Local Authority round-up – 20 June 2025
20th June, 2025
Our Local Authority round up provides brief summaries of topical information on a weekly basis, to keep you aware of the changes and updates relevant to you.
Education
The Department for Education releases guidance on the use of AI in schools
The Department for Education has released guidance outlining how schools can safely and effectively use AI to improve the classroom experience for students.
Developed in partnership with education experts from the Chiltern Learning Trust and the Chartered College of Teaching, it sets out clear principles for AI use, with education standards and child safety the priority. The guidance stresses that teachers should verify accuracy of AI generated material and strive to protect personal data.
For staff, AI can automate some tasks such as generic letters – giving them hours back to focus on personalised parent communications around children’s education progress and wellbeing.
To supplement this, an additional £1 million of Contracts for Innovation funding has been announced which hopes to accelerate development of pioneering AI tools to help with marking and generating detailed, tailored feedback for individual students. These innovations aim to make teaching a more appealing career choice by significantly reducing administrative workload. It will play a crucial role in attracting and retaining educators.
For more information please click here.
Regulatory
New measures proposed to prevent individuals dismissed from the National Crime Agency from re-entering policing
The Home Office has introduced legislation to make provision for a dedicated ‘National Crime Agency (NCA) Barred And Advisory List’ within the landmark Crime and Policing Bill.
This new measure aims to ensure that individuals dismissed from the NCA for gross misconduct are prevented from re-entering policing or any other law enforcement role. In addition to the NCA, the legislation will also establish new barred and advisory lists for other special police forces, including the British Transport Police (BTP), Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC), and Ministry of Defence Police (MDP). Each list will be maintained by its respective authority, and law enforcement employers across England and Wales will be required to check these lists before hiring.
Where an individual is on the barred list, law enforcement agencies will not be able to employ them. Where an individual is named on the advisory list, the employer will be obligated to take this into consideration as part of the recruitment process.
It is hoped that these measures will increase standards and conduct within law enforcement.
For more information please click here.
Health and Social Care
Government announces £450 million investment to expand urgent and emergency care facilities
Supported by £450 million investment, the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025 to 2026 aims to deliver:
40 new same day emergency care and urgent treatment centres to treat and discharge patients in the same day, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital;
- 15 mental health crisis assessment centres to avoid patients them in A&E for care;
- 500 new ambulances will also be rolled out across the country by March 2026.
It is reported that more than 140,000 people access urgent and emergency care services across England every day. A&E waiting time standards have not been met for over a decade, while the 18-minute target for category 2 ambulance calls has never been hit outside the pandemic.
The funding therefore seeks to allow more patients to receive care in the community, rather than being unnecessarily admitted into hospital.
For more information please click here.
Upcoming Event
Webinar: Healthcare Employment Law Update
Please join James English for the free ‘Healthcare Employment Law Update’ on Tuesday 1st July at 10am. This webinar is aimed at HR advisers in the healthcare sector.
To register your place, please click here.
Right to Work – Legal Insights and Practical Guidance
Sabina Kauser and Jessica Hurwood, from Ward Hadaway’s expert Business Immigration Team, will be covering essential updates and practical advice for employers to ensure compliance with current immigration and employment laws. This includes:
- Types of right to work checks;
- Recent legal updates;
- Document retention and compliance;
- Avoiding discrimination; and
- Sector specific challenges.
The webinar is on the 8th July at 10am.
To register your place, please click here.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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