Local Authority round up – 10/09/21

Commercial

£1 million Faith New Deal Pilot Fund announced

The government has announced £1 million of funding under the Faith New Deal Pilot Fund in order to strengthen link between faith groups and the government to provide support to communities.  Faith groups will be able to apply for a share of the funding in order to providing innovative solutions to issues such as food poverty and poor mental health and the funding can be used to support projects focussed on loneliness, debt advice and employability.  The fund will be open to faith-based organisations to deliver projects to provide community wide services open to all the local population.

For more information please click here.

Regulatory

Consultation on mandatory COVID vaccines launched

The Government has launched a 6 week consultation on plans for staff in health and care settings in England to be required to have COVID-19 and flu vaccines in order to protect patients.  The Government’s proposals would mean only those who are fully vaccinated, unless medically exempt, could be deployed to deliver health and care services.  The consultation will also seek views on whether flu vaccines should be a requirement for health and care workers.  Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said “Many patients being treated in hospitals and other clinical settings are most at risk of suffering serious consequences of COVID-19, and we must do what we can to protect them. It’s so clear to see the impact vaccines have against respiratory viruses which can be fatal to the vulnerable, and that’s why we’re exploring mandatory vaccines for both COVID-19 and flu. We will consider the responses to the consultation carefully but, whatever happens, I urge the small minority of NHS staff who have not yet been jabbed to consider getting vaccinated – for their own health as well as those around them.”

For more information please click here.

International Trade

LGA publishes guidance for councils supporting local businesses in international trade opportunities

The Local Government Association (LGA) has published guidance to help councils support their local businesses to take advantage of new and emerging export opportunities across the globe.  The report, which was commissioned by the LGA and produced by Value Adage with support from the Department of International Trade, finds that nearly 6.5 million jobs in the UK are reliant on our ability to export abroad, with firms in London and the south east having the highest number of export-supported jobs.  It also finds that many businesses look to their council for advice around arrangements for exporting of goods and services, as well as advice about the present regulatory framework.  The guidance from the LGA shares good practice and advice to support councils to produce internationalisation strategies, which will help councils to work with LEPs and other business groups to map potential inward investment and exporting opportunities in their local area. Cllr Kevin Bentley, Chair of the LGA’s People and Places Board said “Councils have long played a significant role supporting firms to export and are well placed to bring together businesses to take advantage of the opportunities available to them.  As the UK embarks on a new chapter as an independent trading nation, it is clear that there will be new markets and new opportunities for export. It is important that councils are in a position to help businesses transition to this new context.  This guide will help local authorities to build connections and work with partners domestically and internationally to help support greater exports and create jobs in their local communities.”

For more information please click here.

Planning and Housing

Government launches consultation on proposed planning reforms to support hospitality businesses

The government launched a public consultation on 5 September to seek views on proposals to make permanent two permitted development rights in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 which were introduced to support businesses and the high street in response to the coronavirus pandemic. This includes making permanent the right for markets to be held by or on behalf of local councils and the right for moveable structures in the grounds of pubs, cafes, restaurants and historic visitor attractions.  Secretary of State for Housing Robert Jenrick said “The simple reforms we made during the pandemic to help hospitality businesses, markets and historic visitor attractions make use of outdoor spaces more easily, made a massive impact. They helped thousands of businesses and attraction to prosper, made out town centres livelier and have been enjoyed by millions of us.  As part of our vision to transform high streets into thriving places to work, visit and live, we intend to make as many of these measures permanent fixtures of British life as possible.”

For more information please click here.

Regulations extend protections for business tenancies in Wales

The Business Tenancies (Extension of Protection from Forfeiture etc) (Wales) (Coronavirus) (No 3) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/952 (W 217)) (Regulations) were laid before Senedd Cymru on 26 August 2021 and come into force on 30 September 2021. The Regulations extend the protections from forfeiture for non-payment of rent for business tenancies in Wales to 25 March 2022.   Section 82 of the Coronavirus Act 2020 (CVA 2020) provides that a right of re-entry or forfeiture, under a relevant business tenancy, for non-payment of rent may not be enforced, by action or otherwise, during the relevant period.  The relevant period began on 26 March 2020, and was defined as ending on 30 June 2020 or such later date as may be specified by the Welsh Ministers in regulations made by statutory instrument (section 82(12), CVA 2020). The relevant period has been extended several times, most recently by the Business Tenancies (Extension of Protection from Forfeiture etc) (Wales) (Coronavirus) (No 2) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/759 (W 186)) (No 2 Regulations), which extended that period to 30 September 2021. The Regulations revoke the No 2 Regulations.  The Welsh Government’s recent written statement about the extension notes that, during the extension, it will continue to consider what, if any, further measures need to be put in place in Wales concerning commercial rent arrears, once the moratorium comes to an end.

For more information please click here.

Upcoming Webinars

As you may well know we run a programme of webinars on a wide range of topics, listed below are those webinars upcoming in the next few weeks which may be of interest to you:

The impact of the menopause in the workplace

Ward Hadaway is hosting a series of events exploring the impact of the menopause in the workplace and what very practical things organisations can do to provide relevant support. Join us in the first of these sessions to take place on 14th September at 3.30pm where we will be speaking to Dr Joanne Hobson, specialist in menopause and hugely experienced in providing education and advice on this topic.

For more information and to book your place, please click here.

What will change as a result of the Subsidy Control Bill?

The first of our commercial law webinars will focus on the Subsidy Control Bill.  This webinar will focus on the Subsidy Control Bill which is expected to become law in 2022. The Bill will introduce a domestic subsidy control regime to replace the EU State aid regime which applied prior to Brexit. The webinar will discuss what the law is currently following our exit from the EU and what changes the Bill will introduce. We will be discussing the end of a “block exemption” based approach to compliance and the move to a more flexible but less certain system.  Aimed at both the givers and receivers of subsidy funding, we will provide a clear insight of what to expect when this politically and economically important Bill becomes law next year.  This session will take place by Zoom on 17th September at 12.30.

For more information or to book your place please click here.

Leeds Digital Festival: Understanding Tech and Cloud Terms and Conditions

We will be working with Leeds Digital Festival to host an event on understanding tech and cloud terms and conditions. The event aims to provide companies with an introduction to tech contracts, with insights on best practice for negotiating the key provisions contained within the contract in order to protect your company. As businesses are increasingly using cloud services, we will also be highlighting specific issues that you ought to be aware of that can appear in the contracts. The session will take place by Zoom on 21^st September 2021 at 10am.

For more information and to book your place, please click here.

Resilience and mental wellbeing

Ward Hadaway are delighted to invite you to join us for this powerful session on Wednesday 22nd September at 11am where founder and CEO of Mental Health in Business, Samaritans Volunteer and TEDx Speaker, Claire Russell will share with us some of the experiences that saw her invited to take to the TEDx stage with her talk on Resilience. She will also share an important understanding about resilience, and some practical tools that we can all reach for to help us to develop personal and organisational resilience and mental wellbeing.

For more information and to book your place, please click here.

 Public Sector Property update

Please join us at our online Public Sector Property update where our legal experts will update you on property and construction law developments relevant to the Public Sector. Register below for this free 90 minute session on 23rd September at 9.30am. You will be able to submit questions in advance, or using the Zoom Q&A feature during the event.

For more information and to book your place, please click here.

If you have any questions about the issues raised in this update, please do not hesitate to get in touch.