King’s Speech sets out Labour’s plans for energy, railways, water, and planning

King's speech highlights priority areas for the Smart Infrastructure and Systems Programme. The announcements encompass significant energy, rail, water, and planning developments.

Energy

A key legislative highlight is the introduction of a bill to establish Great British Energy (GB Energy), a publicly owned clean power company headquartered in Scotland. This initiative aims to expedite investments in renewable energy, particularly offshore wind. Backed by £8.3 billion over the current parliamentary term, GB Energy will collaborate with industry and trade unions to co-invest in cutting-edge technologies, support capital-intensive projects, and deploy local energy production, benefiting communities nationwide.

We are supportive of this initiative, recognising that GB Energy’s partnership with the private sector can mitigate investment risks and foster innovation and we are looking forward to seeing more details. We think incorporating digital technology at the core of this initiative is essential. Leveraging AI, Digital Twins, and advanced software can enhance the performance of the company. GB Energy could provide crucial funding streams for local authorities to accelerate clean power delivery in their regions. To achieve net zero by 2030, a comprehensive approach encompassing all forms of energy and infrastructure is essential. techUK members are encouraged to share their perspectives on this direction.

Rail

In the rail sector, the government has announced the creation of Great British Railways (GBR), with plans to bring train operators into public ownership. This legislative move aims to reform rail franchising, improve railway operations, and enhance the passenger experience through increased data sharing within the rail sector. The proposed bills, the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill and the Rail Reform Bill, are designed to facilitate these changes.

We see significant potential in this restructuring, particularly in terms of improving efficiency and customer experience through enhanced data sharing. The integration of track and train operations under GBR presents an opportunity to prioritise digitisation and overcome barriers related to skills, procurement, and data ownership. techUK is eager to collaborate with GBR as it develops its technology and innovation strategies, advocating for practical implementation roadmaps for key innovations like Digital Season Tickets and improved 4G/5G connectivity.

Water

The government also plans to strengthen the powers of the water regulator to improve water quality. We believe in the transformative potential of digital technology in the water sector. By integrating IoT sensors, AI-driven analytics, and smart infrastructure, water companies can boost efficiency, reduce waste, and enhance service delivery. These innovations enable real-time water quality monitoring, predictive maintenance, and accurate demand forecasting, supporting sustainability goals by optimizing water usage and minimising environmental impact.

Planning

A radical overhaul of planning rules is proposed to facilitate the construction of 1.5 million new homes and enhance national infrastructure over the next five years. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill aims to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing while promoting sustainable growth through investments in industry, skills, and new technologies.

We emphasise the importance of planning reform in accelerating the clean energy transition and building new energy-saving digital infrastructure. Recommendations include improving planning inspectorate resourcing, integrating digital solutions into the planning system, and ensuring consistency across councils. Drawing from international examples, techUK suggests leveraging existing telecoms infrastructure, updating frameworks for data centres, and creating a special Use Case category for data centre construction to streamline application evaluations.

This legislation will largely be limited to England and Wales, but some provisions may extend to Scotland. techUK's Infrastructure, Data Centre, Telecommunications and Digital Economy programmes will work together across this legislation.

A full transcript of THE KING’S SPEECH 2024 has been published here.

You can read our policy insight here, identifying specific pieces of legislation focussing on the technology sector, as well as providing an overview of the wider policy agenda.