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Local Authority round-up 06/03/20

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.

Brexit

UK-EU trade talks begin

On Monday trade talks began between the UK and the EU with David Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator, arriving in Brussels to lead the talks on behalf of the UK.  Boris Johnson has said that a deal must be struck before the end of the transition period which ends at the end of the year and he wants a free trade deal with the EU with separate agreements relating to areas such as fishing.  However the EU wants an overarching agreement, covering all aspects of future relations.  Negotiations are to take place once every two or three weeks from now until the summer at least, alternating between Brussels and London.

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Boris promises to “drive a hard bargain” in US trade talks

With talks on a free trade agreement with the US expected to begin later this month, Boris Johnson has said that he will “drive a hard bargain to boost British industry” in negotiations.  International Trade Secretary, Liz Truss, said “We will not diminish our food safety standards and we will also not put the NHS on the table, or the price the NHS pays for drugs on the table.  Those are two very clear red lines in our trade deal.”  Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said a bad trade deal with the US would “put working people’s jobs and rights on the line… and it will undermine our vital public services, environment and food standards.”

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British firms exporting fish to the EU will face “some friction”

Environment secretary, George Eustice, has said that after the post-Brexit transition period ends, companies would “probably” need to fill in health and catch certificates when selling into the EU’s market which could cause problems for British firms exporting fish to the EU.  Until the end of the transition period at the end of the year fishing will continue to be governed by the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy so fishing fleets of every country will have full access to each other’s waters, excluding the first 12 nautical miles out from the coast.  However, after that period ends an agreement must be reached between the UK and the EU.  The UK wants future access to its fishing waters for EU vessels to be negotiated on a yearly basis however, the EU wants to “uphold” existing access to British waters for vessels from member states, to avoid “economic dislocation” for their fishermen.

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Northern Irish MPs not in Brexit committee

The House of Commons committee that will scrutinize the Brexit talks consists of 21 MPs of which twelve are Conservatives, seven are from the Labour Party and two from the Scottish National Party.   There are no representatives from Northern Ireland.  Sammy Wilson, an MP from the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party said the lack of Northern Irish MPs might lead to a lack of scrutiny of the “inconsistencies” in the Government’s position when it comes to border checks in the Irish Sea.  The Government has been accused of shutting out Northern Irish voices with Mr Wilson saying “This time the Government wanted to have its own members in the committee because of the sensitivity of the ongoing negotiations and was not prepared to offer up any places.”

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Commercial

Grimsby receives £3.5 investment

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced that Grimsby is to receive over £3.5 million of new investment for the town, including £2.2 million of new investment for the next phase of its landmark Town Deal.  The funding will be used to fund work to boost footfall in Grimsby town centre, by providing a high-quality replacement pedestrian footbridge and to improve the attractiveness of a strategic site to potential investors.  Lord Haskins, Chair of the Humber LEP, said “The continuation of the commitment by Government to work with businesses and the local authority to further the regeneration of Grimsby is extremely positive news.”

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Funding boost for North of Tyne

The Mayor of North of Tyne, Jamie Driscoll, has announced a £19.75 million funding package to support business growth and rural economies.  The funding is part provided by the European Regional Development Fund and the result of cooperation between the North of Tyne Combined Authority, the business community and Northumberland County Council, North Tyneside Council and Newcastle City Council.  The funding will provide investment to Newcastle, Northumberland and North Tyneside businesses who want to expand, for foreign or UK owned businesses who want to make their first investment in the region and for rural businesses to help them scale up.  Leader of Northumberland County Council, Peter Jackson said “This funding will address the scale up challenges faced by our businesses with growth potential in rural areas, supporting them to access suitable finance products, enabling growth and maximising opportunities.  The scheme will help drive increased productivity and business performance, encouraging more overseas trading and incentivising business innovation in the county.”

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Regulatory

Government announces potholes fund

Roads minister Baroness Vere has announced a £893 million fund to repair roads and bridges.  Thirty two councils will receive investment from the fund in order to carry out essential repair works including levelling up infrastructure, cutting congestion, improving road conditions and making journeys easier.  Ms Vere said “This investment will not only help local areas to target current pinch points on their roads, but will also harness our world-leading research and innovation capabilities to future proof the next generation of journeys.”  The RAC’s head of roads policy, Nicholas Lyes, further called on the Government to provide ‘dedicated’ local roads funding saying “local authorities and drivers would benefit from dedicated local roads funding in order to plan long term maintenance, so we continue to call on the Government to consider ringfencing a small proportion of existing fuel duty revenues over a five year period to give authorities more scope to plan essential works such as reducing the number of potholes, repairing road defects and investing in technology to improve road maintenance procedures.”

