Bills to support fracking and to help small businesses were at the heart of the Queen's Speech, which marked the state opening of parliament.
The Queen's Speech outlined an Infrastructure Bill to support the development of shale gas, by amending trespass laws, and maximise the exploitation of North Sea reserves in a bid to make the UK “energy-independent and in control of its own future and not reliant on foreign countries for oil and gas”.
Gareth Stace, head of climate & environment policy at the EEF manufacturers' organisation, said: “The amendment of trespass laws is vitally important if the UK is to get serious about exploiting its shale gas reserves. Natural gas will continue to be a vital part of our energy mix for the foreseeable future and, the exploitation of our reserves is one of increased reliance on foreign imports and exposure to volatile prices.”
However, Stace added that it is vital that the government does more to engage with communities and the wider public to allay concerns about both the risks and importance of this endeavour.
Michael Bradshaw, professor of global energy at Warwick Business School, added: “The trespass law changes announced in the Queen’s Speech is really just seen as a bit of housekeeping by the government.
“Mining industries can already drill under your house without your permission. Shale gas is new and so is not included in these existing allowances. The government wants to bring it into line with other extraction industries, so trespass laws are not used to try and stop the process of fracking. The drilling is done up to 3km underground, so it is very unlikely people will know they are drilling underground.”
Ahead of the speech, Greenpeace activists protested against the move at David Cameron's home, turning it into a fracking site.
The Queen's Speech also announced a Small Business Bill to provide measures to help companies get credit from banks and crackdown on expensive delays in employment tribunals. Measures will also be brought forward to tackle the abuse of zero-hours contracts and failure to pay the minimum wage.
Katja Hall, CBI deputy director-general, said: “Successfully getting credit to our small and medium-sized businesses will underpin the recovery, so we support action to match firms with providers and there is merit in formalising and extending existing referral arrangements.
“We also back measures that improve access to credit data, which should help facilitate better decisions by providers.”
Hall added: “Changes to make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to tender for public sector contracts, including a one-off registration process are much-needed.
“Growing businesses rely on cash flow and are too often hampered by late payers, so we back a ‘comply or explain’ system for payment terms of more than 60 days.”
The government also announced plans to increase the number of apprentices to 2 million by May 2015 and provide apprenticeship standards through the Trailblazers scheme.
However, this is inadequate according to the IMechE.
Dr Colin Brown, director of engineering at the ImechE, said: “Plans to increase the number of apprentices to 2 million by May 2015 and provide apprenticeships standards through the Trailblazers scheme, while positive, don’t go far enough.
“To even stand still as the baby boomer generation retires, the UK needs to double the number of people taking up engineering careers by 2020. Otherwise we are facing a severe skills shortage, which could hamper vital UK infrastructure projects and lead to the country exporting its own economic growth. Apprenticeships and university degrees in sectors which add value to the UK economy, like engineering, need to be prioritised and incentivised.”
Brown said the government also needs to encourage employers and schools to work more closely and in a more co-ordinated way to show schoolchildren how rewarding and varied jobs in engineering and science can be.
A list of 11 bills were announced by the Queen in one of the briefest speeches in modern times. Lasting a little under 10 minutes, it was shorter than in any other year of the past two decades.