Local Authority round-up 21/02/20

Brexit

The UK’s points-based immigration system

After much speculation the Government has finally issued some details of the new points-based immigration system that will be in place from 1 January 2021. This affects anyone from outside the UK wishing to work, live or study here from this date and it will apply to EU and non-EU nationals equally for the first time.

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UK Global Tariff consultation

Following the UK’s departure from the EU, the UK is now free to set its tariff rates on imported goods which will apply to all goods imported into the UK. The bespoke UK tariff regime will enter into force on 1 January 2021 and replace the EU’s Common External Tariff. The Government will have regard to the principles set out in the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 when setting the tariffs and also seek to balance strategic trade objectives. As part of this process the Government has launched a four-week public consultation to seek views. The consultation began on 6 February 2020 and closes on 5 March 2020. The consultation seeks views on a potential series of amendments to the EU’s Common External Tariff to create a bespoke UK tariff regime, specific feedback on individual products or commodity codes of importance (including the corresponding tariff rate) and information on your interactions with Most Favoured Nation tariffs and the importance of tariffs to sectors.

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Sub-Committee launches inquiry on the level playing field

The EU Internal Market Sub-Committee launches an inquiry into the role of the level playing field in UK-EU negotiations, with a particular focus on state aid. The inquiry will explore how the level playing field and state aid rules will feature in negotiations of the future relationship between the UK and the EU, focusing on what level playing field commitments are and how they operate in EU free trade agreements, especially as regards social and labour rights and state aid, the EU’s approach to state aid rules and possible reforms at EU level and what opportunities are open to the UK in formulating its own state aid policy, in particular for supporting wider objectives such as “levelling up” the country and meeting climate targets. The Sub-Committee is expecting to publish a long letter to the Government in April.

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UK “must have the ability to set laws that suit us”

Chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, has said that the UK must be able to set its own laws following Brexit and dismissed the idea that an EU court would have a role in future trade disputes. In a speech in Brussels he said “It is central to our vision that we must have the ability to set laws that suit us – to claim the right that every other non-EU country in the world has. So to think that we might accept EU supervision on so-called level playing field issues simply fails to see the point of what we are doing.” He also confirmed that the Government will not extend the transition period beyond the current date of 31 December 2020 and if the UK cannot agree a Canada-type agreement by this time that it would trade on the basic international terms it currently follows with Australia.

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Barnier dismisses UK trade deal ambitions

The bloc’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said that the UK cannot have the same trade deal with the EU as Canada due to its “particular proximity.” He said the EU was ready to offer an “ambitious partnership” however he went on to say “A trade agreement that includes in particular fishing and includes a level playing field, with a country that has a very particular proximity – a unique territorial and economic closeness – which is why it can’t be compared to Canada or South Korea or Japan.”

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BRC warns consumers will suffer without EU trade deal

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has issued a report, A Fair Deal for Consumers: EU Trade Roadmap, which warns that consumers face higher prices and reduced availability of goods if the Government fails to make a pragmatic agreement with the EU. The BRC is calling for pragmatic solutions on future compliance and regulatory checks that will apply from January 2021. BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said “The Government must set about to negotiate a zero tariff agreement that minimises checks and red tape otherwise it will be consumers who suffer as a result. The introduction of excessive or avoidable checks would mean businesses face a mountain of paperwork to be filled out by an army of newly trained staff, coupled with exhaustive checks on thousands of lorries every day. And the result for consumers would be higher costs and reduced availability on the shelves.”

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Commercial

£16.6 million funding for councils to support survivors of domestic violence

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced that seventy-five projects across England will receive a share of £16.6 million funding to help up to 43,000 survivors of domestic abuse to access the help they need. Mr Jenrick said “No victim of domestic abuse should have to struggle to get the right support, or wait months for help that they need. This new funding of £16.6 million will help local areas better protect victims and their children and provide essential life-saving services, delivering the urgent support that they need to rebuild their lives.” The money will be used to fund domestic abuse refuge services to ensure every council provides essential, life-saving support.

