Local Authority round-up 24/01/20

Brexit

Withdrawal Agreement Bill given Royal Assent

Despite the amendments proposed by the House of Lords and The Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly all voting against the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, it has now passed all stages in Parliament and been given Royal Assent.  MPs rejected all of the changes which were proposed by the House of Lords and the agreement will now enter into UK law and gives the Government permission to ratify it however it does still need to be ratified by the European Parliament.

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House of Lords votes in favour of five amendments to Brexit bill

The House of Lords voted in favour of five amendments to the Withdrawal Agreement Bill. These include backing the “Dubs amendment” protecting the rights of refugee children to be reunited with their families in the UK, amendments on EU citizens rights, EU Court of Justice rulings, court independence and changing the bill so it makes note of the Sewel Convention, under which Parliament should not legislate on devolved issues without the consent of the devolved institutions. The amended bill will now return to the Commons. No 10 said they were “disappointed” by the move, but planned to overturn them when the bill returned to the Commons.

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UK’s devolved law-making bodies all vote against Brexit bill

The Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly have all now voted against the Brexit bill. Normally the devolved assemblies and parliaments must give their permission before Westminster can legislate on issues that impact them but this has not stopped the Government from pressing ahead with the legislation as it cannot stop the legislation from becoming law. It is the first time legislatures in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have all refused to consent to UK Government legislation that affects devolved matters. Nicola Sturgeon tweeted “All three devolved parliaments have now rejected the EU Withdrawal Bill – it is unprecedented and momentous. For the UK to ignore that reality will simply demonstrate how broken the Westminster system is.”

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UK’s immigration system to become “more equal”

Speaking at the UK-Africa Investment Summit, Boris Johnson has said that following Brexit the UK will introduce a points based immigration system by January 2021 where people wanting to work in the UK would be assigned points based on a number of professional and personal characteristics such as education levels. He said “By putting people before passports we will be able to attract the best talent from around the world, wherever they may be.” Currently, under freedom of movement, EU citizens do not need a visa to work in the UK, but immigrants from outside the EU are subject to a points system based on English language skills, being sponsored by a company and meeting a salary threshold however this is expected to end after the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020.

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Businesses warned food prices may rise post Brexit

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid, has vowed to end alignment with EU rules after Brexit and has warned businesses that food prices may rise and jobs may be affected as a result. He said “There will not be alignment, we will not be a rule-taker, we will not be in the single market and we will not be in the customs union – and we will do this by the end of the year.” He has declined to specify which EU rules he wanted to drop, but said some businesses would benefit from Brexit, while others would not. The Food and Drink Federation said the proposals were likely to cause food prices to rise at the end of this year and Tim Rycroft, chief operating officer of the Food and Drink Federation, said “We also have to make sure the Government clearly understands what the consequences will be for industries like ours if they go ahead and change our trading terms.”

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Gibraltar-EU travel deal to form part of Brexit negotiations

A UK Government spokesperson has said that Gibraltar’s arrangement for travel post Brexit would form part of UK-EU talks on future relations which means that it cannot independently negotiate a passport-free travel deal with the EU. The UK Government is determined to lower immigration from the EU but there are currently around 15,000 people who enter Gibraltar daily from Spain for work. A UK spokesperson said “After we leave, the UK will be negotiating the future relationship with the EU on behalf of the whole UK family, including Gibraltar. Working closely together, the UK and Gibraltar Governments have always supported arrangements at the border with Spain which promote fluidity and shared prosperity in the region.”

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Commercial

Councils call for Government assistance on bus routes

Councils are calling for assistance from the Government to bridge a £700 million funding gap for the concessionary fares scheme. Latest annual figures from the Local Government Association (LGA) have revealed that local bus travel distances have dropped to the lowest levels since the mid 1980’s, down from 1.33 billion miles in 2008/09 to 1.18 billion in 2018/19. Councils are legally required to provide concessionary bus fares such as free, off-peak travel for older and disabled residents however the increase in fares and the funding gap are contributing to a decline in the service and bus usage. Cllr David Renard, the LGA’s transport spokesman, said “The funding gap faced by councils in providing the concessionary fare scheme is severely impacting their ability to step in and prop up bus routes that are otherwise at risk of ending altogether.”

