Local Authority round-up 01/11/19
1st November, 2019
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
Labour confirms second referendum plan at campaign launch
Jeremy Corbyn has used Labour’s election campaign launch to confirm plans for a second referendum as he pledged to “sort” Brexit within six months. “It really isn’t that complicated,” he said of the task, as he outlined how his party would renegotiate a deal with the EU and then put it back to the people, with the option of Remain.
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‘£70bn hit to UK by 2029’ under PMs Brexit deal
A National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) study shows the UK will be £70bn worse off under Boris Johnson’s deal than if it had remained in the EU. NIESR commented that although approval of the PMs deal “would reduce the risk of a disorderly outcome” it would ultimately “eliminate the possibility of a closer trading relationship with the EU.” The study concluded that GDP would be 3.5% lower in 10 years’ time under the deal, meaning the economy would be slightly worse off than under Theresa May’s deal in 2018. The Treasury has responded stating it plans on a ‘more ambitious’ agreement with the EU, announcing they are “aiming to negotiate a comprehensive free trade agreement with the European Union, which is more ambitious than the standard free trade deal which NIESR has based its findings on.”
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Amber Rudd announces she will stand down as MP
Former Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, has announced she will not stand at the December general election. She and 21 of her colleagues lost the Tory whip when backing a plan to take control of the Commons timetable to pass legislation blocking no-deal. Ms Rudd has defended her actions at the time, commenting “I felt I made the right steps at those critical points and I am pleased that the Prime Minister has now restored the whip to some of those colleagues.” Despite the PMs actions, the former Home Secretary said “I will be leaving the House of Commons on perfectly good terms with the Prime Minister and I want him to succeed.”
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12 December general election gets MPs’ approval
By a margin of 438 votes to 20, the House of Commons approved legislation for the first December election since 1923. The decision comes after MPs backed Boris Johnson’s call for an election to break the Brexit deadlock which has overshadowed the PMs few months of leadership. The Prime Minister has said that the UK must be “given a choice” over the future of Brexit and ultimately the country. Following Tuesday’s vote, the PM has readmitted 10 of the 21 Conservative MPs he removed from the party over Brexit rebelling, allowing them to stand as Conservative candidates.. Whilst 127 Labour MPs, including the Labour leader, supported the election, some Labour MPs have misgivings over its timing, commenting that only another referendum can settle the Brexit split. The Liberal Democrats and the SNP gave their support for an election, viewing it as the best opportunity of stopping Brexit.
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EU approves second Brexit extension
The EU announced its approval of a new Brexit extension, for a full three months until 31 January 2020. The EU has attached extra wording to the extension, reiterating that this is a “flextension” with the view that the UK will not need to stay in the EU for the full three months. This opens the door to leave as soon as Parliament and the European Parliament have ratified the new Brexit deal. The European leaders took their time making the decision on the extension, France originally expressed deep oppositions to the three-month extension. President Emmanuel Macron had previously agreed with Boris Johnson that a shorter, extension would focus MPs on the newly negotiated Brexit deal. The EU has since expressed concern that come January, the possibility of another Brexit extension could arise.
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Commercial
DfT lends support to tackle the ‘plague of potholes’
Council leaders have welcomed a Department for Transport (DfT) commitment to a long-term funding settlement to tackle the rising number of potholes in roads. The Transport Committee published a report in July this year which set out a funding settlement for councils to help improve local roads and their maintenance. DfT has responded to this, by promising to press the Treasury for a more sustainable funding settlement. The Local Government Association (LGA) has announced that the Government spends 43 times more per mile on maintaining national roads rather than the local roads which make up 97% of England’s road network. The LGA’s transport spokesman welcomed DfT’s response, explaining that “Councils are on the side of all road users and are working hard to try and keep our roads safe and resilient, and despite significant funding pressures, are fixing a pothole every 17 seconds.” It is estimated that it would cost £8bn to fix the backlog of local road maintenance issues.
