Briefings and responses

We welcome the Tenant Fees Bill and we are pleased that the Bill received cross-party support in the House of Commons. The Government’s intention to make private rented accommodation more accessible is positive. Excessive letting agent fees are a concern for many tenants and councils.

Councils continue to work hard to support and deliver the many programmes for refugees and asylum seekers currently in operation. Councils want to work with central government to find sustainable solutions that minimise the pressures on local authorities, their communities and vulnerable individuals.

The LGA has set out our vision for youth services as part of our Bright Futures campaign. We are calling on the Government to develop a similar vision that recognises the important contribution youth services make to our communities.

In this paper, we are summarising for councils both the “known” and “unknowns” under a ‘no deal’ scenario for local government from national advice.

Making sure all children and young people have the bright future they deserve is a key ambition of every council. Councils want all young people to be able to enjoy their lives, reach their full potential and make a good transition to adulthood with good health and wellbeing.

There is evidence that while high quality childcare can support children’s development and increase academic skills, low quality childcare produces either no benefit or even negative effects. The quality of provision locally, therefore, is at least as important as the quantity.

The LGA started a new programme of work on this issue in January 2017 when the then Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Kevin Hyland OBE, met the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board.

Local authorities share the Government’s commitment to improving air quality and support the phasing out the most polluting products used for domestic burning given their contribution to emissions.   

The LGA is here to support, promote and improve local government. We will fight local government's corner and support councils through challenging times by making the case for greater devolution, helping councils tackle their challenges and assisting them to deliver better value for money services.

Proposals to increase the threshold for defining small society lotteries would mean local authorities having to regulate a larger number of operators.