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Youth services funding cut by millions

A new report by YMCA has revealed that youth services funding has been cut by 70% over the past decade, from £1.4 billion in 2010/11 to £429 million in 2018/19 with England losing nearly £26 million in the past year alone. Denise Hatton, chief executive of YMCA England & Wales, said “Without drastic action to protect funding and significantly re-invest in youth services, we are condemning young people to become a lonely, lost generation with nowhere to turn.” There has been a complete loss of funding in Trafford, Medway, Luton and Slough and other areas such as Gateshead, Nottingham and Norfolk has seen cuts of more than 90%. Unison head of local government Jon Richards, said “A generation of young people have been robbed of the safety net of youth centres. It’s no surprise there’s been an increase in unemployment, mental health problems and gang-related activity.”

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Regulatory

Business rates avoidance costs local services £250 million a year

Following a new report which revealed that business rates avoidance is costing local services an estimated £250 million a year, LGA is calling for tougher legislation in England to tackle business rates avoidance after 8 in 10 local councils responsible for collecting those rates have said they do not have adequate powers to take the problem. The LGA has said that councils need new legal powers to enter and inspect non-domestic properties to verify information and they also need the freedom and finance to set discounts and reliefs. Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the LGA’s Resources Board, said “The scale of business rates avoidance shows more needs to be done to tackle this behaviour and reduce avoidance. Every penny lost through business rates avoidance is money that could be spent on adult social care, children’s services, fixing roads and other vital community services.”

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Manchester City Council adopts Hackitt Review

Manchester City Council has now joined Birmingham City Council, Wandsworth Borough Council and Camden Borough Council by adopting the recommendations made in the Hackitt Review to improve building and tenant safety and ensure building safety is considered upfront and play an active role in the development of building safety policy. Cllr Suzanne Richards said “What’s clear is that there is a lack of consistency within the industry about materials and building standards that is unacceptable, and we hope by being an early adopter to the Hackitt review we can help shape future development to ensure safety standards are central to the process.”

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Planning and housing

Housing Secretary announces new building safety measures

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced new measures to improve building safety standards. This includes a new Building Safety Regulator to give effective oversight of the design, construction and occupation of high-risk buildings. Building owners will be responsible for ensuring buildings are safe and from next month the Government will provide advice to building owners on actions they should take to ensure the buildings are safe with a focus on external wall systems. Building owners will be named where they have not started to take action to remove unsafe Aluminium Composite Material cladding from buildings. Mr Jenrick said “Progress on improving building safety needs to move significantly faster to ensure people are safe in their homes and building owners are held to account. That’s why today I’m announcing a major package of reforms, including establishing the Building Safety Regulator within the Health and Safety Executive to oversee the new regime and publishing consolidated guidance for building owners.”

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LGA responds to housing design audit

The LGA has responded to a housing deisgn audit conducted by UCL for CPRE and the Place Alliance. Cllr David Renard, the Local Government Association’s housing spokesman, said “High-quality homes for affordable and social rent are desperately needed across the country now, and councils need to be able to resume their role as major builders of affordable homes. The last time this country built homes at the scale that we need now was in the 1970s when councils built more than 40 per cent of them. Councils were trusted to get on and build homes that their communities needed, and they delivered, and they can do so again. For that to happen, the Government needs to use the forthcoming Budget to reform Right to Buy, by allowing councils to keep receipts of homes sold under RTB in full and to have the flexibility to set discounts locally.”

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Build-to-rent homes increases by over 50%

Research by the British Property Federation revealed that at the end of 2018 there were 13,312 new homes completed across the UK’s regions and this increased to 20,120 by the end of 2019. London currently has the most build-to-rent homes at varying stages of development and in the year from 2018 to 2019 3,061 homes were built in London up from 17,000 to 20,061. Ian Fletcher, director of Real Estate Policy at British Property Federation said “As the Government remains committed to delivering 300,000 homes, the sector is making a significant contribution to supply, regeneration and placemaking, with the average size of planned build-to rent-developments almost 200 homes higher than those that are complete, according to our figures.”

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