Fourteen measures from the King’s Speech analysed by BBC experts

BBC A raft of bills have been announced in the King’s Speech. Here BBC correspondents analyse some of the 39 potential new laws Keir Starmer’s government wants to pass. Banning no-fault evictions Housing is a priority area on which this government will be judged at the next election. A long-promised, but much-delayed, ban on no-fault…

How will the government change the way private school fees are taxed?

Getty Images The Labour government has confirmed it will act on its manifesto commitment to change the way private school fees are taxed. The King’s Speech included plans to remove the current exemption from value added tax (VAT), which the government says will fund 6,500 new teachers in England. What are private schools and how…

Five big problems the Starmer government has to fix

Getty Images The new government has used its first King’s Speech to set out its priorities for the year ahead. The draft legislation covers areas including housing, workers’ rights and green energy. But some big challenges, which Labour says it has inherited, have not been directly addressed in the King’s Speech. Public sector pay Decisions…

Reeves hints at above-inflation public sector pay rise

Reeves: There is ‘a cost to not settling’ public sector pay The chancellor has hinted that she may give public sector workers above-inflation pay rises this summer. Rachel Reeves’ comments come after it is understood independent pay review bodies recommended an increase of 5.5% for teachers and some NHS workers. In her first interview from…

Term-time holiday fines here to stay – Phillipson

EPA Bridget Phillipson says parents should “honour our responsibilities” to keep children in school Parents should not take their children on term-time holidays and have a responsibility to keep them in school, the new education secretary has told the BBC. In her first interview in the role with BBC News, Bridget Phillipson said there “will…

We don't know how many people are having babies – and that's a headache for schools

BBC The day before, official statistics had predicted that the number of children in English state nurseries and primary schools, which was already in decline, would fall by a further 4.5% over the next four years. Schools are given money per pupil, so for those like St Peter’s Community Primary School – which is not…