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£90 million to cut carbon emissions in industry and homes

Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng has announced households and businesses will benefit from £90 million to cut carbon emissions in industry and homes. £20 million will be used to fund projects aimed at cutting household emissions and bills through nine UK-wide local “smart energy” projects and by 2030 over 250,000 people could have their homes powered by local renewable sources. £70 million will be used to fund 2 of Europe’s first-ever large scale, low carbon hydrogen production plants and a third project which will develop technology to harness offshore wind to power electrolysis and produce hydrogen.

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Regulatory

Funding in tech to reduce traffic

The Government has announced that three projects exploring how tech can cut congestion have been awarded £1.5 million. The projects in Oxfordshire, York and Bournemouth will trial new ways of using data to improve driving conditions and reduce traffic jams. The schemes include using software to monitor traffic and flag incidents in real time, a tool to predict and tackle congestion, and using vehicle tracks to map vehicle ‘paths’ to improve traffic signals in the hope that this can help reduce the huge cost to the UK economy resulting from congestion by calming rush hour traffic and improving air quality and road safety for drivers.

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Planning and housing

NAO raises concerns over council spending on property

The National Audit Office (NAO) has reports that councils have spent £6.6 billion on purchasing commercial property in the past three years in a bid to offset Government cuts in funding. The NAO has then expressed concerns that this could expose councils to investment risks due to the scale of spending and borrowing and is calling for the MHCLG to improve the quality of data held on acquisitions by councils to fully understand the risks and ensure authorities are complying with the framework. The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils should follow strict rules when making investment decisions and have called for “the Government to use the Budget to introduce a borrowing scheme for councils, like the previous Local Infrastructure Rate for crucial projects, and reinvest any profit made by the PWLB rate rise as additional funding for local government.”

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Legal & General commits pension money for affordable housing

Legal & General has provided £100 million of long term debt financing to its affordable housing business with the aim of creating a portfolio of 3000 UK shared-ownership, social and affordable rental properties per year by 2023. It is also providing an extra £175 million of development finance to support the delivery of 3,500 homes. Nigel Wilson, CEO of Legal & General, said “Legal & General’s continued activity in the affordable housing sector demonstrates our unique ability to create real assets which match our long term pension liabilities, recycling the UK’s hard earned savings and pensions to support those most in need in society.”

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Welsh Government announces £24 million for affordable housing

The Welsh Government has announced it will be investing £24 million into building more affordable homes in Wales as part of its commitment to provide 20,000 affordable homes by 2021. The additional funding will provide £6 million in general capital funding for the Social Housing Grant programme to build an additional 70 new homes and £17.8 million in financial transactional capital to the Help to Buy Wales and Property Loan schemes. Housing minister, Julie James said “We want to build more homes, at pace, and at scale. The additional investment I am announcing today will help us meet that pledge, helping to boost the construction sector and ensuring people have the home they need, which supports a healthy, successful and prosperous life.”

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Housing overcrowding in London at “40-year high”

A new study by Professor Christopher Lloyd of Queen’s University Belfast and James Gleeson from the Greater London Authority has found that overcrowding in housing in parts of London and the South East of England is worse now than at any other period over the last four decades. The report reveals that between 1971 and 2011 overcrowding increased in 31% of neighbourhoods in London and that in 33% of neighbourhoods in London the number of homes available per person was smaller in 2017 than at any time since at least 1991. It also reported at a national level growth in the number of houses in England between 2001 and 2011 outpaced population growth. Professor Lloyd said “The housing crisis remains high on the agenda for the UK Government. There are numerous studies which show increased overcrowding in local authorities across England but our work shows that growing housing pressures are even more profound at a neighbourhood-level and a truly local perspective is essential to properly understand the impacts of these pressures.”

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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)

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