Local Authority round-up – 02 May 2025
2nd May, 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.
Health and Social Care
Government freezes prescription charges for the first time in 3 years
NHS prescription charges in England will be frozen for the first time in 3 years, ensuring the cost of a prescription remains below £10. Three-month and annual prescriptions will also be frozen for 2025 to 2026.
The prescription charge freeze aims to tackle the cost of living crisis, supplementing the roll-out of free breakfast clubs and the expansion of childcare through 300 new school-based nurseries.
In addition to the freeze on charges, the NHS Low Income Scheme offers support with prescription payments, with free prescriptions for eligible individuals such as pensioners, students and those who receive state benefits.
For more information please click here.
Reform of NHS App sees 87% of hospitals offering services digitally
It has been reported that 1.5 million appointments have been saved due to the Government’s accelerated rollout of the NHS App (the App), helping patients access treatment more conveniently.
Patients can manage appointments, view prescriptions and access their GP health record, reducing stress on healthcare services and providing easier access to information and services.
The Government has increased the number of hospitals allowing patients to view appointment information on the App to 87%, up from 68% in July 2024.
As a result of more patients being able to access correspondence digitally through the App, around 12 million fewer paper letters have been sent by hospitals since July 2024, saving £5.2 million in postage costs. Forecasts for this year also show that the use of in-app notifications for planned care will prevent the need for 15.7 million SMS messages, saving the NHS a further £985,000.
For more information please click here.
Education
Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence set to expand their reach to 200 schools
The Government’s Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) Teams are expanding their reach from an initial 32 schools, to more than 200 schools covering over 120,000 children.
RISE Teams have been supported with £20 million to drive school standards. Further, each RISE school could be eligible for support of up to £100,000 to improve the quality of education for children and young people.
There are more than 600 schools in England that have received consecutive poor Ofsted judgements, and which are attended by more than 300,000 children. It is these schools which will be targeted by RISE.
As part of the bespoke improvement plans designed by RISE advisers, the first 32 schools will be paired with supporting organisations, including high-quality multi-academy trusts, to provide support and expertise.
The Department for Education is also establishing a new RISE operational stakeholder group to advise on delivery to ensure views are reflected.
For more information please click here.
Upcoming Events
Business Immigration Webinar: What’s on the Horizon in 2025
Gillian Burns and Caroline Bagley, from our expert Business Immigration Team, will be covering key updates, policy shifts, and practical considerations for sponsors and employers, including:
- Analysis of the impact of the Skilled Worker Salary increases and future direction of travel;
- The impact of the proposed requirement for graduate visa holders to obtain “graduate-level jobs”;
- Ongoing reviews by the Migration Advisory Committee and potential areas of change;
- Examining fee increases making the sponsorship process more costly and thoughts on future areas of increase;
- Recent changes to the right to work check requirement and its proposed expansion; and
- Planned technical updates to the Sponsor Management System.
The webinar will take place on the 13th May between 10am and 11am.
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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