Local Authority round-up 18/08/23

Commercial

£10 million Community Energy Fund announced

The government has announced the Community Energy Fund under which £10 million of funding is being provided in order to help communities develop local renewable energy projects. The funding will be provided to local people across England in order to develop energy projects such as small-scale wind farms and rooftop solar partnerships, battery storage, rural heat networks, electric vehicle charging points, and fuel poverty alleviation schemes which will benefit their local areas. It is intended that this will fund will support local jobs and growth, build stronger communities, and enable places to directly benefit from clean, affordable, locally sourced energy.

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Ombudsman says councils are not doing enough on antisocial behaviour

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has said that people across the country are suffering from the consequences of antisocial behaviour (ASB) because councils are not thinking comprehensively about how they can tackle it. The Ombudsman said local councils throughout England have a broad range of tools available to them to tackle ASB, but all too often they are either not using them or do not fully understand those powers that councils have to combat ASB. The LGSCO’s report reveals it has upheld nearly three-quarters (74%) of the cases it has investigated in the past year. Cases range from low-level issues such as dog fouling and inconsiderate parking to more serious sustained harassment and intimidation. Paul Najsarek, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said “Councils in partnership with other agencies, when using their powers to the full, can have a profound effect on people’s quality of life – both in terms of taking action against perpetrators and providing support to victims. I urge leaders to read this report and reflect on their services to ensure they fully understand the range of powers at their disposal and provide the best possible support to the people they serve.”

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Regulatory

Government announces regulation on single-sex toilets

Following privacy and dignity concerns over the rise in neutral gender facilities, the government has announced that it is bringing in new regulations and guidance which will require all new non-domestic public and private buildings to have separate single-sex toilets for women and men and/or a self-contained, private toilet with a wash hand basin for individual use. The government has launched a consultation on its proposals which closes on 8 October 2023. Kemi Badenoch, Minister for Women and Equalities, said “It is important that everybody has privacy and dignity when using public facilities. Yet the move towards ‘gender neutral’ toilets has removed this fundamental right for women and girls. These proposals will ensure every new building in England is required to provide separate male and female or unisex facilities, and publish guidance to explain the difference, protecting the dignity, privacy and safety of all.”

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 ‘Marketing and data protection’ will take place on 12 September 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.