involved in the supply of products, such as online marketplaces, are clear.

A Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will update the UK’s cybersecurity regulations. The bill will require companies to report incidents of cyber-attacks.

The government will seek to place requirements on companies developing the most powerful AI models. Specific legislation was not mentioned in the King’s Speech, and it is now thought that the government will launch a consultation on the issue before proposing specific legislation. These requirements are expected to include transparency reporting duties and to make legally binding the voluntary AI safety commitments made by companies during the UK AI Safety Summit in 2023.

Climate and energy

A National Wealth Fund Bill will create a National Wealth Fund to directly invest in priority sectors to help the government achieve its missions, one of which is achieving clean growth.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill seeks to streamline the delivery process for critical infrastructure, including accelerating upgrades to the national grid and expanding clean energy generation. One of the ways it seeks to achieve this is to simplify the consenting process for major infrastructure projects.

The Great British Energy Bill will establish a new, publicly owned energy production company which will own, manage and operate clean power projects up and down the country. The company will be headquartered in Scotland, with oil and gas hub Aberdeen the most likely location.

The Crown Estate Bill seeks to modernise the Crown Estate, a multi-billion-pound business which returns its profits to the government to help fund public services. The aim of the reform is to unlock significant investment in public infrastructure to benefit the nation, including allowing the lease of the UK’s seabed to developers of offshore wind and other clean energy installations.

The Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill will introduce measures to provide revenue certainty for producers of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) to encourage investment in the construction of SAF plants across the UK. The government estimates that SAF production could add over £1.8 billion to the economy and support over 10,000 jobs across the country.

Next steps

Both the House of Lords and the House of Commons will debate the speech in the coming days. With the Commons provisionally due to rise on 30 July for the summer recess, the chances of any legislation making much progress before summer are slim. Though the government has not indicated which of the bills it will prioritise when the Parliament returns, it will want to hit the ground running and we expect a flurry of legislative activity to demonstrate that it is delivering on the promises it has made to the British people.

The government’s large majority should enable it to advance its legislative agenda with minimal opposition, meaning that the new legislative session, which is likely to last until autumn 2025, could be a busy one.

If you have any questions about the speech or the government’s legislative agenda, please contact us at enquiries@inlinepolicy.com.