Briefings and responses

We welcome the introduction of the Fire Safety Bill and hope it will be an important step in the right direction. We are concerned about some of the practicalities of the Bill, how it aligns with the building safety proposals the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is preparing, and the costs it may impose on councils and other building owners.

The reform of Public Health England (PHE), the new UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and forthcoming legislation on the statutory basis of integrated care systems (ICSs) means we are facing significant organisational change. The long-standing problem of health inequalities and regional inequality has become ever clearer during 2020/21, and the pandemic’s repercussions will exacerbate for some time.

While the Government’s £1.57 billion support package for the arts and culture sector was welcome, the sector is still facing significant financial difficulties. Councils face significant additional cost pressures as a result of COVID-19 and this will directly impact council’s ability to fund discretionary services in the culture sector, at a time when the sector is in urgent need of investment.

Councils have a crucial role in local communications, planning and support to deliver mass vaccination effectively – particularly for those groups with low trust in national institutions and / or low take up of the vaccine.

Our Budget 2021 On-the-Day briefing summarises the key announcements for councils and provides an initial LGA view

On 3 March 2021, the Government published guidance for care home providers on limiting staff movement between care settings in all but exceptional circumstances to help reduce the spread of infection.

The Bill introduces important measures which will help to raise awareness of domestic abuse and will go some way to providing additional support to domestic abuse victims

The LGA has called for the Government to introduce a mandatory levy on the gambling industry to fund research, education and treatment. This view is supported by other organisations, including GambleAware, the charity responsible for minimising gambling-related harm.

The equal participation of women and men in local politics, as our elected councillors and as our leaders, is an important condition for effective democracy and good governance.

The LGA supports in principle the ambition to transform public procurement.  However much of what is being proposed within the Green Paper is more around the legal process for procurement without sufficient discussion on how the Government believes we will meet the stated objectives  “to speed up and simplify our procurement processes, place value for money at their heart, and unlea