The King's Speech 2024 - what does it mean for the sport and recreation sector?

The King’s Speech took place on 17th July as part of the State Opening of Parliament. This was the first opportunity for the new Labour Government to outline its legislative priorities for the first parliamentary session. His Royal Highness confirmed that the legislative agenda will follow the 5 key missions outlined by the Labour Party during the election campaign.

Some key areas of interest to Alliance members and the wider sport, recreation and physical activity sector featured, as outlined below:

Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill

The Government confirmed its commitment to bringing forward the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, which is the legislative underpinning to Martyn’s Law. Named after Martyn Hett, one of the victims of the Manchester Arena terrorist attack, the new law will place a new requirement on those responsible for certain publicly accessible locations to consider the threat from terrorism and implement appropriate and proportionate mitigation measures.  

A draft bill was published under the previous government but was not formally introduced to parliament. The Home Affairs Select Committee undertook pre-legislative scrutiny of the previous draft Bill last year. The Alliance responded to the Call for Evidence outlining the concerns raised by members including the lack of clarity of key provisions within the Bill, the impact on volunteers and community organisations and the potential for duplication of requirements at large venues which are already subject to existing regulatory regimes. A further consultation on the standard tier of Martyn’s Law was undertaken earlier this year, through which the Alliance again outlined the potential impact on the sector.

The proposed Bill will follow a similar approach to that set out in the draft legislation proposed by the previous government i.e. based on a tiered system with smaller venues required to put in place basic security measures and larger venues and events subject to more advanced requirements.

We will continue to monitor the introduction of the Bill once published and seek to influence and amend where appropriate.

Football Governance Bill

The King’s Speech confirmed the Labour Party’s manifesto commitment to introducing an Independent Football Regulator in England and Wales. The legislation will seek to improve the financial sustainability of clubs, the distribution of financial resources across the game and provide for greater fan engagement, including approval of changes to the colour of home kits and club badges. The Bill will also introduce a Football Club Corporate Governance Code under which clubs will be required to report annually on corporate governance matters.

Children’s Wellbeing Bill

The Government has committed to introducing legislation to raise standards in education and promote children’s health and wellbeing. In particular, legislation will limit the number of branded items of PE kit that a school can require to bring down costs for parents and remove barriers from children accessing sport and other school activities.

The Bill will also include provision to ensure all schools teach the national curriculum. This will be enacted following a formal curriculum and assessment review which, among other things, is expected to make recommendations on the richness and breadth of the curriculum including the provision of art, music, drama and sport.

Water (Special Measures) Bill

The Water (Special Measures) Bill will seek to put in place stronger regulatory powers to tackle water company failings and improve water quality. New measures will include strengthening the powers of the water regulator to restrict the payment of bonuses if environmental standards are not met and ensuring water company executives face personal criminal liability for lawbreaking.

Water companies will also be required to install real-time monitors at every sewage outlet with the data independently scrutinised by the water regulator.

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Central to the Government’s commitment to delivering economic growth, this Bill will aim to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing. In particular, the planning process will be streamlined for the delivery of critical infrastructure, such as upgrades to the national grid and renewable energy delivery. The capacity of local planning authorities will also be increased to aid this delivery. The planning system provides an important tool to support the delivery of local sport, recreation and leisure provision through planning obligations and developer contributions.

Employment Rights Bill

The Employment Rights Bill will deliver Labour’s commitment to a New Deal for Working People, which will be relevant for many organisations in the sector given its general application. The Bill will include the banning of zero hours contracts and make a number of key employee protections available from day 1 of employment, such as sick pay, making flexible working the default and the protection from unfair dismissal.

English Devolution Bill

The Government will bring forward legislation to strengthen and embed the devolution of powers to regional and local leaders across England. Mayors and combined authorities will be given greater powers over the levers of local growth, including strategic planning, local transport, skills and employment support. The devolution of these powers will potentially provide greater opportunities for sport and recreation organisations to engage proactively with local decision makers.

The legislation will also empower local communities with a new ‘right to buy’ for valued community assets and spaces.

Skills England Bill

Proposed legislation will see the creation of a new agency, Skills England, with the aim of bringing together businesses, providers, unions, combined authorities and national government to ensure that England’s workforce needs are met. The functions from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) will be transferred to Skills England. The Government has also committed to reform of the apprenticeships levy in the form of the Growth and Skills levy.

Crime and Policing Bill

The Crime and Policing Bill will be brought forward to strengthen community policing and give the police greater powers to deal with anti-social behaviour. This includes the creation of local Young Futures prevention partnerships to bring together services to support at-risk teenagers. These partnerships may present an opportunity for sport for development organisations and others involved in youth engagement and violence reduction.

What next?

Alongside monitoring the introduction of the above and other new legislation, we will continue to engage with politicians, key stakeholders and appointments, including ministerial teams, Select Committee Chairs and the big cohort of new MPs to ensure getting more people active is at the heart of this new government’s thinking – working closely and in coordination with members and sector partners. We will also be re-establishing the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Sport.

Finally, using the momentum from our recent #TakeTheLead campaign, we will continue to make the case for policy makers to commit to making the UK the most active nation in Europe by unlocking the power of our sector – building a happier, healthier more prosperous nation as a result.

Further information on the King’s Speech is available here.

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