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The Queen's Speech contained three elements set to affect companies working in e-commerce and IT: electronic conveyancing, the new Ofcom regulator and share option taxation.
On behalf of the returning Labour government, the Queen promised ‘legislation to reform the system of land registration to promote greater e-conveyancing’.
The Lord Chancellor’s department, which will handle the Bill, said that the Land Registry will eventually move from the use of written communications to an electronic process.
Land title information will be available online, the accuracy of the registry will be improved, and more information about owners’ rights and responsibilities will be made available.
Neil Mackwood of property website 08004homes.com welcomed the move. ‘Behind the scenes, there are a lot of people working on this already,’ he said.
The site is preparing a service which will allow home movers to track the process of conveyancing online, enabling customers to see when lawyers and agents take actions such as searches.
‘You won’t have to phone your lawyer every few minutes,’ said Mackwood.
‘It should speed up house moves, making it faster and potentially cheaper.’
No schedule has yet been set for the bill.
The speech also stated: ‘A draft bill to create a single regulator for media and communications industries and reform the broadcasting and telecommunications regulations will be published.’
Legislation creating the new Ofcom watchdog, which will take over telecoms regulation from Oftel, will be pushed back to the parliamentary session starting in late 2002. However, consultation on the draft details of the body are likely to start around the end of this year.
The Department of Trade and Industry is set to make a further announcement on Ofcom in a few weeks.
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Although only referred to in passing by the Queen, chancellor Gordon Brown earlier this week gave details of his plans to boost the UK’s entrepreneurial spirit, including further reform of share option taxation.
The Enterprise Management Scheme, a tax-efficient share option scheme, is set to be opened to larger companies.
Currently, the scheme can be made available to 15 staff – rising to all staff from April next year – in companies with gross assets of #15m. This limit looks set to be doubled, allowing many mid-sized firms to take part.
More on the Queen’s speech is on page 19.