Queen’s Speech: Boris Johnson promises post-Covid skills overhaulon May 11, 2021 at 1:04 am

Boris Johnson is promising a skills “revolution” for England, with loans for adults wanting to retrain and more powers to deal with failing colleges.

The measures will be revealed in Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech, which sets out the government’s programme for the next year.

It is also expected to include pledges to overhaul the asylum system and reform planning laws in England.

Labour urged the government to deliver “action” rather than “rhetoric”.

The Queen’s Speech is part of the State Opening of Parliament, normally the grandest of Westminster occasions

But it will be pared back this year because of Covid, with fewer MPs and peers than normal gathering in the House of Lords to hear it – and the Queen arriving by car rather than the usual carriage.

It will be the monarch’s first major public engagement since the death of her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.

The government says its main focus is on helping the country recover from the pandemic, after the economy shrank by 9.9% last year.

In the speech, written by ministers but delivered by the monarch, it will promise to bring in a “lifetime skills guarantee”.

Part of this will be allowing all adults to get a “flexible loan” for higher-level education and training at university or college, “useable at any point in their lives”.

This will be used to provide the equivalent of up to four years’ study and can be used for full-time or part-time courses.

Businesses and trainers will be encouraged to form partnerships to meet “local needs in sectors including construction, digital, clean energy and manufacturing”.

The education secretary will also have “more powers” to deal with colleges that “fail to meet local needs”.

Ahead of the speech, the prime minister said: “These new laws are the rocket fuel that we need to level up this country and ensure equal opportunities for all. We know that having the right skills and training is the route to better, well-paid jobs.

“I’m revolutionising the system so we can move past the outdated notion that there is only one route up the career ladder, and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to retrain or upskill at any point in their lives.”

The government will introduce the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill – detailing the plans – next week.

The Queen’s Speech contains a list of proposed legislation for the next parliamentary session.

Ministers have suggested an overhaul of the social care system could feature.

On his first day as prime minister Boris Johnson made a promise to “fix social care” and shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has told the Daily Mirror that the Queen’s Speech would be a test as to whether he “delivers on his word”.

This year’s speech will include changes to the policing of protests, including setting time and noise limits. A previous discussion of this by MPs earlier this year led to angry demonstrations.

The speech is expected to include a bill restricting the future prosecution of British soldiers who fought in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

And there is likely to be a Sovereign Borders Bill, aimed at dissuading asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel.

A ban on so-called conversion therapy – attempts to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity – is proposed too. This will be preceded by a public consultation, the BBC understands.

The speech will include a commitment to introducing voter ID for future general elections, which has raised concerns among many MPs and civil rights groups.

Legally binding environmental targets are also expected to feature, as is a planning bill to ease controls in England and increase housebuilding.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “We must seize this moment to create a brighter future for the whole country.

“We must also see detail on long-promised plans to fix the broken social care system, reduce the shocking levels of violent crime and narrow the gap between different parts of the country.

“For 11 years we have had lots of rhetoric and the endless promise of jam tomorrow. That must now be turned to action.”

National Trust director general Hilary McGrady has warned the prime minister over plans to drive development of homes, saying that “the stakes are high and reforms need to be carefully considered”.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph she said: “The planning system is the most important tool that we have for shaping our physical environment.

“It is a mistake to characterise it as simply a blocker to new homes, growth and development in general.”