Briefings and responses

Existing outdated taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) licensing laws need to be updated and strengthened.  The LGA is calling on the Government to take forward commitments it made in response to its task and finish group’s report and introduce reform legislation in the next Queen’s Speech.

Councils across the country are doing all they can to safeguard and protect women and girls from all forms of harm. We support a public health approach to tackling serious violent crime against women and girls, which is a key contributor to poor mental health.

We welcome the proposal for businesses to provide more regular information to the VOA, as part of a move to more frequent valuations. This must be accompanied by measures to significantly reduce the backlog of appeals.

In order for the Bill to have real success in tackling domestic abuse and creating consistency of services, it must be underpinned by adequate, long term funding in key services including children’s services and housing.

The issue of relatively low pay in the social care sector is highlighted regularly and the settlement in the Spending Round provides resources to begin to address this challenge. In the long term the low pay needs to be addressed as part of the arrangements for the future funding of both adult and children’s social care.

Where Knife Crime Protection Order (KCPO) areas are introduced, it will be essential to ensure the new orders effectively tackle knife crime. These orders should not contribute to the unnecessary criminalisation of young people.

In February 2019 Defra set out proposals for the implementation of a new waste and resources strategy. The LGA consulted extensively with member councils on the proposals and responded to each of the consultations.

Arts Council England (ACE) plays a crucial role in funding and supporting cultural activity at a local level, including acting as the development agency for public libraries and museums. This consultation on ACE’s 10-year strategy for 2020-2030 offers a key opportunity for councils and ACE to collaborate on a joint vision for creative and culturally accessible communities.

The LGA welcomes this consultation and many of the recommendations in the Independent Review.

We are not commenting on any feature other than the use of the FSO in relation to multi-occupancy high-rise buildings. Our responses contained below.