Local Authority round-up 31/03/23

Commercial

Government investment to improve schools and colleges

The government has announced that it will be providing £2.5 billion in order to improve school and college buildings. The funding will enable classrooms to be upgraded and buildings to be refurbished to ensure that people are learning in high quality environments. The funding will also enable more school places to be provided from September 2026. Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education Robert Halfon said “This significant investment will transform school and college buildings across the country so that they are fit for the future and can provide the best education for students, no matter where they live. We want every young person to have access to high-quality facilities and learning environments, to gain the skills they need to climb the ladder of opportunity into further study and work, whilst supporting efforts to grow the economy.”

For more information please click here.

‘Know Your Neighbourhood Fund’ fund launched

The government has announced £30 million of funding under the ‘Know Your Neighbourhood Fund’ which will support local organisations in 27 areas to increase their offer of projects which will enrich lives and help improve wellbeing and social connections. Launched by the government working in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund, Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England and UK Community Foundations (UKCF) the funding will support charitable projects in 27 disadvantaged areas in order to help to connect communities, help people to develop skills and grow their networks and help public services serve local communities. This will include develop volunteering programmes, providing 1-1 support for vulnerable residents, funding new activities such as arts and crafts, sport and coffee sessions, and support for social community events.

For more information please click here.

Regulatory

Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan announced

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove announced The Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan this week which aims to revitalise high streets and tackle anti-social behaviour. Councils will be given more powers to move in quickly when houses are left vacant by cutting the timeframe from when they can act from two years of a building being empty to six months through High Street Rental Auctions. £2 million will also be available in order to cover the cost of refurbishing properties, the auction and council fees. There will also be unlimited fines for irresponsible landlords and building owners who allow their properties to fall into disrepair. Tim Davies-Pugh, CEO of Power to Change said “The measures announced today look set to enable more community presence in, and say over, the future of their town centres. This is to be applauded. We look forward to sharing our collective experience with government to ensure these policies are a success.”

For more information please click here.

International Trade

UK and EU formally adopt Windsor Framework

On 24 March 2023, the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee formally adopted the Windsor Framework, a new joint way forward on the Northern Ireland Protocol to the UK-EU withdrawal agreement on which the UK government and the European Commission reached an agreement in principle on 27 February 2023. Its adoption followed the successful vote in the House of Commons where MPs supported legislation on the Stormont Brake, and the EU formally agreeing to the Framework’s key elements. The Framework came into force on 25 March 2023. The Windsor Framework should resolve some of the issues of the Northern Ireland Protocol and considerably facilitate the import of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. The UK government will now look to begin implementing the Framework.

For more information please click here.

Planning and housing

New regulations ban unregulated accommodation for young people

The government has announced new regulations which will ban unregulated accommodation for young people in care. Under the new regulations, from October 2023, all supported accommodation providers for looked after 16 and 17-year-olds will be required to register with Ofsted. Providers can start to register from April 2023 and from October registration will become mandatory. They will also be required to meet new mandatory quality standards which cover physical surroundings of homes, as well as how children are kept safe and the mental and emotional support they should be given. Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, Claire Coutinho said “The new regulations are a vital step in achieving our ambition to transform children’s social care with radically improved standards and outcomes, as set out recently in our plan for children’s social care, Stable Homes, Built on Love.”

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 Subject Access Request’ will take place on 16 May 2023.

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

Employment law update

Ward Hadaway’s employment law update is back this Spring. Taking place via Zoom on Wednesday 26th April at 10am. Our experts will ensure your team is kept in the loop, covering recent and upcoming updates in legislation, case law and pending Tribunal decisions, focusing throughout on the practical points of what this means for employers and HR teams.

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

Housing Management Law School

On 25th April at 10am our Housing Management Law School returns for it’s Spring term. The Law School is taught by two of our very own expert Social Housing lawyers, John Murray and Simon Thirtle. It is free to attend and exists to deliver training to Registered Providers of Social Housing across the country, educating and updating their housing management staff with the essential legal knowledge that they need.

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.