An additional week has been added to the current parliamentary session to give the new Labour government more time to set out their legislative plans
Parliament will rise for the summer recess on 30 July instead of 23 July.
The King’s Speech will be held on 17 July at 11.15am and Labour has indicated that it will set out plans for up to 35 legislative bills.
It will be interesting to watch out for the initial priorities for the first 100 days in power. Already new chancellor Rachel Reeves has set out ambitious plans to overhaul planning rules and measures to drive economic growth, while a raft of new employment rights for workers will be included in the King’s Speech.
The proposed legislation will include the three key tax changes to non-dom rules, imposition of VAT on private school fees and the closure of the tax loophole for private equity investors using carried interest to reduce tax on earnings.
For the accountancy profession there will be interest in whether the Labour government goes ahead with the long-shelved plans for audit reform, first promised by the Conservatives in 2021 following a string of audit scandals following the collapse of major companies like Carillion, Thomas Cook and BHS.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) signalled last week that it would review plans for audit reform ‘in due course’.