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Regulatory
Council broke its own blue badge assessment policy
Sheffield City Council has announced it is to review its process for dealing with blue badge applications after a Legal Ombudsman found it was breaking its own policy. The investigation came after a compliant from an applicant who was suffering with arthritis and rejected without a face-to-face assessment. The investigation concluded that 25 people had been refused a blue badge by the council without a face-to-face assessment and as such the council was going against its own policy and the Government’s guidance. The Ombudsman Michael King commented that “this investigation highlights the dangers of using a box-ticking approach to assessing peoples’ eligibility for council services. In this case a number of people were denied the opportunity to be observed and have their walking ability properly assessed.” The Ombudsman praised the councils handling of the investigation and the steps it is taking to put things right for all the people affected.
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Mayor launches £25m ‘scrap for cash’ polluting vehicle scheme
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has launched a £25m polluting vehicle scrappage scheme to help drivers swap to greener vehicles. He announced that low income and disabled drivers in London will receive up to £2,000 for scrapping their old, polluting cars. The scheme has been introduced as a result of figures showing that polluting vehicles account for around half of London’s harmful NOx air emissions. Mr Khan commented that “‘We need Government ministers to follow London’s lead and help clean our filthy air once and for all, by toughening up targets to meet the WHO air quality guidelines by 2030 and supporting a national vehicle renewal fund that will help all UK motorists to ditch their polluting cars.”
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Planning and Housing
Councils offered £10m to deliver new towns
The Government has announced a £10m fund to help councils ‘kick start’ the delivery of new homes, boost local growth and deliver new jobs. Councils must compete for funding by submitting proposals, and Sir George Lacobescu will advise the Housing Secretary in which projects to invest and provide Government support. The Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, has explained that the aim of the project is to “drive economic growth outside of London and the South East.” He explained that he hoped ” Our new development corporations will empower local areas to come forward with ideas for new towns that deliver jobs, houses and economic growth – creating the future Canary Wharfs of the North and Milton Keynes’s of the Midlands.”
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The ECHR decide ‘bedroom tax’ discriminates against victims of domestic violence
The ECHR has ruled that the ‘bedroom tax’ policy unlawful discriminates against vulnerable victims of domestic abuse. The case of J.D and A v the United Kingdom concerned a complaint against the rules on housing benefits in the social housing sector, particularly that these rules discriminated against the individuals because of their situations: one applicant cared for a disabled daughter and the second was a victim of domestic violence. The court found that the applicants were prejudiced by this measure, as it leads to a reduction in rental subsidy if occupants have more bedrooms than they are entitled to under the legislation. The court found that ultimately the ‘bedroom tax’ would incentivise the applicants to move from their specially adapted homes. Lord Toulson in issuing this judgment stated that “For as long as A, and others in a similar situation, are in need of the protection of sanctuary scheme housing, they must of course receive it.”
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Scepticism over £1.35m parks fund
Council leaders have voiced their concerns that ‘long term sustainable funding’ is required to support green spaces when responding to the Government’s launch of the £1.35m pocket parks fund. The Communities Secretary has opened bidding for the fund which is supposed to help local areas develop new parks dealing with a range of projects from children’s play areas to vegetable patches. The chair of the LGA’s Culture, Tourism and Sports Board, Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, has called on the Government to provide “long-term, sustainable funding so they can continue to provide excellent services for their residents, including green spaces.” He emphasised that the park fund should be used so councils “can maintain their core leisure and green spaces so our residents can keep active, host community events, and enjoy top-quality, safe, children’s play areas, all of which benefit the mental and physical health of people who use them.”
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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.
Public Sector Property update
Our legal experts will ensure you are kept up-to-date with the latest developments and changes affecting property, land and estates in the Public Sector.
Thursday 21st November (Newcastle)
HR and employment law update
Hear from Ward Hadaway’s employment specialists who will ensure that you are kept up-to-date with the latest developments in employment law.
Thursday 28th November (Middlesbrough)
Annual procurement law update 2019
These 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 28th November (PM) (Newcastle)
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.
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