Agenda item

Legislation

To receive a report setting out measures introduced into Parliament which may have an effect on the services provided by the City Corporation.

Minutes:

The Court received a report on measures introduced by Parliament which might have an effect on the services provided by the City Corporation as follows:-

 

Statutory Instruments 

The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health Fees Etc.) Regulations 2019 S.I. No. 1488

This Regulation gives effect to EU legislation (Official Controls Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/625). It introduces a risk-based approach to official controls and simplifies current rules extends the application of the rules to the entire agri-food chain. These controls on products of animal and non-animal origin are carried out by the City of London Corporation in its capacity as a port health authority

 

 The Official Feed and Food Controls (England) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 S.I. No. 1476

This Regulation gives effect to EU legislation (Official Controls Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/625) and enables a proper functioning system of food and feed safety controls by amending and updating UK legislation to remove references to now repealed EU legislation.

 

Bills

The following Bills were included in the Queen’s Speech, but at the time of writing this report, only the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill has received a First Reading in Parliament. 

 

European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill

The Bill will implement in domestic law the Withdrawal Agreement which has been agreed between the UK and the EU. It will ensure that the UK leaves the EU with a deal on 31 January, provide for an implementation period ending on 31 December 2020, protect the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens in UK law, and implement the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland. The Bill now also provides that the UK may not agree to an extension of the implementation period.

 

Agriculture Bill

The Bill will replace the Common Agricultural Policy with a system based on ‘public money for public goods’, rewarding farmers for work to enhance the environment, improve animal welfare and produce high quality food in a more sustainable way.

 

Trade Bill

The Bill will create powers so that the UK can transition trade agreements it is party to through its membership of the EU, ensuring continuity for businesses. It will establish an independent body to protect UK firms against injury caused by unfair trade practices and unforeseen surges in imports, create powers for the UK to implement the WTP Agreement on Government Procurement, and ensure the UK government has legal powers to gather and share trade information as evidence to support UK firms against surges in imports and unfair practices.

 

Financial Services Legislation 

This will build on secondary legislation brought forward under the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 to ensure the effective operation of retained EU law. It will aim to deliver long-term market access between the UK and Gibraltar for financial services firms and simplify the process which allows overseas investment funds to be sold in the UK. It will also provide for the implementation of the Basel standards to strengthen regulation of global banks. Further measures to ensure the UK maintains its world-leading regulatory standards and remains open to international markets after the UK leaves the EU will be set out in due course.

 

Private International Law (Implementation of Agreements) Bill

The Bill is intended to make it easier for UK individuals and families who become involved in international legal disputes to access justice by implementing key international agreements to ensure that after Brexit the UK continues to have clear and effective legal rules agreed with other countries. The Bill will provide the Government with powers to implement further agreements on Private International Law, allowing the UK to remain at the forefront of delivering legal certainty and access to justice internationally.

 

Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill

The Bill will bring an end to free movement in UK law, allowing the Government to deliver an Australian-style points-based immigration system from 2021. From 2021 EU citizens arriving in the UK will be subject to the same controls as non-EU citizens. It will provide powers to change the current rules for access to benefits and social security coordination.

 

Employment Bill

The Bill will create a new enforcement body for workers’ rights, introduce a right for workers to request a more predictable contract, extend redundancy protections to prevent pregnancy and maternity discrimination, allow parents to take extended leave for neonatal care, and, subject to consultation, make flexible working the default.

 

Pension Schemes Bill

The Bill will create a legislative framework for the introduction of pensions dashboards, strengthen the Pensions Regulator’s powers and sanctions regime, provide a framework for the establishment of collective defined contribution schemes, and amend legislation relating to the Pension Protection Fund compensation regime.

 

Renters’ Reform Bill

The Bill will introduce reforms intended to deliver a fairer and more effective rental market, abolish the use of ‘no fault’ evictions, introduce a new lifetime deposit, give landlords more rights to gain possession of their property through the courts where there is legitimate need, and widen access to and expand the scope of the database of rogue landlords.

 

Fire Safety Bill

The Bill will implement the relevant legislative recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry Phase 1 Report. It will clarify that the scope of the Fire Safety Order includes the external walls of a building and strengthen enforcement powers to hold building owners and managers to account.

 

Building Safety Bill

The Bill will put in place new and enhanced regulatory regimes for building safety and construction products, and ensure residents have a stronger voice in the system.

 

Online Harms Bill

The Bill is intended to improve internet safety, protect children and other vulnerable users, and ensure there are no safe spaces for terrorists online. It will build on proposals set out in the Online Harms White Paper, with legislation developed in response to the consultation on the White Paper.  Ahead of this legislation, the Government will publish interim codes of practice on tackling the use of the internet by terrorists and those engaged in child sexual abuse and exploitation.

 

Counter Terrorism (Sentencing and Release) Bill

The Bill will provide for tougher sentences for the most serious terrorist offences.

 

Sentencing Bill

The Bill is will change the automatic release on licence for adults convicted of serious violence or sexual offences from halfway to the two-thirds point.

 

Serious Violence Bill

The Bill will implement a multi-agency approach to tackling the root causes of violent crime. New duties on specified agencies, including local government, will ensure collaborative working and data sharing to reduce serious violence.

 

Police Powers and Protections Bill

The Bill will establish a Police Covenant on a statutory footing; strengthen the powers available to police to tackle unauthorised encampments, and provide police drivers with additional legal protections.

 

 

Domestic Abuse Bill

The Bill will create a statutory definition of domestic abuse, establish in law the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, provide for new Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Orders, and place a duty on tier one local authorities, such as the GLA, to provide support to victims of domestic violence and their children in refuges.

 

National Security and Investment Bill

The Bill will strengthen the Government’s powers to scrutinise and intervene in business transactions (takeovers and mergers) to protect national security.

 

Environment Bill

The Bill will put environmental principles into law; introduce legally binding targets; and establish a new Office for Environmental Protection. It will increase local powers to tackle sources of air pollution, and extend producer responsibility for waste materials.  Deposit return schemes and charges for specified single use plastic items will also be introduced.

 

Read.

 

(The text of the measures and the explanatory notes may be obtained from the Remembrancer’s Office.)

Supporting documents: