When is the Queen’s Speech? Everything you need to know as laws set out for the next year

New Brexit laws and plans to revive struggling high streets are expected in the Queen’s Speech on Tuesday

Boris Johnson will set out his government's plans for the year ahead in the Queen's Speech on Tuesday.

The Queen’s Speech is an important part of the state opening of parliament, during which the monarch sets out the government’s policies and proposed legislation for the new session.

There has been speculation about whether the Queen, who has missed a number of public engagements this year, will fulfil one of her major duties as head of state.

During the course of her 70-year reign, the Queen has opened Parliament all but two times.

Here is a guide on what to expect.

What is the Queen’s Speech?

Although delivered by the Queen, the speech is written by government ministers and includes an outline of policies and laws the government plans to put in place in the coming months.

What time is it?

The speech is scheduled to take place at around 11.30am.

What bills are expected?

The prime minister has promised to deliver a “super seven” of Brexit bills that will cut red tape and “unnecessary barriers inherited from the EU”.

Mr Johnson is planning to announce the new laws which will “deliver on the promise of Brexit”, Mr Johnson told the Sunday Express.

The set of bills will allow Britain to “thrive as a modern, dynamic and independent country” by “changing old EU rules that don’t work for the UK”, he told the newspaper.

Mr Johnson said: “I call them the super seven – and they will benefit families and businesses across the land by changing old EU rules that don’t work for the UK.

The Queen delivers her speech from the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster during the 2021 state opening of parliament (PA Archive)

“From data reform to gene-editing to financial services, these bills will allow us to thrive as a modern, dynamic and independent country, and this government is getting on with the job of delivering them.”

The Queen’s Speech, will be used by Mr Johnson as an attempt to show his administration is focused on people’s concerns on issues including the rising cost of living following a bruising set of local elections influenced by the partygate row and the behaviour of Tory MPs.

He is expected to also announce the government’s plans to revive struggling town centres, as figures from the British Retail Consortium showed about one in seven shops are vacant, with as many as a fifth empty in the North East.

Shops have been hit by high rental and business rate costs and declining demand as consumers have moved online, a trend exacerbated by the pandemic.

Other measures will include the ability to make pavement cafes, which sprang up during the Covid-19 pandemic, a permanent part of the town centre landscape.

Under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill measures to revive England’s high streets, councils will be given powers to take control of buildings for the benefit of their communities.

While the Queen delivers the speech, its contents is written by government ministers (PA Archive)

Compulsory rental auctions will ensure that landlords make shops that have been vacant for more than a year available to prospective tenants.

Authorities will also be given greater powers to use compulsory purchase orders to deliver housing, regeneration schemes and infrastructure.

Levelling up secretary Michael Gove said: “By empowering local communities to rent out shops which have been sat empty for a year or longer, we will end the scourge of boarded up shops that have blighted some of our great towns across the country for far too long.”

On Saturday, education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, said the Queen’s Speech package would “demonstrate to the nation that the second half of this parliament is all about dealing with repairing the economy, recovering from Covid, the backlog of the NHS and national security”.

What won’t the speech include?

The Queen’s Speech is not expected to include proposed plans to ban the import of fur and foie gras.

The Times newspaper reported the measure had been dropped after cabinet critics warned it was “fundamentally unconservative”.

The Animals Abroad Bill is expected to include a ban on the trade in hunting trophies and the sale and promotion of travel experiences which are cruel to animals.