Local Authority round-up – 09 May 2025
9th 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 announces £1.8 million investment into NHS care for veterans
The Government has announced, on the 80th anniversary of VE Day, a £1.8 million investment into the NHS in order to ensure armed forces veterans and their families receive improved and targeted healthcare.
A new programme will allow NHS employees to receive dedicated training to identify and support patients with military backgrounds, given that veterans often require specialised care for injuries sustained in combat, as well as mental health support for conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.
The announcement follows a £50 million boost in funding to ensure veterans have easier access to essential care and support under a new system called VALOUR.
For more information please click here.
Regulatory
Major reforms guaranteed for the HM Prison and Probation Service
Jennifer Rademaker, a non-executive director for the Ministry of Justice, conducted a review of the HM Prison and Probation Service, examining the HR processes and culture for dealing with complaints regarding professional standards.
Recommendations from the report include:
- The establishment of an independent central unit to handle the reporting of claims of bullying, harassment and discrimination
- The creation of an Independent Commissioner for HMPPS Professional Standards; an
- Improving data collection on complaints by creating a single database, with regular updates provided to all employees.
The Government has accepted all the recommendations from the review, seeking to ensure that unacceptable behaviour is tackled quickly and effectively. The Government has stated that improving staff morale, safety and retention rates will ensure prisons and the probation service can focus more on reducing reoffending.
The promise of reform comes as more than one in eight employees last year reported being bullied, harassed, or discriminated against. This figure was 50 per cent higher than the wider Civil Service.
For more information please click here.
Education
Government launches digital exam results pilot
The Government has announced that exam certificates will go digital this summer as part of a modernised ‘education record’.
It is hoped that new digital records will remove the need to manually exchange paper files when young people leave school, consolidating their paperwork into a single Education Record App (the App). The App can then be utilised when applying for further education, apprenticeships or employment.
Young people in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands will receive their GCSE results via the App this summer, ahead of a future national roll out.
The Education Record App is part of wider Government drive to overhaul how the public sector uses technology, and it is estimated that the move could save schools and colleges up to £30 million per year once the full roll out is complete.
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.
The Exchange: Where HR leaders share, inspire and grow.
We are pleased to invite you to the launch event of our new seminar series The Exchange, in collaboration with NRG.
The event series, specifically designed for HR Directors, Chief People Officers, Heads of HR and People Services, and Senior People and Talent Leaders, will bring together peer-level discussion, underpinned by the combined expertise of our legal advisory services and the HR recruitment and consultancy of NRG.
Roisin Currie, CEO of Greggs, will be also joining us for our launch event to share insights on her leadership journey.
The event will take place on the 3rd June 2025, 9:00am to 12:00pm, at Sandgate House, 102 Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3DX.
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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