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Planning and housing

National discounts are threatening Right to Buy

Council leaders have warned that national discounts are threatening the future of Right to Buy.  The national discount, which currently averages 42% of market value, means that council properties can be bought for almost half price and the Local Government Association (LGA) estimates that tenants have benefitted from £4.9 billion in discounts under the scheme.  This has led to an increase in the number of council properties being sold however councils can only use a third of each Right to Buy receipt to build replacement homes.  This means that councils are struggling to replace those houses with research estimating that only a quarter of the homes sold have been replaced between 2012/12 and 2018/19.  Cllr David Renard, the LGA’s housing spokesman, said “Protecting council investment in new stock is crucial if we are going to build the homes the country needs.”

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Housing Ombudsman issues revised Scheme

The Housing Ombudsman has issued a revised Scheme and a business plan for 2020-21 which it says will give it stronger powers and more resources “to deliver significant improvements in housing redress.”  The revised scheme, which will take effect from 1 July, includes a new power that allows the Ombudsman to issue complaint handling failure orders when a complaint gets stuck in the landlord’s process or where landlords do not provide evidence requested by the Ombudsman in a timely manner.  It also provides for a ‘severe maladministration’ finding to clarify the range of determinations from service failure to maladministration to severe maladministration, together with a requirement for the landlord to demonstrate learning after the Ombudsman’s decision.  It allows for a more proactive approach in identifying possible systemic failure and to undertake further investigation either into an individual landlord or sector-wide issues.  Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said “Our goal is to deliver a step-change in providing timely, effective and high-quality redress. Equally, we are dedicated to promoting positive change by sharing the insights into our casework, creating more tools for landlords to improve their complaint handling and sharing our data publicly.”

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Competition for new low carbon, age-friendly homes

Housing Minister, Christopher Pincher, has launched a competition for applications which use new ideas to create homes for the future aimed at meeting the needs of the country’s growing elderly generation, using technology and the latest innovations to improve their quality of life.  The competition has been launched in order to meet the Government’s objectives for all new homes built after 2025 to have 80% fewer carbon emissions following its recent consultation on a new Future Homes Standard and its modern Industrial Strategy under which it is committed to ensuring that people can enjoy at least 5 extra years of healthy independent living by 2035.  The competition aims for people to design homes which are age-friendly and inclusive, have low environmental impact, promote better health and wellbeing and are deliverable and scalable.

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Upcoming seminars

As you may well know we run a programme of seminars on a wide range of topics. Listed below are those seminars coming up which we feel may be of interest to you. Please click on the links for further information and to book your place. You can see our full programme of upcoming events by clicking here.

The UK in transition: What does it mean for our business?

Join us for an engaging and thought-provoking session centred around the emerging consequences of Brexit, the UK’s pending trade deal with Europe and what it all means for business in our region.

Wednesday 18th March (Newcastle)

Housing Management Law School – Spring Term 2020

Join us for the latest series of Housing Management Law Schools, where our social housing experts will be discussing the most recent news and hot topics.

Thursday 30th April (Newcastle)

Wednesday 6th May (Manchester)

Wednesday 13th May (Leeds)

Annual PFI law update

The seminars are designed by a team acknowledged as the best advisors in this sector making these sessions essential for those seeking the latest insight into the topical issues, opportunities and risks of the PFI landscape.

Thursday 14th May (Newcastle am)

Thursday 14th May (Newcastle pm)

Thursday 21st May (Manchester)

Thursday 4th June (London)

Thursday 18th June (Leeds)

Annual procurement law update

The seminars are designed to provide you with a unique opportunity to hear first-hand from our leading procurement experts who will share their thoughts on the most topical issues of the moment.

Thursday 1st October (Newcastle am)

Thursday 1st October (Newcastle pm)

Thursday 8th October (Manchester)

Thursday 5th November (Leeds)

Thursday 19th November (London)

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

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.

This page may contain links that direct you to third party websites. We have no control over and are not responsible for the content, use by you or availability of those third party websites, for any products or services you buy through those sites or for the treatment of any personal information you provide to the third party.

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