A return to Parliament and a return to influencing

In the first few days back in Parliament, the Labour Party has sought to reaffirm its commitment to reaching ‘Net Zero’ by tabling two key Bills: The Crown Estate Bill and the Great British Energy Bill. Both were put before Parliament last week for debate and are set to create opportunities for energy generators and the entire electricity supply chain.

Also on the table for the upcoming sessions is the Bank Resolution (Recapitalisation) Bill. The Bill is set to give the Government powers to place a levy on the banking sector to support the recovery of costs associated with recapitalising failing small banks, in the wake of last year’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. While seeming to add more security for smaller banks, this is no doubt going to cause some discussion across the sector as a whole which will face increased costs.

Looking further ahead, there are yet more Bills announced in the King’s Speech in July which have yet to be introduced to Parliament. The infancy of these Bills provides a surfeit of opportunities for businesses to have their say and influence the direction these policies take.

Of particular interest for businesses involved in emerging technologies will be the Product Safety and Metrology Bill. The legislation will give the Government greater powers to respond to new technologies and create regulations to keep up. One area of contention is how the Bill intends to give power to the Government to diverge from EU law, something which may cause manufacturers further frustrations in the post-Brexit era.

Unsurprisingly, given the sudden nature with which the election was called, there are also a number of Bills which didn’t make it through the legislative process before the dissolution of Parliament at the end of May. One prime example is the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (DPDI), a reform to the UK’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018. Although considerable work was done on the DPDI, there is no certainty that the contents of Labour’s new Digital Information and Smart Data Bill (DISD) will be the same. For any businesses working with digital verification services, this may mean there are further opportunities to shape the upcoming legislation.