The government will bring forward proposals that “strengthen the delivery, accountability, innovation and productivity” of the civil service in this parliament, the King has said.
In the King’s Speech at the state opening of parliament this morning, King Charles III said these proposals “will also seek to safeguard its impartiality and core values, to enhance trust and confidence in the institutions of government.”
Similar aims were set out last month when the cabinet secretary, Dame Antonia Romeo, published her objectives for this year and a series of actions she would take to achieve them.
The objectives included reforming the civil service so that it is recognised for excellence in delivery, innovation and improved productivity, and leading an impartial, curious and engaged civil service, with a culture of pride that comes from high performance.
Actions included refreshing the civil service code, ensuring every government department has an ambitious and deliverable plan to ramp up AI and technology adoption, and overhauling the approach to performance and talent management frameworks for senior civil servants.
The prime minister Keir Starmer also reiterated his desire for civil service reform in an all staff-message to officials last week in which he said he wants a culture where “information flows freely, where risks are flagged early, and where we work together to solve problems before they become crises”.
What else was in the King's Speech?
One of the pledges within the first King's Speech of Labour's Starmer-led administration in July 2024 was to introduce a duty of candour for public servants.
The Public Office (Accountability) Bill, known as the Hillsborough Law, was introduced to parliament in September 2024 but is still in the committee stage. The bill has been stalled amid concerns about exemptions for intelligence and security services employees and the government missed its commitment to introduce the law before the 36th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy. A carry-over motion enabled it to picked up again in the new parliamentary session.
The Railways and Passenger Benefits Bill, which will establish Great British Railways, is another law that has been carried over to the next parliamentary session. It was introduced to parliament in December 2025.
Among the fresh bills is the introduction of Digital ID through the Digital Access to Services Bill.
Digital ID was first trailed by Starmer in September, and after some tweaks the plans went out for consultation in February.
Background briefing notes on the King's Speech say Digital ID will reduce bureaucracy and help the government to build intuitive, efficient, joined-up and responsive public services.
The briefing says the bill will:
- Establish the legal framework for the government to create, issue and use Digital ID.
- Set out the information the Digital ID credential will contain, and provide for how it can be issued, maintained, stored, and verified, as well as eligibility requirements.
- Include provisions to create and maintain the Digital ID credential, enable its use, and aid public sector join-up, alongside appropriate safeguards.
- Include provisions to enable the use of Digital ID in priority areas across the public and wider economy, as well as establishing an audit function for Digital Right to Work checks, which will be one of the first use cases for Digital ID.
It also says the majority of the measures will extend and apply to the whole of the UK.
The King's Speech also includes a bill on the immigration and asylum reforms set out in last year's white paper. The Immigration and Asylum Bill includes the creation of a new independent appeals body as set out in September by the home secretary.
The King's Speech briefing notes say the body will be fully independent but "will be integrated into the end-to-end immigration system to ensure cases flow through quickly to removal where appeals are unsuccessful".