Local Authority round-up 5 June 2026
5th June, 2026
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.
Health & Social Care
Age checks to stop children using sunbeds under new laws
Children will be stopped from using sunbeds through mandatory ID checks under new laws being consulted on by the government. Under 18s are already barred from using sunbeds but teenagers often get round these rules by using contactless systems that let anyone through without any checks by a staff member.
The new proposals would require staff to be present and check a customer’s ID before they can use a sunbed. The crackdown also means health warnings must be clearly displayed and dangerous claims that sunbeds help with weight loss or prevent sunburn would be banned.
The consultation on strengthening the regulation of commercial sunbeds is open until 14 August 2026, with new rules potentially coming into force as early as 2027.
The crackdown comes about as part of the government’s National Cancer Plan, with a ambition to see 1 in 3 cancer patients cancer free or living well 5 years after diagnosis. In 2023, there were almost a quarter of a million new skin cancer diagnoses in the UK, costing the NHS an estimated £750 million annually.
For more information, please click here.
Education
Brand new dental school places in “dental deserts”
Patients in “dental deserts” are set to benefit from the first sustained expansion of dental school places in nearly 20 years, with 50 extra dentists to be trained in the regions that need them most from 2027 onwards.
The Office for Students was asked to allocate new training places, prioritising areas that do not currently train dentists, including rural and coastal communities where accessing NHS dental appointments is near impossible.
To combat this, the University of East Anglia and the University of Portsmouth have now been selected to deliver this expansion, bringing dental training to regions where it is needed most and helping to ensure that the next generation of NHS dentists reflects the communities they will serve.
Each university will host 25 dental places as part of the government’s drive to train more home-grown dentists and boost the workforce in regions where there are currently too few dentists and patients are left in pain for months on end. The allocation of these places will mean that all NHS England regions will now have a dental school.
For more information, please click here.
Landmark report sets out action to address key skills gaps
Skills England has published its first Annual Skills Report, providing the most comprehensive picture to date of current and future skills demand across England.
The Alan Milburn interim report into young people and work found that nearly one million 16-24 year-olds are currently not in education, employment or training (NEET). This figure highlights the need to better connect young people to jobs and training. In conjunction, Skills England’s new analysis shows demand across priority sectors is expected to grow by around 24% over the next decade – equivalent to an additional 1.8 million workers.
The top five challenges identified in the report and the target action Skills England will take are as follows:
- Addressing skill shortages
- Maximising employer investment
- Responding to rapid adoption of AI
- Supporting young people’s employability
- Building a responsive place-based skills system
The report emphasises that no single organisation can address these challenges alone, and highlights the need for stronger partnerships between employers, providers, local leaders and government.
For more information, 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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