Westminster update: both houses debate king's speech

One thing you need to do 

Read our latest research showing that by next year, a couple with two children will need to be surviving on just £41 a day to qualify for full legal aid.

We are calling on the government to implement the changes recommended by last year’s means test review to restore access to free legal help with unfair evictions or domestic abuse for more than five million people and families.

What you need to know

1. Conservative leadership race begins

The starting gun has been fired in the Conservative Party leadership race.

A number of figures have already announced their candidacy, including:

• James Cleverly, former home secretary
• Tom Tugendhat, former security minister
• Robert Jenrick, former immigration minister
• Mel Stride, former secretary of state for work and pensions

Another former home secretary, Suella Braverman, and former secretary of state for business and trade, Kemi Badenoch, are also expected to run

The campaigning will begin in earnest across the summer, with the parliamentary Conservative Party expected to whittle the original pool down to four remaining candidates in September.

The final four candidates will be given prominent speaking slots at the Conservative Party conference to set out their programme as potential leaders.

The parliamentary party will vote on 9 and 10 October to provide a final list of two candidates, with wider party members then voting in an online ballot.

The final result will be announced on 2 November.

A long leadership contest has the potential to allow for an open and deep debate into the reasons for their election defeat and the future of the Conservative Party.

However, a long contest also leaves the party without a new figurehead and political direction, which risks ceding to the new Labour government the opportunity to frame the coming months and the national debate.

2. King's speech debates: MPs pressure government on legal aid

Following the king’s speech on 17 July, both houses of Parliament have been debating the government’s new legislative agenda.

One of the central pillars of the government’s legislative programme is crime and justice.

The government’s mantra of "taking back our streets" gave way to several discussions on the issues plaguing the criminal justice system.

On Tuesday’s debate in the House of Commons, Andy Slaughter (Labour) highlighted that the crisis in the courts and prisons "are inextricably linked with other failings of the previous government".

He noted "the systematic destruction of legal aid resulting in a chronic shortage of legal aid providers, an unprecedented barristers’ strike, and courts in such a bad state of disrepair that they are unable to function".

Slaughter urged the government to fully implement the Bellamy reports recommendation of investment in criminal legal aid.

Tuesday also saw the maiden speech of the new attorney general Lord Hermer KC.

Lord Hermer highlighted his legal experience and committed to ensuring the rule of law will underpin the government’s approach to legislation and policy, "as we face the profoundly difficult choices and decisions that every government must make, it is the rule of law that will serve as our lodestar".

On Wednesday in the House of Lords, Lord Shamash (Labour) gave an impassioned speech on the vital role lawyers play in the criminal justice system.

"Lawyers, committed to their work, have been the glue keeping the system going, but criminal legal aid lawyers are leaving the profession at an unprecedented rate, demoralised by the stress of long hours – often overnight and then going to court the following day – and often very low rates of pay."

On court backlogs, Lord Bellamy highlighted the "painful negotiation between the government and judges as to how many days courts are allowed to sit, with a view to restricting the latter".

His speech centred around specific measures to improve court efficiency and urged the government to follow through on initiatives such as the Pathfinder Project to ease pressure on the courts.

3. King's speech debates: housing reform features heavily

While many topics have been discussed in connection with the king’s speech, housing and planning reform has been a primary area of debate.

Across proceedings, MPs and peers generally accepted that significant action was needed to address the lack of housing supply, but many members disagreed on the approach the government planned to take.

On Thursday in the House of Lords, Lord Lansley (Conservative) advocated for a revision of the standard method for approving housing developments, explaining that a revised method should take into account trends in employment change and the relative house prices for the area.

More radically, Lord Rooker (Labour) urged the government to consider suspending planning controls for 30 months and use building control.

He used the examples of Brindleyplace in Birmingham and London Docklands as examples of rapid projects undertaken when planning controls were suspended.

On Friday in the House of Commons, Mike Wood MP (Conservative) interjected to challenge the secretary of state Angela Rayner on whether the government would tear up environmentally friendly and local council agreed building plans if they did not meet housing targets.

Rayner responded that the government welcomed local council efforts to address the housing crisis and that any push to encourage further building would look at brownfield and grey belt sites first to preserve the greenbelt as much as possible.

Martin Vickers (Conservative) also criticised the government’s plans to “make full use of intervention powers” and contrasted this heavy-handed approach with its emphasis in other areas to devolve powers to local leaders.

Many MPs including Caroline Nokes (Conservative), Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat) and George Freeman (Conservative) emphasised that any large-scale housing developments must accompany significant investment in infrastructure.

4. A comeback for anti-SLAPP legislation?

Following the dissolution of parliament in May, Wayne David MP’s private members bill on strategic litigation was dropped.

There had been speculation that the bill would be picked up by the new government, but last week’s king’s speech failed to commit to new legislation in this space.

There were calls from peers across the political spectrum on Wednesday 24 July for Labour to reintroduce Wayne David’s bill and adopt it as government policy.

Baroness Stowell (Con) asked for reassurance that the government would "support another private member’s bill, if another MP was to bring forward a revised version that incorporated all the amendments and agreements reached with the previous government?"

The newly appointed justice minister Lord Ponsonby was unable to commit to this, or new legislation.

However, he did recognise that SLAPPs are not just focused on economic crime and that there was a need for a wide review of SLAPPs legislation.

Ponsonby flagged that, when it comes to the previous private member’s bill, "there are outstanding questions that need to be properly balanced. That is to prevent the abuse of the process of SLAPPs, about which the noble Baroness spoke, but we also need to protect access to justice for legitimate claims."

He referenced live discussions with the Law Society and committed to continuing that engagement.

5. Home secretary changes Illegal Migration Act provisions

On Tuesday 23 July, the new home secretary, Yvette Cooper, laid a statutory instrument (SI), removing the retrospective elements of the Illegal Migration Act.

The SI states that "the retrospective effect of the act, and the differing dates underpinning their effect, created complexity for the operation of the immigration system. It resulted in the creation of different cohorts, who were subject to some or all of the measures in the Act depending on date of arrival…"

"This position resulted in an ongoing risk that the Home Office was acting inconsistent with the legislation by granting leave ultra vires to those who should be subject to the bans on obtaining an immigration status."

The use of an SI in this case could be controversial, and the Home Office has explained that this approach was taken because the use of primary legislation to make this change "was not considered to be an appropriate use of parliamentary time, given the existing powers available in the act".

Coming up

We have identified a number of bills of relevance to solicitors and the wider legal profession.

We will be working closely with MPs and peers to influence a number of these bills:

• Arbitration Bill: the bill will have its second reading in the Lords, date to be announced

The following bills were announced during the king’s speech but have not yet been laid before parliament:

• Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill
• Crime and Policing Bill
• Cyber Security and Resilience Bill
• Digital Information and Smart Data Bill
• Employment Rights Bill
• Hillsborough Law
• Mental Health Bill
• Renters Rights Bill
• Planning and Infrastructure Bill
• Product Safety and Metrology Bill
• Skills England Bill
• Victims, Courts and Public Protection Bill
• Draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill
• Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill