Last minute legislation affecting businesses passed before the election
When the Prime Minister announced that there was to be a general election on 4th July, much of the legislation before Parliament had to be summarily ditched. This included important Bills that we have written articles about here and which are of particular interest to UK Training customers.
However, there were some Bills that were rushed through in an accelerated Parliamentary procedure known as the ‘wash up’, which takes place before Parliament is dissolved. Bills that have cross-party support or are non-controversial can be passed with the agreement of the Opposition while contentious legislation is lost.
New Acts of Parliament affecting employment rights, online businesses and property owners were among those to survive while an attempt to rewrite the UK GDPR was abandoned.
Which Bills did not make the cut?
Several high-profile Bills did not have enough Parliamentary support or were at too early a stage to progress. These included the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which would have banned anybody born after 2009 from buying cigarettes, and the Renters (Reform) Bill, which would have banned no-fault evictions.
Other measures that could not proceed included a Criminal Justice Bill and a separate Sentencing Bill, which covered a wide range of potential offences and new powers. An effort to set up an independent regulator for football was also left on the bench.
From our point of view, the most notable omission was the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, the progress of which we have been tracking for some time – see a previous article here. This would have made changes to the UK GDPR that the Government claimed would encourage innovation and ease the burden of administration and paperwork for businesses.
However, the Bill had plenty of critics, particularly within the data protection industry, who felt that many of the measures were ill considered and did not meet the standards required to maintain the UK’s status as an ‘adequate’ third country to the European Union.
Which Bills were passed?
For businesses trading online, there will be particular interest in the passing of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act. This introduces measures to strengthen consumer rights, deal with fake reviews and ban drip pricing, where additional charges are made for a purchase during the checkout process.
New employment rights for bereaved fathers are set out in the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act, which ensures that working fathers who lose their partner in childbirth will have the right to paternity leave from day one of their employment. This was a private members Bill that had widespread Parliamentary support.
There was also sufficient Parliamentary agreement to progress the Leasehold and Freehold Act, which will make it cheaper and easier for property owners to extend their lease, buy their freehold and take over the management of their building.
Generally, there was also wide agreement that legislation must be enacted to compensate the victims of two major scandals via the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act and the Victims and Prisoners Act, which establishes a compensation body for victims of the infected blood scandal.
What next for those Bills that did not pass?
Obviously, the outcome of the election will determine the legislative programme going forward. If the Conservatives retain power then we can expect to see some of the Bills resurface, probably in a different form. A Labour victory is more likely to see a change of emphasis, with a raft of new laws increasing employment rights and boosting public sector services.
Written by Paul Murphy
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