Local Authority round-up – 27 November 2020

Brexit

Progress made in Brexit talks

The president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has said that progress has been made this week on the most important areas, however she warned there were “some metres to the finish line” to reach agreement.  Following a postivie test result for the EU team last week, face to face negotiations have been replaced this week with virtual discussions.  Negotiations are expected to continue over the weekend.  Mrs von der Leyen said that fishing rights, competition rules and how a deal would be enforced remained the “three main issues” in the negotiations however she noted that “After difficult weeks with very, very slow progress now we have seen in the last days better progress, more movement on important files.”

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Trade deal talks with Canada to begin in 2021

International Trade Secretary Liz Truss has secured an agreement for a continuity trade deal with Canada which means that their existing trading relationship will continue to apply.  This means that UK businesses have certainty that they can continue to export goods to Canada at the end of the transition period under the current arrangements.  Both sides have also agreed to begin negotiating a new trade deal as early as next year.  Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “This is a fantastic agreement for Britain which secures transatlantic trade with one of our closest allies. British businesses export everything from electric cars to sparkling wine to Canada, and today’s deal will ensure that trade goes from strength to strength.  Our negotiators have been working flat out to secure trade deals for the UK, and from as early next year we have agreed to start work on a new, bespoke trade deal with Canada that will go even further in meeting the needs of our economy.”

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Commercial

Sunak unveils Spending Review

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a £4 billion levelling up fund as part of a Spending Review which he claimed offered ‘huge investment’ in jobs, public services and infrastructure.  The fund will see councils bid for up to £20 million each to fund roads, railway stations, museums and art galleries. He said “Projects must have real impact. They must be delivered within this Parliament.  And they must command local support, including from their Member of Parliament. This is about funding the infrastructure of everyday life.”  He also announced there would be a pay freeze for public sector workers, except for increases for doctors and nurses where the lowest paid would see an increase in pay of at least £250.  He announced that he was increasing ‘core spending power’ for councils by 4.5% saying “Local authorities will have extra flexibility for council tax and adult social care precept which together with £300 million of new grant funding gives them access to an extra billions pounds to fund social care.  And this is on top of the extra billion-pound social care grant we provided this year, which I can confirm will be maintained into next year.”

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Launch of £16.5 million youth COVID-19 support fund

The Government has unveiled a £16.5 million youth COVID-19 support fund to help protect the future of grassroots and national organisations.  The emergency funding package will be open to youth clubs, uniformed youth groups, and national youth and umbrella organisations to help mitigate the impact of lost income over the winter.  It will also ensure services providing vital support can remain open. Further details on the Youth Covid-19 Support Fund, including eligibility and how to apply, will be announced in due course.

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Planning and Housing

Councils face problems to protect rough sleepers this winter

A new report published by Local Partnerships for the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned that some councils will face the ‘difficult choice’ of leaving people to sleep rough or placing them in unsafe accommodation this winter after it found that some councils lack enough safe accommodation to avoid the risk of spreading COVID-19.  Cllr David Renard, LGA housing spokesperson, said “Many councils have serious concerns about whether they can provide adequate emergency accommodation during cold weather and not increase the risk of COVID-19 spreading. As a result, some face an incredibly difficult choice of whether it would be better to leave people sleeping rough on the streets or bringing them indoors where they could be infected.

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MPs call for more detail on Building Safety Bill

MPs have urged the Government to provide more details on its new building safety proposals.  In a new report, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee warns there are significant gaps in how the new regime would operate in practice. It called on the Government to provide much more detail when it publishes the final Building Safety Bill.  The report also said the draft legislation fails to provide sufficient protection against leaseholders paying the bill to remove existing fire safety defects.

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Regulatory

Government outlines COVID Winter Plan

The Prime Minister’s office published the government’s COVID Winter Plan this week. National restrictions in England will end on 2 December, which means the “stay at home” order will end, and shops, gyms, personal care and the leisure sector can reopen. Collective worship, weddings and outdoor sports can resume, and people will not be limited to seeing one other person in outdoor public spaces. Instead, the rule of six will again apply. England will therefore move back into a regional, tiered approach. Some restrictions will be amended, given lessons learned from the previous tiered regime. However, the regime for all tiers will be toughened. For example, in tier 2, alcohol may only be served in hospitality settings as part of a substantial meal. In tier 3, hospitality will close except for delivery and takeaway, and indoor entertainment venues, such as cinemas, casinos and bowling alleys, must also close. Tiering allocations will be reviewed every 14 days, and tiering regulations will expire at the end of March 2021.

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Government announces UK-wide Christmas arrangements

The government has this week announced a relaxation of restrictions which will apply over the Christmas period this year.  As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, areas are facing local restrictions however the government has confirmed that from 23 to 27 December these restrictions will be relaxed in all areas to allow people to celebrate the festive season.  During that time period, travel restrictions across the four administrations and between tiers will be lifted, up to three households can form an exclusive ‘bubble’ to meet at home during this period however when a bubble is formed it is fixed, and must not be changed or extended further at any point and each Christmas bubble can then meet at home, at a place of worship or an outdoor public place, but the existing, more restrictive rules on hospitality and meeting in other venues, as prescribed under the tiered restrictions, will need be adhered to.

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