Local Authority round-up 15/09/23

Commercial

£200 million to boost NHS resilience and care this winter

The government has allocated £200 million to enhance the resilience and care provided by the NHS during the winter season. This funding will help the NHS manage the increased demand and pressures that come with the colder months. It aims to improve patient care, reduce waiting times and support the healthcare workforce. The aim of this initiative is to ensure that the NHS can continue to deliver high-quality care during the winter period.

This follows the Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan which was announced earlier this year which was backed by £1 billion to boost capacity in the health system by providing 5,000 additional beds, 800 new ambulances and 10,000 virtual wards.

For more information please click here.

£15 million competition to accelerate use of quantum in Government

The £15 million Quantum Catalyst Fund competition aims to speed up the use of quantum technology in the government. It encourages the public sector to come up with innovative solutions that utilise quantum technology and provides funding to support research and development projects that can have a positive impact on various areas like cybersecurity, communications and more. 30 projects have already been chosen to take part in phase 1 of the competition which will run for 3 months and explore the feasibility of applying quantum technologies to help solve challenges for the government.

For more information please click here.

Regulatory

Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) funding

The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles has published step-by-step guidance on what eligible local authorities need to do to apply for LEVI funding, with the fund having 2 main objectives:

• to deliver a step-change in the deployment of local, primarily low power, on-street charging infrastructure across England; and
• to accelerate the commercialisation of, and investment in, the local charging infrastructure sector.

These funding programmes are typically designed to encourage the installation of charging infrastructure making it more convenient for electric vehicle owners to charge their vehicles. The specific details and requirements of these funding programmes vary depending on location, and to combat this, LEVI have set up a designated support body for local authority officers.

For more information please click here.

Planning and housing

Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities issues a revised National Planning Policy Framework

A revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has been issued which sets out the guidelines for planning in England.

For more information please click here.

Upcoming webinars

Webinar series: Data Protection

Register your interest for our on-going webinar series on ‘Data Protection’ for in-house lawyers, DPOs and senior management in private and public sector organisations. The series will run throughout 2023 providing attendees with up to date information on key Data Protection topics. The short one hour sessions will be delivered by our experts with allocated time for you to ask any questions you may have. The next in our series ‘Data transfers – crossing borders’ will take place on 14 November 2023.

For more information or 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.